PANNIER BACKPACK(AND VISE VERSA)

1150 CUBIC INCHES

CONVERTS FROM PANNIERTO BACKPACK IN SECONDS

100% WATERPROOF

JUST $79.99AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BIKE SHOP

THE BROTHERHOODTHE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF BANJO BROTHERS

Instagram.com/banjobrothers Facebook.com/banjobrothersbanjobrothers.com

VOLUME 1 / ISSUE NO. 1 APRIL / MAY 2015

DOING MORE WITH LESSHow the Banjo Brothers BUILD unapologetically

AFFORDABLE and DURABLE bicycle bags.By Hurl Everstone

Craftsmen and creators abound in this smallindustry we call home. Some are one-man operations doing everything from firing up the coffee maker, to answering e-mail and everything on either side of packing your order and taping up the box to ship to your door. Others are strictly designers for larger clearing houses, staringdown pixels with no point of reference.

In contrast, some people are bringing conceptto creation, with the ability to think of process-improvements while in the saddle, and making subtle changes on the fly. Eric Leugers, one-half of Minneapolis’ Banjo Brothers is one such artisan. While the “Brothers de Banjo” offer affordable, smartly-designed bags, the real catalyst behind this company is rooted in years of cycling experience, with an engineer’s relentless desire for quality and function.

The groundwork for a lifelong career.Leugers spent his formative years in Cincinnati, then embarked on a career that took him to California, including stints at Toyota USA and Bell Sports working on the cycling-accessory pioneer Rhode Gear brand. Ultimately, it was a bicycle tour in France in the mid-90’s, with the sole mission of conquering as manyof the infamous Tour de France “Cols” as possible, that brought home to bear the point of making well thought-out products of substance. This was well before the era of self-promotion, via Twitter, Instagram,or Facebook.

After studying engineering at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Leugers headed to California for a job as the QC Engineer in “stamping and welding” for Toyota. The irony of a bike commuter working for an automobile company was not lost on his colleagues. They joked he was like a vegetarian working in a butcher shop. With over 4,000 employees, a single bike rack was sufficient for those who chose to pedal to the office.

With a desire to move from a pure engineering focusto product development, Leugers became a product

manager in the car rack division Bell Sports, developing products under the Rhode Gear umbrella. The Rhode Gear, now just a brand, was named in part after its beginnings in Rhode Island and the makers of such ignoble products as the Flick-Stand. Rhode Gear, now wholly owned by Bell Sports, recently shifted product development and marketing to California and for three years Leugers often took long rides to work in the Santa Cruz hills. During one of these rides he had a chance encounter with a another cyclist, a pilot who regaled him with stories of riding in Europe several times a year for weeks on end, with nothing more than an Eclipse saddle bag carrying just seven pounds of gear.

Tying together a passion for cycling withan engineering mindset.Hearing this, Leugers decided he could do something similar. He started saving and gave a gracious three month notice at Bell Sports. Flying into Charles de Gaulle Airport, Leugers removed his bike from its box “in front of machine gun-toting airport policemen,” boarded a bus to downtown Paris, assembled the bike and then took a train to Normandy where he finally boarded a ferry, for a week-long jaunt through Ireland with a friend, before returning to the continent for an extended 11-week ride through Normandy and the Alps.

Drawing on the Santa Cruz pilot’s stories, Leugers had only an expanding rack trunk bag and a Mountain Smith lumbar pack for the entire trip. “I carried just 10 pounds of gear and washed clothes every day,” he said. His only luxury: a plastic Our Lady of Lourdes “water” bottle, filled with Pastis and stored in the rack trunk.

