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About us

Made on the hill.

Bonfield Bikes started in 2023 in a rented garage in West Duluth, with one welder, a borrowed lathe and a simple question: why does every cargo bike give up when it snows?

Tove Kettunen had spent nine years designing snowmobile chassis. Eino Wennberg had designed mining equipment on the Iron Range. Both had kids, both lived up the hill, and neither could find a bike that would carry a three-year-old up Mesaba Avenue in January. So they built one.

Duluth climbing from the lake to the ridge, with the route of our test climbRIDGELAKE

From garage to batches

  1. 2023

    First frame welded in a West Duluth garage. It weighed 91 lb and climbed everything.

  2. 2024

    Four prototypes, one winter on Mesaba Avenue, and a battery that keeps itself warm.

  3. 2025

    Reservations open. 300 deposits in the first month, mostly from people who had seen it on the hill.

  4. 2026

    Batch 1 ships in March. A seed round, a second frame jig and our own paint line.

The team

Eleven people, one shop

Engineers, welders, a designer and the person who brings your bike to your door. These are the people you’ll hear from.

    Backers

    Who’s behind us

    A $4.2 million seed round in 2026, and before that, hundreds of people who put down a deposit on a bike they had only seen on a hill.

    • Tenpenny Ventures

      Seed lead

      A hardware fund that backs companies who make physical things in the Midwest.

    • Ninebark Capital

      Seed

      Climate-focused investors in transport, from charging to cargo bikes.

    • Frostline Angels

      Seed

      Twenty-two founders and operators from around Minnesota.

    • Our owners

      Since 2025

      Every reservation is a vote. Deposits stay separate and are refunded in full if you change your mind.

    Careers

    Build bikes in Duluth

    Real wages, health insurance from day one, a bike of your own and a shop with a view of the lake. Most roles are in person on Raleigh Street.

    7 open roles