Many Portland bike users don’t realize how to use
detector loops like the one at NE Tillamook and
MLK Boulevard.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Though a bill as seemingly uncontroversial as state Senate Bill 533 isn’t the sort of thing we’d usually bother covering, some coverage today that originated in The Oregonian certainly has people talking.

As the O correctly explains in the seventh paragraph of the web version of its front-page story, SB 533 would make it legal to “proceed with caution” through a red light that is trying, but failing, to detect one’s bicycle or motorcycle. This would only be allowed after someone has waited through a full cycle.

Here’s how Oregonian reporter and columnist Joseph Rose and his editors chose to explain this bill:

[Read more…]

Made in Portland for Anthropologie.
(Photos: Signal Cycles)

North Portland based bicycle makers Signal Cycles‘ new “picnic bikes” will soon be available for sale at Anthropologie.com. The national retail chain contacted Signal after several months ago after learning about the “Fremont” bike they created for the Oregon Manifest Design Competition last year.

Signal Cycles co-owner Matt Cardinal says a buyer from Anthropologie was interested in a picnic-themed bike and it was an idea he and his partner Nate Meschke had already been thinking about. The bikes feature a 3-speed rear hub, a large front wicker basket, a step-through frame, and a hub-powered front light.[Read more…]

Matt Cardinal (L) and Nate Meschke
of Signal Cycles.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Portland bike company Signal Cycles is the on rise. Nate Meschke and Matt Cardinal, the two artists/bike builders behind Signal, have announced that they’ve outgrown their backyard shop and are set to move into a new, 2,000 foot commercial space on N. Williams Avenue that they’ll share with another Portland bike business, wheel maker Corsa Concepts.
[Read more…]

Matt Cardinal and Nate Meschke of Signal Cycles.

Mark DiNucci took home Best of Show. (Photos © J. Maus)

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2009 Oregon Manifest Design
Challenge winner Tony Pereira and
event organizer Shannon Holt at
the launch party tonight.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The 2011 Oregon Manifest Design Challenge is shaping up to be a potential game-changer in the bicycle world. Oregon Manifest is a non-profit organization that “exists to celebrate and amplify bike craft, design and innovation.” Launched in 2008, the organization — and the event — have matured considerably since their last event in 2009. What began with a bike show, roller races, and some great parties in 2008, morphed into a celebration of bike advocacy, art, bikes and more in 2009. After a year hiatus, Oregon Manifest seems to have finally found its focus — the exciting meld between industrial design and bicycle craftsmanship.[Read more…]

A bike fit for a 7-ft NBA center.
-Slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

7-foot 1-inch backup center Joel Przybilla of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers is the proud new owner of a fully-custom, 29-inch wheeled steel mountain bike made by Signal Cycles (a small, two-man shop based in a residential neighborhood in North Portland). I got a peek at the bike last week before it left the Lake Oswego Bike Gallery store.
[Read more…]

Nate Meschke of Signal Cycles
with a 29-inch mountain
bike in the works for NBA player
Joel Przybilla.
(Photos: Matt Cardinal)

Local bike builders Matt Cardinal and Nathan Meschke of North Portland-based Signal Cycles (profile) have a tall order to fill; they’re working on a new bike for 6-foot 11-inch Trail Blazers star Joel Przybilla.

Przybilla already owns a Eugene-built Co-Motion hybrid bike that he purchased through the Lake Oswego Bike Gallery store, but his new bike will be a 29-inch mountain bike he plans to ride on the dirt trails near his home.
[Read more…]

Portland builder Aaron Hayes is in
Indianapolis for NAHBS this weekend.
He earned the “Best New Builder”
award last year.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) (that was hosted by Portland in 2008), may have moved to Indianapolis this year, but Portland builders will still make an impact.

The event, which is expected to draw over 7,000 attendees, opens today and runs through the weekend.

Among the Portland builders in attendance are; Mitch Pryor (MAP Bicycles), Sacha White (Vanilla Bicycles), Jordan Hufnagel (Hufnagel Cycles), Chris King (Cielo), Joseph Ahearne (Ahearne Cycles), Matt Cardinal and Nate Meschke (Signal Cycles) and Aaron Hayes (Courage).[Read more…]

The Bike Show on KBOO FM (90.7 in Portland) was home to a discussion of Portland’s bike economy last week.

Show hosts Tori Bortman (a part of that economy herself as the owner of Gracie’s Wrench) and Carl Larson talked about bikes and business with Matt Cardinal of Signal Cycles, Jennifer Nolfi, bike industry sector liaison for the Portland Development Commission, and Jessica Roberts of Portland-based consulting group Alta Planning.

Listen to an MP3 of the show here.

The work of Nate Meschke and Matt Cardinal.
(Photos © Jonathan Maus)

[Read more…]