October 2009

Belive it or not, Manifest continues to roll along. Last Friday, Olson and I hopped on board the Builders Tour led by Pedal Bike Tours. We started out visiting Jordan Hufnagel's spot up on Ankeny. Jordan has been getting quite a bit of attention lately, and rightfully so. His bikes are REALLY nice: clean classic lines, beautiful paint and rugged functionality. 

This was a 650b city bike just inside the front door. So slick.

Though it wasn't a Hufnagel, this classic rig had some really nice lines as well. Dig that vegan ice cream cart.

After Hufnagels shop, we pedaled over to Belmont to shoe horn our group into Tony Pereira's 300 odd square foot shop. Tony is a buddy of PDW, but we'd never swung by his place. Everything is at an arms reach, and in true Pereira style it was simple, beautiful and functional. Here is a pic of Tony's head and the group.

I'm pretty sure these were some bowling trophies or something, he kind of had them hidden behind a mill.

Just kidding, those are trophies from the 2007 NAHBS show where Tony cleaned up.

After Tony's shop, we rolled to the Vanilla Workshop. WOW. That is all I can say. Very cool place, and I expected no less. Sacha White has built quite a legacy in the custom bike world, and after seeing the shop it is obvious why: details.

The above shot is of the entrance. Just as you come in, to your right visitors learn about the Speedvagen brand.

Yeah, those are Speedvagen brass knuckles. Had to take a picture of those.

Just a sampling of the tubes Vanilla keeps on hand.

A close up shot of the Zona stay inventory.

Sacha considers Vanilla #1, a cross bike he built for himself more than 10 years ago.

After we left Vanilla (and after seeing a woman come in to buy a pair of $50 pit boots), we pointed the group to the north, and headed for Ahearn and MAP HQ. The block where there shop is also contains Metropolis and Pedal Bike Tours. Joseph Ahearn's work caught my eye a number of years ago, and his bikes continue to impress me. Mitch Pryor's work at MAP, won him best city bike at this years NAHBS, and award that Ahearn has taken home before. By this point in the ride, I was on shop overload. I turned my attention to some small details.

The neatness, and the importance of their files.

And the detail and the individual styles in their brands. Overall, it was a great tour, and I feel really lucky to have the opportunity to see such cool things. Thanks to all the builders for having us.

Hey folks, we've sold through the first batch of Payload racks. That being said, most of them were bought by our distributors, so you may be able to get one from your local bike shop. We'll have more on the site, but it won't be until this winter.

Last night, as part of Oregon Manifest, we held a screening of Brian Vernor's movie We Just Work Here with our friends from Shower's Pass, Tonic Fabrication, Ruckus Componenets and Beloved. Beer was imbibed in large quantities and people seemed to dig the movie.

We also raised a mountain of food and cash for the food bank. I'd call the mix of food "eclectic," perhaps demonstrated best by the 8 pound can of Dinty Moore beef stew next to a container of soy milk.

DP and I spent some time in the wind tunnel today dialing in our aerodynamics. Seems my down vest created a lot of drag. Who knew?