Cycle Portland Voted #3 Portland Activity!

Cycle Portland Bike Tours and Rentals is ranked #3 activity in Portland, Oregon according to TripAdvisor!  Many of our visitors say that our positive and numerous reviews on TripAdvisor led them straight to taking a tour with us.  Take a look at what people have to say about us here.

These are a few of the different tours we offer:

Essential Portland Tour:  Our signature Bike Tour and an ideal introduction to the City of Roses. A downtown neighborhood ride that is mostly flat and has many stops for learning about Portland history and culture.

The Foodie Fieldtrip: An ultimate Portland sensory experience! Ride with us to a few of our favorite flavor spots and taste along the way. Arrive hungry!

Brews Cruise:  Portland is known as Beervana and no visit would be complete without checking in on the craft Beer Scene. Roll with us through the “Brewery Blocks” in Portland’s beautiful Pearl District for some tasters, then finish the ride with a cold Hopworks Beer right off the taps in our bike shop!

Come on in for a tour, rental, or Bike Repair. – we’re open everyday from 9-6 p.m. and most repairs can be done same day.

We want to thank all our customers for providing their feedback and experiencing Portland by Bike with us – we wouldn’t be here without you.

Modular Cargo Cycles #thatsawesome

Low Tech Magazine Article on Modular Cargo Cycles

XYZ Cargo Trike N55 modular

Following more than two years of research and development, the Danish art collective N55 has presented its modular cargo cycles: the two-wheeled XYZ Cargo Bike (90 kg loading capacity) and the three-wheeled XYZ Cargo Trike (150 kg loading capacity). The assembled versions sell online for about half the price of similar cargo cycles on the market. Because their design is open and modular, the XYZ Cargo Cycles are even cheaper to build yourself, and easy to customize.

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Picture: The modular XYZ Cargo Trike by N55.

XYZ Cargo brings together two technologies that have been praised at Low-tech Magazine: open modular hardware and cargo cycles. Modular consumer products, whose parts and components could be re-used for the design of other products, would bring important benefits in terms of sustainability, while they would also save consumers money, speed up innovation, and take manufacturing out of the hands of multinationals.

Cargo cycles, on the other hand, could handle an important part of cargo traffic in cities, paving the way towards sustainable and free-flowing traffic, while at the same time offering important economic advantages to tradesmen, artisans and service providers. The open modular cargo cycles built by N55 in collaboration with designer/artist Till Wolfer combine all those benefits.

Innovation

The market for cargo bikes is booming. This was the overall feeling at the International Cargo Bike Festival in Nijmegen (the Netherlands) and at the Berliner Fahrradschau in Germany this spring. The sales figures are skyrocketing and there is plenty of innovation going on.

A growing number of vehicles features an auxiliary electric motor, while many cargo trikes are now available with tilting mechanisms for fast cornering. Another innovation concerns the steering mechanism; several manufacturers have presented systems that obviate the need for a conventional fork, allowing for better control and increased cargo space.

Elian cargo bike

The Elian Cargo Bike, with steering in the front hub.

Unfortunately, these innovative vehicles often come with a hefty price tag. The prettiest cargo cycles such as the Elian Cargo Bike (a racing version of a cargo bike with steering in the front hub), or the electrically assisted Butchers & Bicycles MK1 (with tilting mechanism) set you back at least four or five thousand euro ($ 5000 – $ 7000), without any options.

These cycles are well worth the money, but they are obviously not within reach of everybody. Less fancy cargo cycles still have minimum prices of around 2,500 euro ($ 3,500).

Modular Cargo Cycles

This is why the affordable XYZ Cargo Cycles deserve our special attention. The assembled versions of the XYZ Cargo Bike and XYZ Cargo Trike sell online for 1,350 euro and 1,600 euro, respectively ($ 1900 – $ 2,220), which is about half the price of similar cargo cycles on the market. However, the cycles are not less interesting or innovative, on the contrary. For example, they feature a revolutionary steering mechanism inspired by motorcycles, which increases the cargo space considerably.

The low price is largely due to the modular nature of the vehicles. The XYZ Cargo Cycles are not built in a traditional way. Unlike the singular load-bearing tube seen in conventional bike structures, the main structure is an orthogonal spaceframe of standard aluminum square tubes of varying lengths in which holes are drilled.

The spaceframe is based on XYZ Nodes, which is a modular construction system developed by N55. It builds upon an old, well-known principle of joining timber or steel struts together. Structurally, the connection system shares similarities with lashed joints used for example in the traditional wooden frames seen in inuit kayaks, or with rivet constructions such as airplane hulls or old ship hulls.