When he met his brother and cousin for two weeks of riding mountain passes without outside support, the lightweight set up proved crucial. “We didn’t kill ourselves,” Leugers said. “Some days we might ride 100 miles, but we’d always stop in cafes in the afternoon.” And while his bike’s 34 x 26 low gear made some of the steeps a real grind, Leugers discovered the biggest advantage of having minimal luggage was in finding hotels. “When traveling solo, you’d often have to lock up your bike, and go inside to see if rooms were available,

Eric Leugers, Banjo Brothers product developer

INDUSTRY PROFILE / BANJO ERIC LEUGERS

2 / THE BROTHERHOOD / THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF BANJO BROTHERS APRIL-MAY 2015 / 3

DOING MORE WITH LESSHow the Banjo Brothers BUILD unapologetically

AFFORDABLE and DURABLE bicycle bags.By Hurl Everstone

Craftsmen and creators abound in this smallindustry we call home. Some are one-man operations doing everything from firing up the coffee maker, to answering e-mail and everything on either side of packing your order and taping up the box to ship to your door. Others are strictly designers for larger clearing houses, staringdown pixels with no point of reference.

In contrast, some people are bringing conceptto creation, with the ability to think of process-improvements while in the saddle, and making subtle changes on the fly. Eric Leugers, one-half of Minneapolis’ Banjo Brothers is one such artisan. While the “Brothers de Banjo” offer affordable, smartly-designed bags, the real catalyst behind this company is rooted in years of cycling experience, with an engineer’s relentless desire for quality and function.

The groundwork for a lifelong career.Leugers spent his formative years in Cincinnati, then embarked on a career that took him to California, including stints at Toyota USA and Bell Sports working on the cycling-accessory pioneer Rhode Gear brand. Ultimately, it was a bicycle tour in France in the mid-90’s, with the sole mission of conquering as manyof the infamous Tour de France “Cols” as possible, that brought home to bear the point of making well thought-out products of substance. This was well before the era of self-promotion, via Twitter, Instagram,or Facebook.

After studying engineering at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Leugers headed to California for a job as the QC Engineer in “stamping and welding” for Toyota. The irony of a bike commuter working for an automobile company was not lost on his colleagues. They joked he was like a vegetarian working in a butcher shop. With over 4,000 employees, a single bike rack was sufficient for those who chose to pedal to the office.

With a desire to move from a pure engineering focusto product development, Leugers became a product

manager in the car rack division Bell Sports, developing products under the Rhode Gear umbrella. The Rhode Gear, now just a brand, was named in part after its beginnings in Rhode Island and the makers of such ignoble products as the Flick-Stand. Rhode Gear, now wholly owned by Bell Sports, recently shifted product development and marketing to California and for three years Leugers often took long rides to work in the Santa Cruz hills. During one of these rides he had a chance encounter with a another cyclist, a pilot who regaled him with stories of riding in Europe several times a year for weeks on end, with nothing more than an Eclipse saddle bag carrying just seven pounds of gear.

Tying together a passion for cycling withan engineering mindset.Hearing this, Leugers decided he could do something similar. He started saving and gave a gracious three month notice at Bell Sports. Flying into Charles de Gaulle Airport, Leugers removed his bike from its box “in front of machine gun-toting airport policemen,” boarded a bus to downtown Paris, assembled the bike and then took a train to Normandy where he finally boarded a ferry, for a week-long jaunt through Ireland with a friend, before returning to the continent for an extended 11-week ride through Normandy and the Alps.

Drawing on the Santa Cruz pilot’s stories, Leugers had only an expanding rack trunk bag and a Mountain Smith lumbar pack for the entire trip. “I carried just 10 pounds of gear and washed clothes every day,” he said. His only luxury: a plastic Our Lady of Lourdes “water” bottle, filled with Pastis and stored in the rack trunk.

When he met his brother and cousin for two weeks of riding mountain passes without outside support, the lightweight set up proved crucial. “We didn’t kill ourselves,” Leugers said. “Some days we might ride 100 miles, but we’d always stop in cafes in the afternoon.” And while his bike’s 34 x 26 low gear made some of the steeps a real grind, Leugers discovered the biggest advantage of having minimal luggage was in finding hotels. “When traveling solo, you’d often have to lock up your bike, and go inside to see if rooms were available,

INDUSTRY PROFILE / BANJO ERIC LEUGERS

2 / THE BROTHERHOOD / THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF BANJO BROTHERS

Eric Leugers, Banjo Brothers product developer

APRIL-MAY 2015 / 3

A LIFE OF ENGINEERINGAND CYCLING COMBINED.

WATERPROOFBACKPACK PANNIER

MPLS MINN

removing bags for security. The same was true for cafes. Having one bag made the process much simpler.”

