Genosack x Blue Lug
The first time I learned about Genosack was when a friend of mine showed me their IG page, 2 or 3 years ago.
They had way less followers and only had a few posts.
“Dude, you gotta see their ride vids” says my friend.
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Hmm, this angle…This quality…I know I’ve seen this before…
Oh yeah, it’s the VX!
Being a fan of skateboarding and the culture for over 10 years, it didn’t take time for me to figure out that some their videos were shot with the Sony VX1000. And I instantly could tell that these guys were also people who were close to the skateboarding culture.
There are no specific way to enjoy cycling, but I really loved how they were just purely appreciating the joy of riding bicycles with their friends, whether it’s a vintage MTB, Crust, Rivendell, Surly, basket bikes or even fixed gear bikes that each people were riding.
Their way of cruising the neighborhood and finding interesting spots to bike and hanging out was really sick. I soon became their fan and would gather my friends to imitate their style of riding.
Talking bike shit at the meeting spot
Riding through spots we found while cruising.
FUN!
Finding a good spot to chill.
We naturally start talking about the skate video we recently watched and gradually shift to discussions of what we want to change from our current bike builds.
Talking about bikes made us wanna start riding again, so we left the chilling spot for more bike rides.
We made a stop at under a big tree and then talk more shit.
The ride comes to an end around noon.
*These photos/screenshots were taken in two different rides.*
@moaninstore
@hiroaki_amano
@serakanno
@yagirobay
@willowlurks
Shoutout to all the homies above! Thanks for the fun ride.
This is the type of cycling I like. It reminds me of my childhood days, when I would ride around the neighborhood of Shelbyville Indiana with my friends. We were all appreciating the simple goal of riding a bike.
Packing stuff onto your bikes and riding a long distance or riding fast and pushing your limits are in fact a great way to enjoy cycling and I’m sure there are many more opinions about how to enjoy cycling, but by looking at Genosack, I felt like they were telling me to simply appreciate the joy that comes from moving a steel pipe with two wheels with your own legs.
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After falling in love with Genosack’s style and philosophy, I met this gentleman who says he takes photos for Genosack at Blue Lug Hatagaya.
Shoutout to Trevor for visiting us a couple of years ago!
“Yo! Huge fan!”
“Like wise!”
Having someone who I look up to visiting the shop was crazy. I ditched my work for the day and hung out with Trevor at the shop for few hours. I had a great time chatting and I felt like Genosack and Blue Lug were able to make a connection.
After multiple video calls and back and forth emails, we agreed to a collaboration.
It’s mid summer! We need tees!
Huge shoutout to Cho Yoonmi, a local artist and a great friend of Justin from Genosack.
The graphic she provided for the collab was inspired by vintage matchboxes.
Shoutout to Nathanael, Abby and Ridge for modeling for us!
Nate is also a Geno boy Abby and Ridge too are skateboarders and cyclists.
But most importantly, they are members of a band called Life’s Question.
The three were visiting Japan for a tour and came to hangout at the shop. Thanks for pulling up in the rain. We’ll ride bike for sure next time!
Go check out the performance they did for the Japan tour. They’re so sick.
Too many bandanas? No, there’s no such thing as too much bandanas.
I like wearing bandanas under my helmet. It keeps the helmet from getting nasty.
Fun fact, this logo was drawn by me. Get it? because it’s a matchbox?
Last but not least, a tall can koozie.
It’s the perfect size for energy drink cans, but you can shove in a tall beer can in as well.
Or do meaningless stuff like this.
July 27th (Sat) : In stores
July 28th (Sun) 7:00 p.m. JST: Online
see collection here!
Lastly, I would like to thank Justin who took his time to answer some questions I wanted to ask about the crew.
Enjoy this little interview with some awesome photos taken by
Huge thanks to Genosack crew!
✌️
– Colonel
———————————————————————————-
-Who are you?
Yo!!! We’re the Genosack Crew 🙂
Mitch and I (Justin) handle everything upfront regarding trips, group rides, managing socials, merch, filming, editing, and organizing opportunities to boost, and raise aid and funds for all in need through the love of cycling.
We owe it all to the homies, we couldn’t be more grateful to have our beautiful team and family with us.
↑Justin
↑Mitch
– What is Genosack and how did it start?
