Introducing the Clank Plank Light (beta). When ClankWorks first started, this was a kernel of an idea that we hoped to someday achieve. While other products have taken the forefront as of late, we slowly kept mulling over how to make a fender that also doubled as a rear light, minimizing the number of items on a bike, but still increasing visibility.

This fender takes our (now, after lots of learning and trial and error) extensive knowledge of laminated bamboo fibers and adds a flexible string of LEDs to the mix. We had grown tired of injection-molded lights, and strived to achieve something different. There was also a desire to keep this integration as minimal, in aesthetics, as possible. By keeping the light source a thin layer away from the surface, the fender maintains it’s beauty by day, but is now incredibly practical at night.

There are still lots of hurdles to overcome, and testing to be done, before this becomes a sold item. We also are looking for feedback to see if it is worth bringing to market. So if you like what you see here, and would want one within the next 6 months, please give us a shout. With this fully functional, weather-proof prototype, we can garner the information needed from the real world about how well this will work. Expect more photos as we work through that process.

The historic building has had two of it’s three vaults converted into bicycle storage facilities for it’s guests. The security is real beyond just the impressive, but non-functioning, doors, as both vaults are monitored via video camera as well, and users have access to lockers for personal belongings as well. What a great way to keep a historic element of the buildings, as well as invest in cycling infrastructure.

Check out the rest of the details, and more photos, at Bike Portland »

Fall Tweed Run

It will be an evening ride on Saturday the 16th of October. The finish will be back at the ClankWorks Studio for a soirée, including some local beer and music (and hopefully some foodstuffs too). The route is still being reviewed, and in light of the evening nature and afterparty, it will more than likely be shorter than the Seersucker Saunter.

Change in Hours

We love having the shop open during the week when we are cranking (and clanking!) away on new fenders, but we know plenty of friends and guests that have been asking for weekend hours. Good news everyone! Starting in a week or two, ClankWorks will be open on Sundays! Expect some reduction in open hours during the week, especially as Fall has now kicked in, full-steam ahead. Details and hours will be posted shortly, so please hang in there as we might have a few irregularities until then as we balance other parts of our lives. As always, we are around the shop a lot, so calling/emailing works well for off-hours visits.

Upcoming Products

There has been a teaser post up for a while that parodied our beloved technology company and future products. It is with great pleasure we can partially lift the veil on our upcoming stand, called Pinch. A display stand to allow your bicycle to grace the inside of your home, freestanding, Pinch is made from a bent plywood laminate, and utilizes natural properties of the bamboo to accentuate it’s function. The photo from the linked post is of the final prototype, and we have spent the summer finishing jigs necessary to provide an accurate, and reproducible,  manufacturing process. Pinch will be available shortly, in a price range of $80-90. Please email us if you are interested in pre-orders or more details.

Additionally, we are excited about a new variation on the Plank that started as a commission piece, but we loved too much to do just one time. We are going to give a small preview now, and again invite you to email us if interested, as we ramp up production on these unique striped fenders. An inverse, vanilla, variation will be produced as well too. More pictures to come.

One of these is not like the others.

You can pick one up over at MyORB.

Li Jin stays high and dry with her Amphibious Bicycle.

Four sets of floats, made from standard office water cooler style bottles, keep the bike high and dry. Additionally, it looks as though they can be added and removed rather easily, making it true to the name of an amphibious bicycle, rather than water based alone.

Attaching the floats.

While I doubt it would be overly advantageous in a city with so many bridges like Pittsburgh, the recreation aspect would provide hours of fun on our three large waterways. I would be curious how deep the draft is, and what the performance is like on smaller streams; particularly going against the current.

Check out the rest of the pictures from ReflectionOf.Me.

Cycling is all about the freedom the experience of riding brings with it, and by having a collapsable case for one’s bike, the barrier of traveling to distant rides is reduced. This is a great idea and we are looking forward to seeing what the ‘coming soon’ products on the website entail.

The review from Interbike that Cycling News ran seems to be overall quite positive. They asked some good practical questions and still came back with good answers. Well worth a read if this looks like something up your alley.

The Retail Space

We’ve begun with the final buildout of the shop space. Fenders and the Miyata 912 now take center stage in the corner of the store.

Shop Hours

We are also happy to announce the beginning of Spring Hours starting the first week of April. Tentatively, we are planning on a few days during the week we are here 10-7, most likely Tuesday – Friday. Hopefully some weekend hours will be ironed out soon as well too.

Upcoming

Finally, some new products are on the assembly line in the promenade deck. Finalizing the designs is just about done, and production will begins shortly. We hope to have announcements and pictures up before the end of March.

Additionally, we are planning an event for the first weekend in April as well. More details to follow, but we are aware that Sunday is Easter, so Saturday looks best. Stay tuned, the blog is going to pick up just like the warm weather.

The interest in past objects as things of value is never mentioned in the latest eco-blog or Portland-based zine. The reclamation, appreciation and preservation of these antiques is arguably one of the most sustainable practices one can partake in. In reality, this is a hobby, or profession, which does not garner enough attention or praise. Worse yet, will the niche market even exist in a decade? Gone in a century?

With today’s throw-away culture, perhaps in different industries worldwide, there is little motivation to keep an object beyond its built-in lifespan. Certain industries have escaped this grim fate, such as the automobile. Here, the cream of the crop is still retained, pride remains in the premium or rare products. Will there still be appreciation for a 1992 Chrysler LeBaron in fifty years? WIll one even exist? The same can be said of incredibly popular, but less “innovative” products, such as the fourth generation iPod,  the handheld Dyson vacuum cleaner, or any of the hundreds of new models of Nike shoes.

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The blame should not be place on culture, nor on any one catalyst. Instead the point should be taken under consideration both by producers and consumers alike. It is arguable that the age of plastics killed the antique. Thousands of injection molded artifacts would be hard pressed to hold value as well as a hand crafted chair from the 19th century. It is just as easy to argue that the digital age ushered in the destruction of this type of appreciation, as knowledge is now freely traded. Objects are used only to access this knowledge, why would they themselves hold value? Under this mantra, even the Gutenberg Bible has little value compared to the revision trackable, alternative comparable web 2.0 versions flooding the web.

A carpenter or furniture wright earned a higher wage the more solidly constructed the table he built was, as it would last longer and suit it’s purpose more appropriately. In many industries today, however, the faster an Industrial Designer shames “last year’s” design, the fatter his paycheck.

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These are of course all generalizations, many out of context to underline the point. Further research could, and should, be done on the subject before any statements are made. The core thought and interjection still remains, what happened to the appreciation of antiques, and will such an art exist in 50 years?