Jesse Erickson likes getting back to basics. That's partially what he was trying to achieve when he co-founded Minneapolis bike shop Handsome Cycles, a company that builds and sells retro-style bicycles.
Through Handsome's new Kickstarter campaign, Erickson hopes to revive another tradition, one his family held for years: providing bikes for the blind.
"It was something I remembered from when I was a kid," Erickson explaind. "It's a memory that's always been very vivid in my mind. And now that we have resources and an established business, I want to use it for good if possible."
Erickson's father owned an alternative bike and board shop in Minneapolis when he was growing up. In his spare time, Erickson's father would build his own bikes, many of which were tandems, triples and quads. Once completed, he would ride them to Vision Loss Resources in Minneapolis and take blind children for bike rides.
"Dad had fun doing it, and it was life changing for these kids who were newly blind or had never ridden a bicycle," Erickson said.
Now that he owns his own bike shop, Erickson aims to build his own tandem bicycles, which he hopes to sell to both sell to the public and donate to Vision Loss Resources.
Although Handsome Cycles embraces a classic style with its bikes, there's nothing old fashioned about the prices. Because of the time and materials required to build each cycle, they command a high price. Standard Handsome bikes start around $600 and can cost up to $1,000.
Since tandems are twice the size of a typical bike, they're also twice the price. Erickson said it costs the shop $1,600 to build one of its Pillon Tandems.
Campaign supporters have the option to make small donations, or fully fund the build one of the bikes, which will be donated to Vision Loss Resources. A $2,800 donation funds two bikes–one for donation and one for the backer.
Handsome Cycles started its Kickstarter campaign Sept. 19. Currently, the project has raised $17,441 from 17 backers.
Erickson said that the shop has build two tandem bikes on its own dime. Unless the campaign is successful, they likely won't build another. But after a lifetime in Minneapolis' bike business and a decade of owning his own shop, Erickson is confident that he has the support of the Twin Cities cycling community.
"Minneapolis is amazing," he said. "When it comes to bikes it's always the more the better, and I think other shops in the area feel the same way. If we don't support these communities together they won't exist."