Genosack is a crew based in so called Minneapolis, Minnesota.
We are learning and experiencing our city and the world through the act of cycling, and sharing it with our friends and everyone mainly via Instagram and YouTube. It started from the boredom of skating co-arising with an exploding interest in cycling and emerging ATB cultures happening around the world. We started by watching Blue Lug videos on YouTube Gary Projects, Tin Ojedas movies from Crust Bikes, laughing at Russ and Ronnie videos, Terry B, and Safa Brian videos.
So much cycling has been brought to our attention since then. It’s been great to work with Fat Tire to help fund the summer series of our group rides that we now call Geno Mondays! Slow pace, low milage, and no drop. I’m so grateful of the support we’ve received to facilitate a safe and inclusive space for cyclists of all levels. Shoutout all our caboose crew, marshalls, and everyone who brings new friends along! To be apart of the community here in Minneapolis is really a special thing.
We are constantly inspired by the communities that use cycling to connect. Especially locally, several groups deserve love and shout-outs. From Bonesaw Cycling Collective working with local causes, Biking With Baddies breaking down the borders that whiteness has created in cycling, the MPLS BMA throwing thoughtful and inclusive races and events, empowering trans and GNC cyclists. Recently we found out about a really cool club, ez.bikeclub, that is pulling from the sneaker and streetwear scene into cycling, and funneling love back into their community with mental and physical health clinics, supporting minority-owned businesses on their group rides, and just vibing with each other.
This should be the goal of everyone who is committed to cycling. Generally, we see these groups using cycling as a conduit of love and care, which is incredibly valuable. Geno is kinda a skateboarder’s response to the traditional representation of cycling. I think most skateboarders will naturally take what they appreciate or learn from skating and apply it to whatever they explore as they move past skating. We learned the importance of community and encouragement in skating. We see a lot of parallels between the two, with room for growth in both.
-Is there a meaning to the name Genosack?
There was a time when Chaney, McCauely, Cobb, and I lived in a homie house. We called it Margaritaville, our home and collective start to our fascination of cycling.
Eventually, Cobb adopted a young and handsome cat. After a long list of names our little tuxedo wearin’ sweetheart found his way to be named Geno that we love so much today. Our dear friend and designer, Cobb, makes all of the 3D work that we have in our videos and page, as well as our shirt, including the poem on the back. Geno is the best, we hope to get him outside on the bike soon!
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Genosack is the name we came up with for a bag company that didn’t fully move into fruition. As we started getting interested in bikepacking, I wanted to sew bags for the homies that wouldn’t cost $200+. So we had the idea of starting a bag company, Genosack. However, we realized how hard and time-consuming it is to make bags and ended up cycling more than we wanted to produce a product.
Hats off to all the great bag companies and people making neat bike luggage, it’s not an easy task! Shout out to ESGO Technologies! Our dear friend Ben Hannon, a single-person bag company out of Chicago, please support!
A huge inspiration to the start of understanding the fundamentals of a seamster.
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-How many people are in the crew?
We used to say like 15? At this point everyone is crew, everyone we meet, everyone who shows up to our rides, and everyone who sees our videos and connects with it. We love you so much and are so thankful you value cycling in a kind and jovial manner like us.
-How did you all meet and are you all located in Minneapolis?
We have homies all over at this point haha. We’ve all were brought together through the arts, skating, and snowboarding scenes here in MN.
-You guys have been killing it lately on the YT vids and IG edits. Do you think more people are reaching out to you for some cool opportunities lately? Can you talk about any of the projects you are hyped on?
One trillion cheers 🙂 Just even having this moment of dialoge with you is a huge milestone! I’m so happy to have Cho, a sister to me, take lead in designing this project together. Thanks Shin, you’re a real one. We really want to get a feature on Jenkem! We’re so grateful to be supported by Fat Tire. They’ve funded us on a few adventures now, and provide endless bevs, which we enjoy on our group rides here in MPLS, as you should too if you are local! We’ve have been getting some opportunities and asks from brands, we hope we can work out more collaborations soon. We have received a ton of gifts and we’re really thankful for all the people and companies that have given us goodies to spread to get the whole crew out cycling.
Mitch and I are taking a handful of weeks off to take the train this July to Chicago! We’re meeting up with Matt Casaverde and his friend Chris! From there, biking up to Grand Island in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where the rest of the family will meet for a weekend of island single track! Should be a really sick 1,000+ miles together haha.
