Weekend of Events!


Next weekend is shaping up to be quite exciting; regardless of where you are. On the local Brisbane scene, Johnson's Pentathlon is happening on Sunday with the events recently announced. These include:

Elimination laps: laps around Musgrave park on the paths, Russell st, Edmondston st and back down. After every lap, the person coming last is eliminated. Will continue until there is only two people left for the final lap. Keep in mind the entrances to the paths are narrow and traffic on the road.

Longest skid: Do a skid. Get the longest. Easy.

Footdown: All participants start in a confined area. Once the start is called, you can not touch the ground again or else you are out. You are free to move inside the area. There is a time limit of 5 seconds for remaining stationary. Last person to touch the ground wins.

Time trial sprint: Length of Musgrave park, back and forth. So you have to turn around. Fastest wins.

Expression session: Show us what you can do on a bike. Tricks, track stand, polo power shots from halfway, ride blindfolded, everything. This is going to be judged off the crowd.

So if you are a veteran rider who has some skill and style on a bike and rides around no handed for a bit, I don't think you will do too well. But if you are new to this whole cycling thing and can ride backwards whilst drinking a beer you will probably do awesome.
Be as creative as you want/can be, just make sure it involves yourself and your bike.

The pile of winning schwag is quite big, and includes our new hip pouch. Make sure you come along for a good chance of winning something (plus to have an old-fashioned good time!)

Some of the schwag for the Pentathlon... plus a SECRET prize... ooh, I wonder what that could be!

Live interstate and cant make it to Brisbane? Do not despair! Also happening on the same weekend is "Fix up, Look sharp" down in Melbourne. Find out more at fixed.org.

It is a team alleycat (3 members), with $20 entry per team. Sounds like an awesome event, with the prize pool matching (or possibly exceeding) that of the Brisbane Pentathlon. We have donated a red Babycandy, as well as the latest FRS Strap Ons, so make sure you rock up for a chance to win! The organisers of this event are planning on taking many a photo and video, so stay tuned to review the shenanigans!

Big ups for the 4th of October... what an awesome weekend!

Welcome Helen!

I would like to formally introduce you all to our newest member of the BOgear team. Her name is Helen, and she will be with us for a year. Probably not what you are thinking, as she is a black Labrador Guide Dog puppy.

I know you think we must be crazy having a puppy run around our design and manufacturing studio. And to be honest, we think we are crazy too! She is currently 11 weeks old, and so doesn't listen to anything we say.

So why did we do it?
BOgear was started on the premise of giving something back to the community as well as the environment. It is our belief that too many companies tend to take from these two vital sources and never hand anything back in return. As such we vowed to be different, and to help out those that help us. Without the communities surrounding us, we wouldn't exist, nor be the vibrant growing company that we are. And without the resources from the environment we wouldn't be able to do what we do.

As we are currently very small it is hard for us to give something back that has any meaning. Financial help is harder still as every cent earned is gently caressed into the next building block to help us grow. A $5 donation now wouldn't make much of a difference, yet re-invested in BOgear would turn into a $500 donation down the track. And so although we cannot help out financially now, we plan to in the future.

So that leaves us with another valuable commodity; time. BOgear cannot donate money, but it sure can donate time. So with our "spare" time, we plan to raise Helen and integrate her into society (makes her sound like an ex-convict!). It means we start work earlier, finish later, yet have longer breaks in between. Puppies don't understand 9 to 5! We are still able to get the work done, it just may take slightly longer.

What does this entail?
We will be raising Helen and introducing her to all walks of life for a period of 12 months. After this we will be handing her back to Guide Dogs Queensland, where she will be trained into a fully fledged guide dog. After this she is introduced to her new owner where she will assist them in their exploration of the world. We will not be raising a puppy, but rather an intelligent being who in turn will help someone else.

How will this affect you?
For starters you will probably be inundated with photos and posts about her growth and development! Orders may also take slightly longer. With this we really appreciate your patience; that being said we will endeavor to make sure orders are filled in a timely fashion. If it means working into the early hours of the morning, so be it! Also, should you ever meet Helen in person, please do not pat her, or acknowledge her. She needs to learn that people aren't here to meet her, but rather the person on the other end of her leash!

And now for her first official mug shot. Be warned, she is ridiculously cute!


Guide Dogs Queensland currently receives less than 7% in Government funding, none of which is allocated to the Guide Dog training program. It relies heavily on the community to support it. For point of reference, it costs $30,000 to turn a pup into a fully fledged guide dog. If you wish to help them out you can donate at their website.

Welcome to our team Helen!

