Opus in UR Mag

Opus Road & Urbanista Brand Manager Stephane Le Beau in VeloMag

The whole team at Opus is really proud of our Road Bicycle & Urbanista brand manager, Stephane Le Beau. He holds down a full time position at Opus and still manages to win a triple world championship in track racing! Check out the story (French only) in the latest issue of VeloMag! Congrats Stephane!

Jim Cuddy talking about his Opus Vivace

Be sure to pick up the latest Canadian Cyclist magazine to see Jim Cuddy
from Blue Rodeo talking about (and photographed with) his Opus Vivace.

Urban Rush’s Holiday

Jared with hosts Mike and Fiona.

Jared Walker (center, Opus Vancouver Rep ) was on set of the Urban Rush TV show for their Holiday shopping guide to show off our Opus bikes + giro helmets and Blackburn accesories

CTV Canada AM : Ready to ride with Rob White

Canada AM: Rob White, Opus Bikes

CTV Canada AM : Ready to ride with Rob White (Opus Vice President, Sales)
Check out the key things you should inspect on your bicycle before taking that first ride, from tires and chains to brake pads, gears and any loose parts.

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/top-picks/ready-to-ride/#clip301633

A team of urbanistas take to the streets of Vancouver

IMPACT Magazine > News > Articles A team of urbanistas take to the streets of Vancouver to celebrate Bike Month in BC

Vancouver, BC (June 4, 2009) – Dressed for downtown – no spandex here – eight urbanistas from Opus Bikes will be travelling throughout Vancouver today to celebrate Bike Month in BC and to show Vancouverites that riding the right urban bike is the new, sophisticated way to travel. Team Opus will be riding Urbanistas, a collection of urban bikes that put a modern spin on the classic, upright bike that comes complete with lightweight fenders (keeps the dirt off this season’s latest fashions), rear rack (to secure small packages) and a kick stand (handy for that quick dash into Starbucks). Fashion friendly and designed for the casual, city rider, the Urbanista bikes pay respectful homage to European styling. Like fashion-forward Europeans, Vancouverites are fashionistas on the go. Comfortable, stable and robust, the Urbanista bikes are perfect for riding to work, school, or around town in style! Get a glimpse of our Urbanistas and meet Dave Cressman, urban cycling expert, who will be kicking off the tour around downtown at the corner of Robson and Burrard. Dave can speak to the emerging trends in urban cycling and how Vancouver is poised to become one of the most cycle-friendly communities in Canada. EVENT DETAILS What: Urbanistas Hit the Road to Celebrate Bike Month Who: Vancouver’s own Team Opus Urbanistas Where: Corner of Robson & Burrard When: Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:45 am – 12:30 pm

"My favorite road bike this season"

from Impact Magazine May June 2009

These new designs get around

Original text from The Gazette

These new designs get around
St. Laurent firm creates bikes for city
MIKE KING, The Gazette

Published: Thursday, May 14, 2009

David Bowman is peddling two new bicycles geared to the growing number of city pedallers.

"There has been a huge change and acknowledgement that cycling has a role in urban transportation," noted the president of Outdoor Gear Canada, the St. Laurent designer and manufacturer of the Opus brand of bicycles.

"There's more urban infrastructure for cycling in the city core now and we're seeing an enormous increase in urban bikes," Bowman said from his $8-million building headquarters and main plant/warehouse. The recently rebuilt and expanded facility earned silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification in early March.

He cited an announcement last month by Montreal municipal officials about expanding the city's already extensive network of bike paths by 60 kilometres this summer, bringing the total length to 560 kilometres. The transportation plan adopted by Montreal in 2007 called for the city to double its bike path system to 800 kilometres by 2014.

This week, the city's short-term bicycle rental system, dubbed Bixi (short for "bicycle" and "taxi") got rolling. Named by Time magazine as one of the best inventions of 2008, Bixi plans to offer 3,000 bikes at 300 locations in central neighbourhoods.

Bowman called the rise in urban cycling "the most interesting and important development in the industry."

With that expanding market in mind, Opus in March launched its new Urbanista collection, made up of the Classico and Cervin models, both described by Bowman as based on a traditional Dutch design but built as "a safe, comfortable and attractive form of commuting."

So impressive is the design, he noted, Le Château stores in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver as well as Lululemon outlets here and in Vancouver used Urbanista bikes in their clothing display windows this spring. Pistachio, an environmentally conscious stationary shop in Toronto, did the same thing and now is interested in selling the bikes.

OGC has been distributing its bikes - there now are 48 models, all but 16 of them built here, the rest outsourced to China - through nearly 300 authorized Opus dealers across the country. More than half of sales are in Quebec, with a quarter in Ontario.

