The Radavist

Chances are, you’ve seen Da Brim before. I know you have. Usually, it’s the cyclo-tourists on the Adventure Cycling Bicycle Route 66, or the TransAmerica Trail that wear these kooky devices.

Let’s be real, skin cancer is a very real threat and keeping your nose, ears, and neck protected from the relentless sun is only going to get more important in the coming years.

Our friends at Blue Lug know how to take a product like Da Brim and make it look cool, meshing safety with fashion.

What do you think? Excessive sunblock? Or a kooky (in a good way) sum brim?

We’ve seen dozens, if not hundreds of adaptive reuse of Thomson’s bags. For those unfamiliar, Thomson ships their stems and seat posts in these durable bags, of which people have made them into various bicycle portage offerings over the years. Blue Lug Hatagaya just upped the ante with these bags, as a part of their celebratory Thomson Day.

The Blue Lug Blog has a bunch of fun photos showcasing their use. These bags will be on sale at the three Blue Lug stores on Saturday, October 10th and the online store will be stocked Monday night, October 13th if any are leftover.

Head to Blue Lug for more!

One of our favorite bike shops – see why in Spencer’s visit! – in the world. Yes, the world, is now on Youtube, sharing their space, their rides, and their visitors. Head to the Blue Lug Youtube to be entertained.

Japan’s Blue Lug worked with Phil Wood to make a limited release of these rainbow anodized track hubs. These hubs come in 24, 28, or 32h drillings, feature titanium hub bolts, and are a Blue Lug exclusive. The hubset retails for ¥ 103,000, or approximately $950 USD. If you absolutely have to have these, Blue Lug does ship to the US and they currently have stock. Head to their web shop to see more!

Party at the Swift Industries HQ Tonight with our friends from Blue Lug Japan.

There is a Blue Lug pop-up opening in the Swift Industries showroom with rad bike parts and accessories, Fairweather bags, and even special edition apparel just for this visit and then…

Seattle area Swift Campout Roundup:

So many groups rolled out on different campouts, let’s get together at Swift HQ for a Swift Campout afterparty. The good vibes are graciously supported by our friends at New Belgium Brewing Fat Tire.

Wednesday June 26th
6pm-9pm
Swift Industries
558 1st Ave South 2nd Fl.
Seattle WA 98104

To commemorate Blue Lug‘s 10 year anniversary – congrats guys! – Rivendell teamed up with them to design a single speed. You might recall their Quickbeam single speed, and the Frank Jones is a relative to that bike. Blue Lug made 55 of these frames and Rivendell took in 25. There’s a lot more to be said about this collaboration, which will come at a later date once a certain someone builds theirs up, but I wanted to give all of you a heads up, in case you missed out on a Quickbeam back in the day.

Oh and if you’d like to see more photos of Blue Lug’s build, head to their Flickr!

Just because ‘cross is over, doesn’t mean you can’t ride a cross bike year round. Blue Lug’s latest build from Massachusettes-based Geekhouse Bikes is easy on the eyes, and on maintenance. Check out more photos at the Blue Lug Flickr.

Blue Lug has some fancy new pedals in their stock. These Panda Pedals are a playful product, perfect for your flat-pedal pushbike! Check out more at Blue Lug and thanks for the photo, Tomii!

Fairweather‘s frames blend fashion with functionality and Blue Lug in Japan know how to build them up just right. These frames are made by Toyo in their Taiwan facility, pack clearances for bigger tires and come in three sizes. Unfortunately, because it’s a Japanese company, the largest size they offer is a 55cm, but that doesn’t mean we can’t ogle these beautiful bicycles.

See more at the Blue Lug Flickr.

Off-road machines like this are so smart and having been a long fan of Ocean Air Bicycles, I was anxious to see how Blue Lug in Japan’s first Rambler build would turn out. So far, so good! Built using Phil Wood, White Industries and a SON generator system, this all-road vehicle is ready for anything. See more at the Blue Lug Flickr.

Nitto’s newest offerings are now in stock at Blue Lug in Japan. The MCR65 Stem and RM-3 Dirt Drop are for 1 1/8″ bikes looking to be run with a high position dirt drop but in a classic design. These new shapes are available in black or silver and as evident in the photo above, add a different feel to a bike like the Surly Crosscheck.

Even though Icarus couldn’t fly close enough to the sun, he apparently has no problems flying over to Japan, where our friends at Blue Lug always take building up these frames with pride. Check out the latest from Austin, Texas framebuilder Ian Sutton of Icarus Frames at the Blue Lug Japan Flickr!

If there was an award each year for the best customized shop bikes, Blue Lug would win it. From Surly to Fairweather and now Rew10 Works, their shop bikes are so beautiful. Check out this blue Mondrian SSCX bike, complete with that disc front and canti rear setup… While we’re at it, check out these photos on the Blue Lug blog from what appears to be a Sim Works bike show / store opening of sorts.

I’ve been digging what Blue Lug has been doing with their Rew10 Works framesets and Cook paintworks, but this singlespeed cross bike is my favorite thus far. Subtle splatter paint over the tan base color and a classy steel fork really do it for me. The disc front and canti rear is clever as well.

See more from Rew 10 Works at the Blue Lug Flickr.

Photo by Nobuhiko Tanabe

That’s a great looking cyclocross bike. Nobuhiko has been racing on this beauty over in Japan and finally took some photos of it. Head over to Blue Lug’s Flickr for the full set.

With Jonathan’s Disc Trucker causing a stir yesterday, maybe Blue Lug’s latest Pugsley build will kick it up a notch. Check out more of this rad custom Pugs at Blue Lug’s Flickr!