Drawing a parallel between the power of the simple bicycle and the work of the American Civil Liberties Union, locally-based Portland Design Works has taken a stand against the Trump administration.

From today through February 14th the company just announced they will donate 100 percent of gross sales in their online store — RidePDW.com — to the ACLU.

PDW founder Erik Olson said the decision is about trying to make a difference in these extraordinary times.

“Normally our charitable contributions are aimed at efforts to get more people out there riding bikes,” he shared with BikePortland via email this morning. “But these aren’t normal times. We have to do what we can to ensure, like we recited in grade school, ‘liberty and justice for all.'”[Read more…]

The Portland Design Works team: (L to R) Jocelyn Gaudi, marketing manager; Matt Cittadini, sales manager; Hazel Gross, office manager; Chris Smitherman, warehouse and customer service coordinator; Erik Olson, founder.
(Photos: J. Maus & PDW)

Just over eight years since he founded Portland Design Works, 37-year-old Erik Olson is about close out one of the toughest ones yet. In the past six months he’s endured the departure of his co-founder and business partner, lagging sales thanks to a global downturn in the bike industry, pesky counterfeiters, and an unexpected cross-town move. Despite these hurdles, Olson is sanguine about the future.

“We’re moving in the right direction as a company,” he shared from the floor of his warehouse on Southeast 21st Avenue during a visit yesterday. They’re located just a stones-throw from the new Lafayette Street Bridge (which he and other employees use with their bikes every day) and the Orange MAX line.
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Uma Kleppinger.
(Photo: Cyclone Bicycle)

One hire and one big change at the top are the latest stories from our local bike industry.

Cyclone Bicycle, a Portland based bike parts and accessory distributor, has hired Üma Kleppinger as its marketing content manager. And Dan Powell, co-founder of Portland Design Works is leaving the company.

Check out the press release below for more details on the Cyclone Bicycle news:

Kleppinger comes to Cyclone with 15 years of content creation and creative services experience, working in numerous markets. She has 6 years of experience in the cycling industry working as a copywriter, branding specialist and marketing consultant. She is a freelance editorial writer for national cycling publications, and has served as Editor-in-Chief on Specialized’s digital magazine, Your Ride, Your Rules.

“I’ve been looking for an opportunity to get on board with a growing bike brand where the diversity of my branding and content experience will directly contribute to that growth,“ said Kleppinger. “Working with big brands is exciting, but I especially enjoy helping to elevate emerging brands.”

Cyclone has enjoyed a growth spurt lately, with the recent acquisition of Action Bicycle USA and signing several new brands.The company has also restructured and expanded its Portland headquarters, underscoring the need to expand the marketing department.
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Portland Design Works’ new City Rover and the “Scout” from North St. Bags.

Two of our favorite local companies have just announced new products: Portland Design Works has a new headlight and North St. Bags just went big with a whole new line of duffel bags.
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There are many reasons we love Portland Design Works. They’re based right here in Portland, they give back to the community through sponsorship of events like trail work parties and Rider Appreciation Day on Williams Avenue, they make our Ride Alongs possible, and they happen to make very functional and well-designed products for cycling.
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We’re excited to announce the winners of our Ride Along contest!
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We’re excited to announce a new partnership with Portland Designs Works. And we’re kicking it off with a contest that will win three lucky readers $300 worth of PDW gear.

This fantastic local company first sprung into our hearts back in 2009 and has really hit their stride in the last few years thanks to a line of smartly designed products, creative spirit and authentic commitment to our community.

Now, PDW has stepped up to be the official sponsor of our Ride Along series! That’s the regular feature we’ve been doing for just over three years now where I meet up with a reader at their house and join them for their ride into work. Along the way, we get to know the person and we see their ride — the good, the bad, and the ugly parts — from their perspective.[Read more…]

Two new products from Portland-based bike companies deserve your attention — especially as evening commutes get darker and rides get colder.

Body-Mapped Baselayer from Showers Pass

Male version shown. It also comes in a female version.

Showers Pass rain jackets are sort of an unofficial uniform for Portland bike riders. Given how many of them dot the streetscape when weather turns wet and cold, you’d think they were handed out at the border.
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Wine Up, a wine bar on Williams Ave, gave away free snacks and drinks to bicycle riders yesterday.
(Photos by J Maus/BikePortland)

What often gets lots in emotional planning meetings and divisive media headlines is that, in reality, many business owners in Portland not only support bicycling, they embrace and encourage it. Nowhere was that more evident than last night’s Rider Appreciation Day on N Williams Ave.[Read more…]

Just part of PDW’s large family of lights.

— Note from the Publisher: Please join me in welcoming Nicholas Von Pless and Alana Harris to the BikePortland team. Regular readers know that this site does not review products very often. That’s something I’ve been wanting to change for a long time, and Nicholas and Alana are going to help finally make it happen. Stay tuned as we post more reviews and fine-tune the format to make these as readable and useful as possible. Email feedback to jonathan@bikeportland.org. Thanks for reading. — Jonathan
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