In this article, I’ll take you inside the workshop of Nao from TOMII CYCLES, the star of our upcoming event on May 9th-10th.
Austin, Texas
When I visited Austin, Texas, this past February, it was already summer.
The temperature was over 30 degrees (86°F), making short sleeves feel great. Having been in Portland the week before, where it was winter, my body and brain just couldn’t keep up. You really feel the vastness of America.
Austin is a city I’ve wanted to visit ever since Nao Tomii of TOMII CYCLES told me, "You should come hang out!" three years ago.
With the SimWorks "The Long Road South Tour" holding pop-ups in New Orleans and Austin, I finally made it to the city of my dreams. It was a road trip of over 5,000km, so I’d like to write about that separately.
Austin is truly a wonderful city; I fell in love with it. Nao showed me around town and we had all sorts of conversations at his workshop. (I’ll write about the Austin guide separately, too.)
Originally from Niigata, Nao lives in this city and makes his living as a handmade frame builder. I truly respect that he makes his way in America as both an artist and a craftsman.
I had the chance to visit his workshop, so I filmed while we chatted about this and that. Here is a look at his studio, along with some details about his background and an interview.
The Man: Nao Tomii
His career began by studying fine arts in Boston, Massachusetts.
Afterward, he took jobs in sculpture and three-dimensional fabrication; he encountered bicycles while learning to weld, which led him to frame building.
If you know that era and place, you might know that Massachusetts is the birthplace of the legendary THE FAT CHANCE, one of the iconic MTB frames. It’s a place famous for having birthed various handmade bike brands from that soil.
This region has had a huge influence on his bike frame manufacturing. He learned his welding techniques from the alumni of the former THE FAT CHANCE.
"Back then, I learned from quite a few builders. The style of learning from just one person didn't really click for me. My style was more about absorbing specific things, like 'Oh, I want to learn this aspect from this person.' Thanks to that, I visited many workshops and learned a lot."
I suspect this experience is the real reason he named his signature model "Fat Canvas." (Though I haven’t confirmed it with him personally.)
"I feel like the public image of me is that I only make road and gravel bikes, but that's not true—I'll make MTBs or anything else. Maybe it’s because the Fat Canvas is my main model."
The finish of his frames is beautiful, depicting smooth bike forms.
"I do have an obsession with creating clean lines. I think I put a lot of thought into the balance between TIG welding and brazing to create those smooth lines."
"I don't really want to add unnecessary things. I want to reduce the number of eyelets as much as possible. It isn't beautiful to have things on there that you don't use, right? It’s definitely more beautiful when it’s composed of the minimum elements the rider actually needs."
I feel like this philosophy is the crux of his frame building.
Precisely because they are frames with elements stripped down to the limit, his technique stands out all the more.
"Maybe I don't have to do it, but I end up doing it, haha. I find myself wanting to do it. This might just be my calling in life."
It’s incredible that he even modifies off-the-shelf parts.
"If I do it for one customer but not another, they’ll think I’m cutting corners, right? Haha. I hate that, so I just do it for everyone."
This stance is what makes him such a unique frame builder.
"But you know, Austin is hot, isn't it? I’ve been working in creative fields forever, but I think I’m actually better suited for colder places. It’s easier for my brain to work when it’s cold. Many famous universities are in colder regions, right? I used to live in Boston, and the weather is so bad there in the winter that it’s nice to just hole up at home. That’s why my work is so productive there."
It’s true that this city is warm all year round. Nao’s workshop is the garage of his home, and he works with the shutters wide open.
"Also, with weather this nice, you just end up playing. Austin is an environment where you can ride a bike every single day of the year. There were actually a few other frame builders here, but most of them either quit or moved away."
He said that, but his motto, "Build Fun Bikes," was born from that very environment.
"I mean, I'm making vehicles for the sake of enjoyment, so I feel like the person building them has to be enjoying themselves too. So, maybe it’s a mental thing, but making sure I'm having fun riding my bike, or incorporating that playfulness into the crafting—that part is really important, and it might be the style I cherish most."
Personally, I really love this style of his. A Japanese aesthetic sensibility combined with American playfulness—that fusion is exactly what I like about TOMII CYCLES.
"This place and this line of work might be tough, but this environment suits me. It’s also had a huge influence on my creativity. Motifs like cactus and Native American themes—they’re straight-up Southwest, aren't they? I want to thank Texas for forcing me to change my style, and that's exactly why I want to keep doing it here and deepen those motifs."
Beyond just frames, his small parts—spacers, top caps, bells—packed with his obsessive attention to detail, are freakishly beautiful (in a good way).
There are no other products where you can feel the human passion and playfulness quite like these, which are crafted from brass and are closer to art pieces. These small parts, which he himself calls "Bike Jewelry," have a presence that, once you see them in person, doesn't even feel like a typical bike part.
I asked Nao about his dream for the future.
"When I die, I want to be able to say, 'I did it all!' I want to die a frame builder. Because being a frame builder is tough, you know? People always ask me, 'Are you okay?' But I guess my goal is to be able to say on my deathbed, 'I’m a Japanese guy who succeeded as a frame builder in America.'"
The man who crafts with this mindset is coming to Circles Tailored.
You can see the things this man has created at Circles Tailored.
Circles is now accepting orders for his custom frames, so please come meet him, talk with him, see them with your own eyes, and touch them.
The POPUP event is on Saturday, May 9th, and Sunday, May 10th.
[TOMII CYCLES POPUP]
Dates: May 9th (Sat), 10th (Sun)
Location: Circles Tailored
Hours: 10:00~19:00
[Coffee Outside]
Date: May 10th (Sun)
Meeting Point: Circles Tailored
Time: 9:00~
You can find more pictures from the workshop in this album, so please take a look!