Advocate Cycles

Brews for Bikes - World Bicycle Relief

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Words and photos by Eric Hockman

As another 365 days pass and the age counter rolls another digit, it seems that each year tends to gain more momentum than the previous, causing time to blur by much like the trees that line my favorite sections of single track. It was right around four years ago that the dream to host an event for World Bicycle Relief (WBR) started swirling around in my mind. Back then it was just a distant but hopeful idea, so it’s hard to believe we just finished hosting year two of this very positive and extremely entertaining event. If you missed Brews for Bikes (B4B) last year at Mountain Toad Brewing in Golden, Colorado, you can read about the project on Pinkbike here. If you missed Brews for Bikes this year, well, where were you?

The overall vision and goal of WBR is to put bicycles in the hands of residents in African villages and cities to improve their quality of life in many ways. A bicycle to someone in Africa means that they can gain a better education, transport goods for small businesses and families more efficiently, and improve their chances of living a happier and healthier life.

For the second year running, my good friend Muhammad attended the event to enjoy all of the positive energy that comes along with it. Roughly seven years ago, he was granted amnesty to leave his refugee camp in Darfur, Sudan and bring his family to America to live a better and undoubtedly safer life. A few years later the two of us crossed paths as fellow mechanics at a shop in Seattle, WA, where I soon realized I needed to revisit my plan to send bikes to help people like him. As an immigrant and now resident of the United States he serves as a constant reminder that it is greatly important to continue helping others whenever possible. While speaking to those attending the event, he so eloquently noted that “Giving a person a bicycle in Africa is much like giving someone in America a very high-end car.” Much more can be accomplished when a person is mobilized via a form of reliable transportation.

This year we teamed up with many of the same contributors that were involved with the previous years project, but the most notable change in direction was the style of bike as well as the manufacturer. For B4B v2.0 the frame and fork were provided by Advocate Cycles; a company dedicated to sharing 100% of their profits with advocacy groups throughout the cycling community, so it seemed only fitting to join forces with them. The Lorax frame that we used to build this years custom Advocate/Buffalo collaboration arrived with a beautiful shade of pearlescent green paint and without it’s typical factory graphics. This blank canvas gave us the opportunity to lay down another set of customized graphics to mirror the Buffalo bikes that are sent to the field in Africa. Gaining help from friends throughout the cycling industry and local community is what makes this project thrive, and truly shows how big of a family the cycling community can be.

In it’s first iteration, Brews for Bikes was able to generate enough charitable contributions to send roughly 27 bikes to people in various parts of Africa. In it’s second year, the event did not produce quite as many bikes to send to Africa; however, the positive energy, education about WBR’s scope, and the nearly 20 bikes that will be sent to those in need was certainly a win to all that were involved.

Many thanks for everyone involved with the project:
- Advocate Cycles for the donation of a beautiful Lorax frame and fork,
- Victory Circle Graphix for the sharp custom graphics,
- Shimano for a sleek 105, 11 speed drivetrain and PRO components,
- Cane Creek for the bike jewelry-esque 110 headset,
- DT Swiss for the contribution of a smooth rolling Spline wheel set,
- Feedback Sports for the donation of a custom Pro-Elite repair stand and bicycle storage prizes,
- Pedal Fit PT for the donation of a custom bike fitting session,
- Jesse Crock for the donation of one of his incredible Colorado inspired paintings,
- Primal for sending out a box full of apparel,
- Hogshead Brewing and taproom for the venue space and donating proceeds from beer served at the event,
- SloHi Bike and Coffee for the excellent hospitality, coffee, and small parts for the bike build,
- World Bicycle Relief for the donation of stainless pint glasses and prizing,
- The Lookout Mountain Boys for putting on an always entertaining show,
- And most importantly for my good friend Muhammad from Sudan (by way of Seattle) for attending the event for the second year in a row.

As previously mentioned, this was the second year of Brews for Bikes, but keep your eyes open for another round of enjoying delicious brews, listening to good music, positive vibes, and most importantly, changing lives one bike at a time. Just make sure you don’t miss round three!

To learn more about World Bicycle Relief, please visit their website or to make a contribution to Brews for Bikes, please visit the event donation page.

