R.E.Load April Fools Fun Ride 2016

 

It's time once again for the most fun bike event of the year! The 12th iteration of the legendary R.E.Load April Fools Fun Ride is set to take place on Saturday, April 9th, and promises a ton of crazy mini-events and general partying while riding to spots all around the city. Unlike the average alley cat race, our format rewards having fun and just a little bit of luck, rather than pure speed and tactics. We welcome all riders! Whether you're a seasoned messenger, commuter, weekend warrior, or just have a bike you can borrow for a day, we guarantee you'll have a blast.

Prizes will be running deep and will include a ton of custom R.E.Load gear, as well as goodies from our friends both local and around the globe. Although the event is open to all age, please be aware that there will be some stops at bars, and the after party is 21+.

12th Annual April Fools Fun Ride
Saturday, April 9th
Registration at 1pm
Ride starts at 2pm, ends at 6pm
Start is at Penn Treaty Park
After party TBA

Changes to our Standard Bags

We've made a small change to our standard setup. We are now offering a Tri-Pocket feature on our bags and are making it the default option for standard setups. We have found the Tri-Pocket to be a more useful, unobstructed storage option over the organizer, allowing you to isolate medium sized items with easier access.

For a look at other options that we offer on our Made To Order bags, you can head on over to our Features page.

Holiday Shipping Schedule

Be sure to get those holiday orders in on time! R.E.Load bags are the handiwork of just a couple of expert artisans, so lead times for many items are going to be longer than usual. To help you schedule the perfect gift, please be aware of these important deadlines for bags and accessories that need to be delivered by December 24th:

ITEM	CUT-OFF	NOTES
Build Your Own Bags	Wed, Nov 25, 6p EST	Rush charges apply after this date No graphics after this date No Megapacks after this date
Stock Made to Order Bags	Wed, Dec 2, 6p EST	Rush charges apply after this date No Megapacks after this date
Accessories	Wed, Dec 9, 6p EST	Rush charges apply after this date

1st Annual R.E.Load Bike Swap & Auction!

1st Annual R.E.load Bike Swap and Auction
Sunday, September 6th
12pm - ­ 5pm @ R.E.Load
608 N 2nd St

We're hosting a swap and you're invited! There's no charge for a space to display your goods and we'd love to see it filled with bike parts. Space is limited so please shoot us an email to reserve a spot!
reloadeast@reloadbags.com

We also have a bunch of used R.E.Load bags to sell that have been filling our closets. There will be prototypes and other lightly used bags that the crew has made over the years. Come through to find crazy deals on some one­-of­-a­-kind stuff!

For those looking to buy ­ or sell ­ big ticket items, there will be an auction starting at 2pm. Simon Firth (Firth & Wilson Transport Cycles) will be our auctioneer. There is no commission for any of the auction items, but we do reserve the right to deny items based on estimated value. So please, nothing but your finest.

We're happy to have Victory Brewing Company as a sponsor, we will have some of their newest beers available.

Hope to see you soon!

2015 April Fools Fun Ride: The Recap!

It's been a few weeks since our 11th April Fools Fun Ride, and we've been looking through pics and reminiscing about what a great turnout we had for the event. This year, we had just over 150 participants, not to mention all of the volunteers and general people hanging out at various checkpoints and the start/finish. We'd sincerely like to thank everybody who helped make this year's ride possible! Special thanks to Mike Dailey, whose tireless work leading up to the event garnered us a ton of prizes, awesome volunteers, and a great spot for the after party (GARAGE on Passyunk).

We were lucky enough to host the event on the very first sunny Saturday of the year, and for three hours, riders cruised through Center City, West Philly, and South Philly, enjoying what basically amounts to a huge rolling party and collecting points in the attempt of prizes and glory. When it was all said and done, Molly Raimont came away with the top prize, posting well over a thousand points! For her efforts, she walked away with awesome prizes from R.E.load, Cadence Collection, Fabric Horse, Lone Wolf cycling, MSC Customs, CycleHawk, Fiks Reflective, Abus Locks, and Rothera. Additional Sponsors included Firehouse Bikes, Bicycle Revolutions, Philly Bikesmith, Stuart Leon Law Offices, Sly Fox, Little Baby's Ice Cream, Outlaw Print Co., Awesome Dude's Printing, and the Philadelphia Bicycle Messenger Association.

