The ability to have a opportunity too have a job that allows for free thought, to let your ideas take shape. To create from conceptual to tangible is a great luxury to have if it’s your profession. I sometimes take it for granted, complaining and wishing I was anywhere but here. Right here is where I have a chance to prove to myself and challenge the idea of my design.

This frame is a Raleigh Technuim 59cm, originially it was black scraped, stratched, and dinged, with a dent on the down tube about 3′x1′inches round. Sanded down to start then set aside not to be finished. Till now.

I could explain but why? all you need to know is:

Paint : Done by Masterblaster

Designed by: Patchworks

Brought to you by : Ricopro productions and BPA

Shimano Dura ace, Sora, Thompson, Origin 8, Schwinn, Raleigh, Mallard, Campagnolo, Mavic, Felt, Panaracer, Continental, Cinelli, Sugino,

Check out this Cannondale, They just keep do’in it and Do’in it well!
All Ulterga Except for the back caliper brake its a 2011 Shimano 105. Excuse us for being so cheap:)
Aluminum Carbon frame and fork, with a brand new set of sealed bearing wheels. it’s lights out for anything else.
Cannondale with SAVE technology, is so very smooth.. Its here and for a split second so hurry on down to the BPA before you are left in the dust..
$1600.00

If you’ve always wanted an urban assault vehicle, built too not only take a curb but crush it into tiny particles of dust. A ride that would put fear in the heart of any 29 inch bike. It doesn’t have to dodge pot holes it creates them, and with the ability to carry extreme amounts of provisions with the integrated front basket. In tandem with rear rack and panniers, it’s not even a contest. You’re the roughest, toughest, crocodile husband getting those groceries home before the wife kills you, mate, dude, guy, loved one, in the world

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This is the hottest, sweetest, brightest, slickest, trickest, whip that any sugarholic would die for. And its available now at BPA for $650.00

Frame* origin 8 track frame, Del Pasado 57cm black

Wheels front Azkium Mavic chrome straight laced, high flanged hub, and a yellow #5 CRT tire

700×25

Diacompe front brake caliper

Odyssey integrated 1’1/8 headset

A Bmx style stem and handlebars, your guess is as good as mine. Added color touches (green, redish orange) by Masterblaster

Thompson seatpost 27.2

Origin 8 retro babyblue seat

Sugino cranks 130mm bolt spacing 175mm legnth / with a 44 teeth Origin 8 track black chainring

Kmc gold machined chain ring / 16 tooth shimano rear cog

rear wheels  Zipp track specific weaponry of choice solid disc, 700×25 tubular / vittoria

A email from a gentleman that got a second chance with his bike, and we were the happy matchmaker. What he wrote to us I believe says everything that we stand for here at BPA.

Its a fine line we walk but we are certain that we are doing the right thing and will continue finding stolen bikes and returning them to there rightful owners.

We appreciate the email very much;

Hi Eric-

Thank you for reuniting me with my bike.  I curse at it a lot when it ghost shifts (it’s a daily ride so it tends to get out of calibration when I just jump on it every day and don’t take the time to dial it in), but I love that bike.  I love that seat.  That seat is priceless as you know.  There’s truly been a hole in my garage and my daily routine since it was stolen.  I was at first both glad to find it but also mad thinking that you guys “deal in stolen property” but after listening to you guys I understand what you did- had you not gotten it out of his hands, I probably would have never found it.  It’s a tricky situation, but in the end I got my bike back.  It would have cost hundreds of dollars and weeks to months to replace that bicycle and even then it would never truly be replaced.  It took me a couple of years to work the bugs out of it and get it to where it is today- a very reliable daily ride that can also be taken out for tough training rides.

by hand using all recycled materials. This is what you can do on a zero budget, hard work, donations, hired help, volunteers, fantastic customers, two dogs, and a imagination only surpassed by determination.

Given a snowball’s chance in Haiti’s, we’ve came out proud, grateful, and 100% percent confident that Seattle needs, enjoys, and supports our kind of bike shop. We are in the last month before we have to move, to where, I have no clue yet. We want to stay in the downtown area, its the most important, relevant, complex, sometimes overwhelming, always interesting, diverse, eye opening, heart tugging, hair pulling, emotional experience that any one person could have in one year. Reality television doesn’t got spit on this street show hustle.

