Haulin’ Colin Fabrication and Machine Shop creates and modifies bikes that expand the power and abilities of bicycles in Seattle. From the iconic heavy-duty trailers to an inventive (industry-shaking?) no-weld cycle truck conversion kit and beyond, Haulin’ Colin’s shop is not just meeting the needs of people who need to haul stuff with their bikes, they are creating new possibilities.

Lori Kane of Different Office, a blog that features unique and effective work spaces, stopped by Haulin’ Colin’s shop recently:

My fears about us having nothing in common vanished almost the moment I walked through Colin’s door. Several women were working on a bike in the corner. One came and introduced herself to me as the business partner of my friend Sean: they run the very cool community business Fork & Frame together. And the beer Daniel and I brought–an apology to Colin for having to reschedule to a Friday evening–made us other friends in the space instantly. And then there was Colin himself.

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So what does Colin do in his space?

In this space, Garth and I primarily work on custom bicycles. We do custom bicycle frames, parts, accessories: everything from custom frames to big trailers to frame repair for broken frames to this kind of random stuff, like turning a bike into a trike, or making a pedicab, or. I just finished—it’s in powder coat right now—I finished a bike that has a smaller front wheel and a big cargo platform on the front. Then it has an additional chain that goes up to the front and runs through a little gear box, and has different attachments that you can put on there for, like you can put a blender on there, a big circle so kids can do spin art, and all kinds of weird attachments like that.

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I use one of Colin’s trailers extensively both as part of Fork and Frame, delivering Clean Greens veggies, and for accomplishing everyday tasks. For someone who does not own a car, access to one of these trailers is a huge help. Instead of borrowing a car for the times that I need to carry something too large to fit on my bike, I find myself strapping it into the trailer, shifting to a low gear, and parading across town waving at the excited kids who come to watch. Kids LOVE bike trailers.

And because the trailer is so well designed, it’s a lot easier than it looks.

Here’s a video from Different Office:

Built to Last – Different Office from Bas de Baar on Vimeo.