Dealer Spotlight – Velorution

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Velorution Cycles and Bedrock Bags call Durango, Colorado, home. They are ideally situated in a solar-powered warehouse at one of the largest trailheads in town, with singletrack right out the front door. Velorution has been in business for a little over four years and just a couple months after Joey Ernst opened the shop, the maker of Bedrock Bags, Andrew Wracher, brought some of his first personal bikepacking bags into the shop having heard that Joey was into bikepacking. After a conversation about bikepacking, gear, and business, Bedrock became a reality.

Over the next four years Andrew and Joey worked closely with their separate businesses. Going into autumn of 2015, they decided to just up and combine everything—now they’re co-owners of what is, to their knowledge, the world’s first bikepacking-centric shop that actually makes gear on site.

Joey has been in the bike industry since he began working at a small-town Midwestern Schwinn shop in 1997—after spending years working in shops and on the World Cup MTB circuit as a mechanic, it was time to settle down. He didn’t know what else to do with himself besides stay with bicycles and so the bike shop was born.

His shop has also had quite an impact on the local cycling community. Before the mainstream cycling world had ever heard of bikepacking they had built up quite a little community of bikepacking adventurers in Durango. When they began, people would walk in the door, see the wall of bikepacking gear and say, “what is that strange stuff?” It’s very different now—people come in saying, “I’ve heard you’re the people to talk to about bikepacking.” Joey admits that for someone that’s rarely on the cutting edge of anything, “it’s pretty cool to be an originator in a movement that’s seeing a lot of traction.”

The shop is also involved in a handful of local and regional cycling events. Every other year Velorution hosts the start of the CTR (Colorado Trail Race), a race Joey has finished twice and absolutely loved every time. They are also heavily involved in the Colorado Endurance Series, a statewide, underground collection of no entry fee endurance events. They host about 4-6 of the races on the 17-event calendar every year and even created two of them—the Velorution Valkyrie backcountry fatbike race in January and the Velorution Venture multi-day bikepacking race in September.

Velorution really believes in the CES events because they take riders to amazing places—they don’t require participants to ride multiple laps on a boring course, they capture the essence of backcountry and self-supported riding, and they are free. Outside of the CES, Velorution puts on bikepacking and fatbiking clinics every year, and when they have time they run a weekly group ride. In short, they do their best to get involved and continue to build the adventure cycling crowd in the Four Corners.

When it comes to advocacy, one group that excites the crew at Velorution most is the Sustainable Trails Coalition, a nation-wide group advocating for sensible changes to federal Wilderness Area laws that keep things like bicycles and strollers out of Wilderness areas, while allowing horses and skis. Instead of just perpetuating the status quo, they believe this group is challenging nonsensical ideas and bringing realistic solutions to the table. Surrounded as they are in Durango, by hundreds of thousands of acres of federal wilderness, changes to the types of travel allowed in those wildernesses would very much change the local cycling community.

As a staff, Velorution is currently a three-person shop of avid riders that are great at getting people into the same things that they are into—gear that they use and personally believe in. Velorution stands apart from the crowd because they look for staff that is truly experienced in bike shops and the bicycle lifestyle, with a genuine enthusiasm for helping other people have fun on two wheels.

Living in a place like Durango, there is no shortage of trails in the area but when forced to pick favorites there are a few. It’s not exactly local the entire way—at 500 miles long that would be difficult to claim—but the Colorado Trail in its entirety is a personal favorite of Joey’s. Of riding the Colorado Trail he says, “Something about having nothing to do but ride, eat and sleep is mentally calming.” More locally, they like to ride on any of the awesome high country trails in the San Juans, which are always a favorite. Andrew is also a huge fan of the desert riding in southeast Utah and of course it doesn’t hurt that the shop is also located at a trailhead. A two-hour ride from the front door at Horse Gulch and 1:59 of it will be on trails—not bad at all.

Dealer Spotlight - SloHi Bike Co.

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Located in Denver, Colorado, SloHi Bike Co. has been in business for about three years now. This Mile-High City shop is the kind that believes every bike is as individual as its owner—why not get something that fits you perfectly.

Adam Williams, one of the owners of SloHi, has worked in the cycling industry for about 20 years—working as sales rep and sales director at a few different bike brands. After doing that for a while, he decided his heart was in the shop itself—and back to the shop he went.

Adam tells us, “It is an interesting time to go back into the independent bicycle retailer business. The retail channels are very open and competitive right now.”

