TO MEET · 02/15/2013
City Commuting with Linus Bikes
In the big concrete jungle of Los Angeles, Venice on the west side of town manages to maintain a small-town vibe. If you live of work there, chances are you’ll get to know everyone else who does too. The local barista will know your order, the shoe shop will know your size and neighbors will recognize your car when it pulls up at night after work.
Or perhaps, they’ll recognize your bike locked to your fence or hung from the back wall of your garage. For Adam and Chad, founders of Linus bikes, this is the hope. In a neighborhood where you can get around swiftly and safety on two wheels, they want residents to choose to ride, rather than drive a car.
Adam and Chad are originally from Cape Town, a city with a climate and neighborhood feel similar to Venice. “I started to see how bikes worked in dense cities,” Adam told us of his travels. Even in a large cities, he saw that residents were able to do everything they needed within the confines of their neighborhoods by hopping on their bikes—a trip to the grocery store didn’t require a car, and allowed them to avoid the hassle of parking.
It was nearly eight years ago when they came to the realization that they wanted to be able to bike around Venice, but couldn’t find exactly the frame they were looking for. They wanted something simple, elegant and functional that would fit seamlessly into their lives.
After four years of research and development (without any prior experience working with bicycles), the first Linus was ready to hit the streets.
“It will be a long process to change the thinking about riding a bike,” Chad said. “We want people to see that someone chooses to ride a bike, and aren’t just riding because they don’t have a car.”
With a line of accessories too, Linus is encouraging an entirely new lifestyle—side bags allow you to pick up groceries or tote your gym clothes, a basket can hold a purse or wallet and a wine holder allows you to attach a bottle to your frame, perfect for traveling to a dinner party.
We’ve already spotted plenty of bikes zipping up and down Abbot Kinney, the home of the Linus showroom and our first bus location this week. If you stop by to visit us, we suggest swinging by to see Adam and Chad’s space too!
Adam is wearing the Welles in Brushed Ink and Chad is wearing the Rutherford in Brushed Granite.
Photos by Collin Hughes