tag
Now that Golden Pliers has settled into their new Portland, OR location, it was time for us to make another visit. Just a few days after the MADE bike show concluded, Spencer Harding stepped into the welcoming arms of the Golden Pliers crew for a much-needed decompression from all the bike show hubbub. Below, let’s look inside one of our favorite bike shops that is filled with beautiful bikes, nice things, and wonderful humans…
With over 400 kilometers of trails within an hour’s ride of the city center, Oslo has established itself as an adventure destination. Conor Courtney spent a long weekend riding with Fara Cycling, a local bicycle brand uniquely aligned with Norwegian geography and adventure culture. Continue reading below for a look inside Fara Cycling and the stunning location they call home…
Our European correspondent Petor Georgallou recently visited four North American framebuilders who have been awarded SRAM’s Inclusivity Scholarship to attend Bespoked in Dresden, Germany, on October 18–20. In the third chapter of this series, Petor joins Christopher Schmidt of Colorado Springs, CO, who builds bikes under the name Good Grief Bicycles. What’s it like to be a Native American framebuilder in the USA? Join Petor and Chris for a thought-provoking conversation and take a look behind the bikes at Good Grief…
In the next installment of a four-part series, our European correspondent Petor Georgallou joins Significant Other Bikes of Denver, Colorado. Petor recently took a gonzo-style roadtrip through North America to visit four framebuilders who have been awarded SRAM’s Inclusivity Scholarship to attend Bespoked in Dresden, Germany, on October 18–20. Take a peek behind the bikes made by Ashley King at Significant Other…
In this Shop Visit, Petor Georgallou profiles London framebuilder Rob Quirk of Quirk Cycles and explores the realities of building contemporary custom bicycles in the UK. Join their discussion of 3D-printed parts, framebuilding as an art practice, life after the Bicycle Academy, and much, much more. Read on…
It’s been 10 years since Mason Cycles first caused a splash in the UK cycling market with the release of their original Definition and Resolution road bikes. They have since built a reputation for blending progressive riding technologies with classically beautiful aesthetics, now offering a full range of bikes designed for the whole spectrum of on- and off-road terrain. Joe Sasada sat down with founder and designer Dom Mason to discuss the journey so far, design philosophy, and what’s coming next for the brand. Read on for an extended interview and a photo gallery from Mason HQ.
Following his visit with Crust Bikes, Nic Morales‘s road trip across the southeast continues with a trip to Velo Orange in Baltimore, MD. Given his longstanding appreciation of the brand’s ethos and product offerings, it felt only right to finally put a face to the names and influences that had influenced so much of his cycling life.
Through an extensive tour of their headquarters and an interview with co-founder Igor Shteynbuk, Nic learned of the logistics and mindset taken up by those behind the “VO” adorning many of our builds… Check it out below!
For nearly ten years, La Chouette Bike Shop has been serving Paris, France – and an ever-growing online customer base – with a finely curated selection of bikes, components, and products from some of our favorite brands. In a continuation of Reportage from his time visiting Paris earlier this month, Josh checks in with La Chouette owners Pierre, João, and Jacob, who are on a mission to add a bit of international color to the streets of their fine city…
When Tomi opened his shop, La Pindia, he decided to throw a one-day bike show with framebuilders from all over the Iberian Peninsula. Due to the shop’s focus on handcrafted bikes, over a dozen bikes from various makers were brought to show the state of the craft within the region. Learn about the framebuilding community of Northern Spain and what ties them all together, and don’t miss some amazing bespoke builds.
A lifetime of tinkering has led to some very interesting work out of Paul Brodie’s backyard shop, from influential early mountain bike designs to motorcycles made from the ground up. In advance of Brodie’s 40th Anniversary show in Vancouver BC this weekend, Morgan Taylor visited Paul’s shop to take a peek at the multitude of in-progress projects.
The last 20 years have seen seismic changes to brick-and-mortar businesses of all kinds, especially bike shops, yet Mock Orange Bikes endures. Mock Orange and its owner, Charles Van Isenburg, have remained a pillar of Winston-Salem, NC’s bike community for two decades with a relationship-driven, neighborhood-oriented, very much offline, and old-school way of conducting retail business.
On one of his frequent swings through his native North Carolina, Andy Karr stopped by his favorite hometown bike shop to chat with Charles about what’s changed in 20 years of owning a shop and what hasn’t.
In the 20 years since his track-bike touring roots, Matt Churchill has established HMPL as a distinctive made-in-Vancouver bike-bag brand. But before you try to say “HMPL” five times fast, the name predates the disemvoweled brand-name trend and is actually an acronym. On a recent visit to HMPL HQ, Pat Valade gets to the bottom of those four letters and talks with Matt about his cycling background, views on the ‘Industry’ and why a neighborhood is only as thriving as the small makers in it.
It’s been a few years since we first covered Chariot Bike when it was a mobile-based shop!Katie Sox drops into the mobile-repair van turned full-service bike shop and café to chat with Chariot Bike‘s owner and founder, Julia Sparks, about what the shop has brewing for the future. There’s a good story behind the name and exciting news for the Sour Bicycles fans out there!
John was in Los Angeles recently for a long weekend and spent some time catching up with Jimmy at Fabrica De Rosas, a new bicycle studio in Aliso Village. Read on for a message from Jimmy to his community and a full Shop Visit from John below…
Within a relatively straightforward product lineup, Chris King Precision Components manufactures hubs, headsets, bottom brackets, and, perhaps most importantly, the bearings inside that make them spin. On a recent trip to Portland, Oregon, Josh spent some time at the Chris King HQ factory to learn more about the company’s origins and what makes it continue to stand out in a crowded space of bearing-centric bicycle components. Read on below for the full rundown of what goes on at CKPC’s giant vegetable oil-fueled machine shop!
Iterating on the modern-day classic of bikes and coffee, Hello Bicycle & Cafe offers denizens of Tucson, Arizona, a lovely place to land right off the popular Loop bike path. The cozy cafe is stocked with local pastries and it sits right next to a well-organized shop, offering everything from factory-level suspension service, to complete bikes for purchase. It’s become one of Spencer Harding‘s favorite hangs and he shares a shop visit below…
Last week, John Caletti of Caletti Cycles hosted five up-and-coming bicycle framebuilders at his shop in Santa Cruz, California. An event that had been on John’s to-do list for the past few years, his first Framebuilding Summit was intended to be an educational meeting of the minds–a time dedicated to sharing knowledge with a group of young bike builders.
Germany is an epicenter of cycling innovation and production. Home to a lengthy list of big brands including Canyon, Diamant, Focus, Bosch, and so many more, the central European nation is also inhabited by an ever-growing community of smaller bicycle and gear fabricators, builders, and makers.
While we saw many examples of cycling-related German craftsmanship on display in our Bespoked coverage last month, those examples just scratched the surface. On his way to Dresden for the show, Josh stopped over in Berlin and spent his brief amount of free time learning about the city’s special place within the larger German—and global—cycling industry context.
Read on below for a primer on Fern Fahrraeder/Allygn, Gramm Tourpacking, Drust/Akinn Cycles, Velociao Paint, and Velo Saloon!