He cites the local cycling community as the main reason for re-entering the retail space. “Everyone at his shop simply loves helping all types of cyclists,” he says. “Hell, we even have a kick bike in the shop right now.”

Adam also sees the benefit of having the neighborhood grow around the shop. “We’ve had the privilege to meet people through the coffee shop, see them start families and help them replace their cars with cargo bikes. Being a part of that is so rewarding.”

SloHi itself is a very small shop. Adam Quinney (Q) and the rest of the part time staff are very involved. Q is an active road racer and commuter—the kind of avid commuter that does not own a car and also looks great in a race kit. He prefers the exfoliating benefits of pavement over dirt. Adam Williams (Adam), who loves mountain biking in addition to his commute, has always been very involved in advocacy, having served on COMBA for five years in the past. In regards to advocacy, Adam tells us “I view it as a necessity to continue our sport and our way of life.”

As for community events, SloHi is very involved in the Bailey 100 mountain bike race. It is a huge fundraiser for the Colorado Mountain Bike Association (COMBA) and Take a Kid Mountain Biking. Last year they helped to run the aid stations and plan to double down their efforts going forward. COMBA is the local IMBA chapter that makes huge efforts to build trails and keep trails open in the area so it is a great fit the event to support that organization each year.

SloHi is continually working to stay active within the local community. They donate a bike to the Tennyson Center for Abused Youth every quarter and they also support the Colorado State University Cycling Team with a raffle every year—Adam is an alumnus there, he sees it as a great way to give back without having to buy a new wing for the Psychology department.

As well, Denver in itself is making huge strides in bicycle infrastructure. The mayor recently allocated $100 million to make Colorado a better cycling state—it seems that everything is up for grabs at the moment. COMBA has been steadily working to make Buffalo Creek a world class trail system and is already an IMBA Epic. They are also working to build more bike parks after the successful Golden Bike Park in Golden, Colorado.

Locally, SloHi has been working with the planning department on making their own street a bike lane. The plan is for 29th Avenue to get a “green” cycling lane that will run all the way into the heart of the city next month. For SloHi, the staff, and the cycling community of Denver—things are definitely looking good.

Dealer Spotlight - Topanga Creek Outpost

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Topanga Creek Outpost, located in Topanga, California did not start out with the intention of selling bicycles. It began as a touring business taking tourists around LA to popular destinations and celebrity homes. During those touring years, Chris noticed the need for a bike shop in Hollywood and opened Hollywood Pro Bicycles right on the walk of fame on Hollywood Blvd. The shop was around for 8 years before moving to Topanga for a better quality of life. The shop in Topanga has been open for seven years now.

The move to Topanga was intended to allow a better quality of life for the owners—to move away from the chaos of Hollywood—and of course to be in closer proximity to the great mountain bike trails in Topanga State Park. The area boasts world-renowned road riding and amazing mountain bike riding while still in LA County.

Topanga Creek is proud to be a part of the small community and staying active within it is a big part of the shop mentality. In 2015, Topanga Creek received an honor of being the best small business in their senatorial district for being active within the community and they were humbled to have Senator Pavley show up to present the award.

At the shop, there is a secret door in the gate filled with spare tubes and anything road riders might need if they are pedaling by. They have an honor system in place so that they can help out riders if they need anything. Aside from sales, they also rent mountain bikes—people from around the world visit Topanga just to mountain bike in their backyard and Topanga Creek Outpost is there to help make that happen. Rentals can be applied to the purchase of a new bike and also give people a chance to explore their wonderful area. Everyone that rents a bike and completes their ten-mile loop receives a certificate of achievement after they finish. The loop has about 1700’ of climbing in ten miles.

When the shop first moved to Topanga, they were involved in a lot of racing events—it was a fun way to get new people interested in the sport. But they also noticed that the mindset had changed from having fun to going fast. While they still love racing and helping to get people active in that way, they have shifted their focus a bit to be more inclusive and inviting for all riders.

In the past two years the shop has shifted towards what they call their “UnPredict Your Wednesday” adventures. They take off every Tuesday night to go camping and hiking/riding into Wednesday morning. Everyone is invited to join, and while the adventure is “UnPredicted” there is usually a tentative schedule of where they are planning to be and what is going to happen that week. They see a lot of benefits of the sub 24-hour adventures—especially in the middle of the week—and are trying to spread the word. Trips have been as simple as camping a mile away from the shop or as complex as bikepacking out to a primitive campsite at the top of a 9,000’ summit to spend the night. In addition to these adventures, they also do weekly shop rides every Saturday morning pending weather. They bake 6 loaves of banana bread fresh before the ride and come back after to relax with coffee and fresh baked bread. The staff ride as much as they can with their free time—in addition to the weekly camping adventures, they also get involved with plenty of bikepacking and endurance cycling events.

