We’ve talked about these guys before.  But it sure is exciting to get a call from a company that you admire and respect on a number of levels, and have them tell you that they dig what you are doing.  We’d be lying if we didn’t say that they were part of the inspiration behind starting Sweetpea.  I mean, if a bunch of surfers, climbers, and mountaineers can do it – and do it right – then so can we.

One Percent For the Planet | Sweetpea Bicycles from felt soul media on Vimeo.

The folks over at 1% For the Planet are doing short member profiles with some help from the gang at Felt Soul Media (who incidentally did the awesome film Red Gold).  We are stoked that they chose to profile us, as well as give Greta her internet video debut.  They do a great job of capturing why we 1% members, but we also feel pretty lucky to share a little space on the internet with our business hero Yvon Chouinard.

When we joined, there wasn’t even a cycling category.  Today, in addition to the 52 participating Oregon companies, there are also a bunch of great local cycling companies who are also 1% members.  (See: Team Estrogen and Tsunehiro Cycles)

This is really exciting news for us.  One of the folks behind Alltop is Guy Kawasaki, who is certifiably one of our Business Heroes.  Besides working at Apple when the Mac came out, Guy also wrote the Art of the Start and whose line “the best reason to start a business is to make meaning” has helped guide us through a lot of tough decisions.  I can’t remember where we first ran into his work, but I have handed out this link more times than I can remember (it really gets going around 4 minutes).

If you get a chance, check out Alltop.  I found some great new stuff in there, and if you think some great cycling blogs are missing, drop them a line.

Maybe its just me, but there is so much deep wisdom and tough effort, it is hard not to be impressed.  In one section she notes that to get creative, you need to start copying.  Not because copying is right, but because “real learning comes not from taking someone else’s solutions, but by taking someone else’s problems.”  She talked about the need for movement and how it changes the mind, and also about her mentor of 20 years, who she met only three times.  “I recognized that he was the person who knew the most about what he was doing. . . so I tried to learn as much as I could from him.  I mentally parked him in the corner of my studio and the insistence on thoroughness that I saw in him became my standard.”  When you start talking about bodies and creativity, you invariably see a lot of parallels to designing and building custom bikes.

But one of her main points is this: creativity takes discipline, and that you have to prepare for it with routine.  (More on that here.)  But at the same time you have to take risks and you have to fail.  Otherwise you stagnate and your work gets less interesting.  Good lessons for all of us no matter what we do.

There are hundreds if not a thousand framebuilders in North America. Most of them build a frame or two, and some build a few more for friends and family. But a scant few build a lot, and only a handful have spent a lifetime building bikes. So when Andy Newlands, who has been building bikes for three decades, asked us to move in, we felt incredibly grateful and jumped at the opportunity.

It’s rare to find a real mentor in this business. Someone who can take a look at the problem and say “it’s nothing” or “it’s screwed.” (The two questions you are constantly asking yourself when you start out.) And it is rare to get to work side by side with someone who knows what he knows because he has done it a thousand times and has painstakingly learned the language of his tools and materials. He teaches me things everyday, and on occasion, I get the satisfaction of helping him solve some fabrication problem.

There are a lot of bike companies out there that talk about their history and tradition even though they long since started building their bikes in China. But I feel a sense of awe, because the tools that I get to work with everyday reflect years of building, years of problem solving, and years of creative tradition. A tradition I feel honored to participate in and to continue in my own direction.

Which brings us to the first edition. When I started building, I thought it would be neat to praise the first bikes out of the shop. But being around a master builder and other amazing craftsmen has taught me that I will always need to be a student of my craft in order to truly grow. And while I feel like I have come into my own as a builder, I see a long road of learning and creativity ahead. This is an important moment. And so today, I am officially ending the First Edition to mark this new beginning and to reflect on the long past that came before me.

We are, as many of our readers will already know, big fans of Patagonia and count them as one of our business heroes.  But it is especially nice to get a little love from the gang at the Portland store as they are all such great folks as well as truly committed cyclists.

(On newsstands now. Get yours today!)

The word “sustainable” seems to be losing some traction. Everyone’s got it: “Our nuclear power plant is made from Soy, so it’s both sustainable and good for your heart.” And when everyone’s got it, it is sometimes hard to see the ones who are really trying.

With the word being bantered around so much lately, I have to admit that I really admire the gang at Chris King. There is a lot that really sets them apart in the area of sustainability (all their materials and manufacturing is done domestically, they donate money to breast cancer research, and they have an innovative recycling program). But what I think is really cool is the fact that they make a fantastic product that you buy once and never have to replace. 90% of sustainability is right there.

But what really impresses me is that the same ethic applies to how they approach almost everything. It doesn’t matter if they are working with their raw materials, a new machine, their employees, or the community; they take great care of the resources they interact with. This isn’t just sustainability, it is deep sustainability. And its nice to know that we can find it not only on our bikes, but so close to home.

Michael has been up to some interesting things.

Maybe people are just wired to recognize patterns, but I took it as invitation to introduce myself. Predictably, the conversation started like this: “Hi. We see you everywhere. I’m Austin.” We had a nice little chat about whatever, and we went our separate ways.

A couple of weeks later while we were in line for coffee before a ride, someone tapped my shoulder. You guessed it. It was him. “Do you guys do a lot of riding?” Why yes we do! In no time we were talking bikes, and had mentioned that we were starting up a bike company. As chance would have it, he was starting up a company too. But when pressed on the details, he kindly said “I can’t really talk about it.”

Fast forward a year or so, open up the latest issue of Outside Magazine, and you have Nau. And there he is, the very same guy; and he is aiming to change the way you think about and buy clothes.

I really like thinking about companies. Especially start ups. When you start your own, the sky is the limit. You can be as cool or as lame as you want, and there is always a lot to think about, too much to do, and lots of questions that need answers. For example: What does your company do, and how are you going to support yourself? Those are the easy questions. But is it fun? What makes it different? Who is your role model? What does it look like? Sound like? Feel like? If your company was in the kitchen with a cup of joe, what would it want to talk about?

These are questions that the gang at Nau has clearly been thinking about. Shirts made from corn. Jackets made from recycled polyester. A Flickr page, and a little love for BikePortland on their blog. They are a brand new brand, but they intentionally don’t have a logo. They are going to contribute 5% of what you buy to the charity of your choice. And to top it off, they haven’t even officially launched yet.

Considering I can’t even look at a pair of jeans without thinking of the gallon of pesticides that went into them, I am looking forward to their intro. But before they launch, I have to mention that I am really impressed with the thought they have been putting into it. We wish you guys the best of luck, and I am sure we will see you around.