Hip Pouch

Sydney rider Mitch recently asked us to design a hip pouch. He wanted something that fitted a D-lock, a wallet, a phone, an ipod, a multi tool, and not much else. He wanted it small, preferably wrapping around the D-lock. He wanted something smaller than the Babycandy. This is what we came up with:

Quite small when not in use. Next to a Kryptonite Evo Standard for reference.

Front face has a D-ring for clipping keys to, and slots for pens

The pouch can expand quite large to fit in a lot of stuff should the need arise

Stuffed full of goods and on the hip

Inside the pouch compartment

Contents of the pouch.

A small batch of three was made. The grey pouch on the far right is still for sale.

The pouch is priced at $40, is 55.4% reclaimed, and has almost no manufacturing waste. It is constructed from a 1000D nylon outer, lined with reclaimed PVC billboard banners. All webbing and buckles used are reclaimed. If demand proves popular this may be a regular addition to the BOgear lineup!

What do you think? Do you like it?

Looptworks

Just stumbled across this website, a company called Looptworks. They design and manufacture clothing from 100% reclaimed manufacturing waste.

Here is what they say:
"Reduce waste. That's our mantra. We start by examining the process of where waste comes from. Then, we look for materials thrown out as excess and figure out how to use them to make innovative products - and break the cycle of waste. All of us have a hand in this cycle, which means we all have the opportunity to take part in changing it. Looptworks is committed to making our products and running our business without creating any new material. Its a big goal to live up to, and we might not always be able to do it 100%. However, we believe that the experiences we have and the creative process we go through will help bring us, and hopefully you, closer to a new way of living. You can keep up with the challenges we're going through on our blog - and get the chance to weigh in or share your own."

Looptworks collects manufacturing waste, not old pre-used clothes, and then turns it into new products such as t-shirts, pants, and jumpers. Every component in each piece from their range is 100% reclaimed from other manufacturers. Zips, buttons, clips, fabric, elastic... they were all going to go into the trash despite being unused and perfectly workable. Here is where Looptworks jumps in. They collect the components, the fabrics, and then meld them together into functional, and in my opinion attractive clothing.

They know that what they are doing is very hard (have you tried making something from 100% "scrap", keeping it functional, attractive, and cost effective? Believe us, its very hard!) Despite this, they are already aiming to do better. They currently manufacture offshore, but are looking to manufacture closer to home to reduce their transport footprint. They also know that there is already waste from old pre-loved clothes, and so are investigating ways to get this into their range. Doing good, but plan on doing better? Well done Looptworks!

This is a company that has achieved what we are trying to achieve! A product using no virgin resources. We here at BOgear highly commend Loopt Works, as it is frustratingly hard to create a 100% reclaimed product that not only looks good, functions well, but also doesn't hit the wallet hard. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to seeing what you achieve next. Hit them up, and check out their products at: www.looptworks.com

New Material IN!

We have just purchased a few small rolls of the most intense material we have dealt with to date! It is called X-pac, and is manufactured by Dimension Polyant. Dimension Polyant was originally started to create sails, with product knowledge expanding into the X-pac line.

Lets take a look at the fabric:

This material is really a sandwich of three fabric layers. The top as shown in Orange is 1000D nylon, which is the exact same material that we use in all our bags. This material is highly abrasion resistant. The second layer is a series of fibres woven into an "X" shape. This layer is added to provide stability, ensuring that the fabric doesn't stretch or bulge. A third layer is added to the sandwich, being the white backing fabric. This ensures that the sandwich is held together and provides abrasion resistance from the inside of the bag when constructed. This entire sandwich of fabric is also waterproof to 200psi of pressure! This potentially means you can run a liner-less bag if you wish!

In summary, the material is highly abrasion resistant, waterproof, stretch resistant, and sexy as hell (all those X's make me swoon!). We have the above orange available as well as a jet black and a medium dark grey. Keep an eye out for the fabric in some of our bags... it has already been used in Bennet's!

If you are interested in this, the "ducks nuts" of fabrics let us know! We would be more than happy to use it as a custom outer, but be warned supplies are very limited!

Bennetts Bag

Gold Coast rider Bennett Rust, a collaborator of the fixiegc website recently sent me in some photos of a bag we built for him. Bennett is a graphic designer and wanted his bag to be a showpiece. He wanted to install custom vinyl graphics on both the inside of the bag and the outside of the bag, ensuring that his is the only one in existence. And boy does it look sweet. Check it out!


Bennett installed vinyl on the front flap, and a custom vinyl logo on the inside of the main flap! Well done mate, looks ace!

