Seagull Bags has been hard at work all month making some custom bags spec’d by the OPEN crew, featuring an embroidered shop logo in addition to the usual Seagull flag.  The shoulder bags and backpacks offer hand-picked features and colorways and were handmade for us in Columbus, Ohio, with all the love and care you would expect from a home-grown company.

“Our designs are completely original, and we work very hard to offer you something completely different from the other guys’. From our 3-ply construction to our original strap designs, we are trying to change the way that people think about messenger-style bags. Our cam buckle strap system is one of a kind, and despite a lot of companies now having strangely similar systems (and weirdly coincidental constructions), ours is the original; our designs are all time-tested and are constantly refined, because we want each bag to be the best bag we’ve ever made.” – seagullbags.com

The bags will be available for purchase from OPEN and we will also be serving as Seagull’s local custom bag retailer.  The company offers a dizzying number of colors, options and features; we can help you determine the right custom bag for your needs.  They take about 4 weeks to be made, a mere fraction of the many years these bags will last… come check them out next week, only at OPEN Bicycle.

Some of the feedback has been of a different color.  A famous blogger (the irony of that title isn’t lost on us) called us “hipster Ron Popiels,” I suppose in reference to the fact that our tool has a story behind it.  Maybe I’m mistaken, but I thought that all the commotion with the “local” movement had something to do with the idea that enlightened urban consumers were tired of purely transactional lives- they wanted to know the people that grew their chard and made their furniture and brazed their bike frames.

When we had moved through the prototyping process and started looking at manufacturing, we sat down and discussed the notion of overseas production.  Taiwan could have made the tool (with nameless underage laborer and cartel-run mill factories) for a fraction of the price our one-man operation in Cambridge did.  We could have used cheaper steel and large-scale finishing for a poorer-quality and less attractive product.  There were easy pathways to anyone being able to buy the tool from Nashbar for thirty bucks.

That shit’s been done, though.  We wanted this project to be an experiment in local production, from concept to completion.  The $80 pricetag relects the real costs of making something with people you know by name, in the city you live in.  Yeah, it’s expensive.  So are those awesome $5 lattes made by the endearing barrista at your favorite locally-owned coffeshop,  the $400 CSA share that brings healthy and beautiful heirloom veggies to your door, and the $2000 custom touring frame that you had built to fit you for life by the eccentric mustachioed framebuilder.  We could have made this tool in China and we probably would have made some money that way, as well.  But, as I was told long ago when I was still a young mechanic with a glimmer in my eye, if you’re in the bike world to make money, you’re doing it wrong.

The first run of the Rotafixer was 40 pieces, largely due to being cash-strapped young entrepreneurs.  There’s a few left-we’re considering a second run but there’s a million other projects to work on so this may be it.  Big thanks to all who helped and contributed.

PS If you’re looking for a less expensive bike tool, consider the BSNYC Wisecracker.  If there is anything the bike world needs, it’s another bottle opener.

On a balmy summer evening last year, my friend and crack-shot designer/engineer-at-large Aaron Panone and I were working through our second or third Perfect Manhattans at the Indo and bullshitting about bike tool design.  I recall (somewhat indistinctly) a “Aha!” moment occurring.  The next morning, we dug a few crumpled kitchen checks covered with scribbled drawings out of our pockets and got to work.  Three prototypes, thousands of dollars, and a year later, we’re very pleased to release the T0001 “Rotafixer” tool under the Union Foundry label.

Confused as to what this thing does? Stebs at Paper Fortress shot a very cool how-to video:

The result of passion-driven collaborative design and production, the T0001 was engineered, tested, machined and finished entirely in the Boston area.  Exclusively for sale through OPEN, online and in the shop.  Details here.

A number of months ago, in the midst of a prolonged build-out on the new shop, one of the crew (now forgotten whom and of little importance in the long run of time) mentioned a blog post seen somewhere; a new player on the scene; a something different take on the whole “let’s-make-track-bikes” circuit.  A phone call was made.  I wish I had a pic of Turk on the celly on this chilly February day in the not-so-distant past.  A stand-in image:

Went something like this… (translation by the author)

Turk:  “Yo Livery peeps! Boston here- we likes what you do.  Info on the double- hand it down & let us grok the get-go!”

