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A month after the autumnal equinox I found myself on a 15-hour drive up the backbone of California to attend the 2019 Chris King Open House. After last year’s event, I wondered if the event would be as splendid as the year prior. I must admit, I was surprised.
Coming from last year’s all-male panel at the Industry Summit, Chris King has swung the pendulum and filled out an all-female panel at this year’s Open House. Check out the live feed here and be sure to skip the hour-long lunch break in the middle. ;-)
Kudos to all these brands!
Last year’s Chris King Open House was a great time and this year, to coincide with their two new colors for 2020, the factory will be open to the public once again, and once again, a number of beautiful custom bikes will be on display from a whole roster of talented builders. We’ll be covering each bike in detail, as well as the weekend’s events, so please, come out and enjoy the hangs with food, beer, and Beautiful Bicycles. Head to the event’s Facebook Page to sign up so they know how many to expect and we’ll see ya there!
Portland Design Works takes us on a ride on the various terrains surrounding their home base of Portland, Oregon to showcase some of their products many uses.
In case you missed this in our Shop Visit to Rivelo today, we’re posting it in Radar! Be sure to check out this ride if you’re in the Portland area on Saturday. Roman and Will will be on the ride, shooting film, and it’s leaving from Rivelo at 11:30am sharp, Saturday, July 27th.
This is the unofficial mantra of Rivelo in Portland, Oregon, the only Rivendell bike shop in Portland. Crazy, right!?! That’s what I thought too! Rivelo is also the only bike shop in the world that only carries Rivendell. There are no All-City, Crust, Rawland, Velo Orange, Soma, or any other bikes but Rivendells. While many bike shops carry brands that have all been inspired by Rivendell or maybe even wouldn’t exist without Rivendell. Rivelo makes it a point to just carry Rivendell. They aren’t scared of 1″ threaded headsets and rim brakes, that’s for damn sure!
The world of MUSA jerseys is surprisingly small for the US being the textile powerhouse it used to be. ANTHM is looking to change that with their made in Portland Merino Wool and Polyester blend jerseys for men and women. Their designs are minimal, with no loud branding or extra flair, perfect for the minimalist who wants functionality over flashy fashion. They make a short sleeve and long sleeve jersey for men and women at a price point akin to synthetic jerseys. Head on over to ANTHM Collective to check out their offerings.
Christopher Russell’s Art Rambler is a Mobile Paint Studio
Photos by Krishna Muirhead and Words by Chris Russell
We were on a ride when I told Alex the idea.
Thinking about an art piece while pedaling was nothing new, many of my paintings can be linked back to a long ride or a short bike tour. Spending most of the day in the saddle gives me the opportunity to clear my head, observe the landscape, brainstorm, and talk with friends; it’s the perfect social activity for the semi-recluse artist. I can be silent for hours, and when there is something to say we talk.
“Alex, I want to make my bike into a mobile painting studio so I can bike out and paint the landscape. A custom rack that could turn into an easel would be awesome, and I’m hoping you can fabricate it.” This bike setup would eventually be the narrative foundation of my next art show.
RSVP at Ride PDW!
In huge news, two Portland powerhouses have joined forces under one roof. Sugar Wheel Works and Breadwinner Cycles will now occupy the Breadwinner Cycles space. Check out the whole press-release below and if you haven’t seen our Shop Visit to both shops, check them out in the Related Sidebar column.
Coffee and bikes. It’s a timeless pairing and one that Breadwinner Cycles, the Portland-based framebuilding operation, has embraced with their new cafe and shop. It’d been since 2015 when I got to visit their facilities, which at the time were in Tony Pereira’s house. Tony and Ira Ryan make up Breadwinner, along with some of their employees. Last year, Breadwinner opened their new shop and an adjacent cafe, along the bicycle expressway off North Williams. Since then, it’s become a hub for people meeting for group rides, or laptop-toting freelancers, and tourists like myself wanting to peek into the process that is making a Breadwinner.
PLP takes a look inside Golden Pliers and Makeshifter Bags in their latest video. Don’t miss our Shop Visit of Golden Plier and Makeshifter Bags if you haven’t seen it yet.
While I was shooting photos at Breadwinner, Russ from Path Less Pedaled showed up to do their shop visit video, which is very informative, so check it out!
Finally! I finally made it to a Chris King Open House. Over the years, I’ve heard how much fun these events are. The events began on Thursday with an Industry Summit. On Friday we rode out to Chris King’s barn for lunch and Saturday, the doors at the Chris King factory opened to the public where visitors could take tours of the facilities, see the DropSet in person, check out the new limited edition colors – Matte Mango and Matte Turquoise – and ogle the bikes on display from 18 frame builders.
We’ll take a look at those tomorrow, but for now, let’s look inside the Chris King Open House!
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Follow Chris King Precision Components on Instagram and check out more from the Open House at #ChrisKingOpenHouse.
I met Norther Cycles owner StarMichael back in 2015 here in Portland at the Bike and Beer festival where I shot one of his creations, a beautiful randonneuring frame. As with most of 2015’s content, when our server crashed, we lost the images. Bummer! So when Rie and the Sim Works crew said they were going to a few shops to deliver tires and racks, I tagged along, especially once I heard they were going to Norther Cycles.
This weekend is the Chris King Open House, an event open to the public for free. Coinciding with the open house are these two parties, beginning Friday night at the Chrome Hub, following up on Saturday is a party at the Athletic. See you there!
See you at the Chris King Open House this weekend! There will be a handful of bikes on display, as well as symposiums, and all are invited. All you’ve gotta do is RSVP on the Facebook event page. See ya there!
I Never Knew I Had a Sweet Tooth Until I Visited Sugar Wheel Works!
Photos and words by Kyle Kelley
I was introduced to Jude Gerace and her shop Sugar Wheel Works exactly three years ago. I saw a few photos of Jude and what looked like a bicycle laboratory on Chantal Anderson’s Instagram, one of my favorite modern photographers. She had shot photos of Jude and her space for Levi’s Commuter, but there was no link to an article or any more photos, so I started Googling. I was immediately taken to my friend Anna Maria’s website Pretty Damned Fast and was pleasantly surprised with more photos and even an interview with Jude, conducted by Anna Maria.