The company's pre-Urbanista urban bike sales rose 31 per cent last year from 2007; sales of the Mondano and Urbano city models were up nearly 40 per cent alone.

Opus sold more bikes in the first four months of 2008 than throughout the entire previous season, for a 40-per-cent jump, and 2009 pre-season orders were up 17 per cent, compared with 2008.

The suggested retail price for Opus bikes - which include urban, road and mountain models (a children's model is planned for next year) - range from $520 to $7,400.

On the Web: www.ogc.ca

mking@thegazette.canwest.com

Cyclists avoid rising gas prices

By P.A. Sévigny, The Suburban

Photo by Martin Chamberland, The Suburban
Bikes have become as much an urban transport vehicle as a car or the subway, says David Bowman, president of OGC (Outdoor Gear Canada).

Some said they used their bikes because it’s healthy and it helps keep you in shape. Others said they used them because it’s “green” and it’s good for the environment.
But now they all use their bikes because they’re sick and tired of what it costs to drive a car.
Faced with the rising price of gas, people are beginning to vote with their feet and bicycle stores are reporting record sales.
Not only are commuters beginning to consider their bike as a valid and useful means of urban transportation but the city is spending millions of dollars to adapt its road infrastructure to the growing numbers of cyclists who use the streets daily.

“Bikes are no longer a toy,” says David Bowman, president of OGC (Outdoor Gear Canada), one of Quebec’s more successful bicycle manufacturers.
“The technology has changed, the cities are adapting their infrastructure and bikes have become as much an urban transport vehicle as a car or the subway.”

Bowman knows what’s driving the province’s new bicycle business.
“It’s the price of gas,” he said. “A lot of people talk about the environment and others talk about the health benefits but in the end, it all comes down to the price of gas.”

In 1978, Bowman opened his business as a distributor of high-end bike accessories.
By 2001, he knew his market and knew it was time to start making his own bikes.
From an original line of four models, he now builds and sells 41 different models of mid to high-end bikes.
While the Opus bike line is a Canadian design, the parts are manufactured in China and the bikes are assembled in St. Laurent and sold from coast to coast.
“Every bike is a combination of durability, strength and speed,” he said. “The lighter the bike, the more it will cost. In the bike business, less really does mean more.”
His entry level bikes can cost anywhere from $400 to $1,000 for a basic model. The price of a high end model can be daunting.
“Actually, a lot of people have at least two bikes,” says Patrick Fisch, an Amherst Street bike dealer who has been in business for the past 12 years.
“Business is good, very good,” says Fisch, who sells a selection that stretches from high-end road bikes to the new mid-range urban bikes that suit Montreal’s unique road and weather conditions.
While Fisch also said soaring fuel prices have a direct influence on his sales, he also said the city’s ubiquitous bike thieves are keeping more than a few second-hand stores on their feet.
“Serious bike people buy a good unit and then they’ll buy a cheap, used bike for their everyday use,” he says.
“If their bike is bound to get stolen, they don’t mind losing a ‘beater’ as much as they mind losing their good bike.”
Fisch says he noticed a distinct shift when he began to see working professionals workers use their bikes to get to the office.
Many of his clients work downtown and they all say their bike is faster than a car and often cheaper than public transportation.
Bike retailer François Sylvestre manages the Sylvestre family business at its new location on Park Avenue in Montreal’s Mile-End district.
“It’s all about health, the environment and the price of gas,” says Sylvestre.
With gas at $1.50 per liter and due for another hike, Sylvestre said it’s not long before people begin to whip out the plastic to buy a decent entry-level bike.
Even as the market for bikes is fragmenting into smaller, more highly defined segments, Sylvestre said there’s plenty of action for everybody.
While urban bikes, a hybrid between a mountain and a road, are still the store’s big seller, Sylvestre said the new collapsible bikes are becoming a popular item.
“They’re light and people can store them in the trunk of their car,” he said.
“Instead of driving into the city, they park their car in the suburbs and take their bike on the train or on the metro into the city.”
The construction of the new bike path along De Maisonneuve Blvd. was a seminal event for Montreal cyclists.
The path follows the city’s east-west axis and passes by three universities, two major libraries and two of the province’s larger CEGEPs.
Thousands of students use the bike path every day and bike stands are becoming a priority for the downtown core.
While the city is spending millions to accommodate its cyclists, cyclists say the private sector still doesn’t get it.
West Island resident Patricia Olinik recently complained to The Suburban that there are very few bike stands outside area malls and cyclists must chain their bicycles to a nearby tree or leave it outside the store and simply hope for the best.

All the more reason to have a “beater.”