We came back a second day to the Portland Bike show to take a closer look at all the local vendors. Bike fashion is welcome trend, and we saw a number of products that we were psyched on enough to actually want to check out.
For us, the highlight of the clothing at the show was a company from New York called Osloh Bicycle Jeans that makes apparel for a cycling lifestyle. A lot of their product is in vogue with what a lot of people consider the hipster fixie crowd, but they make a riding pant called the Track Jean that we were impressed by. I think they are missing out on a big piece of the cycling market- a lot of freeriders and dirt jumpers would like these jeans. They are made with premium stretch denim and feature a water repellent resin and anti-bacterial finish, retailing for $99.00. They also have a subtle chamois seat lining and a reinforced seat, as well as a side cell pocket, reinforced back pockets, and a reinforced chain-side leg. They look pretty good too, assuming you can rock the skinny fit.
I'm ready to head out to happy hour on my dirt jump hardtail; or my fixed gear. Note the sweet ih8 bikes t-shirt!
I’m going to look into getting a pair of these for a longer term test- they look like they would probably hold up pretty well. Word on the street is that River City Bicycles stocks them.
There were a number of companies displaying products created from recycled inner tubes. We saw a lot of messenger bags, wallets, and belts.
Wallets created from recycled tubes
And then there was this:
This bike was a sweet customized restoration.
Um. Custom leather tall boy holster!? I want one. That is just sweet. My Wolfhound 29er needs one of these.
There were quite a few bikes being displayed of course, with a heavy emphasis on utilitarian and city bikes. Since we’ve back in a city, and pretty much just use our car to drive to the trails, we had a good time wandering and looking at accessories we could pick up to pimp out our city rides.
There also was a bike fashion show, which we checked out- take a look at my vid:
2010 Portland Bike Show Highlights from ih8 bikes on Vimeo.
Somehow I am unable to not be cheesy in my edits. I’d apologize, but I’m still giggling over here in my office chair.
Skip ahead to 1:30 if you just want to see some bike riding. Boom.
I also broke down and used “Fashion” from Flight of the Conchords, breaking my rule to only use creative commons licensed content. That song is rad though, and I am a bad person for stealing. Although they abandoned me first by canceling their show!
