All-City in Brief

All-City in Brief

photo by Kevin Sparrow

We just wrapped up production for the latest All-City Annual, our yearly photo book, which included the following as a bit of a cheat sheet for those folks who might not be familiar with who we are or what we do. I publish it here, because it's been made clear to us that while everyone understood exactly what All-City was when we were just a fixed gear company many years ago, who we have become now that our world view takes in the totality of cycling has been lost to some.

To those of us working behind the scenes, while the features of the bikes have changed, the goals have not. To serve the riders, the shops, and the community we come from by bringing beauty back to production bicycles, making the bikes that we've always wished existed, and investing back in the people and events we believe in.

As our main dude Koshi says: Speed, Style, Love, Respect

Mission: To make a significant contribution to the culture and machinery of urban cycling.

Who we are: All-City's inspiration is drawn from modern urban life: complex, colorful, and fraying at the edges. Some of us come from smaller towns, some of us were born in the concrete jungle. We are movers, shakers, makers, designers, seekers, romantics, kooks, weirdos, artists, photographers, blue collar, white collar, and no collar.

We come from every county, every state, every country, every continent. We are unified by the fact that we have found our home and place in the bicycle community. We ride, we race, we explore, we bushwhack, we party, we know the short cuts, the scenic routes, the best places to eat, the best drink specials, the best spots to go for a midnight swim... 

These streets are ours. 

What we believe in: Falling in love with the places that your bike takes you and the machine and people that helped you get there. We detest disposable culture and specifically the commodification of the bicycle. We believe that the objects that you interact with most should not only be functional, but beautiful and should gain value with use and age. We believe that every scratch only makes your bike more precious, a reflection of who you are and where you've been. There is only one bike in the world that has lead the life that you've given it.

What we do:  The goal is to make things that you will love and use for a very long time, bikes that take you to new places and new experiences and are vehicles for learning about the world and yourself. 

Specifically, there was a time when production bicycles were beautiful handmade creations, not commodities. We seek to bring that beauty back into the world of production bicycles and make thoughtful design attainable to more people. We sweat the details, and pour ourselves and our experiences into everything we make. Our products are made by proud craftspeople, with passion, and years of acquired skills. 

We might not be your first bike, but for many folks we will be your first great-bike, and we believe that there will always be room in the world for more great bikes.