Cycling isn’t a new thing for Oakley. As a company, they didn’t see a potential market and invent a legacy or shift marketing dollars in order to tap into it. From supporting Greg Lemond back in the day to working with Mark Cavendish on modern eyewear. They’re an iconic staple heavily vested in creating not only performance eyewear for professional athletes, but supporting scenes and dare I say cycling’s outlying “cultures.”
Their In Residence spaces are designed around a specific use or program. It began in Los Angeles with a Studio, which centered around the art surrounding LA skateboarding and has now moved onto London, where the In Residence Workshop operates as a hub for cyclists.
Nestled on Exmouth Market, a small one-way street that shuts down to vehicular traffic at night for the pubs and restaurant patrons to enjoy, the Workshop is an ideal pre or post-ride meet up. There’s coffee by Prufrock, exhibitions by Spoke London, free Seabass Cycles-operated mechanics area, maintenance workshops with the London Bike Kitchen, weekly rides by East London Fixed, movies by the Bicycle Film Festival and yes, free wifi.
On my way back from Italy, I swung through London to check out the Workshop, see a few panels, hop on a group ride and get a sense for what these “In Residence” spaces are all about. Chas from MASH was in town for a panel discussion with Richie Porte from Team SKY, photographer Scott Mitchell, Rapha ambassador / Oakley employee Elizabeth Reeder and multi-olympic gold medalist Victoria Pendleton, which was moderated by Juan Antonio Flecha. It was great seeing these cyclists, all from different backgrounds discussing their “One Obsession.”
Oh and yeah, #HardstyleWednesday!!!
Obviously, since Oakley is a company, there is a product they’re also marketing at the moment. The Mark Cavendish-designed Oakley Jawbreaker. Inspired by Cavendish’s legendary finish-line sprints, these glasses are a by-product of what Mark wants in eyewear: visibility at all angles and protection. Here Ryan Calilung, the design engineer who spearheaded the project for Oakley discussed the process and procedure used to develop this unique piece of eyewear. If you haven’t seen these in person, you should really check them out…
Most importantly (for me anyway), the In Residence Workshop opened its doors to a small group of media and journalists from outside the cycling industry to give them a healthy dose of what it’s like to cycle in a city like London. For many of these journalists, it was their first time riding a bike. Ever. Seems like a good idea, right? Ya gotta start somewhere!
We were put in the hands of the capable East London Fixed riders, who took us on a tour of the city at a casual, no-drop pace.
If you’re visiting London or you live there and you need a place to meet other cyclists or go on group rides, be sure to swing through the In Residence Workshop. For events and ride schedules, peep the Oakley In Residence London Workshop’s website. Thanks to everyone who came out, said hey and chatted. My stay in London was short, but it was well worth the trip.