No doubt, a big focus for Topanga Creek is to get people outside. Whether is be on bikes or by foot, they want people to explore the area that they live in. They work with the local IMBA chapter CORBA as new trails are proposed, planned and built and as a shop they hold work days for the local trails in Topanga. Since it doesn’t rain a lot in SoCal, when it does the trails get pretty torn up and the staff and community are around to help out when that happens. As a whole, they are always looking for ways to be more active with advocacy groups and efforts in the area.

The Topanga Creek staff has a wealth of experience in the cycling industry but come from varied backgrounds. Chris, the owner, has been in the industry for 20+ years—he likes to think outside the box and has created a unique retail experience in Topanga. Jay, another shop employee, came from a background of gravel racing in the Midwest and still continues to pursue and train for endurance events. And there is Jeo, he lives in LA and commutes to work by bike when he can and always joins in for Saturday shop rides—he is one of the best web guys around and also happens to be one of the nicest. The staff at Topanga knows their products in and out and have all worked together to build their own unique brand as well as to pursue creative endeavors through the retail environment. Just stop by the shop and see for yourself.

Dealer Spotlight - World of Bikes

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WorldofBikes_Profile-

Founded in 1974 and then purchased by Ryan Baker in 2006, World of Bikes in Iowa City has been a staple of the Iowa City bicycle community for over 40 years. Often touted as a “family” bike store, World of Bikes has been in the forefront of many current trends that set them apart as a destination store for niche products.

One of the largest supporters of both the fat bike and gravel movement, we asked Ryan how he stays ahead of the curve with the products the shop carries and he admits, “I have always relied on my staff to look into their crystal ball for the next great thing.” Baker recognizes the need to offer more than just mainstream products. He also told us that, “While we support all types of cyclists, we have found success in niche markets as they are developing.” World of Bikes was one of the first to really embrace fat bikes; stocking multiple brands of bikes, carrying accessories for winter riding, and building one of the first fat demo fleets that we know of.

Community involvement is also big for World of Bikes. From bike rodeos and health fairs to races like the Jingle Cross and the Sugar Bottom Scramble, World of Bikes and Baker look at these events as “a way to support the people who support World of Bikes.” He also believes that being able to support a wide variety of events will help to keep a shop from being “pigeon holed” as one specific kind of shop. Supporting these events also helps get them in contact with customers who may never have visited the shop otherwise.

Within the cycling advocacy community, World of Bikes is also one of the largest donors to the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, an advocate of cycling that lobbies for bike lanes, provides education, and works for safer bike laws in Iowa. In line with Advocate’s mission, World of Bikes is a member of IMBA, Bikes Belong, League of American Bicyclist, and Adventure Cycling Association. When he first became aware of our brand through the Indieogogo campaign, Baker said he felt that the Advocate Cycles mission was a “brilliant way to bring a new company to market and it was in alignment with what we do as a shop.”

Ryan really credits his staff as something that sets them apart. Being in the “blinky light district” of Iowa City, which is home to four shops in a four-block radius, there is a need to create your own identity. “Our shop has some of the best people in the industry and we aren’t your conventional group of cyclists. We spread the spectrum of cycling and egos get left at the door. We have racers, commuters, mountain bikers, fat bikers, roadies, and kid trailer pullers.”

The current staff aside, Baker is proud of the alumni that have worked at World of Bikes and gone on to work at places like Enve, Boo Bicycles, Trek, and yours truly (Adam) at Advocate. “To me this shows that our staff cares about the industry. It’s not just a part time job to get a discount on parts, it’s a lifestyle for our people.” We can personally attest that this is true not only of past employees but of current ones as well.

Look for World of Bikes employees at local and regional races as well as out on the trails of Sugar Bottom Recreation area in their free time. Also, check them out as they provide support all over Midwestern Iowa at varying events. Baker reminds potential customers, “We CAN BE your bike shop. We love to help all sorts of people and we have the staff both in the front and back of the store to help you get what you need. No club jersey needed to walk in our door.”