Meet the Rider: The Bike Event Superstar
Posted on: May 15th, 2022
“Bike event? I totally want to be there! Every style is here in Portland. You get to know about them, learn about the people and why they ride the way they do – it’s SO fun.”
Armando Luna is a friendly face on the PDX bike event scene who loves to check out what’s happening and meet other riders. He describes himself as a low car driver who uses his bike as his main way to get around. You’ll find him regularly at PDX #coffeeoutside.
There are grassroots bike events happening nearly every day in Portland, and local riders know even if they can’t make it they can probably get a glimpse of the action by checking in on Armando’s Instagram (@dudeluna).
With all this riding, it made sense for Armando to design a dream bike that would fit right in to his daily riding lifestyle. But in reality, he says, he designed very little of his custom handbuilt steel Breadwinner B-Road.
Armando knew he wanted a bike that was similar to his Salsa Fargo, a drop down mt. bike. His Salsa is set up to haul gear, so this new ride would be his every day around town bike, a lighter bike he could use for what he calls “all day rides.”. He left much of the rest to the Breadwinner team, and says he enjoyed leaning on the experts to give him the guru treatment.
“At Breadwinner, they’re the professionals. I told them I didn’t want anything electronic, and I pretty much let them do the rest. I know a lot about bikes, but not THAT kind of deep knowledge. I like relying upon the professionals’ knowledge.”
Armando says he couldn’t be more pleased with the results. “People talk about their bikes being nimble. I was always, like nimble? But now I understand what they mean. It’s a big difference.”
When Armando was fully working at the office (he manages the learning management system at Oregon Health and Science University), he rode to work nearly every day, rain or shine. Inspired by the actions of a friend, Armando realized he could probably ride his bike every day if he put his mind to it. So he set about a project of riding his bike every day, something he plans to pursue for all of 2022.
Armando likes to do social rides all over town, and says he’s also getting into longer rides with the BikePOC group. Just what is it he loves so much about bike events and group rides?
“Oh it’s definitely the people!” he says. “There are so many different people. There’s a huge bike audience in Portland. From Belligerantes on their classic Schwinns, the roadie folks, racers, fixie crews, and social riders… all of those groups exist here. Every style is here. You get to know about them, learn about the people and why they ride the way they do – it’s SO fun. There’s a group ride almost every day.”
About that Paint Scheme
PIcking out a color for the bike can be one of the most difficult decisions, which is why we offer an array of thoughtfully designed stock colors. Armando almost went with just black, but they questioned that decision. He and Ira worked together to build up to the dream scheme: A specific orange (not too bright!) that Armando loves. When trying to dial it in JUST RIGHT, he drew inspiration from the logo for Path Less Pedaled. The topics and culture of the YouTube channel and bike movement resonate with Armando and he likes that his Breadwinner B-Road is a nod to that culture.