Although it's a lot of work, it's an absolute blast to throw the fun Ride, and we're looking forward to an even bigger event next year, with more twists and more pranks! To check out more pics, head over to our Facebook page, and don't forget to go over to the Demoncats website for some profession photo coverage by the legendary Kevin Dillard.

Final Results: 

1. Molly Raimont
2. Elizabeth Pinney
3. Michael Hoepfl
4. Pat Woods
5. Rajijv Sainath
6. Chris Porvaznik
7. David Essom
8. Pat Perhosky
9. Pat Engleman
10. Kenneth Mascaro

April Fools Race is Back!!!

All photos courtesy demoncats.com

It's back! The best race ever! A Philadelphia legend! The R.E.Load April Fools Race is back from its hiatus and is ready for fun!

Be ready for shenanigans, foolery, misadventures and a great time!

April 11, 2015. Don't miss the triumphant return!

Red Tag Holiday Sale

If you're still shopping for presents or just looking for a good deal, we're running a store wide holiday sale on all of our in-stock bags.

Check out the Sale section on our website or come in to our shop in Philly, and look for the red tag to save up to 40% on our hand produced, locally made bags!

Awesome New Camo

True Timber MC2 Cordura®!


We recently got a few yards of this awesome pattern that combines the brightness of safety orange with the woody print of the "newer" style of hunting camouflage, and, of course, it sparked a discussion of why such a bold pattern would exist in the first place.

Basically it comes down to how deer see:

So, that super-bright orange isn't exactly invisible to a deer, but it isn't nearly as bold as it is to us.

If you really want to get a deer's attention (or a deer hunter's for that matter), get a Small Flightpack made out of this sick camo, and go run around in the woods!

Hit us up if you're interested in getting something made out of this stuff.

Holiday Deadline Pushed Up

Today we had to make a tough decision. We had previously laid out the holiday deadlines to stretch a little further into the month, but we have been experiencing an overwhelming volume of orders, and unfortunately, we have no choice other than to stop taking requests for Build Your Own and Made to Order bags at midnight tonite. We absolutely hate having to call it so early, but we really have no choice. There's just no way we can make any more bags in time for the holidays!

So, if you need a bag in time for holiday delivery, get that order in NOW! Keep in mind, we also have a huge number of existing bags in the SALE category, and there's always our gift certificates, which will allow the recipient to select something from our stock, or build an item of their very own!

We will continue to make our accessories for as long as possible, and should be able to stick to our original deadline calendar...however, to be safe, we really recommend getting that order in sooner than later!

Again, our sincere apologies, but this will insure that everybody gets their gifts on time!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Introducing the new collection Leave Nothing Behind

Desgined and hand printed by Mari Montacelli. Handmade by Ellie Lum and Mari Montacelli in the RE Load SF studio one stitch at a time. Limited run of bags, frame pads, and t-shirts.

An Interview with Mari Montacelli

How old are you?
I am twenty-four years of age.

How long have you been silkscreening professionally for?
I've been silkscreening for six years.

How did you come up with the textile print & concept for this collection?The graphic came from a drawing I made after I kicked a rock, not on purpose, broke one of my toes, though. Made it so it was uncomfortable to walk. It started me thinking about how movement can become restricted easily if you think about it in only a familiar way. That's where the "ghost claw" on the shirts comes from, its an alternative means to keep on, keepin' on. The lines of the textile are from the shirt graphic, in the wings of the bird, then keeping everything black and white. 

What is your favorite thing about making things?
Welp, everything...

How long have you been apprenticing at RE Load?
A little over a year.

How would you describe your apprenticeship?
Its rad. I'm getting to learn how to sew without having to sit in a class. Its pretty similar to how I learned to screen print. You learn a new step, then take into production, pretty much fail at it, then get better eventually because you have the chance to do it over again. But mostly you start to understand why things are made in a certain sequence or why a part goes in a specific place. That understanding isn't confined to the one singular thing you are making, its starts to creep over into the way you understand other stuff, how they are similar and why they need to be different. 

How do you feel about art school?
I have never attended, so I can't really say one way or the other. I was sort of thinking about it, however, financially I couldn't justify it, so at the time my main gripe was that it should be cheaper... Now though, I know it would have been all bad. I have a hard time learning in group settings- I can't pay attention with thirty other people milling about, walking, breathing and what not. Then having a professor demand you process information the same way they do by writing papers or making presentations. Personally, it would have been a waste of time.  If it was taught more as a trade, like,"Here is this technical skill, this is how these instruments work, now GO do as you will with them." I would be interested, but maybe thats more what you'd call design and not art...? 

