Container Collective is in the business of bikes, yoga, and community. Owners Brittany and Russ Hopkins each bring their personal talent to a specific corner of the business, Brittany to the yoga side and Russ to the art and architecture of bikes – bamboos bikes specifically and even more specifically, building them from scratch in his 2-day workshops.
The bamboo bikes definitely qualify as functional art. They are sleek and minimalist, but also have an industrial raw look to them, the combination of bamboo, metal gears, and the black carbon fiber thread that wraps the joints.
In speaking with Russ I can see his passion, not just for bikes, but even more for the process of teaching someone to build something from scratch. He tells me that he’s really in the business of helping people to realize that they have the skills, the talent, the tenacity to construct something from the ground up.
Russ learned the process while living and teaching in Beijing, but when he and Brittany realized that their hearts still lay in Colorado, he brought the concept here.
The workshops are designed with beginners in mind and Russ stresses that building a bamboo bike is simple, and requires no previous knowledge about materials or tools.
One of my biggest concerns about bamboo bikes is their ability to stand up to the Colorado elements. Russ assures me that with the same level of care and love that you’d commit to any bike in Colorado (bamboo or otherwise), the bikes should last for a very long time. He tells me that the workshop utilizes several different applications, including coating the bike in epoxy, to make the frame durable. Additionally Container Collective has a lifetime warranty on each bike. If something breaks they’ll fix it for free, or allow you to build a new frame at cost.
I’m all in for anything that lets you get your hands dirty and walk away with something that will make heads stop and turn, even in a city like Lakewood/Denver.
Check out cc360denver.com for more details. Workshops generally run every other weekend and pricing depends on the type of bike.
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