We’re usually juggling 3-4 full lengths at a time. Mitch and I will usually pass footage or cameras off to alternate editing our trips. It’s been a super fun rhythm to get into editing together, we’re always keen on the soundtrack haha. It’s an incredible privilege to have so much content to put out.
-What do you think was Genosack’s first big break? Or are there anything that comes to mind that made you think like “holy shit this is happening”
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Probably some of our reels going viral. We took a trip to the north shore of Minnesota and created a series of reels, the one with the Jackson C. Frank song blew tf up. That reel got us like 50,000 followers.
Bikes are beautiful, our homies are beautiful, and friendships through cycling are beautiful. The land in our videos is beautiful. We cherish the privilege it is to ride and shoot videos on this wild and gorgeous native land that surrounds us, that we get to live on. We owe everything to the indigenous peoples of Minnesota and Turtle Island as a whole. We would have nothing without the original stewards and protectors of these lands, and the free access we have to them.
-I noticed many people in the crew are skateboarders. Do you think the way you ride your bike would be different if you never skated?
Haha yes definitely. We literally all got juiced on cycling when we had the epiphany, “oh, you can like, skate this bike.” “This is just skate shit.” You play with a skateboard. It is a wooden toy. A bicycle is this and much much more. We are so thankful we found cycling because it extends the appreciation we have for board sports while tearing down what we dislike about them. Much can be improved in both activities/cultures.
-I feel like there has been a lot of skateboarders who got into bicycles when the COVID thing was at the peak, were you already riding by then, or did you also start riding in that time period?
BIG shouts out to MG!!! Chucky Papa, he put us the fuck on. Marygold Cyclery in Chicago. Creating beautiful bikes, taking old 26ers, and customizing them. This is at the heart of all of this. Better graphics, designs, and geometry than a lot of modern bikes anyway too. We all had more free time around COVID to explore cycling. We saw Chuck taking the shutdowns as an opportunity to tour and we were so intrigued. Especially by Chuck’s touring ethos and style. We all rode bikes prior, this is MPLS, named the best bike city in the country. 2020 definitely pushed us away from skating, and more into cycling, because I think you can do it safely alone outside all day. Skating after your mid-twenties starts hurting pretty bad if you do it all day.
-How cool was it to get a shoutout from Nick Boserio on his IG post? I thought that clip of him smashing into the bench was hilarious.
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That was so insane, shout out to Nick! We’re massive fans. Love to see the style of skater transferred to a bike. Would be a dream to bike with the Polar team! A ride with both Shins would be so sick haha.
-Really like those VX footy post here and there. Who came up with the idea and how frustrating is it to film cycling with a huge and old camera like that?
That’s all Mitch! We have a couple of camping full-lengths with a TRV coming out soon! (it’s out now!) Before this, Mitch spent about 10 years filming skate videos, independently and for local shops! We saw the parallels when we got into ATBs, and it only made sense to use that old camera. It’s actually pretty chill! We have a tapeless setup now so we don’t have to worry about using tapes, glitching, or even the camera being fully functional. It is heavy tho, so filming longer trips on a GoPros and digicam’s is pretty relieving.
-How did your relationship with Swift Industries come about?
Almost everybody has a Zeitgeist at this point. It’s a staple. We connected just through tagging them in our videos and photos. Mitch got to meet the founder, Martina, in Portland recently, as well as Illana and Baija on a group ride. Swift really pushed the culture and made an impact with their products. We appreciate them and all the companies making good things doing good things.
-Any crazy stories you can share from the Cali trip you went? How did that trip come about?
Cali was so sick! Wine-drunk and fingerboarding on the plane with all of our bikes, boards, and the 10 of us. Our trip was split up by city, half in San Francisco and half in Santa Ana and Orange County. Shoutout to Fat Tire for setting us up with a house and beers in San Francisco! It had been the first time for a handful of us and how special it was to be there over the Lunar New Year in Chinatown.