Tell us about Four Lttr Wrds? 
Four Lttr Wrds is the name of my business. Most screen silk screen shops print large volumes of t-shirts or posters. And thats always a good-time, usually though, the jobs I get are these little unique projects where I get to put a little more
creativity and time into completing the job. 

RELOAD/REUSE: Plockets now available!

We are committed to throwing less and less away, and in light of this, we are continually developing innovative ways to use our big pile of cordura and liner scraps. As we enter a new year, we renew this committment to be more sustainable by keeping things out of the landfill, leading us into a plethora of new projects in 2013. In particular, I have been mulling over what to do with the pile of liner & Cordura scraps under my cutting table that resembles a futuristic rats nest made by a very industrious rat obssessed with abrasive-resistant waterproof fabric. I have resolved that this unruly mess has to be dealt with-and not by just casting it away to the landfill for the most industrious rats to use for the next thousand years.
Hence, a new product born out of discarded scraps, Plockets, living wall planters! Plockets are great to plant herbs, succulents, or any indoor plant. People have also been known to use them as hanging wall organizers for keys and mail. The possibilities are endless! Plockets take influence from the current living wall planters on the market and put a RELOAD/REUSE spin on them. Stay tuned for more projects that carry our committment to conscious consumption forward. We will be continually offering recycled and upcycled products that use our production scraps and cast-offs. These products will be tagged with our RELOAD/REUSE label. Up-cycling lends itself so well to creativity!
Each Plocket is unique in patterns, color, and style. Plockets are available in 2 sizes, Small and Large. *See product description for specifics Plockets are specifically designed for indoor or outdoor use. * See description of each product for specified indoor or outdoor use. Outdoor Plockets have drainage holes, indoor ones do not. For custom Plocket orders please email ellie@reloadbags.com
Plockets featured on social media!
Magical Realism
Proper Hustle
Cordura FB

:: Holiday Schedule 2012 ::

Please check out these dates to make sure that any items you are ordering as a gift arrive by Monday, December 24th! These dates are for standard UPS ground shipping (bags) and USPS Priority Mail shipping (accessories). We can offer quicker turnaround/shipping if you need it, but you MUST contact us directly BEFORE ordering the item!

So, with that out of the way, here we go....again, please be sure to contact us if you have any questions!


For in-stock bags (any of the Single or Double strap bags in the SHOP section):

For shipments to Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota: Your order must be placed by 1pm EST on Monday, December 17th.

For shipments to South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Alaska: Your order must be placed by 1pm EST on Tuesday, December 18th.

For shipments to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Georgia, Alabama, Florida: Your order must be placed by 1pm EST on Wednesday, December 19th.

For shipments to Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, NewYork (outside of NYC), Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan: Your order must be placed by 1pm EST on Thursday, December 20th.

For shipments to New York City (ONLY NYC!), Pennsylvania. New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland: Your order must be placed by 5pm EST on Thursday, December 21st.


For in-stock accessories (any of the accessories in the SHOP section):

For all domestic shipments, your order must be placed by 1pm EST on Wednesday, December 19th.


For custom-built accessories (any of the accessories in the BUILD YOUR OWN section):

For all domestic shipments, your order must be placed by 7pm EST on Monday, December 17th.


For any custom-built bags (any of the single or double strap bags in the BUILD YOUR OWN section):

We are guaranteeing delivery by Monday, December 24th on all custom bag orders (without graphics) that are placed by 7pm on Friday, November 30th. After this date, we cannot guarantee delivery on time for the holidays unless you contact us first. PLEASE do not order online before contacting us, then email us saying you need it done faster. We will do our best to accommodate late orders, but we do have limited time, and we may have to charge extra for quicker turnaround and/or expedited shipping.


For any custom-built bags that include graphics:

You need to contact us directly, as soon as possible, if you are going to have even a chance at getting the bag on time!

