Care Package for Bike to Eugene Challenge

We got an email in our inbox about a week ago from one of our customers, on behalf of the Environmental Law Caucus, a forum for environmental stewardship and appreciation at Lewis & Clark Law School.


Liv was asking for donations for their upcoming (Mar 3) Bike to Eugene Challenge, when a gaggle of riders will pedal 140 miles from Portland to the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the University of Oregon. Being her neighborhood shop we're so pleased to put together a little care package for the group of bicyclists on their long ride.


We're hoping to do more for next year's ride, with a little more notice. Until then I hope the conference is awesome and we're looking for a full recap of the ride when they get back!

As promised, Truce is ready.

Two backpacks ready for you to come and check out. Like I mentioned last week, the detailing is really impressive. Reflective bits abound to add little pecks of visibility at night. The lines of the backpacks are smooth. The size of these "medium" backpacks leaves me feeling it would hold just everything I need on a day to day basis without letting me overpack. Not pictured are special cords (stowed in the top compartment) which attach easily to side buckles and can turn into compression straps if you find yourself out and about needing just a little more space.

Made primarily of reclaimed marine grade materials and USA made bits and bobbles, these backpacks show Luke's commitment to growing a sustainable company. Here's an excerpt from Truce's website:

Truce builds resilient, fashionable and environmentally responsible bags and accessories for men and women. Crafted with reclaimed and high-performance materials, Truce bags are sleek, durable and weatherproof. Our products are proudly made in the USA.

Truce prides itself on re-purposing high-performance fabrics that may have been otherwise discarded. Sails, waterproof drysuit cloth, and ballistic weaves are reclaimed and assembled with high-performance hardware at our shop in Portland, Oregon. At Truce, everything we make is a limited edition.

I'm really excited to be carrying Truce Designs. It just warms my little Bike Craft loving heart.

Coming Soon! Truce Designs

Oh so soon, you'll be able to shop and compare not 1, not 2 yet 3 local bag makers at our shop. Soon, and very soon we'll have two backpacks by Truce Designs up on our Bike Craft Wall.

These bags are seriously detailed and well thought out. I spoke with Luke when he dropped the bags off earlier this morning and every detail on the bag has a reason behind it. One of the things I was ultimately impressed with is Luke's commitment to sourcing as many of his materials from US manufacturers as possible. From USA made buckles (all except the whistle buckle) to USA made zippers and reclaimed marine materials for the bodies, these backpacks are tight.

My snapshot does no justice to the superb craftsmanship. For beautiful photos and explanation of features visit Truce's website  and blog respectively.

We'll have, to start, the medium backpack retailing for $230. Save up your nickels and dimes boys and girls, until then we're drooling right next to you.

Bike Craft Goods in the House

A little compendium of the current selection of Black Star goods and North St Bags we have at the shop..

Oregon pri-zide showing up with a brown applique on pine green cordura. Hip pouch with ready-made awesomeness, belt included.

A Tan (with yellow?) insides convertible pannier to backpack. This is the Woodward style from North St Bags.

The other North St convertible pannier in stock, wine with blue accents.

Black Star messenger bag, understated brown with the Black Star.

A leftie messenger bag, the bag goes on opposite most messenger bags. The advantage? When you're checking over your left shoulder in traffic, you can actually see what's behind you because the high bulk of the bag is over your other shoulder.

Same leftie bag with showing the green innards.

Black Star bags have reflective bottoms so cars behind can see you at night. (Not a replacement for a rear light, yet handy additional visibility.)

Aaron with the empty bag on.

Black Star Bags wallets! One of the ways Black Star reduces waste is by converting smaller scraps into useful objects like wallets. heart.

Remodel complete

While it still just looks like the mechanic area of a bike repair shop, we're real proud of our mini-winter-remodel a couple of weeks ago.

Stuff that was piled on Ian's floor, piled on Ian's bench.

Aaron and Clinton moved most/all of the other stuff that was taking up floor space. 

Where'd all the stuff go? Down on the sales floor, one of the many reasons we had to close for the process.

We all met Monday morning, caffeine in hand, to tackle the carpet removal.

With everything moved, it became so much easier to see just how disgusting the carpet had become over 3 years of mechanickery.

 It's so satisfying to see a transformation like this, tearing up the carpet and padding and tack bars and staples and all, ah. . . accomplishment!

 And suddenly a ninja appeared.

 Pry bars and hammers were necessary to get all the tack bars detached.

 After dozens of rounds of sweeping, Ian and Clinton decided the floor was sufficiently prepped for the floor sealer, which meant it was time to don shoe booties to avoid tracking any dust/dirt upstairs.

 Everything's back in place and we added some shelving units. And hopefully the new shelves will aide in better organization versus just more stuff.

Shelves! Oh, btw those stacked rims are all tubular rims that we would l-o-v-e to sell. Get in touch if you're interested ABetterCycle [at] gmail [dot] com.

Closed for mild remodeling next week.

We're redoing the mechanics' flooring upstairs, and it's going to be a giant project of tearing up old carpet, sealing, waiting, sealing and waiting. At the end, it will be worth it, but we're going to need some time to work and then let it all air out so:

we will be
CLOSED
for mild remodeling
on
MON Jan 17
TUE Jan 18
WED Jan 19

normal hours will resume
(if everything goes as planned)
THUR Jan 20

We are sorry for the inconvenience

New Product! M.U.T.s from Randi Jo Fabrications

Check these out. A multi-use tote (M.U.T.) for storing bits and bobbles, cans or bottles. The most awesome feature is the versatility of mounting.

photos courtesy of Randi Jo Fabrications

You can: 
A// slide it into an unused water bottle cage (a special pocket slides over the bottle cage lip to help secure in place)
B// use the velcro straps to mount it under your saddle, or
C// mount it on your top tube (secure to your head tube to keep in place).

Rachel's favorite is a tie between the turquoise and red, and the teal and orange.

Handmade, storage goodness is yours for just $24 ea. Made lovingly by hand in Cottage Grove, Oregon.