Hey Dolls,
A few weeks back, I attended the media launch party for Landyachtz Bikes, a long established skateboarding company dipping its toes into the world of two wheels. This Canadian company has over 19 years of hard work and experience in crafting high quality skateboards is finally fulfilling their goal of making road bikes. Co-founders, Mike Perreten and Tom Edstrand, were all smiles during the night as they showed off their new line of premium road bikes.
Committed to their company's core values of quality, craftsmanship, innovation in design, and community cultivation, the two have spent countless months researching, designing and testing to create a bike with maximum rider enjoyment. An attest to their standing quality, all of their preliminary frame designs were put through rigorous tests, including the drop test! This was evident by the multiple dings their tester bikes sported haha.
The first of the two bike designs is the 1146 Bike, a nod to their workspace on Union Street Vancouver. The bike frame is made using high end Columbus Steel Tube for a smooth bump-free ride. The geometry of the bike frame was designed for speed and precision steering. The Landyahtz 1146 Bike is customizable to fit each rider's needs; however, customization also means a longer wait time. With their current orders, expect a few months before your bike is ready to be your daily commute buddy.
The second bike, also constructed with Columbus Steel Tube, is the Landyachtz City Bike. More for urban commuting, the design features flat bars, hydraulic brakes for reliable quick stops and an internal Alfine Hub. For those of us who are not used to bike jargon, the Alfine internal hub is where all the gears of the bike are, so when you shift gears on your bike, they will happen in this closed hub. This means, the gears are not exposed like other bikes.
The bikes are all hand assembled in Vancouver at their Landyahtz workshop on Union Street. The workshop also happens to open its doors onto one of the busiest commuter streets in the country! Drop by the workshop if you are ever in Strathcona to see where and how the bikes are assembled. If you are looking for one of the 1146 bikes, this is also where the frames are custom welded for your body proportions. You will also discover a full bike ramp inside! However, the coolest part of the workshop, in my opinion, has got to be the pinball machine room! Landyahtz happens to have my all time favourite pinball machine, the Adams Family! I probably spent half of the media event playing pinball!
I love discovering fabulous companies like Landyahtz that are fabulous Canadian companies producing locally. Let me know in the comments below if there is a company in Vancouver you think I should check out!
BYES
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