COVID Bike Diaries - Outer Shell Adventure
By: Jim Santos
San Francisco, California
As of March 17th, there has been a Public Health Order requiring SF residents to stay home, except for essential needs. So our workshop is mostly closed but we’re still fulfilling in-stock orders to keep us afloat. No inventory will be added so anything currently available is all we will have till we get back to production. Luckily, we were able to build a good amount of inventory in Jan and Feb, since they’re slower months, so we have an okay amount of stock to weather the storm.
Please note that these photos were taken months before the COVID-19 pandemic, when we were still happily working close together. :)
We have a small team of 4 that handles everything from the moment the raw materials are delivered to our shop. We do all the design, production, sales, marketing, fulfillment and product support out of our little workshop in San Francisco. Like many other operations similar to ours, we’ve had to make an adjustment to our workflows and schedules given the additional risks posed by COVID-19. We’ve cut down our hours and staggered our schedules, and are applying all the recommended safety and sanitation precautions.
All in all, things seems pretty sustainable for now. After making some adjustments to our practices, we’re hopeful that we can stick it out past this setback and get back to our regularly scheduled programming. Luckily, people are still able to get out on properly-isolated rides for now, and surprisingly, it almost seems like I’m seeing more cyclists on the road than before the shelter-in-place!
