at their shop on SE 11th and Division.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)
You know the local bike industry is healthy when niches are created within niches. That seems to be what’s happening now in Portland’s thriving cargo bike scene. Made up of advocates, builders, retailers, and buyers, our local cargo bike industry is alive and well.
Blaq Design is just one local business riding the wave.
Paul Johnson and Jeremy Neal are the men behind Blaq. They moved to Portland from Ohio back in 2010 and have been gaining a strong foothold ever since by making both stock and custom messenger bags, backpacks and other products. By 2010, Portland’s cargo bike industry was already several years old and Johnson and Neal wasted no time getting involved with it. At the Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show that year, they debuted an innovative fabric cargo bin created through a collaboration with Joe Bike owner Joe Doebele.
Blaq would collaborate again with Doebele on a canopy for his Shuttlebug cargo bike (which has since ceased production). The Shuttlebug, like many popular cargo bikes, has large bin in front which is perfect for kids and groceries. The only problem is when it’s rainy and/or cold, the contents of the bin have no protection. That’s where a canopy comes in. As these type of bikes have become more and more popular in Portland, so too has demand for canopies to protect precious cargo from the elements.
Doebele noted the need for a better canopy design after realizing that the only ones on the market came from Holland via the legendary Bakfiets brand or via cheap Chinese knockoffs of the Bakfiets model. So, with some key design tweaks and Blaq in his corner to execute them, Doebele helped pioneer a new design for use on his Shuttlebugs.
With Doebele no longer making the Shuttlebug, Johnson and Neal have continued to improve the canopy design and they’ve found a healthy market for them. They currently make canopies as original equipment (OEM) on bikes from CETMA, Metrofiets, and Larry vs Harry.
(Photo by Blaq Design)
The Blaq canopy is different from others on the market in some key ways: It’s taller so it fits well over your hands while on the bars and gives kiddos with helmets on plenty of room without rubbing against the tpo; the large rear opening also gives the rider better access into the bin and also improves airflow; and there are integrated pockets on the inside of the canopy. The frame is held together with fiberglass poles that are under tension and the canopy is tethered to the bike via heavy-duty grommets. It’s made from gunboat sail material so it’s very durable.
“This is a market we never would have never seen before. We sort of stumbled into it.”— Jeremy Neal, Blaq Design
Price for a stock canopy is $250 and they offer custom creations starting at $300. Install doesn’t take long and Johnson says people can just roll on in with their bike and get one while they wait.
“This is a market we never would have never seen before,” said Neal during a recent visit to their shop near SE 11th and Division, “We sort of stumbled into it and it’s grown organically once people started hearing we were the canopy people.”
For Jessica Roberts, a north Portland resident and mom of a 3 1/2 year old, the Blaq canopy was an upgrade from a stock Bakfiets canopy. Roberts likes the “clamshell loading” of the Blaq design because it makes loading in her son Calvin and her Brompton much easier. “And the open back is great for conversations,” she says, adding that it still has enough hangover to keep Calvin dry in the rain. “And when we do add a second kid to the bench, there’s scads of room for both of their little heads. Just a great product.”
In just two years, canopies now make up 20% of Blaq’s total sales. Neal says they’ve made about 100 canopies so far and orders keep coming in. The strong response now has Neal and Johnson already thinking of an expanded Blaq Cargo line of product that will include tonneau covers, full bike covers (a customer in Japan has already ordered one), fabric seats (for inside cargo bins), seatbelt straps, and more.
— Check out great photos of a Blaq canopy installation from Shane MacRhodes in Eugene and learn more at BlaqDesign.com