The Radavist

The growth of a brand from an idea on social media to a brick and mortar store is always inspirational. For Portland, Oregon’s the Athletic, their brand began with a simple idea; designing socks, and has transformed into an entire retail space nestled in NorthWest Portland. In the few years the brand has existed, they’ve released dozens of designs online. Their most notable being a pair of turquoise 6″ tall socks embroidered with the PDX airport’s carpet pattern.

While their PDX Airport Socks might be their most famous work, the Athletic has worked with a number of small companies, as well as cycling teams to create that last essential piece of their cycling wardrobe. While most of their stock just so happens to be, you guessed it; socks, a lot of what the Athletic is doing reaches beyond that.

As the name implies, they are showcasing a particular façade of sports. Not necessarily the most current team’s rankings or franchise gear, but the art and culture that is inspired by athleticism. With zines, posters, bags, jump ropes and even a few pairs of Nike shoes on display, the Athletic’s storefront is more of a gift shop for the sporting enthusiast than it is a standard-issue sock store.

See some photos of their space in the Gallery and swing through their shop if you find yourself in Portland, or browse their stock online.

The Athletic
925 NW 19th Ave
Portland, OR
M-Fri 12pm – 6pm
Sa-Sun 12pm – 5pm

Vancouver’s Super Champion
Words and photos by Morgan Taylor

In 2007, former pro snowboarder Tyler Lepore opened up a track bike shop in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. With its wood paneling and white walls, carefully curated framesets and splashes of colorful parts, the space had a modern, almost gallery-like feel. Add in clean branding and a collection of t-shirts with hand-drawn art, and Super Champion felt more like a skate shop than a bike shop.

San Francisco’s Mission Workshop has been on a steady climb of growth since their first bag was released. Originally on Rondel, an alleyway off of 16th street, they recently expanded their space to continue all the way onto Valencia street, a prominent shopping thoroughfare in the Mission.

The brand’s design aesthetics carry over through a palette of raw wood and steel, as well as stark white walls overlaid with vinyl appliqué and photography. Taking center stage is their high end Advanced Projects and fledgling brand ACRE.

I had the opportunity to photograph this space, prior to the brand’s opening party last Friday… If you have the chance to see it for yourself, swing by. If not, check out the Gallery!

Tuesday – Saturday 10am-8pm
Sunday – Monday 12pm-7pm
Mission Workshop
541 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA 94110

When Mash first opened their storefront a few years back, it quickly became a clubhouse of sorts for the local riders. Group rides would meet up once or twice a week to explore the roads and trails of San Francisco. As quickly as the storefront became popular, the brand itself grew and the need for more space became apparent, sending Mike Martin on a hunt for a bigger store, with space for a design office.

Yesterday I swung through their new storefront and design offices in SF and hung out for a bit, soaking in all the random artifacts both from SF’s street racing culture and cycling’s most iconic brands… See more in the Gallery!

As you can probably tell, I’ve been really stoked on what Chumba is doing here in Austin, Texas. During MTB season earlier this year, I caught up with Vince, who was riding the first prototype Ursa 29+ MTBs. At the time, Chumba’s production was in Oregon, but in recent months, they’ve moved all production in house, using USA-made tubing…

Good Things Don’t Change at Mercian Cycles
Photos and words by Jim Holland

Sometimes good things don’t change, Mercian Cycles is one of those things.

The current workshop has sat in the same spot since 1965, watching as modern industrial buildings crop up around it and other older workshops disappear. Underneath the steeped, church like ceiling, little has changed and the intermittent clang of tubes and scraping of files ring out as they have done for the last 50 years whilst one by one, men make bicycles by hand.

Frames are still brazed free hand on an open hearth, as they have been since day one, amongst the very last practitioners of this method, Mercian believes it to be gentler on the tubes, which contributes to the longevity of the frame. Die hard Reynolds stalwarts, they don’t often stray from Birmingham steel and have a good stock of 531 for the true nostalgist.

One of just a handful of England’s traditional shop based builders that remain, the torches are still firing brightly and the benches are seldom dormant as the orders keep pouring in, one of them mine, I’m counting the days.

____

Follow Jim on Tumblr.

Embracing the Aroma at the Buffalo Trace Distillery
Words and photos by Kyle Kelley

Last winter, while I was home in Indiana for the holidays, my parents and I decided to head across the Ohio River to Bourbon Country for a visit to Buffalo Trace. Unlike many of the other touristy distilleries in Kentucky, Buffalo Trace is not fancy and they sure as hell don’t pump perfume into the air to mask the smell of the sour mash.