Astute BOgear fans may notice that this isn't a typical Sindrome, nor is it a typical fabric. We have been working on a version 2 of all our bags, and sent Bennett one of them! More about the version 2 design and the new fabric will be covered in future posts so stay tuned, but now more about Bennett's bag.

Bennett's bag features a whopping 16 pockets, including the secret pocket and the D-lock pocket. It has an unpadded compartment for a laptop, and two dividers in the main pleated pocket. But probably the sweetest thing about this bag is a dedicated shoe pocket! Bennett rides in cleats and so always carries a spare set of shoes. Check out the pocket:

Pocket nice and flat when not in use

Undo the buckle to open the pocket up

Slide your shoes on in

And buckle it up to hold it securely!

If you are interested in a custom option on your bag that we haven't got listed, let us know. We are always keen to help out! Thanks heaps Bennett for approaching us for a sweet idea! Enjoy dirtifying your bag!

FRS Strap Ons: Update

With the official launch of the FRS Strap Ons due early October, we have been busy finalising the design making it bigger, badder, and better than before. We have taken all the feedback received into consideration coming up with what we believe is one hell of a long lasting strap system.

First up, lets take a look at the new system:
The first thing you will probably notice is the complete absence of webbing. Our first straps used a combination of 25mm webbing and reclaimed seatbelt webbing. This material was a fantastic choice due to its abrasion resistance and load bearing abilities. Unfortunately though, there were some "animal" testers who wore their webbing prematurely. As such we searched high and low for a better alternative.

What we came up with is a TPU laminate: A polyester fabric (very similar to what we make our bags from) laminated on both sides with a PU coating. The PU coating provides exceptional abrasion resistance, while the polyester fabric ensures that the material does not stretch (max 6% at breakage). For reference, this is the same material used in inflatable boats and hovercraft bladders. Understandably, this material needs to have high abrasion resistance for these purposes!

The second thing you will probably notice is a rear flap on the top of the system. This was added for two reasons. Firstly to stop the flap kicking up as shown below:
Secondly, this flap was added to decrease wear as the riders foot was inserted into the system. It was found that this area received the most wear out of all the strap. When not in use the pedal flips upside down; when the rider tried to flip the pedal and strap back around, this area rubbed against the ground, causing premature wear.
Not visible in any of the pictures (but believe us, it's there!) is the additional process of 25mm velcro being glued/laminated to the straps. Previously the hook and loop was only stitched in place; as the stitching abraded away, the likelihood of it holding diminished. The switch to laminated straps ensures that the system will still go strong, even if you abrade through your stitching.

The laminated straps also mean it is possible for you to cut your straps to size if you wish. We have not found this necessary as the strap is designed to accomodate a very large range of foot sizes; but some people may wish to cut it down.

Caution, we need to test this, and will let you know if it works: It may also be possible to cut the straps vertically so that each 25mm strap is now a dual 12.5mm strap. This would mean that each corner of the pedal would have two straps, ensuring that the pedal doesn't have to be modified.

While on the topic of installation, the new system is much thinner than the original webbing. This ensures installation is a breeze; the straps just slide in place! It also helps reduces a lot of the visual bulk of the system, and reduces the likelihood of straps rubbing on your cranks.

The strap material at the moment will only come in black, but we will be offering colours through the use of coloured stitching. Colours on the drawing board at the moment include: Black, white, lime green, royal blue, red, and possibly hot pink.

In short, the new straps will be:
  1. More abrasion resistant
  2. Last longer
  3. Be glued/laminated
  4. Easier to fit
  5. Less bulky
  6. Come in colours
The straps will be available for $55 pick up. Contact us if you would like to reserve yourself a set, or drop in to see the friendly folk at Gear Brisbane.

Pentathlon!

Local Brisbane rider Johnson has organised a bike orientated Pentathlon! And he's organising it even though he has a broken forearm soon to be held together internally by a bionic assortment of metal plates, rods and screws. Imagine going through airport security now.... gosh darnit that would be hard. All those burly security guards grabbing you, dragging you by your hair kicking and screaming to the...

And I digress. Wow, what a tangent.

ANYWAY! Johnson's event will be held on Sunday 4th of October, with registration opening at 11.30am. That's right folks, a daylight event! So bring the kiddies and an esky full of paddle-pops to keep them entertained.

Events of the day are still being kept under wraps, but rest assured we will let you know what the five events are in the near future!

A neat pile of prizes is up for grabs, including some of our own schwag! So come one, come all.... and can I have a paddle-pop too?