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Please enjoy the second issue of the Vanilla Journal - We talk with Jrdn Freelove, a favorite customer and friend who rode his Vanilla across the country and back, the workshop introduces a new cap called the Charlie, Sacha shares some insight into the design and fabrication of three of his favorite new Vanillas, and links and news from around the Vanilla world. | ||
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Jrdn Freelove Smiles on AmericaFor years we've wanted to feature some of our customers and the bikes we've lovingly built for them. Here's a look at one Vanilla inspired adventure. Jrdn Freelove, an avid cyclist, photographer, woodworker/cabinet maker and fan of Portland, bought himself a Vanilla Bicycle to ride across the country and back. He took six and a half months and covered 8500 miles. If you feel like it. Find an atlas and turn the page to North America. Get your highlighter out and make little highlighter dots on the towns he road through. Connect the dots, and what do you see, what do you get? A big effing smile. Which is poetic because that's what riding it gave Jrdn. We're not sure that's a coincidence, though he says he made it up as he went. Maybe he was channeling. "I bought it for my fortieth birthday, I got it when I was forty-two and road it across country when I was forty-three. When designing it, Sacha and I talked about wider tires for going off-road (just in case) and we talked about how even when touring I like to do real mileage, centuries if possible. And we talked about racks and carrying weight - when I left Portland I was carrying about a hundred pounds but by the time I got back I had it pared down to sixty. We also discussed my desire to build something sporty, something I could use when I got done with this trip and wasn't touring anymore, something I could fly around town on.    Seven years ago I drove through San Louis Obispo and Big Sur. That's when I got the idea that Highway One would be just phenomenal on a bicycle. That was crazy thinking, I was totally nuts. But that's where I started. And then, I had a friend in Joshua Tree so I was like ok, that's a place to stay. Next, I had family in Atlanta and it's almost a direct B-line from Joshua tree to Atlanta so that made sense. I had some more family in Virginia, a friend in New York, and an ex-girlfriend up in Burlington, Vermont. So I got that far, and I thought well I've never been to Canada. I've been to 26 different countries but never Canada. I crossed the border just north of Burlington right by Lake Champlain. Interesting side note, I found this place in Burlington called - The Old Spokes Home - it's the closest thing to Portland's City Bikes I've ever seen. I got a new chain and a brand freewheel because after 4500 miles I had worn out my drive train. The owner was this crazy guy. He had a barn out behind his bike shop with all these old bikes inside it, they were all numbered like a museum exhibit. His forte was actually pre safety-bike bikes, pre chain bikes, penny farthings and these direct linkage things with leather straps. But he also had one of the first mountain bikes in there and piles and piles of other random bikes. Between beer, good people, great food and great bike shops, I fell in love with Burlington. So anyway, from there I decided to go to Nova Scotia through Quebec. In Quebec I discovered the Route Verte, the Green Route. It was bicycle paths forever. I rode my bike on a hard packed gravel road for days not seeing a single person - it was phenomenal. I wanted to go all the way north to Nova Scotia, but after looking at my maps and factoring in my desire to get home by November, I decided to turn around in Waterloo. I had a good friend in the upper peninsula of Michigan so I crossed at Sault St Marie, Ontario. From there I just went west through Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota, where I hooked up with Route 2 and the Lewis and Clark trail. I wanted to ride out along Going To The Sun Highway but it was closed for snow and construction. By this time it was the end of September. Eventually I got over the mountains and it was just a breeze from there. I sailed over the Cascades and got right onto the Burke Gilman bike path and road 26 miles of bike paths right into the heart of the U district in Seattle. After spending a week in Seattle, I took the ferry across to Bainbridge Island and rode around the Olympic Peninsula. Then I came home." Some NumbersBorn: December 24, 1962 Left: March 20, 2006 Returned: October 12, 2006 Miles: 8,491 States: 24 Canadian Provinces: 2 Books Read: 18 Used tires: 7 Used toe clips: 3 Most Prevalent Litter in the order of abundance: 1. Budweiser Products 2. Miller Products 3. Coors Products 4. McDonalds Products 5. Piss filled soda bottles Road Kill in order of abundance: Birds, Skunks, Snakes, Deer, Armadillos, Raccoons, Possums, Coyotes, Domesticated Dogs, Domesticated Cats, Porcupines, Squirrels, chipmunks, prairie dogs, Ground hogs, Foxes, Scorpions, Badger, Gila Monster | ||
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Workshop - Charlie Cap In collaboration with Caroline Paquette, the Workshop has created a limited edition run of cycling caps called the Charlie Cap. Each cap is hand-sewn, hand-dyed and hand-printed in Portland, Oregon. The body is a dark chocolate superfine 4 oz. cotton twill. The Vanilla script and flower is printed in baby blue on a black cotton ribbon which runs down the center of the hat, and over and around the brim, and is accented by an asymmetrical bright red ribbon. Retail is $40. Hand wash. For questions or to purchase please contact Scott at shop@vanillabicycles.com. | ||
