Last night I finally got down to the Lucky Lab to join the Chris King Tour de France viewing party. Chris King Components is based just a few miles from the Lab and they started the Tour party tradition last year when their headsets were ridden by Lance Armstrong to his 7th straight Tour victory. … Read more
[via Bicycle Retailer and Industry News] Congrats to local shop River City Bicycles for being named the #1 single-location Specialized Bicycle dealer in the country. I guess that despite the community’s misgivings about how Specialized treated locally-based Mountain Cycle, plenty of people still prefer bikes from the “Big S” (I have to admit, they do … Read more
[Cover of PDC brochure,circa 1996.] There is a lot of buzz in Portland right now about the local bicycle industry. In recent weeks, spurred on by Transportation Commissioner Sam Adams, we have created our first-ever economic survey of Portland’s bicycle industry, held a bike business forum at our city-wide Bike Summit, passed an official City … Read more
There’s a new bike shop in Southeast Portland called Atomic Sprockets. They’re nestled in an old building at 627 SE Morrison (between 6th and 7th). They’ve got a fun mix of new and vintage cruisers including bikes from classic brands like Schwinn, Monarch, Hawthorne, JC Higgins, and Western Flyer and new cruisers from Nirve, Manhattan, … Read more
Hundreds of cyclists packed City Hall last night to bask in Portland’s rich artisan bicycle culture at the first-ever Made in Portland Bicycle Show and Art Exhibition. The crowds were thick and the energy and good times flowed like the free Widmer beer. The bike show was the epicenter of the event. The marble floors, … Read more
[Evan gets his point across.] The Portland City Council unanimously passed a resolution today making the bicycle industry a recognized and targeted part of our economy. Mia Birk, principal at Alta Planning and Design (and former Bike Program manager for PDOT) presented her firm’s recent research to Mayor Potter and Commissioners Adams, Leonard, Sten and … Read more
I just got home from vacation (been gone since Saturday) and on my way into town I noticed fresh paint on an old building at the corner of Killingsworth and Vancouver. Upon further inspection I noticed this sign in the window, “Coming Soon: Cycling Center” Turns out the owner is Ben Bartlett, a 50 year-old … Read more
[Mountain Cycle’s new owners.] Following up on my post from Tuesday, I just got off the phone with Kinesis USA President Michael Chen. He called to give me more details about last week’s sale of Mountain Cycle. Mountain Cycle has been sold to a Taiwanese company called Ideation Industrial. They’re a huge bicycle manufacturer established … Read more
The rumors on the street are true… I have just gotten official word from Kinesis USA President Michael Chen that Mountain Cycle has been sold. I don’t have many confirmed details yet (rumors abound), but I expect to hear more from Chen very soon.
[Photo by Dat.] I’m excited to announce the Made in Portland Bicycle Show and Art Exhibition coming to City Hall on Thursday July 6th from 5-8PM. Join us in a celebration of our artisan bicycle industry as we showcase Portland’s independent, custom builders and artists. As I reported last month, this event is part of … Read more
[Introducing Sweetpea Bicycles] Portland’s burgeoning crop of custom framebuilders just got a litte sweeter. Natalie Ramsland and her partner (in life and business) Austin have launched Sweetpea Bicycles. Natalie recently quit her job as a bike messenger and is now working full-tilt to design and build bikes especially for women. She has set up shop … Read more
[Cover of summarybrochure.] A consulting firm hired by the City of Portland Office of Transportation just completed an economic analysis of Portland’s bicycle industry. The final numbers say that our bicycle-related industry is worth $63 million to Portland’s regional economy (which has a total value of $17 billion) and that bicycles account for 800 jobs. … Read more