:: The Brand New R.E.Load Saddle Roll ::

This summer it seems like we've been getting almost daily requests to make some sort of saddle bag...so we've done it! Our new Saddle Roll is a simpler take on our long-running Pro Tool Roll, with three large slots for wrenches, multi-tools, tire levers, patch kits, tubes, or whatever you may need for simple fixes. Roll it up, and full-length Velcro® will keep everything securely closed while you thread the nylon webbing straps through your seat rails and back around the entire roll. Click in the National Molding® quick release buckle, and you're good to go!

The Saddle Roll is available now in the updated Tool Rolls & Pouches section of our website, along with the original Pro Tool Roll and brand new Tube Pouches and Simple Pouches.

On Saturday, July 21st, we are happy to be hosting the opening reception for Mark price's installation in the DETOUR window! Come through, 7-9pm, and check out the work and talk with Mark! The R.E.Load backyard will be open, featuring the usual treats!

Press Release: 

Our Age / Ruined Monolith

Mark Price

Detour at Reload

608 N. 2nd Street

Philadelphia, PA 19123

Price’s work speaks to a deep-seated human fear of groundlessness and change. We seek stability and a world we recognize as sane and reliable, and Price’s work won’t give it to us. Instead he offers incomplete warnings of a shattered future in gestures that pierce the picture plane, flattening it into jagged shards that we strain to recognize. A silhouetted character appears from time to time in the work, functioning as a reminder of the fragmentary and incomplete nature of consciousness. In Price’s installation, our own experience can no longer be trusted. The high-resolution screen through which we view things has shattered into stuttering and razor-sharp hi-contrast graphic regions. Fragmentary bits of a larger situation, his collages emerge into a three-dimensional plane that feels tentative, vulnerable, and hyper-real. 

“Price’s visual world consists of both appropriated scenes and personal machinations of pure imagination. In it are fragments of collected, distorted, and replicated artifacts—an arrangement of shadows in a parking garage, the sinister implications of a computer error message, and the menacing pattern of caution paint at a Hong Kong toll plaza…The result of this combination is a hypnotic tour of where our psychological and information architecture collide.” - Maxwell Neely-Cohen

Mark Price (b. 1981, Detroit) lives and works in Philadelphia. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. In 2009 his work was selected by curator Aaron Betsky for inclusion in the internationally recognized Confines exhibition at the Institut Valencia d’Art Modern. His work is represented in New York by Kesting / Ray.

Tenth Annual R.E.Load Maypril Fools Fun Ride: an update!

We're pleased to announce that things are coming along smoothly for the tenth iteration of our legendary Maypril Fools event! Thanks to some generous sponsor donations, we're even able to extend guaranteed, limited edition tees for pre-registration up through May 5th! Pete Whitney from Outlaw Print Co. has shown me some of the designs, and they're pretty awesome.

The Fun Ride has never been about speed, and has always been about all kinds of riders having a good time together and partying their way through the city. We encourage anybody with a bike to come out and join in!

If you're thinking about doing this event, we heavily recommend pre-registering now so you can lock up the free tee. If you wait until the day of the event, chances are about 90% that you wont get one. We've got an amazing after party planned, with two floors of DJ's at the Barbary, lots of stops with drink specials, fun checkpoint tasks, and general mayhem. And prizes. Lots of great prizes, from Cadence, Fabric Horse, Outlaw Print co., Chuey Brand hats, Hanford Cycles, Bicycle Revolutions, and the Mollywoppers NYB! There's really no reason to miss this one. Check out just one of the bags you might win below, then go register here!

:: Maypril Fools 2012 & Our New Website ::

First up, we have a brand new website! It's been a TON of work, but hopefully it will be worth it. We've got new sizing charts and illustrations, more pics of people using the bags, higher quality photos, and much easier navigation in general. Please drop us a line and let us know what you think!

Secondly, we're in final preparation for our Maypril Fools Fun Ride!

We're proud to announce that our TENTH annual Maypril Fools Fun Ride will be taking place Saturday, May 12th! This is the longest-running scavenger hunt event around, and our focus is always on fun as opposed to speed. We invite riders of all sorts to take part! Basically, you'll be given a manifest (HUGE list of checkpoints) aound the city to ride to - some of them real, some of them fake - and you route yourself as you see fit. Some checkpoints will be as simple as answering a clue from the manifest. Other checkpoints will require you to pull of some task or stunt, where you will be judged on your performance and scored accordingly. In the past we've included stuff like tricycle racing, karaoke contests, drawing contests, etc. There are also several stops at bars and venues around Philadelphia, and at the locations of several of our friend and sponsor companies around town. The winner is the person who has the most points at the end of the race. Regardless of whether you are going for the win, or just hanging out and taking it easy at a few checkpoints, you're guaranteed to have a great time!