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Featured BikesBlue Road BikeDave's wife Joanna emailed me some two years ago. She wanted to buy a Vanilla for her husband for their anniversary. When I met with Dave to hash out the details, he expressed that he was after a race bike that would perform and feel good for 100+ mile rides. He was into the sexy S bend stays. He also thought this would be a great bike to equip with Campy. When thinking about colors, blue was a favorite. After laying out these basic parameters, he cut me loose.  My goal for this bike was to create something that looks tough but refined. I wanted to use a blend of current and timeless colors. I also know all too well that a bike that looks great but doesn't ride "right", is not worth a lot, so the design and fit were key. This is one of very few bikes that I have mixed lugged and fillet brazed construction on. These methods of construction represent two distinctly different genres for me. Modern (fillet), and classic (lugged). The main reason for bringing fillet construction into the mix was to incorporate the swoopy stays in the rear. The tubing is our SL mix, for a frame just over 3 lbs. The fork is a Reynolds Ouzo Pro SL. I really like the slenderness of the Reynolds, and its gentle curve. They have also been in the game so long that I trust their product 100%. The headlugs are Pacenti Slant 6. I spent some time on these to bring out their voluptuousness. The main color of the bike is a variation of a blue that I have been in love with for a long time. This particular scheme with the orange and brick red accents is one I have never done before. I wish this bike was mine. Click here to see full bike. Cybelle's CruiserThis was a gift for my oldest daughter Cybelle's eighth birthday. My family gets around town by bike, and up until now, Cybelle has had a choice between the back of the extra cycle, or riding a little 16" wheeled cruiser that she has outgrown. It's important to me that my kids can rely on themselves, so I wanted to give her a tool that was up to the task.  The direction I was feeling for her bike was a mix of racy and elegant. I love the look of old roadsters, simultaneously sleek and refined but badass too. When I started the design process (scribbling on a notepad) I found myself going down the same road I went down with Delilah's trike and my wife's bike. Taking a basic foundation and adding idea after idea, until what I had on paper was something of a concept bike. It's easy to dig deeper and deeper into a project for someone I love so much. I want to give them my very best. I ended up reeling myself back in and decided to build something which in terms of fancy details, is really quite basic. I think of the finished product as kind of a classic Japanese street racer. The huge wheels definitely give it the roadster feel that I was digging on. The pea soup color is timeless and reminiscent of 20's delivery van green. Probably my favorite thing about the design of this bike is that it will be able to grow with Cybelle. The saddle can come up and back and we'll eventually put a setback post in there. The bars can come up and forward with a longer stem - the one on there now is a 6cm. We take long rides together. Sometimes she will come flying by me with a little grimace on her face. I'll ask "what, are we gonna do this?" She will laugh guiltily and say "Dad, I'm not racing" - but she is. BK's TrackBrian came to me for a track racing bike. He has been riding a Soma fixie for the last several years and after seeing our mutual friend Tony's track bike, he decided to make it happen and put a deposit down.  Brian is a perfect example of someone who works a regular job (delivering coffee for Stumptown), has bills to pay just like everyone else, but made it a priority to own and race a custom bike and took the steps to make it a reality. The lugs are hand cut and super thin. This is time consuming but brings a project like this to the level it deserves. We picked this green together. I felt then as I do now that this particular green is simultaneously nasty and beautiful. I think that's what I love about it. It isn't safe or conservative - it either repels or seduces. The bar stem combo was made in house and I included the V and the raised box on the front thinking that would be a good spot to bring in a little more of the blue from the graphics on the bike. The tubing is a special mix, which I often use for track bikes, including a downtube that tapers from 1 1/4" at the headtube to 1 3/8" at the BB and a seattube that tapers from 1 1/8" at the TT to 1 1/4" at the BB. Like trees, they are larger at the base where the greatest pressure is focused. My favorite thing about this bike is that through good fit and design, it instills total confidence in BK out at the track. | ||
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News and LinksWe just took delivery of the official Vanilla Racing Kit. We purchased a VERY limited overage of bibs and short sleeve jerseys, so for you ambitious slackers you've still got a shot at some great gear. In November the Workshop will introduce Speedvagen kit. We're building a run of limited edition technical tee-shirts featuring the Speedvagen crest, a run of Pace Cycling caps and a Swedish Wool apres mud, sweat and rain top. Look for photos soon. Mike DeSalvo was in the Vanilla Workshop in October helping Sacha build thirty Speedvagen race machines. Photos and an interview coming soon. Brian Vernor, photographer and cinematographer, will be showing his prints in the Vanilla Workshop Friday November 30th. This will be the first of this kind of show for us and we are looking forward to welcoming everyone into our newly finished space. More next month, but for now check out Pure Sweet Hell, a Vernor film about cross racing. The Portland Single Speed Collective (PSSC) dutifully presents the Official Unofficial World Championship event for single speed cyclocross racers. Held in tandem with a Cyclocross Crusade race (www.crosscrusade.com), the SSCXWC is a two-day event including a time trial qualifier on Saturday and the Grand Boucle on Sunday. Festivities to follow each day. Vanilla Workshop has signed up as a major sponsor. The Men's world champion will win a custom hand built '08 Speedvagen. The Women's World Champion will win a hand built Ahearne Bicycle. The Vanilla Team is off to a great start this season, they've won the first two big races in the northwest and more. Shannon took 1st at the first cross crusade race of the series. Here's a sweet photo series of Shannon and Tonkin dukeing it out during the finish through the velodrome. The race broke records for attendance with over 1000 racers racing in a single day. A testament to the inclusiveness and fun of this race series. Shannon took first and Molly second in the Labor Day Championships in Seattle on Labor Day. Molly's prize for second in the elite men's race was "four gigantic containers of beef jerky." Forever sealing this event as the Beef Jerky Classic. Molly not only won but rode away from the field, solo'ing the last 40 minutes of the race at Krugers Kermesse. The venue is a u-pick farm on Sauvies Island, located a few miles north of Portland. It's super awesome that they are welcoming this kind of event. What better place to find mud and bring community together, then a farm? Team photos from the "Battle at Barlow" race. Molly is off to do the National series and is traveling with Danish national champ, Joachim Parbo. | ||
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Vanilla Bicycles 717 SE 35th Avenue, Portland OR Phone: 503.233.2453 Email: sacha@vanillabicycles.com | ||
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