XYZ-CARGO-BIKE-1 Steering mechanism modular cargo bike Modular bike detail

The XYZ Cargo Bike.

It’s a simple method of building light-weight things from durable materials in a low-cost way. XYZ Nodes forms rigid corners that become flexible when exposed to forces that would break other joining methods like a welded joint. The consequence is that it allows for rigid frames relying on corner connections that are not necessarily triangulated for greater strength, hereby leaving a free open space inside the frame. This made it possible to place gear wheels and chains within the frame, away from the users.

Easy to Build and Customize

The cargo cycles are open source concepts which you can modify yourself. The designs — including any new construction principle used in the system — and the XYZ construction and connection principle are open source provided under the rules of Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. Users are free to use available designs, as long as it is for non-commercial purposes and any use of the work includes proper credits.

This means that you can obtain the cycles even cheaper if you buy standard aluminium tubes and cycle parts, available all over the world, and build the cycle yourself. The frame is assembled using stainless steel bolts, washers and nuts. The assembling requires only simple hand-held, non-specialized tools, like a drill and a metal saw. No welding process is required.

Like all modular systems, XYZ nodes enable people to build things based on the principle of a few different parts repeatedly used to create an overall structure, similar to construction sets like Lego, Meccano and Erector. Because of the open and modular design, the XYZ Cargo Cycles are easy to customize and to rebuild. For example, a cover or a body to improve wind resistance and protect from the weather can be applied — turning the cargo cycle into a velomobile.

Modulaire vrachtfiets zwart wit N55 Modulaire fiets

The modular XYZ Cargo Trike.

Several modules have been developed that can be put on top of the XYZ Cargo Trike to transform its functionality: a roof and table module, a passenger seat module, a kitchen module with table, roof and sink, and a platform module. The latter transforms the cargo cycle into a 1.5 x 3 m large movable space, while from a legal point of view remaining a bicycle. The platform module was used to create a ParkCycle Swarm, which empowers people to build an instant public park whenever and wherever they want to.

N55 is not a commercial enterprise, but a non-profit organization that aims to restore local production in a socially just and environmentally sustainable way. This is another reason for the modest prices. All the money earned with the sale of cycles will be invested in the further development of the technology. N55 gives away the building plans and offers the assembled bikes for a low price because they want to see as many of them on the road.

Available Models and Free Plans

The freshly opened webshop of XYZ Cargo offers two models for sale. The XYZ Cargo Bike weighs 26 kg and measures 245 x 56 x 105 cm (LxWxH), while the XYZ Cargo Trike weighs 34 kg and measures 208 x 94 x 105 cm (LxWxH). The cargo box of the Trike measures 55 x 80 cm and the plating is made of transparant Polycarbonate sheets. Both cargo models can be equipped with electric hub motors and batteries.

Modular cargo bike

Two other vehicles have been produced, the XYZ One Seater (20 kg) and the XYZ Two Seater (34 kg). These pedal powered vehicles (with or without electric assist motor) are recumbent tricycles with one or two seats. The Two Seater can also be equipped with a cargo platform instead of a second seat. These cycles are not for sale, but the open designs are online at N55’s website. The XYZ One Seater’s construction drawings are available for download here and those for the XYZ Two Seater are here.

See and read more: XYZ Cargo / XYZ Spaceframe Vehicles / N55. And don’t miss the Eight-Wheeler Cargo Cycle, which got most of the attention at the Cargo Bike events.

Kris De Decker & Jo van Bostraeten

 

Cycle Portland Receives TripAdvisor 2014 Certificate of Excellence

Cycle Portland has received a 2014 Certificate of Excellence award from Trip Advisor! Thanks for all your great reviews.

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Portland has been voted number #1 bicycle commuting city in the US!  If you commute to downtown Portland, be sure to stop into Cycle Portland on 2nd and Couch for all your commuting accessories and repair work.

Check out the article from NerdWallet to see the rest of the  top 10 here.

Upcoming local bike events:

Thursday, May 22 5:30-8:00pm – Piccolo Park, SE 28th between SE Division & Clinton PDX Tandems Social Ride Monthly Tandem Ride.  Meet up and ride around.  Meet at 5:30 depart at 6.  Ride length TBD based on input.

Saturday, May 24 10:00am-2:00pm – Community Exchange Bike School, 4038 SE Brooklyn St, Portland Bikes for Humanity Volunteer Repair Clinic Bikes For Humanity PDX(B4HPDX) is a charitable service project aimed at providing our community affordable refurbished bikes, repair classes & workshop space.

