Written by: FOLLY

These are pretty much killer.

“BLCKCHRM is the ultimate in durability and refined stealth looks from premium materials that withstand the abuse of the city. The base material of the BLCKCHRM Sotnik, Bravo, and Citizen is Hypalon; which was originally created to meet the needs of U.S. Coast Guard rescue rafts. Hypalon will show wear, making the bag uniquely identifiable to the owner. Beyond the materials, BLCKCHRM is a collection of people who aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and make things. We made BLCKCHRM™ for the dirt bags that carved their own path.

Made in America, without compromise. Guaranteed for life.” – Chrome

Go to Chrome and check out these bad boys for yourself.

These are going to be gnar! Cadence is celebrating 10 years of existence!  Keep your eyes peeled over at Cadence Oct. 27th. When these drop, they’ll drop so hard.

And here we go!  I’ve been using the Boreas Lagunitas bag in Golden Gate Red for the last several weeks. As you are very well aware… I’m a pretty hard core Chrome fan, but I’ve got to hand it to Boreas.  They really knocked this out of the park. This bag is a solid combo of, what I refer to as ‘legit outdoorsy’ mixed with rad style and function. I’ve put it to the test with toting 24 cans of adult beverage, laptop, jacket, change of clothes, bike lock, and a few more odd and end items without the slightest issue or back pain. As you will see in the photos below, this guy is filled with sneaky amenities you will love.

Now… from this photo you’re probably wondering how I added the 24 cans of fun time… believe me, this bag has hidden stretching abilities.  In my left hand I’m holding the top portion of the bag. This section is completely waterproof WHAT!! That’s right, perfect for your electrical fancy devices to stay save when you commute via bike or board.

This is the best I could capture one of the compression panels sewn into the interior of the pack. Looking at the Lagunitas from the outside everything looks seamless. There are two stretching panels that allow the pack to expand when needed all while maintaining a clean look. This my friends is how I added more and more when it appeared to have no room left. Oh… and the rest of the bag is water resistant, so you’ll be protected in a light to medium rain.

This is one of the fanciest parts of the whole bag.  There is an external frame to assist in distributing weight. And for us riding goons, it has a nice mesh backing that allows your back to breath thus limiting nasty back sweat. But wait… there’s more.

If you need even more back breathing room, the Lagunitas has a “variable suspension, aka SUPER-TRAMP (patent pending), lets users adjust their pack with the tug of a strap. Tighten the strap and it’s a trampoline suspension, perfect for biking and hot weather travel. Loosen the strap and the pack reverts to a standard suspension, moving the weight closer to your back for more stability.” – Boreas

This will limit some of the space inside if you have a ridged item like a laptop or book, but it’s not horrible. By the way, the big section inside the pack is designed for a water bladder and not a laptop just to clarify. I found it serves both purposes though.

Time for the fun solid accents that keep this pack sleek and functional.

Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed my breakdown of the Boreas Lagunitas.  Super comfortable bag that will serve you well in the urban scene as well as the mountains.

Go to Boreas and check out more about the Lagunitas. If you don’t dig the Golden Gate Red colorway, they have two other colors to choose from. OH! and go get on Instagram and check out #boreasironmanpack. You will find other fun snaps I’ve taken of the Lagunitas.  Cheers

RIDE x CREATE

The Man of Multnomah at Multnomah Falls… solid.

Aaron and I have developed one very rad friendship. Without him and wife Rachel willing to open their home and letting me crash, all these fun little Portland meet and posts wouldn’t have happened. Much thanks guys! I sincerely appreciate it.

So… the very first day visiting these goons we headed out to Multnomah Falls and hiked all over that rad place!  It was beautiful.  All I could keep envisioning was the Predator jumping down from the tree canopy and ripping out my spine. Yes that’s gruesome but was where my imagination was.

Thanks for following along with my Portland invasion stories FOLLY Friends.  If you’ve yet to enjoy that great city, you really should plan a trip asap! I promise it will be weird, fun and muy memorable.

Photo by Aaron Edge

I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Ben and checkout out his work space. He’s a super down to earth dude and his workspace is filled with amazing space bikes. He started the conversation with “So, what do you want to know?”. Super simple question and I really didn’t know where to start. Creating carbon bikes from scratch blows my find. It’s all too mystical for me to really understand, and that’s what I told Ben. He responded appropriately with “Yes, It’s really just magic”. After a quick giggle he brought out this rad book that shows how the designs are mapped out on a sheet of carbon, cut and molded. Creating carbon bikes still blows my mind… but I understand a bit more than I did before.  Case and point… Argonaut bikes are custom and rad from start to finish.