We always make one-time run of limited edition tees for the event, and this year is no different. We have Pete Whitney from Outlaw Print Company making the shirts this time around. For fifteen bucks preregistered by May 1st, you'll get event entry, a tee shirt, and entry to the after party at the Barbary (featuring cheap drinks and two floors featuring several dj's). After the prereg deadline, tees are NOT guaranteed (probably only about 10% of people who register late or day-of will get tees), so register now!

Tenth Annual Maypril Fools Fun Ride

Saturday, May 12th

Registration: 12pm at Penn Treaty Park

Race Start: 2pm

After Party Presented by Get Bent

The Barbary

Drink and Food specials!

Featuring DJ's M.A.D Cat & The Snalien on the first floor

DJ's Lexx and Argo on the 2nd floor

Award ceremony around 7pm

Sponsors include:

R.E.Load

Chuey Hats

Fabric Horse

Hanford Cycles

Get Bent

Bicycle Revolutions

Levis

Strada

more to come!!!!

:: Free Shipping and Tee Shirts ::

For a limited time, get a free tee shirt and free shipping to the continental US on any "Build Your Own" bag orders! And free shipping to the continental US on any orders over $69 in general! We've got tons of stock right now, so take advantage! Check it out NOW!

New Waxed Canvas Colors and the New 2012 Flight Pack!

We've been big fans of waxed canvas as our alternative outer material for quite some time. However, waxed canvas - at least, U.S. made waxed canvas - has always been a bit problematic to stock in our usual plentiful color palettes, due to price and availability. Well, we're happy to announce that we've managed to grab a few extra colors in some small quantities from our local supplier! We will now be stocking black and brown as available colors for our Build Your Own Bag section, with gray, tan, olive, and navy blue making appearances on select bags in the Waxed Canvas Collection as supplies last.

As a tie-in to the new waxed canvas options, we're going to be revealing our redesigned 2012 Flight Packs! We heard a lot of clamoring for bigger front pockets, so we've made the switch to a bellows-style pocket (similar to those found on our other bag models). While the main compartment of the Flight Pack continues to feature our amazing, soft, and light weight waterproof fabric lining, the main outside pocket is made of our standard vinyl liner material for added structure. Similar to the Megapack pocket, we've added quick release buckles so that the pocket flap can be clipped down securely (which is important, as the rolltop design of the bag means there's no main flap to cover the pocket itself).



The shoulder straps have also been revised (and actually, this goes for ALL of our double strap models). Slightly thicker padding, with a slightly narrower overall profile. Swiveling hardware at the strap ends means that no matter what the load, or how you prefer to adjust the straps, they will always be at the ideal anatomical angle for comfort. The straps of course still feature adjustable sternum straps, webbing for attaching cellphone holders and other accessories, and D rings for carabiners or whatever.




Finally, we've adjusted the sizing on the Flight Packs to correspond a little better with the other models in our bag lineups. The "Small" size remains the same at 1110 cu. in., pretty much in line with our Small Civilian. And there is a new "Medium" model, which comes in at 1326 cu. in. with the flap rolled up. Packed up nicely, it has roughly the same volume as our Civilian single strap model.

We're really looking forward to the full release of this new lineup, a wonderful mix of awesome materials and design improvements that are making R.E.Load bags better than ever! You can now build up a Flight Pack in much the same way as our single strap bags; starting from a base model with no pockets. Add inside and/or outside pockets, choose your materials and colors - even for the shoulder straps - and any additional features you'd like. Check out the website for these new models throughout the next 24 hours!

:: In the Shadow of the Mountains ::

This Saturday, February 11th, we're proud to be hosting the opening reception for the new Detour window installation by Lizzy Janssen and Elizabeth Garvey! Come through and check out the beautiful window! Stay for some treats and a chance to grab some handmade items from the artists!

:: "That and That" Reception this Friday ::

This Friday, January 6th, from 7pm - 10pm, we will be hosting a reception for Kris Chau and James Ulmer's "That and That" installation! A new set of mobile paintings especially created for the Detour window! Come through and check it out!