Thursday, November 25, 2010

How Our Hooks Are Made

The hooks we use to secure our panniers to your rack may be a small component, but a lot of attention has gone into this simple piece of bent wire.

Our hooks all started life as spokes in bicycle wheels. When a rim is bent beyond repair the hub is cut out of the wheel to be rebuilt as a new wheel. The old stainless steel spokes are saved from a land fill and we bend them into hooks using this custom tool created for us by artist, black smith and avid cyclist, Warren Holzman.
Some of the spokes we use are anodized black while others are untreated stainless steel.
After the hooks are bent into shape and the ends are trimmed, we rubberize the hook to keep it from scratching your bike or rack.
These hooks combined with our simple yet extremely effective cable system keep our panniers on your bike on the roughest roads. Our cable system is stable and light weight when compared to bungee cords and heavy bulky plastic clip hardware.