The Best American

Aug 12, 2023

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Stateside manufacturing is alive and well.

We’re fortunate to live in a time when U.S. bike manufacturing is more robust than ever, with equipment like frames, apparel, and components for every discipline and every style of riding made here in the States. And it’s coming from everyone—legacy manufacturers and new-to-the-scene bag designers alike. While legendary names like Chris King are still leading the charge in the industry hub of Portland, Oregon, newer brands are staking their claims in parts of New England, Utah, and Colorado. Brands like Pinebury, Forge+Bond, and Tailwind Nutrition are bringing bike gear manufacturing to smaller or new markets.

Whatever you’re riding, there are plenty of ways to make upgrades big and small while supporting manufacturing in the U.S. We’ve included 21 piece of gear here from American-made cycling brands (plus one show featuring handmade bikes) that represent high-level quality and creativity, whether you’re after a simple jersey, complex freehub, or something to make your endurance ride a bit more comfortable.

It would be unfair to start this list with anyone or any brand other than Chris King. One of America’s most storied cycling component makers, operating out of Portland, began plying his trade in 1976 with an emphasis on keeping materials and production here while continuing to innovate. Pieces like this front wheel hub bring a smooth, balanced ride to your bike. Specifically with this hub, that’s due to the one-piece design and pristine build quality.

1UP bike racks—made in Dickeyville, Wisconsin—aren’t as flashy as more expensive competitors, but they do the job asked of them and do it well. Once you learn the basic operation, the Quik Rack attaches to your vehicle in less than a minute, and the single rack is great for those days when it’s just you and the open road.

This New England upstart out of the other Portland, in Maine, focuses on performance through Merino wool. It’s specifically Nuyarn, which uses a drafting method that essentially makes it stronger through volume. This gives the jersey an excellent warmth-to-weight ratio, and the specific makeup of the yarn makes it more durable long-term compared to traditional polyester and Lycra options.

Out of the growing crop of American bike manufacturers is Wilde, which focuses on all-road and off-road machines. All-City Cycles founder Jeffrey Frane departed from that venture in 2021 and opened this hardier shop (along with two close colleagues) in Minneapolis, creating sweet bikes that’ll go almost anywhere you want to take them. The Full Wolf is a dedicated cyclocross build, complete with a shorter rear end for more responsiveness in corners and more control on the course.

These sweet wood fenders are primarily made from recycled hardwoods and come in a nice satin or gloss finish. The benefit of using a treated wood is that it bends and flexes while standing up to weather and other debris on the road. Woody’s, out of Bend, Oregon, also makes showcase wooden stands for your display bike that will only get better with time.

Tunitas Creative is the solo bag project of soft goods designer Jessica Chan, who has worked with fellow American company Ornot (among others) on bike bags with a more rustic style. She focuses on long-term durability, noting that she wants people to use her bags “until they’ve trashed them,” with a design that’s built to supersede trends and changing tastes. The 137, made in San Francisco, is an everyday tote that’s also functional for runs to the grocery store or errands. It loses some of the often-pesky framework of a pannier or other rack-integrated bag.

When the inevitable puncture hits your tubeless tires, a quick fix comes in the form of Dynaplug’s Micro Pro Pill system with an instant plug for any small holes. The brand in Chico, California, has made the repair process super simple as a next step once a rider understands the dynamics of tubeless. It’s an easy solution to an unfortunately common problem.

Alchemy’s new showroom at the entrance to the Front Range shines a spotlight on American-made road and gravel rigs (its mountain frames are made in Taiwan and assembled in the line behind the showroom in Golden, Colorado). The brand’s array of more than 250,000 paint combinations and vast potential for customization means you can build your dream bike to your exact specs (or simply buy something ready-made, instead). The Atlas is a fine road bike, available in all the specs and ranges ardent road riders demand with a sweet, proprietary carbon makeup. Alchemy notes that carbon is battle-tested to last much longer than what comes off the high-volume production lines.

Ornot is the first cycling apparel company to earn Climate Neutral certification, which is even more impressive considering most of its goods are made in California. The Bay Area brand is less focused on logos and more focused on enduring performance with a range of essentials along with some fun prints. The Micro Grid Jersey is the ideal breathable short-sleeve piece for late summer mornings that begin cool and quickly warm up.

Tailwind’s mixes are popular for how easy they are to digest. The Colorado-based company’s Endurance Fuel is a proper blend of electrolytes and carbs that’s easy on the stomach and ingredients that are even easier to pronounce. It’s simple, necessary nutrition for your two-wheeled adventures.

For more than a decade, North St. Bags has been making fun and sensible commuter bags in Portland, Oregon, often with materials that are repurposed or simply have less environmental impact. The Micro Pannier is a great nod to the hardy commuter bag that needs to be able to stand up to the daily rigors of bike commuting (and the sudden shifts in weather and traffic that go along with it). Plus, the company will often repurpose old materials into new bags from athletic events and other places where the textiles would go to the landfill.

The Black Label Bib is an all-around endurance short with a chamois designed for long, 6-plus-hour days in the saddle. What’s more, Voler is committed to less-impactful business practices, one being that it employs solar power to run its factory in central California.

Park Tool makes a surprisingly large number of its top-notch repair tools at its plant in St. Paul, Minnesota. This particular socket wrench-looking implement is well-balanced, durable, and makes removing and affixing cassette locks so much faster. It’s a necessity if you plan on switching cogs and wheels often.

Darn Tough needs no introduction. The Vermont company males socks that almost every outdoorsperson has turned to at one time or another, because they’re simply among the best out there. Don’t let the “running” product description fool you, you can easily transfer this foot tech over to cycling and enjoy a top sock that not only lasts on the trail but through the laundry, too.

Mission Workshop builds technical apparel for urban riding that looks good in the office and performs on the commute home. In the case of the San Fran brand’s new Traverse short, taller riders could get away with wearing this into work on a warm day, then sneaking out over the lunch break for some repeats on the local trail.

Wolf Tooth works in the details, making smaller components out of its Burnsville, Minnesota, HQ that either finish a bike or contribute to a specific performance enhancement. A prime example of this is its lineup of headsets, which have a custom seal to last well beyond the length of your front end. And they just have this special way of tying everything together so nicely.

There will be no better place this summer to check out American bike building than the MADE Bike Show in Portland, Oregon, this weekend. The event will showcase more than 200 builders from around the world, focusing all that’s happening in the craft, and stretching the idea of what’s possible in bike construction.

Axles are, as you’d expect, the specialty of the Robert Axle Project out of Bend, Oregon. Here, you’ll find an axle to tow just about anything from your bike, along with that annoyingly-difficult-to-find size for either wheel. The company’s Lightning provides the right balance of stiffness, in that it can actually reduce flexing that contributes to disc brake rub.

Based in Ogden, Utah, Enve maintains its status as one of the country’s most popular high-performance carbon component makers. There are options for all riders, whether road, gravel or, MTB. In the case of the M6, three different rim width choices make it possible to enjoy the lightweight responsiveness on a variety of tires, and the lifetime warranty is a great perk.

Recycling carbon fiber is tricky. But this wheel company based in Gunnison, Utah, has made some of the largest strides, using a new version of the material that’s easier to reuse once the original component has lived its useful life. There’s certainly no sacrifice in performance–these are highly responsive and agile wheels at home for the most demanding gravel conditions. (MTB riders, they have you covered, too.)

Geoff Nudelman is a freelance writer from Portland, Oregon, who focuses on style, travel, and the outdoors. His work has appeared in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Travel Channel, Lonely Planet, Digital Trends, Harper’s Bazaar, Bloomberg Pursuits, and Thrillist.

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