The Paul Component Engineering, Monē Bikes, and Sierra Nevada Sierra Recycler Cruiser – Paul Component Engineering | The Radavist | A group of individuals who share a love of cycling and the outdoors.

For the 6th year in a row, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co asked Paul Components to build a custom one-off bike for them to show-off at Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, then give-away to raise money for a non-profit. After thinking long and hard about what’s already been done and hasn’t been done at Sea Otter, Paul came up with a wild proposition for a super fun bike that would be a conversation starter for sustainability and environmental thoughtfulness in bicycle manufacturing, the #SierraRecycler. Sierra Nevada loved this idea, being leaders in solar power, recycling, estate farming, transportation, composting, and water reclamation in the craft beer industry. Read on to learn more about how this project came together from the folks at Paul!

The Sierra Recycler: Sustainability & Environmental Thoughtfulness in American Manufacturing

We reached out to New Mexico framebuilder Cjell at Monē Bikes and asked if he could make us one of his world-famous “Schwinn Cruiser recycled into a Modern Mountain Bike” conversion frames. With zero hesitation he said “Yep, and I have just the frame for it.” He took a 1949 Schwinn cruiser and chopped a bunch of the tubes apart, then bent, mitered and welded it all back together to fit a modern 29×2.6” knobby. This sounds pretty crazy, but look at the chainstay bridge, the super sick welds, and the Sierra Nevada beer can shim, and I think you’ll start picking up what we’re layin’ down with this bike. And talk about recycling, the Monē shop is built into a 1990 Wonderbread truck!

We called upon some of our favorite and most environmentally-minded bike brands to collaborate with us on this build, and we made a series of Instagram posts with each brand highlighting sustainability in their own way. Björn Bikes supplied recycled rubber grips, we teamed up with Velocity and White Industries on the recycled aluminum components, Jen Green made us a sweet headtube badge from leftover scrap metal, Jerry Smith re-upholstered an old B72 saddle chassis, Outershell made custom upcycled bags out of an old Sierra Nevada billboard, and all throughout we frequently discussed recycled and recyclable packaging.

We don’t think there are necessarily any easy or final answers when talking about sustainability and environmental thoughtfulness in the bicycle industry, but the first step is asking questions, and the second step is trying new things.

Headed to Sea Otter this year? Stop by the Sierra Nevada beer tent and run your eyeballs across this wild rig. Make a suggested donation of $5 or more to Outdoor Alliance by May 31st for an exclusive chance to make the Sierra Recycler yours! Outdoor Alliance is a nonprofit coalition of national advocacy organizations in the U.S. that unites the voices of outdoor enthusiasts to conserve public lands, and ensure those lands are managed in a way that embraces the human-powered experience.

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