The Radavist

Cycling isn’t a new thing for Oakley. As a company, they didn’t see a potential market and invent a legacy or shift marketing dollars in order to tap into it. From supporting Greg Lemond back in the day to working with Mark Cavendish on modern eyewear. They’re an iconic staple heavily vested in creating not only performance eyewear for professional athletes, but supporting scenes and dare I say cycling’s outlying “cultures.”

Their In Residence spaces are designed around a specific use or program. It began in Los Angeles with a Studio, which centered around the art surrounding LA skateboarding and has now moved onto London, where the In Residence Workshop operates as a hub for cyclists.

Nestled on Exmouth Market, a small one-way street that shuts down to vehicular traffic at night for the pubs and restaurant patrons to enjoy, the Workshop is an ideal pre or post-ride meet up. There’s coffee by Prufrock, exhibitions by Spoke London, free Seabass Cycles-operated mechanics area, maintenance workshops with the London Bike Kitchen, weekly rides by East London Fixed, movies by the Bicycle Film Festival and yes, free wifi.

While en route to Eroica California, we took a pit stop by American Cyclery in San Francisco for some last minute vintage componentry. You know, essentials like 14-28 freewheels, toe straps, toe clips, bar tape and bottles. There were a lot of bikes that needed to be built up for Eroica, each requiring necessary minutiae.

American Cyclery has two shops across the street from each other. One is a bit larger and has mostly new, modern bikes for sale, while the rafters are filled with vintage mountain bikes ranging from Cunningham to Steve Potts. The other is almost entirely vintage road and track bikes, with various bits of cycling memorabilia strung about.

The real honey hole in AC is the basement where the owner Brad keeps all of his various cycling publications. Ranging from the original Fat Tire Flyer zines to his old newsletter, the Bicycle Trader.

We only had a few minutes at American Cyclery, but I liked what I saw and can’t wait to return with a bit more time to shoot some of Brad’s amazing bicycles. Check out a few quick photos in the Gallery.

The growth of a brand from an idea on social media to a brick and mortar store is always inspirational. For Portland, Oregon’s the Athletic, their brand began with a simple idea; designing socks, and has transformed into an entire retail space nestled in NorthWest Portland. In the few years the brand has existed, they’ve released dozens of designs online. Their most notable being a pair of turquoise 6″ tall socks embroidered with the PDX airport’s carpet pattern.

While their PDX Airport Socks might be their most famous work, the Athletic has worked with a number of small companies, as well as cycling teams to create that last essential piece of their cycling wardrobe. While most of their stock just so happens to be, you guessed it; socks, a lot of what the Athletic is doing reaches beyond that.

As the name implies, they are showcasing a particular façade of sports. Not necessarily the most current team’s rankings or franchise gear, but the art and culture that is inspired by athleticism. With zines, posters, bags, jump ropes and even a few pairs of Nike shoes on display, the Athletic’s storefront is more of a gift shop for the sporting enthusiast than it is a standard-issue sock store.

See some photos of their space in the Gallery and swing through their shop if you find yourself in Portland, or browse their stock online.

The Athletic
925 NW 19th Ave
Portland, OR
M-Fri 12pm – 6pm
Sa-Sun 12pm – 5pm

Vancouver’s Super Champion
Words and photos by Morgan Taylor

In 2007, former pro snowboarder Tyler Lepore opened up a track bike shop in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. With its wood paneling and white walls, carefully curated framesets and splashes of colorful parts, the space had a modern, almost gallery-like feel. Add in clean branding and a collection of t-shirts with hand-drawn art, and Super Champion felt more like a skate shop than a bike shop.

San Francisco’s Mission Workshop has been on a steady climb of growth since their first bag was released. Originally on Rondel, an alleyway off of 16th street, they recently expanded their space to continue all the way onto Valencia street, a prominent shopping thoroughfare in the Mission.

The brand’s design aesthetics carry over through a palette of raw wood and steel, as well as stark white walls overlaid with vinyl appliqué and photography. Taking center stage is their high end Advanced Projects and fledgling brand ACRE.

I had the opportunity to photograph this space, prior to the brand’s opening party last Friday… If you have the chance to see it for yourself, swing by. If not, check out the Gallery!

Tuesday – Saturday 10am-8pm
Sunday – Monday 12pm-7pm
Mission Workshop
541 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA 94110

When Mash first opened their storefront a few years back, it quickly became a clubhouse of sorts for the local riders. Group rides would meet up once or twice a week to explore the roads and trails of San Francisco. As quickly as the storefront became popular, the brand itself grew and the need for more space became apparent, sending Mike Martin on a hunt for a bigger store, with space for a design office.

Yesterday I swung through their new storefront and design offices in SF and hung out for a bit, soaking in all the random artifacts both from SF’s street racing culture and cycling’s most iconic brands… See more in the Gallery!