We plan on continuing our vision of a bicycle rich Seattle, and we will never stop doing what we’re doing. Building, restoring, fabricating, tuning, loving, teaching, learning, promoting, renting, buying, selling, trading, painting, pedicabbing, volunteering, creating, and providing any one with a recycled bike, parts, and all things imagined and related to BPA.

We ask that you please bare with us as you will know our futures fate when we do.

Happy Holiday’s, and have a great New Year!!

Thanks to everyone that has stopped in, sent emails, and cards like this one that was sent to us by Judy Knapp and Salvador Baca. These wonderful people we’ve had the pleasure to get to know for reasons other than bikes. They park in the parking lot next to us and they have always been a supportive cheerleader and friend to all of us. We appreciate the words of kindness and are proud that even though they dont ride bikes. They can see, understand, and take part in some way here at B.P.A.

Our resolution: To bring the joy of health, independence, and community, through human activity and the use of bikes everywhere in Seattle.

R.I.P to Seattle Pedal Cabs,
I was quite a ride for the pedicab side of the business. It’s what got me here,”the bike shop that is”. If it wasn’t for how difficult being a owner of a Pedicab company is, I would have never started the BPA shop. As a independent rider it is the best job for my personality,but as a owner its rediculious in so many ways. Its not financially rewarding, Pedicabs require a few things, first you need cabs and they’re not cheap. The scary and unsafe looking cabs out their, it doesnt take much to guess which are the tin cans. They still cost about $600.00 to a $1000.00 dollars for one. The rest of them start at $2000.00 per and cost as much as $10,000.00 for one cab. If you’ve taken a second to notice us at all, you may have thought that there is a lot more cabs out this year. Your’re right, That’s Seattle Pedicab,(thinking of a original name wouldn’t allow them to show up in Seattle and go right for the juggular.) They came in just this last year. Dont get confused, they’re not new, and they’ll never be us…

Seattle Pedicab’s home base is in Boston, they opened up shop in San Fransisco about 3 years ago. They have other shops around the U.S. they’re financailly backed by Mainstreet pedicab manufactors. Mainstreet is actually the biggest cab maker in the U.S. Money is what they have, and a endless supply of cabs to completely strangle the independents. It’s what they do, 3 years ago is when Boston/Mainstreet contacted me to see if they could get me to mange there cabs. They wanted to send up some cabs from S.F. till they cleared the red tape in S.F. they said. With all the other requests they wanted from me, I got the impression that they wanted me to do the market research for them. So, I graciously declined, then I approached them with a proposition after I split with my business partners in Rainier Rickshaw. It fell on deaf ears as S.F. was finally up and running. Then all of the seattle cabbers had the pleasure of meeting Boston when they showed up unannounced at a regulations meeting with the city after a fatal accident that occurred that summer. It was a uncerimonious visit which allowed me to see the true intention of Boston. So, much for loyalty, local, and playing fair, the owner of mainstreet knows what I’m talking about.

When I started my first cab company, Rainier Rickshaw we had 6 cabs. They weren’t the scary ones either, thats not the truth, they were scary. I had to assemble all the cabs by myself never have i done this before. There where directions, but translator would have been nice as it was written in Chinese. After I completed and got the cabs out on the road did we discover that the cabs were junk, and cheap. They all broke at the welds in quick time after we bought them, which showed up at our door 2 months late from there expected arrival time. I was increasingly nerved that the company we purchased these cabs from demanded more money from us even after they all failed in less that 3 months. Even more incredibly stupid is that we paid them, business partners don’t do it, they will do you in… Or try too.

The next is storage, where you going to store these monster bikes? The area that you need to cover is any place were there are large groups of people. Sports events, concerts, parades, and festivals are the hot spots, and those spots are in the downtown core. If you live downtown or anywhere in Seattle these day’s its not cheap to store anything, not even yourself.