Friday, May 30 7:15am-8:30am- Steel and Hawthorne Bridges Breakfast on the Bridges Free breakfast for bike commuters!

Saturday, May 31 8:45am – Meet at Aloft Portland Airport at Cascade Station Cycle the Well Field Bring your bike and your friends for a tour of Portland’s Columbia South Shore Well Field! Experts from the Portland Water Bureau and the Columbia Slough Watershed Council will lead this 16-mile trip on easy terrain. Learn about the safety, functionality and history of Portland’s underground drinking water system, which supplements the main supply from Bull Run.

Join us! Oregon Scenic Bikeways Party

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Cycle Portland recieves Travel Oregon Forever Award

http://industry.traveloregon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/TOF_Black_Transparent.pngCycle Portland is now recognized in the Travel Oregon Forever network after participating in the Travel Oregon Sustainable Business Challenge! We are excited to participate and recognize the value in providing Green Tourism opportunities for visitors from all over the country and the world.

About the Sustainable Business Challenge – Based on the 37 Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, Travel Oregon’s Sustainable Business Challenge is a voluntary reporting program that quantifies and qualifies the commitment of tourism and hospitality organizations to running sustainable and environmentally responsible operations. All tourism-related organizations are eligible to participate. Participants receive special recognition and marketing exposure through Travel Oregon’s advertising network. Learn more at www.TravelOregonForever.com.

Check out www.TravelOregon.com, Oregon’s official website for visitor information for a list of participating businesses if you are planning a trip to Portland or Greater Oregon this season.

Bike the Gorge? Travel Oregon wants your feedback!

As you may be aware there are exciting new bicycle projects underway in the Columbia River Gorge, and more on the drawing boards.  In 2013 almost two miles of paved trail was opened in the I-84 corridor completing the connection between Troutdale and Cascade Locks, and providing a much safer and more comfortable route for cyclists and pedestrians

More projects are in the works, including a new trail segment between Wyeth (Exit 51 on I-84) and Starvation Creek State Park (Exit 56 on I-84).  Future projects will include completion of the trail between Viento State Park and Hood River, allowing complete passage through the Gorge without ever having to ride or walk on the I-84 shoulder.  This last segment will include a tunnel, parking and other amenities and will have similar appeal to the Hatfield Trail east of Hood River.  These trails and improvements also provide more parking and access for Gorge area mountain biking trails.

Travel Oregon and the Friends of the Historic Columbia River Highway are supporting research to analyze the benefits of these bicycle enhancements.

If you have ridden a bike somewhere in the Columbia River Gorge during 2013, or bike the Gorge regularly

please help us by going to the link below and completing the questionnaire.

Take the Survey

The information you provide is not available from any other source and will be a vital part of the research project.  Your responses will be used for research purposes only and will be kept strictly confidential.

The Text in this post was provided by Travel Oregon, of which Cycle Portland is a strong supporter.

Thank You!

Travel Oregon Launches USA’s first statewide Bike-Friendly Business Program

Check it out!

Oregon Introduces First Statewide Bike Friendly Business Program in the Nation

Oregon loves bicyclists. That’s why Travel Oregon created the first statewide Bike Friendly Business program in the nation geared towards travelers.
The Oregon Bike Friendly program is a recognition and training program designed to provide tips and tools for businesses to attract cyclists by offering amenities they seek. All businesses in Oregon are welcome to participate. Once officially recognized as Bike Friendly by Travel Oregon, tourism-related businesses will receive special recognition through Travel Oregon’s marketing channels, including TravelOregon.com and RideOregonRide.com.
“Enhancing the biking experience for visitors and Oregonians is one of our top initiatives at Travel Oregon,” said Scott West, Chief Strategy Officer for Travel Oregon. “In Oregon, we value the multitude of world-class outdoor adventures we offer, while also being stewards of the land. Improving cycling infrastructure within the state can help us enrich both.”
Bicycle-related tourism contributes $400 million into Oregon’s economy annually, according to a 2012 study by Dean Runyan Associates. The Bike Friendly Business program is designed to help local businesses tap into this growing segment of the state’s economy by delivering a premier experience for people biking in Oregon.
Oregon has been a bicycle-tourism innovator since 2010, when Cycle Oregon and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department co-created the only Scenic Bikeways program in the nation. Beginning with the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway, the program now boasts 11 stunning bike-friendly routes throughout the state.
For details on the Bike Friendly Business Program, go to Industry.TravelOregon.com/BFB. For more information on the Scenic Bikeways program, go to RideOregonRide.com.
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