We planned a fundraiser event that was at the end of our trip. This fundraiser was so important to me and the team. As an Asian American, I am a first-generation cyclist from a family of survivors who escaped the horror of the Khmer Rouge, a genocide also known as the Killing Fields. It is a strong and important movement for our team and we always strive for a safe space of unity, inclusivity, and growth in all communities. Through the power of cycling, you would be surprised just how empowering you and your bike can be. This is where the Gaza Sunbirds touched us most. We wanted to help fund their mission to continue feeding as many families and eventually see Palestine be set free through these horrid times.
It was our first time and young to the scene in Los Angeles, a Genotoad group ride and fundraiser raffle at Fabrica De Rosas. We were so stoked to do an event with the Dirt Toads! With the joint support of a handful of our sponsors who donated products to the raffle, Yuta from The Inconvenience Store mixing Japanese dub, and Jimmy hosting us in the lot at Fabrica. We managed to raise just under $2k! All proceeds went directly to the Gaza Sunbirds.
All the love to the Dirt Toads for life! From a young age, I was always troubled to find a community that had enough or any POC representation. Even with all of our gems in Minneapolis, our backyard is small, mostly flat, and predominantly white. Max and Gio introduced us to everyone, who had the best and similar core values that we either shared or aspired to have. The energy of POC love out west was at an all-time high, honestly unmatched. It was amazing to see the surrounding scenes of the Dirt Toads and Pantufla Bois. So sick to finally meet the homies at Outer Shell, Inconvenience Store, Calling in Sick Mag, Allez LA, and Fabrica De Rosas.
SF was fast, hilly, and threaded with trails through the Golden Gate Park. We had a tour of all the local spots and routes in SF. Bringing our boards was a game changer to wheel our bike boxes out of the airport and an excuse to split up the days with skating. We lucked out with our house being pretty close to the Waller Ledges and the Mission wasn’t too far either to go lurk through Embarcadero and Chinatown. Being there on Lunar New Year was wild! We heard the old ladies in Chinatown were selling $5 fireworks on the street. The kids figured out a hack to place a traffic cone on the hoods of those wacky self-driving cars to stop them. They loaded one with fireworks and melted the frame to the ground haha. The next morning we met Adam from Calling in Sick Mag, Kyle from Outer Shell, Anthony aka CBD trails, and so many homies to rip the Twin Peaks loop, it was basically a 40-deep group ride of homies!
On the way to the Outer Shell warehouse, we stopped by the famous Mr Liquor. They had cutty bags that were essentially zip-lock bagged cocktails to pour on the street into a solo cup. We stumbled on into the Outer Shell warehouse where Kyle gave us a step-by-step process of their bag production! The funniest part was getting to LA. The homie hauler saved us. One open-bed Chevy with 12 or so bikes strapped down and another family-sized suburban with 10 of us.
We stayed at Max’s family home in Santa Ana. It was a beautiful home and a perfect place to recharge. We did a handful of really sick routes, around Max’s and one where we dropped into Laguna Beach!
I had been looking forward to riding a Crust and was lucky enough to receive some help from Matt and Cheech, they set me up on a Romanceur. Over the last month, Max and I put together a parts list, and piece by piece the full build showed up to his house. He had his friend Tim build the wheels while we met Yuta and his wife Yasuko at the Inconvenience Store.
Later that night we went to Buena Cycles after dark to build! Everyone chilled super hard at the shop watching Max go off on the Crust with some help from Chaney. The next day was our group ride, I had my first ride on the Romanceur following Max up and down through the LA hills. A time I’ll keep close to heart forever now.
-What’s the crew’s go-to loop in terms of riding in Minneapolis?
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Love the creek jump! Minneapolis is BLESSED with amazing cycling infrastructure to safely commute through all of the city. We find ourselves linking around a stretch of the Minnehaha creek trails that connect a handful of South Minneapolis gems. We also love Lilydale, Coaches Corner, Reservoir Woods, Monarch, etc. there’s so much! We always encourage everyone to visit.
-How many people show up on the rides you plan on average?
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We’ve been pushing like 125+ lately. It’s insane to mobilize in such big numbers. It gives us hope!
-If I were to go on one of the Genosack rides, what kind of bike should I show up with?
Any sort of cycle!! Anything that rolls. Ebikes, recumbents, adaptive cycles, old rusty 26ers, rocket ships, come one come all. Whatever you can roll on. It’s 100% not about a certain bike. Our community rides are for the community, building stronger connections with the people around us.
-What’s next for Genosack?
Japan. <3