Refreshed and invigorated, Leugers returned stateside, and eventually landed a job as product manager and product developer with Bucket Boss, a maker of tool carrying solutions for contractors. The person who interviewed Leugers for the position was Mike Vanderscheuren, who would ultimately become his business partner in Banjo Brothers. At Bucket Boss, Leugers really began the process of learning how to make sewn-goods, or, more importantly, “I learned how sewn products fail.”

Banjo Brothers is born.Selling products to mass retail meant Leugers was under constant pressure to make goods cheaper. The engineerin him demanded the products still work as intended. Meanwhile, after more than six years at Bucket Boss, Leugers and Vanderscheuren learned through the grapevine the business would be divested. So, in late 2003, with the writing on the wall, Leugers and Vanderscheuren launched Banjo Brothers over a series of beer and coffee-fueled meetings. As their banjobrothers.com website will tell you, “a trip to the local bike shop was the spark.”

“On the shelf was a thinly-featured, over-priced, totally underwhelming seat bag” Leugers said. That was the moment he realized he’d had enough and was ready to go it on his own. Leveraging his keen knowledge of fabrics, sewn-goods construction and engineering know-how, the mission would be to make less expensive bags work as well as higher priced gear. The strategy would deliver quality bags with the right features to cyclists at affordable prices.

Vanderscheuren is a marketing powerhouse, but Leugers’ engineering background is at the forefront of all Banjo Brothers products. He is constantly problem solving, putting functionality first. “Function and durability are my priori-ties,” he said, and it shows in the very organic product design. It begins with Leugers sewing prototypes in his basement, after “imagining it in 3D; I never use CAD,” he said. A design often goes through three to four iterations, with in-the-field torture-testing before Leugers sends itoff to their factory.

Bags that are driven by function and affordability.“Our bags do fall at the value-end of the spectrum, and I won’t apologize for that,” Leugers said. “There are plenty of people who ride $400 bikes, and nothing against more expensive bags, but if a $250 set of panniers were the only option, they wouldn’t buy them.” Banjo Brothers products are made from fabrics which fit the products’ end use, sometimes as the expense of fashion and weight. They are “abuse-friendly,” and driven by function, not light weight.“If you’re going to stuff ten pounds of gear in the bag, why obsess over a few ounces? Unless you’re a Tour de France racer, most people, me included, would benefit more from one less cheeseburger. If customer feedback tells me, ‘it’s not aesthetically pleasing,’ that’s ok. But product failures cut like a knife.”

The 1150 cubic inch convertible pannier backpack - or vice versa was designed with serious bike commuters in mind. The roll-top waterproof pannier is built tough enough to withstand the elements in tough commuting climates like Minneapolis and Seattle. The tapered profile works with a variety of racks up to 12mm in tube thickness. With the pannier hooks on the opposite side of the bag, the pack will be super comfortable for long-commutes and walking around off the bike.

A convenientouter flap pocket

for quick access and two generously sized outer

pockets. Banjo fanswill recognize the two

prominent vertical reflective stripes

down the flap.

The beauty ofthis design is thatby simply unhookingthe panier flap and swinging it to the opposite side of the bag will reveal the backpack straps.

1

4

6

7

5

2 3

1) Cycling trip through Ireland, 1996 2) Tackling the French Alps, 1996 (dig the Banesto kit!) / 3) Product testing in the early Banjo Brothers days / 4) Giving the skinny at Interbike 2014 / 5) Helping out a Minneapolis commuter pick the right bag at Bike to Work Day / 6) Developing a prototype in the Banjo R&D Facility / 7) Banjo Brothers products well represented at the Dads & Daughters 2014 Carver Park, MN camping trip

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

APRIL-MAY 2015 / 54 / THE BROTHERHOOD / THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF BANJO BROTHERS

A LIFE OF ENGINEERINGAND CYCLING COMBINED.

WATERPROOFBACKPACK PANNIER

MPLS MINN

removing bags for security. The same was true for cafes. Having one bag made the process much simpler.”

