Frasen Works

The corridor is spacious but the light struggles to find space. The workshop, on the other hand, has two large windows from which a blinding and very hot sun enters even if it is still in the middle of winter. On the other hand, the Mediterranean at these latitudes can be truly welcoming from all points of view, not least the climatic one. And it is precisely this warmth that conveys a sense of tranquility that is rare to find in a place where iconographically we would expect an acrid smell, deafening noise and disorder everywhere.
We understood immediately that something was not right, ever since we were invited to the fourth floor of a mid-1990s building on Rambla del Poblenou, a few hundred meters from the Olympic port of Barcelona, ​​the headquarters of Frasen Works: where some of the best wheels known to the cycling market are assembled. Often you don't choose the nickname, but it's something that friends give you without even a reason. Sometimes a physical or behavioral characteristic is emphasized, other times the place of origin is leveraged, still others a surname is simply truncated to be faster when it's time to call you or talk about yourself. The only thing that is really needed for a nickname is to have someone give it to you. In this case the merit is of the crew , of that close group of friends with whom you share a passion and an identity that you don't find either in your family or at school: thus Davide Frassine becomes Frasen and Frasen Works becomes a brand.

Basically those who get overwhelmed by subcultures can be defined as a nerd but in the good sense of the term, of course. Yes, because that new vision of life enters you so much that it becomes a priority and, at that point, you start studying everything about that world that has engulfed you. Small things, technicalities, slang, in an instant you turn into a nerd. «There are those who are more passionate about the frame, those about the gearbox group, those about accessories and those, like me, about that invention that revolutionized the world thousands of years ago: the wheel». These are choices that are not made with thought but come naturally: what can be defined as talent.
So one day you make a wheel for one friend, then another, and another. They work, they are happy and you understand that this is the path taken. You don't even know exactly how, but after three years your apartment has turned into a workshop. There isn't even any more space for shopping: the whole house is occupied by hoops, spokes and every tool imaginable. And then cartons, cartons and cartons. "For this you need to have order and be disciplined, otherwise you risk that the house literally becomes a dumping ground."

Barcelona is a city that welcomes you, it hugs you. A bit like all big cities, even if it's not as big as one might imagine. «The effect, however, is that of the metropolis: after a week of living here, you feel like you are here. And if they ask you where you're from, answer right away of Barcelona!, although maybe you got there four days ago.”
«And then the cool thing about Barcelona is that you have everything», but not everything we can think of: it's not about exhibitions, museums, concerts. Or rather, yes, there is of course also that as in every large agglomeration. «I mean that you have the sea, hills and mountains not far away: if you love cycling, it is a real land of toys. Especially for those who, like me, manage to carve out two hours during the day and don't have time to travel by car or means to reach a particularly attractive hill or place from a cycling point of view. Here, you simply leave the house and head towards the hinterland: you really can find everything within a very short distance». Gravel routes, long asphalt ascents, eats and drinks on leg-breaking hills: all this within a few kilometres. «Think that if you want to train well, you can even do uphill repetitions in the city centre. Do you understand what I mean?"