Third is all the licensing and permits you need to get. This is the easiest step, in Seattle there are no permits, licensing, or regulations that a pedicab owner needs to have to own or operate a cab. Initially, I was for a open no permit system, but time went on and I witnessed and had to deal with people in the industry. It became clear that the pedicab industry desperately needs some regulations, without regulation the cab business will never really be, look, or become a legitimate form of alternative transportation in Seattle. Take a look next time you are at a game. I wouldn’t trust those cabs if all I needed was a picture on one, and the riders. If you knew what some of these riders did before they picked you up and what they are going to do after you un-pinch your nose, and give them a tip. You would go give your fellow passenger a kiss and a hug and apologize for the ride they unknowingly agreed upon. With no rules you get men and women that are unable to get a job anywhere else, its the last hope for most.

This ties into the 4th step, the rider, if they are not a burden on society or at least a owner. Then they are the dreamer, They have an idea that its all sunshine, nice folks, you’re getting a workout, a tan, and a bunch of money. This is actually true for about 3% of all that try to pedicab the other 97% find out the truth. The reality is that, it’s very hot, and very cold, and here in Seattle, it’s very wet. There are hills, hills become mountains when you have 2 drunk football fans bloated of hotdogs, nachos, and cheap beer on board. If you dont end up riding in circles and actually make it to their destination. Usually, its because they cant remember after a keg of beer where they parked the car. They dont give you enough money for all the sweating, heavy breathing, grunting, avoiding pedestrians, cars, and panhandlers to arrive safely to there car so they can drive.. You look up as they grab your shirt to balance themselves and tell you, “I would’ve given you more money if the Seahawks would have won”. If they would have won?? They never win!! A pedicaber’s life is like a Seattle sports fans life, its the eternal disappointment of unrealistic expectations. game after game and year after year you hope it’s going to be better than the last. If you’re a Seahawks fan you know what the rest of what Im saying go’s.  Most riders jump out of the hustle quickly, other get angry and blame the cab, so they take it out on the cab.” If its not riding right I’ll make sure it will never ride again, so help me…” I know the look, when they are pushing the cab back to the shop, face beat red, shirt soaking wet, and unable to even look at me in the eyes. Its over for them, forever, and for me in the field, but its unpaid overtime for myself as I get on my mechanic clothes and proceed to get under the cab. The amount of hours that I have spent on the up keep and overall maintenance of my cabs past, and present along with everyone elses I helped along the way, is unmeasurable. I will never see that amount of money in my life time.

The only way to make any kind of money in the cab business is through advertising. Advertisement doesn’t call in sick, or show up drunk, or go park it at there house all day. Then return it and tell you that they lost their wallet on the way back to the shop. Or brake it, or get hit by a car. Or just leave it abandoned in a field somewhere because they are higher than a kite, and cant remember what planet they’re on. Even worse is an irresponsible cab company ran by a clueless bunch of Dudley-do-wrongs. They proceed to put unsafe cabs with only one leather strap brake with untrained, unprofessional, riders out into streets of Seattle. If you guessed “the worst”, you’re right. A fatal accident happened, 4 summers ago, innocent people got hurt, even beyond that, a wife lost her husband, man lost his life, a pedicab driver was now a victim, a murderer, and never the same after. The cab company Cascadia cabs, they pointed fingers, the owner ran to Portland forever leaving his incompetent mark on Seattle. Cascadia cabs, they continued to run the streets of Seattle after the accident using the same dangerous cabs as in the accident. They’re still rolling around today just under a new name, this is what’s meant by checks and balances. There aren’t any in Seattle, just an open bar tab and a matter of time.

That was the day that Cascadia cabs, Rainier Rickshaw, P.C. Pedicabs, Seattle Pedal cabs, Cush Cabs, Pev Cabs, Greener Cabs, Purple Cabs and Seattle Pedicabs cabs all died, four years ago. After that day I tried to keep building the business of pedicabs, others have and are trying as well. The truth is until we get some regulations, some accountability, some responsibiity, some respect, and some legitimacy by Owners, riders, Seattle government, and citizens we can never get the real rewards that come with safe and confident passengers. Until then we cannot capture and retain those advertising dollars from business’s and/or companies we need to truly have a sustainable pedicab business in Seattle. When that happens we can all put our name on the cabs and be proud, until then.. Seattle Pedal cabs is dead..