Livery: “We do right-right!  Brainstorm tornado alley here in the O.C.  You see the brass!  Clearcoats go on top of metal and sparkle on top of other clearcoats!  Fire up the aerospace rocket-maker 5-axis shit!  Dial up Hong Kong!  Deadstock Prestige meets space-age moderno-tech- dig mad colorways and forward-thought meets neo-retro-fuck-it’s-cool…  holler!”

So we did.  I started chatting with Nate and Scott at Livery and a new relationship was born.  Today an enormous box arrived via UPS (thanks to our driver, Tony) and we excitedly dug in.  After unearthing the David Hasselhof-emblazoned thank-you card (that played the Baywatch theme when opened), we got into some serious frame action.  Behold.

LDG uses an assortment of Reynolds and Tange tubing built into some of the most classy and innovative frames we’ve seen.  Designed in Orange County and built to their exacting spec in Japan and Taiwan, Livery frames and components offer top-shelf craftsmanship, dialed geometries,  beautiful finishes, and subtle but definitive touches.

First order of business after cleaning up all the drool was getting the Toyo-built Livery Fillet-Brazed frame up in the stand for our friend Benny, owner of Savant Project.  Benny and I sat down a bit back and banged out a clean build kit for his new Livery and it came together like crunchy peanut butter and raspberry jam:

Dusted-off NOS Tange Prestige tubing fillet-brazed to Livery spec by Toyo.  Raw torched finish with dumb-clean wet clearcoat.

Perma-classy build includes San Marco suede Regal and Velo Orange sew-on elkhide barwrap.

I hand-built the wheelset- Miche lows to Velocity bight silver Aeros, DT comps.  Radial up front for some sexy, 2x in the back.  Low flange is the new high flange, kids.

Livery pursuit bars in the Rb-021 style.

The rest of the kit was sensible-yet-turbo: Miche, EAI, Izumi, and VO bits.

Benny looks happy.  This is the reason we do what we do.

We are Livery’s new exclusive Boston area dealer.  We are extremely proud to offer this well-designed, carefully built, and reasonably-priced finery to the East Coat. Come by and let us talk your ear off about how much we like this stuff!

and we stayed kinda late,

and yeah, we may have graffiti’d the Geekhaus bikes,

but a wonderful time was had by all and we had the chance to reconnect with many of you all who we haven’t seen in a long time.

Big thanks to Armando, framebuilder-extraordinaire from Quiros Frames (website coming, for real),

Matt Finkle AKA I Love My Bike Book dude,

Jon-Boy for running logistics, David / Seeds Sewn for the recycled tube bags,  J. Stark for the clean pics, and Jamie Reneé for the interdisciplinary everythings.  Carry on!

Jeff and the other cats at All-City have officially welcomed OPEN team rider Sean Milnes to the ranks.  Sean hails from New Haven and has been riding hard and repping for OPEN for the last year, gaining acclaim and attention with his smooth style and unequaled determination.  Sean joins a respected team with a strong base in Minneapolis (my hometown) and riders spanning the country.  OPEN proudly stocks All-City frames and components and we’re thrilled to see Sean supported by such a solid company.  Congratulations, Sean!

Today is the Redbones Annual Bike Party, a benefit for NEMBA and MassBike.  OPEN is sharing a booth with the I Love My Bike Book folk and we’ll be promoting the 2010 Boston BFF, as well.  We’re closing a bit early today, but drop by Davis Square, get some good eats, check out the brass band,  and say hi if you’re around!

Filming Myself #3 from Paper Fortress on Vimeo.

Our good friend (and my new roomie) Stebs just released another BMX self-portrait.  Ever-capable of connoting those often indescribable notes and colors and subtle feelings of space with his medium, Stebs documents his determination and finesse around the neighborhood.  Check out the Paper Fortress website for more….

Yesterday’s I Love My Bike Book Ride was a smashing success- the Square was packed with kind folk and their beloved bikes and Finkle led everyone around on a scenic tour/photoshoot of the Somerville/Cambridge/Boston area.  Thanks to all who came out and hung out.  FYI’s: we’ve got a good stock of the Chris Piascik- designed tees, printed on American Apparel, in stock now at OPEN.

If you didn’t know already, our good friends and local power-duo Matt Finkle and Brittian Sullivan have found a publisher for their I Love My Bike Book!  OPEN is hosting a Boston area meet-up today, to be followed by a ride and photoshoot on this lovely Memorial Day- get here!