Say hello to Milano.(Rendering by Ankrom Moisan Architects) Here in Portland we’ve seen many commercial and residential developments that are built with bicycling in mind. Whether they’re directly marketed to people who ride bikes, or come with impressive bike parking, catering to Portlanders’ love of bicycling is nothing new. But the Milano Apartments, set to … Read more
Kris Akins(Photos courtesy Kris Akins) A few years ago, I called a GPS bike tracker the “Holy Grail” of bike theft. If someone could just develop a discreet, affordable GPS device that would allow someone to track their bike after it was stolen, I thought, we would have a potent weapon against the scourge of … Read more
SoupCycle Founder and CEO Jed Lazar pedals in downtown Portland. He estimates he’s made about 15,000 of the company’s 50,00 deliveries since July 2008.(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland) Sometime this week, locally based SoupCycle will make its 50,000th delivery. It’s a milestone that company founder Jed Lazar says “feels incredible and unreal.”
Bike parking inside the Chris King factory.(Photo: King Cycle Group) In 2011, one local company gave its employees 216 days in paid time off just for riding their bikes to work. Offering serious incentives for bicycling is part of a tried and true recipe for success at King Cycle Group, the parent company of Chris … Read more
That’s right. 100% made here in Portland.(Photos © J. Maus) President Barack Obama made headlines yesterday as he announced a new effort to re-ignite America’s manufacturing base by hiring from within — within the United States that is. Obama, with Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and CEO of locally based Keen Footwear by his side, talked … Read more
Powers (L) and McDonald post-race.(Photo courtesy Rapha/CXMagazine.com) Apparel company Rapha, whose North American headquarters are in North Portland, had a big weekend at the 2012 Cyclocross National Championships. The races, held in Madison, Wisconsin, featured the nation’s top cyclocross talent together to vie for bragging rights in what has become one of the fastest-growing bike … Read more
Athletepath President David Embree.(Photo courtesy David Embree) The Oregonian reports today that yet another arm of Portland’s local bike economy is alive and well: Athletepath, a software startup that launched this past February, has received $300,000 from investors. The company was founded by Portland resident and bike racer David Embree as a tool to offer … Read more
(Photo: Velo Cult) Bicycle Retailer & Industry News is reporting that Velo Cult, a well-known bike shop based in San Diego, California, plans to relocate to Portland by mid-January: “Boyer has narrowed his location search to two spaces in Portland that are four to five times the 1,200 square feet he has been operating out … Read more
Tandems on display at Co-Motion Cycles in west Eugene(Photos: Will Vanlue) During my time in Eugene, in addition to seeing the city’s new cycle track, I stopped by Co-Motion Cycles for a tour of their facilities. My initial plan was to take a look at some of the interesting facts about the production of their … Read more
Frames at the Sapa factory.(Photo: Sapa) Bicycling Magazine reports that Portland-based Sapa Extrusions — the largest U.S. bike maker — has decided to “Cease contract bicycle manufacturing operations.” According to Bicycling’s Chris Lesser, Sapa churned out 75,000 to 90,000 frames at its peak in the year 2000. You likely haven’t heard of Sapa because they … Read more
The world of bicycle shifting is dominated by two big names: Shimano and Campagnolo (and to a lesser extent SRAM). Now an upstart Portland entrepreneur is throwing his hat in the ring with a new product called Retroshift. As its name implies, Retroshift is old technology with a new spin. The product is a lever … Read more
Joel Sheley of Spoketown Cargo secures a load on his delivery bike. Joel Sheley is the latest Portlander to be swept up in the local bike business wave. Sheley has launched Spoketown Cargo with hopes of building a business delivering goods by bike.