Given that I was on the left coast, I managed to clear a day to head on over to Vancouver Island to visit Naked Bicycles. More precisely, I went over to Quadra Island, which is an island off the coast of Vancouver Island. I wonder if Quadra residents consider Vancouver Islanders as mainlanders?
Starting from Vancouver, two ferry rides and a drive later, you encounter these signs deep in the woods at the end of a road.
Here is builder Sam Whittingham, of WHPSC and NAHBS fame.
He took over this workshop from his dad, who was a cabinet maker.
The space is 99% given over to bike production. Here are some of his NAHBS awards piled up near the ceiling.
Tucked away in a corner, some of his racing awards, including traces of the fact that he was the world’s fastest cyclist for over a decade.
Near the center of the room: his latest build, a steel framed bike for a larger rider.
A frame welding fixture, and Ti main triangle visible to the right.
Lots of interesting stuff hung from the rafters. Here is a Ti mountain bike with belt drive and Jones bars.
A full suspension art bike with wood rims and seatpost, back from the days when Sam says he was still showing off at NAHBS.
Back in a corner, I find the cargobike that Sam used to pioneer the concept of a 20″ rear wheeled longtail cargobike. This showbike is the basis for the Xtracycle Edgerunner, and all other longtails that have gone the small rear wheel route, including my Haul a Day.
A whole wall of Naked bikes.
Sam and I have a chat about bike fit. Tip: if you are going to visit him for a bike fitting, bring your regular saddle, shoes, shorts, etc.
If you have more time that I had, then you can also arrange to go for a ride. There were some nice looking MTB trails literally meters away from the front door of the shop.
It was great to see Sam again. I don’t think we had crossed paths in Battle Mountain since about 2011 or so.
My visit was a little shorter than intended due to a three hour delay for the ferry going over to Nanaimo. If I had even more time, I would have also tried to squeeze in a trip to Gabriola Island to visit Varna Innovations as well.
As a side note, here is a picture of me in line waiting for the ferry during that delay. Fortunately, I had saved an emergency Stroopwafel (served to me as snack on a recent United Airlines flight).
What made part of the long wait fun was that I noticed a couple of interesting looking bikes mounted off the back of a car a few vehicles ahead of me.
It turns out that the owner was an avid cyclist, Morgan, who reviews bicycles for Radavist. These fat tired tourers were evolved versions of the bikes he described here. Lots of details to geek out about, including Swift Industries bags, prototype welded construction Porcelain Rocket frame bags, and bottle holders from RandiJoFab.
Here is the under bag support for the Swift Industries saddle bag.
I didn’t know that Honjo made wide fenders.
It was a pleasure talking to both Morgan and Stephanie. They were enroute to cycling on Cortes Island, with kid in tow in a one wheeled trailer of Danny MacAskill fame. If you want to run into Morgan himself, he is often on the Friday morning rides for coffee in the Vancouver area.
