Paragon Machine Works was founded in 1983 in Marin County, California, by owner Mark Norstad, in the basement of his parent's house with one manually operated lathe and mill. It has since grown into a thriving machine shop, occupying a 6,000 square foot building in Richmond, California, and employing seven full-time and three part-time employees. Paragon Machine Works manufactures and stocks the largest variety of titanium bicycle frame building components in the world. Paragon Machine Works prides itself on providing personalized service and superior products. We have design development and high volume manufacturing capabilities, offer competitive pricing and guarantee customer satisfaction.

References available upon request.

Bicycling Advocacy Groups 

Paragon Machine Works is a proud member of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, Marin County Bicycle Coalition, East Bay Bicycle Coalition and San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.  We encourage you to support your local bike advocacy group.

Our Staff

We are proud of our knowledgeable and dedicated staff.  We are committed to providing living wages, benefits, and a friendly work environment.  Our staff is the reason we’re able to provide high quality products and excellent customer service.

Mark Norstad, Owner

Mark's passion for machine work started in a high school machine shop class. He continued his professional development by completing an Associate of Arts Degree in Machine Metals Technology from College of Marin, California in 1979. Being an avid rider, it was only natural that his first production job was making dropouts for Trailmaster Bikes. Paragon Machine Works is now known for being the premier provider of precision bicycle components. Mark's skills have been refined over the years by completing complex design and manufacturing products for makers of bicycle frames, heavy off-road vehicles, process and alternative energy equipment. He credits his success to over twenty-five years of manufacturing experience, his passion for metal working, and a dedicated and knowledgeable staff.

Donna Norstad, Office Manager and Owner

Donna is one-half of the husband and wife team that owns Paragon Machine Works. She came on board in 2008 to help Mark run the business. She enjoys learning new skills, and the challenges and rewards that are inherent to small business ownership. Mark and Donna credit their success as business partners to mutual adoration and a shared vision for their company.  Donna’s favorite activities outside of work include swimming, riding her bike with Mark, and spending time with their two children.

Joe Peterson, Machinist

Joe’s previous experience as a professional mountain biker, bike mechanic, and math and science teacher makes him a valuable asset to PMW.   He came to us with little machining experience but has developed into an excellent programmer and machinist.  His specialty is turning center work and he fabricates most of our headtubes.  Joe enjoys taking concepts and “turning them into beautiful parts”, and he really likes riding his bike in the dirt.

Jerry Bassler, Machinist

We’re fortunate to have Jerry on staff at PMW.  Not only does he excel at programming and machine work, he also has an IT background that allows him to problem solve our network and computer issues.  His ability to work on any machine in the shop is a great asset.  Jerry loves the challenge of learning new skills, creating parts and working with computer controlled machine tools.   He spends his extra time flying airplanes, restoring and racing Lotuses, biking, golfing and swimming.

Jason Rector, Shipping Department Manager

Jason manages the shipping department, tracks inventory, and is our customer service liaison.  His extensive mechanical knowledge of bikes enables him to help customers with their technical questions and problems.  An avid cyclist, Jason spends most of his spare time playing with bikes.

Wilson Morales, Machine Operator

With 10+ years under his belt, Wilson has the distinction of being at PMW the longest out of all our machining staff.  A true work horse and expert machine operator, Wilson can keep four mills running at one time.  His helpful attitude makes him a true asset to our team.  Wilson enjoys playing recreational soccer in his free time.

Franco Romano, Machinist

Franco came to PMW with extensive machining and management experience.   Franco’s expertise as a programmer and machinist makes him a valuable staff resource and member of our team.  He excels at lathe work and fabricates many of our bottom bracket shells.  He is looking forward to spending more time on the milling machines in the future.  Franco also acts as our OSHA compliance officer, helping to minimize hazards and promote safety through staff education.  In his free time Franco does ultra-distance bike rides and fabricates carbon fiber and steel bike frames.

Karen Donaghy, Bookkeeper

Karen has been doing our book keeping since our invoices were created on a typewriter.  She does payroll, pays the bills, prepares our tax information and generally keeps an eye on our financial health.  We feel fortunate to have her support and dedication.  When she’s not at Paragon she enjoys working as a dental assistant.

Noah Weissich, Machinist

Noah came to Paragon as an experienced machinist.  His area of expertise is mill work and he has primary responsibility for programming and running them.  He helps to fabricate many of our dropouts and cable stops.  Noah has a comprehensive understanding of how our shop functions has been a motivating force in getting our programming sheets more organized and legible.  Aside from machine work his interests include bike riding and competitive sailing, at which he also excels.

Jeff McWhinney:  Machinist, Programmer and Designer

Jeff's relationship with Paragon Machine Works began back in the late 80's when the company began expanding its bicycle-related machine work.  He designed and programmed Paragon's first chainring and created one of the first full suspension mountain bikes, the "Fifty-Five Plus".  Jeff has had a diverse career since that time, working in microstructure research, precision optics machining, and in his own business of precision-machined jewelry.  He is now back at Paragon and will be using his expert CAD skills to help design and program new products, and create downloadable 3D models and drawings of existing products for our website.