Corporate Member Profile by Brian Bonham Co-Motion Cycles Dwan Shepard and the Mothers of Innovation ➺ Any conversation about the most there and got inspired. It looked like well-respected bike brands on the something I wanted to do.” market today is sure to have Co-Motion Before long, Shepard was working Cycles at the top of the list, and after in bike shops, eventually crossing sitting down with Co-Motion founder paths with master framebuilder Gary Dwan Shepard, it’s easy to see why. Hale in Eugene, Oregon, who, along Founded in 1988, Co-Motion Cycles with Ross Shafer of Salsa Cycles fame, takes pride in its bikes being “American was well known for building bikes back Made, Oregon Made, and Handmade.” in the late ’70s. For 33 years, the company has garnered “I worked for Gary for five years a world-renowned reputation for while I kept my other part-time job outstanding quality and continues to at a bicycle shop, and at the end of be a leader in innovation — a testament that time, Gary was getting more into to the dedication of Shepard and his other kinds of metal fabrication.” It was staff of 18 employees based out of around that time that Gary offered to “WE’RE SITUATED their headquarters in Eugene, Oregon. sell the shop to Shepard. He partnered According to Shepard, “If you’re with friend Butch Boucher, who later REALLY WELL TO looking for something American made, went on to work for Moots Cycles, and you can’t get any more American made Dan Vrijmoet, who remained a partner JUMP IN ON NEW than a Co-Motion bicycle.” until his retirement in 2018. With a Shepard’s journey with bikes began few thousand dollars between them, TECHNOLOGY around the same time as the early the three cycling pals suddenly found days of Bikecentennial, the event themselves in possession of a funky old BECAUSE WE’RE that served as the origin of today’s lathe, some welding tanks and torches, Adventure Cycling Association, so it’s and the beginnings of what would SMALL AND WE’RE no coincidence that Co-Motion has eventually become Co-Motion Cycles. been a name synonymous with bicycle For the first few years, frame repairs ABLE TO FIGURE OUT touring since its inception. for individuals and shops around “I grew up in Coos Bay on the the northwest was their bread and INNOVATIVE WAYS Oregon coast, and although that town butter that kept the shop afloat. They was not on the Bikecentennial route, built single and tandem frames for TO INTEGRATE a lot of people were riding it and then themselves and their friends, and began heading south down the West Coast. I to build a local reputation. THOSE THINGS INTO was 14 years old in 1976, but I was just “We decided early on to give tandems starting to hang out at bike shops,” said a go because everybody else was building OUR BIKE FRAMES.” Shepard. “I sort of had the ‘annoying mountain bikes and there wasn’t much shop kid’ title at a little bike shop called interest in road bikes at all,” explained Stereo 101 and Bicycle Repair, where Shepard. As it turned out, Co-Motion’s they worked on sound systems and experience and knowledge of building bicycles. I met some touring cyclists high-quality tandem bikes seamlessly 42 ADVENTURE CYCLIST JULY 2021 transferred over to their other models, we’re able to figure out innovative Across America victory atop one of including their touring offerings. ways to integrate those things into our his tandems; multiple gold, silver, and “It was really hard for people to bike frames. bronze Paralympic Games tandem find a bike that had the gearing that “We’ve grabbed on to a lot of niche medals earned by the American and they needed, had strong enough ideas that have really driven a lot of international teams; and a photo sent in wheels to support a touring load, was business for us, like the S&S coupler. We by a glaciologist riding a Co-Motion in able to carry water bottles, and had were the first company to incorporate Antarctica. Through these recollections, eyelets for fenders and racks, let alone those into stock bicycles. We were an his humble personality and calm decent geometry that was balanced early adopter of the Rohloff hub and demeanor reflect his company’s genuine and safe,” said Shepard. Pinion gearboxes, and the first non- regard for the bikes they create and the “We thought, well you know, it’s European company to offer them as people who ride them. It is this mutual not that hard to build a bike that options on a bunch of different bikes.” respect that leaves no question why can support a load, we do that with Past the tubing, it’s the special Co-Motion has remained one of the tandems every day. So we started features that make Co-Motion bikes most highly revered bicycle brands, from building a few single bikes that were a hit with bicycle tourists. Kickstand Eugene, Oregon, to the far reaches of essentially built with tandem tubing mounts, Steerstoppers for stabilization, the globe. and a tandem wheelset.” and dynamo hubs are available on a As is often the case with touring number of Co-Motion models. They Brian Bonham is the Membership Manager of bikes, necessity is the mother of also offer quality, handmade complete Adventure Cycling. invention, or in Co-Motion’s case, bikes, such as the Deschutes, ready to innovation. Shepard explained, “We’re tackle any road at a price that lowers Co-Motion ships complete bikes daily. situated really well to jump in on new the barrier to bicycle touring. Go to co-motion.com to learn more. technology because we’re small and Shepard proudly recalled a Race ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG/MEMBERS 43.