If any of you made the trek to Queens to visit the Cuevas shop, you might be interested in this obituary from CyclingNews.com. Cuevas hand built beautiful bikes and was, to my knowledge, the only hand builder in the city.

Cuevas Cycles founder dies

Francisco Cuevas, founder of Cuevas Cycles in the USA, has died at his home in Barcelona, Spain on January 28, aged 89. His grandson Fernando wrote the following obituary:

Dear Cyclists,

This past Friday January 28th. 2005, Senor Francisco Cuevas SR. died in his home in Barcelona, Spain after a brief illness. He would have been 90 years old this July.

Francisco was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1915. By the time Senor Cuevas was 14 he began an apprenticeship as a frame builder. He built his first frame at the age of 18 and started racing his creations.

By 1937 politics in Spain were very bad. As a result He then went to war against Franco in the Spanish Civil War. He married in 1940 and had two children, my dad Paco in 1942 and my aunt Maria in 1946. By 1951 the political situation in Spain had become even worse. So he set of to Argentina were he would start his life all over again. He built frames in Mendoza, Argentina and was the trainer and coach for the National cycling team. In 1955, he and his wife had another son, my uncle Andres.

By 1970 Argentina was in a terrible economic state, especially after the death of President Juan Peron when Argentina became a Military State. Senor Cuevas and my dad set of to the USA in 1971 and started to work in the bike shop business for Metro Bikes.

In 1977 Mike Fraysse and his dad the late Vic Fraysse hired my Grandfather and Andres to build frames for them and their team under the Paris-Sport line. In 1984 Grandpa and my uncle Andres started their own frame shop in Astoria, NY and built about 200 frames a year. In all, I believe that grandpa and his sons have built about 5000 frames in three continents.

Senor Francisco Cuevas was a plain man who took his craft very seriously, spending hours making every frame as if it was for himself. He was the one that would take me to races and would go on training rides with me. He was one of my greatest heroes and mentors.

I will really miss him and will try to follow in his footsteps.

Francisco is survived by his wife Maria, his sister Isabel, his three children, me and my brother Diego.

May his torch continue through everyone he knew and those he influenced in our great sport.

Thanks,
Fernando Cuevas