Hand-made Bikes and Beer

I saw this guy riding a unique (and very cool) looking single-speed mountain bike the other day, so as per usual, I obnoxiously stuck my nose right in his business and asked him what kind of bike it was. He had to remove his headphones and ask me to repeat myself, which I did. He told me that he had made it himself, frame and all. Cool. I sort of thought that maybe he had. Not in a that-sucks-so-much-it-must-be-home-made sort of way. More of a that-is-so-cool-and-unique sort of way. Mostly I just had a feeling about it. Might have been the lack of logos, who knows. I chatted with him for a mile or two and he told me that he and some other folks had gotten together and made some bikes, and if I’m not mistaken they teach a university-level engineering/shop class on exactly that topic, at Stanford, I think (or some other place outside of Seattle, which might as well be off the end of the Earth to me).

Because their last names all have something to do with beer, I believe, they named their organization Pure Irish Stout, took some photos, and put up a website.

I spoke with Jed a la bike, and by sniffing around their website, I found an email address for a Mr. Ryan Connolly and sent him a note. Both Jed and Ryan seem like good guys, and it looks like they build good bikes. After a little more sniffing, I’ve found Ryan in some ‘cross race results in the Bay Area. Looks like he’s keeping busy.

If you happen to see a guy cruising (quickly) around Seattle on this awesome orange single-speed, that’s probably Jed. I’ve seen him once since our first encounter, he rides like a maniac - and is still wearing headphones. Ryan, it seems is still back in Palo Alto or Istanbul whatever. Good Work, boys. Let us know if you build any more bikes.

(Photos used with permission, from pureirishstout.com)