Give the Gifts Of:
- Simplicity
- Organization
- Protection
- Health
- Inspiration
Shellback
GrünEstrasse backpack co.
Win the Race
holiday gift idea from shellback6
Creative Gift for Your Cyclist This Year
(Fairfax, VA) Whether your cyclist seems to have everything or seems to want for nothing, there is a gift on our list sure to make his Christmas or Hanukah a bit sweeter. This year, give the gifts of Simplicity, Organization, Protection, Health, and Inspiration all at once. Give your cyclist the Shellback Bike to Work backpack, the world’s most comfortable Bike to Work backpack!
Simplicity
The #3 reason why people don’t Bike to Work? Too much hassle in packing for the office. When faced with getting up early to ride AND forced to think about what to pack, many people opt not to go through the hassle. The Shellback was built on the principle of Simplicity. We engineered Shellback’s Tri-Fold Garment Bag to allow the commuter to take their work attire directly from the closet and clip it into the Shellback Garment Sleeve. Closet to Backpack in 60 seconds! Furthermore, the Garment Bag built to keep your professional attire crease-free and hang neatly in a closet or locker room.
Need another reason: The Shellback is Carry-on Compliant with all Major airlines
Organization
The #4 reason people don’t bike to work? Fear of forgetting something important. Take it from me, at various times forgotten a belt, socks, cufflinks, and even underwear in riding to work. I designed the Storage Compartment specifically to combat this problem. Everything has a place; there is a place for everything.
Among the specific features, the Shellback includes logical and discrete compartments for shoes, water, toiletries, laptop, accessories, and jewelry so you don’t leave those items at home on the dresser. Some of our favorite organizational items:
- External Shoe Well. Keeps shoe smells away from your wardrobe.
- Grab Handle. Perfect for hot-footing it out of the door ready for your cycle commute.
- Access-While Riding Storage. Storage on waist strap for access cards, wallet, keys, etc., and waterproof phone compartment. Connectors on the shoulder harness allow easy access and quick changes of accessories without taking the pack off.
- Waterproof Laptop / Document Compartment
- Hydration Pack Ready. Accepts up to a 1.0L Water Bladder.
- Lunch Compartment. Room enough for a 1.0L Nalgene bottle, also
- Bike Repair Pocket. You only ride without a spare tube and tools once.
Protection
The #1 reason why people don’t ride their bike to work? Don’t want to share the road with automobiles. Solving this issue is complicated—we need both good bike infrastructure along with the safety of hundreds of cyclists on the road. Until then, GrüneStrasse incorporates safety and protection into our Shellback design.
Protection may be the Shellback’s most important feature, but also the most understated and most often missed. One of my favorite features is the reflective Safety Fabric and Piping. We use glass-bead fabric to reflect light at 420 candelas which exceed OSHA safety vest requirements. Also adding to nighttime protection is a Hypalon LED light loop, capable of carrying your rear safety light.
The Shellback’s Air Max™ Ventilation and Support System provides both protection and comfort. Moisture-wicking suspended mesh ventilates the rider and keeps loads and perspiration off the rider’s back. We left enough room in the back for a 1.0L water bladder!
The Shellback’s PU-coated fabric is wind and water-resistant, but the Shellback also includes a 330D Honeycomb Polyester Rain Cover that will protect your attire, accessories, toiletries, electronics, and gear on the wettest of wet-weather days.
[FYI: the #2 reason is that people don’t want to be smelly in the office or use a community shower].
Want to Bike to Work But No Place for Your Professional Attire?
Is your Bike to Work day confined to Casual Fridays? Do you have two wardrobes—the Bike to Work wardrobe at the office and the rest at home?
GrüneStrasse Backpack Co. produces the Shellback Bike to Work backpack. This hand-crafted backpack stores the entirety of your one-day work requirements to include: crease-free professional attire (suit); laptop; shoes; toiletries; bike repair kit; accessories, and dozens of other bike-friendly features that Simplify, Organize, and Protect.
Health
Give the gift of Health this year! Did you know that Biking to work may reduce mortality by 13%? According to researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand, bikers saw a 13% reduction in early death rates compared to people who drove to work and a strong correlation between cycling and longer, healthier living.
The University of Otago study complimented a 2019 European Congress on Obesity study which concluded that individuals with obesity who commute by car have a 32% higher risk of death compared with those individuals with a normal weight who have active commutes.
A 2017 study from the UK Biobank demonstrated that participants who used cycling for commuting had a 40% lower all-cause mortality rate than the group that did not cycle. Additionally, several separate studies have demonstrated the benefits of cycling in terms of improved mental health, reducing type 2 diabetes, and lower absences at work. A Danish study found that riding a bike regularly could lower your risk of heart attack by 11%
That said, only 0.6% of American citizens bike to work, despite a growing body of research that shows biking is one of the healthiest exercises available.
Inspiration
Lastly, we believe the Shellback is the gift of Inspiration. After spending a career in the U.S. military, I am fully aware of the limitations of not having the right equipment for the job. In that line of work, the consequences could be fatal.
We believe that having the right equipment for the task is essential to forming constructive habits, like biking to work. Similar to how your tooth brushing improves after getting a new toothbrush or running picks up with a new pair of shoes, the Shellback inspires bike to work usage.
So give your cyclists the gifts of Simplicity, Organization, Protection, Health, and Inspiration. Get the world’s most comfortable bicycle commuter backpack!
Shellback6 is GrüneStrasse’s regular blog contribution to the Bike to Work and Alternative Transportation Movement. Comments, suggestions, and dissenting points of view welcome!