It was also great to show up to Ben’s shop and see out skatedeck properly perched for mid day thrash sessions! And… out of all the stickable tool drawer space in his shop… only our 3×9 FOLLY die cut sticker was stuck!   

Thank so much for letting me pick your brain a bit and check out your shop Ben! I’m very thankful for the support and level of creativity you bring to the cycling community!  Cheers

RIDE x CREATE

Oh man! This was a defining part of the trip. So random and great. Jeremy casually mentioned he was shooting at Velo Cult. Didn’t really know what that meant but I was down.  Aaron, Tim and I were done riding our Portland hillside awesome ride, got food and cleaned up… next stop Velo Cult!

Low and behold… Chris Igleheart was the subject. What an amazing dude all around. This fine fella has been a pioneer and taught many many frame builders that are killing it today! If you haven’t done your homework on Igleheart, you really should. Dude is so rad and so are his creations.

Of course I wasn’t gonna let these fellas get out of this gathering without a FOLLY Koozie. They exude the Ride x Create vibe and very much deserve the Folly Seal of Awesome!

I hope you dig! Go check out Chris Igleheart, Jeremy Dunn (he also does this rad thing), and Velo Cult.

Mr. Wesolowski is one VERY rad fella! If only I could describe the conversation Aaron Edge, Tim and I had over dinner… you would giggle guaranteed. Aaron has a video of the mas shenanigans. Maybe he will share it with the world one day.

With that said, Tim is one rock solid rider and mechanic. He dominates with his mechanical skills at 21st Ave. Bicycles. If you’re in the area you should pop in, high five those rad folks and bring some sharable beverage. You will make lifelong friends.

Cheers Tim and 21st Ave. folks! Great to meet you good sirs.

RIDE x CREATE

So much greatness went down the last 6 days!  I’m going to do my best to represent the great city of Portland well with a few posts you will see clog your Twitter feed. I hope you enjoy.

Being a dude from North Alabama there isn’t a lot of elevation.  In a ride you may nab 2,000’ish feet without doing a loop of the same route.  Portland on the other hand… you could head out, only ride 40 miles and hit around 4,500 feet of climbing easy.  That’s exactly what Tim Wesolowski, Aaron and I did the second day I was in town. It was amazing.

Aaron has had his Milani up for sale for a couple weeks now with no hits yet.  I’m personally very thankful no one has taken this beautiful machine off his hands. It gave me the chance to enjoy its beautiful steel frame and Campagnolo goodness! With that said, if you’re in the market for one bad ass bike, you should hit up Aaron (@manofmultnomah via Instagram) and pick this sucker up.

Since I was riding the UPNESS Mobile and about to climb the most elevation in one sitting to date, I hooked up an UPNESS bottle and button to remind me to enjoy the pain. To be honest… the pain was minimal. I loved every minute of it!  It got cold and wet but after a stop at a rural stand alone “corner store” midride I was good to go. Aaron and I met a fella by the name of Steve.  He is the 3rd generation store owner passed down from his father and his father’s father. It was so rad to get in from the cold (which wasn’t really that bad but I was wet and didn’t have the right clothes on), eat some horribly delicious sugary snack (to recharge obviously), down a warm cup of joe and listen to a little history of Steve’s place. After that… away we went!

Bam… Portland recap post one done.  More stories to tell in posts to come. Cheers

RIDE x CREATE

Yup… Portland is filled with all things rad and updating the blog is not one of them.  Thank you for continuing to view our shenanigans on Instagram as I continue to explore the great North West via bike/board/feet!

(Editors Note: This post brought to you by 21st Avenue Bicycles)

These are so legit!

“Waterproof, urban bike sneakers with Chrome Storm™ breathable waterproof technology. Uppers 25 times stronger than canvas. Nylon-reinforced soles. Built for riding the city. Also available in grey” – Chrome

Did you know that Chrome has a Ship ‘Till It Fits Guarantee. Free shipping both ways, until it fits. Yup… that’s pretty great! Go to Chrome and check out all their other sneakers. I promise you’ll find something you dig.