Refreshed and invigorated, Leugers returned stateside, and eventually landed a job as product manager and product developer with Bucket Boss, a maker of tool carrying solutions for contractors. The person who interviewed Leugers for the position was Mike Vanderscheuren, who would ultimately become his business partner in Banjo Brothers. At Bucket Boss, Leugers really began the process of learning how to make sewn-goods, or, more importantly, “I learned how sewn products fail.”

Banjo Brothers is born.Selling products to mass retail meant Leugers was under constant pressure to make goods cheaper. The engineerin him demanded the products still work as intended. Meanwhile, after more than six years at Bucket Boss, Leugers and Vanderscheuren learned through the grapevine the business would be divested. So, in late 2003, with the writing on the wall, Leugers and Vanderscheuren launched Banjo Brothers over a series of beer and coffee-fueled meetings. As their banjobrothers.com website will tell you, “a trip to the local bike shop was the spark.”

“On the shelf was a thinly-featured, over-priced, totally underwhelming seat bag” Leugers said. That was the moment he realized he’d had enough and was ready to go it on his own. Leveraging his keen knowledge of fabrics, sewn-goods construction and engineering know-how, the mission would be to make less expensive bags work as well as higher priced gear. The strategy would deliver quality bags with the right features to cyclists at affordable prices.

Vanderscheuren is a marketing powerhouse, but Leugers’ engineering background is at the forefront of all Banjo Brothers products. He is constantly problem solving, putting functionality first. “Function and durability are my priori-ties,” he said, and it shows in the very organic product design. It begins with Leugers sewing prototypes in his basement, after “imagining it in 3D; I never use CAD,” he said. A design often goes through three to four iterations, with in-the-field torture-testing before Leugers sends itoff to their factory.

Bags that are driven by function and affordability.“Our bags do fall at the value-end of the spectrum, and I won’t apologize for that,” Leugers said. “There are plenty of people who ride $400 bikes, and nothing against more expensive bags, but if a $250 set of panniers were the only option, they wouldn’t buy them.” Banjo Brothers products are made from fabrics which fit the products’ end use, sometimes as the expense of fashion and weight. They are “abuse-friendly,” and driven by function, not light weight.“If you’re going to stuff ten pounds of gear in the bag, why obsess over a few ounces? Unless you’re a Tour de France racer, most people, me included, would benefit more from one less cheeseburger. If customer feedback tells me, ‘it’s not aesthetically pleasing,’ that’s ok. But product failures cut like a knife.”

The 1150 cubic inch convertible pannier backpack - or vice versa was designed with serious bike commuters in mind. The roll-top waterproof pannier is built tough enough to withstand the elements in tough commuting climates like Minneapolis and Seattle. The tapered profile works with a variety of racks up to 12mm in tube thickness. With the pannier hooks on the opposite side of the bag, the pack will be super comfortable for long-commutes and walking around off the bike.

A convenientouter flap pocket

for quick access and two generously sized outer

pockets. Banjo fanswill recognize the two

prominent vertical reflective stripes

down the flap.

The beauty ofthis design is thatby simply unhookingthe panier flap and swinging it to the opposite side of the bag will reveal the backpack straps.

1

4

6

7

5

2 3

1) Cycling trip through Ireland, 1996 2) Tackling the French Alps, 1996 (dig the Banesto kit!) / 3) Product testing in the early Banjo Brothers days / 4) Giving the skinny at Interbike 2014 / 5) Helping out a Minneapolis commuter pick the right bag at Bike to Work Day / 6) Developing a prototype in the Banjo R&D Facility / 7) Banjo Brothers products well represented at the Dads & Daughters 2014 Carver Park, MN camping trip

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

APRIL-MAY 2015 / 54 / THE BROTHERHOOD / THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF BANJO BROTHERS

PANNIER BACKPACK(AND VISE VERSA)

1150 CUBIC INCHES

CONVERTS FROM PANNIERTO BACKPACK IN SECONDS

100% WATERPROOF

JUST $79.99AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BIKE SHOP

THE BROTHERHOODTHE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF BANJO BROTHERS

Instagram.com/banjobrothers Facebook.com/banjobrothersbanjobrothers.com

VOLUME 1 / ISSUE NO. 1 APRIL / MAY 2015