Photography by Anna Brones

Crammed between a plethora of bike wheels and rims, a truing stand and a white grease-smudged Macbook, Jude Kirstein of Epic Wheel Works is busy attacking her latest creation: a set of gold wheels to outfit a vintage, purple Schwinn single-speed. She's doing so in her 64 square feet of studio space. The phone rings and she does a balancing act to keep holding onto the tool with one hand while stretching across her workbench with the other to answer it. After hanging up, she jots down a reminder to herself with a whiteboard marker on the studio's one window. As she spins the wheel in front of her, she nods at me, indicating to continue with my questions.

Running a small bike business is no small feat but in Portland, where bikes mean business, operations like Epic Wheel Works are scattered around the city. In the last several years, Portlanders' two-wheel craze – ranging from tall bikes to urban commuters – has helped launch a variety of creative companies, all relating in some way to this region's favorite form of alternative transportation. There are bags, there are wheels and there's even coffee delivery. For bike-related startups, the cycling-obsessed city has a certain pull.

Take Portland Design Works; originally from the Midwest, Eric Olson and Dan Powell chose Portland to launch their urban cycling line: "There wasn't really a question of where we wanted to be based," said Powell. Although it's home to several older and larger bike businesses like Chris King and Showers Pass, Powell points out that smaller operations looking to get off the ground benefit from the general business culture that makes Portland unique. "Folks in Portland get behind independent ventures," said Powell. "People back the little guy here."

Dave Stoops, owner and operator of Black Star Bags, agrees, citing his personal experience selling locally-manufactured bike bags. "A lot of people are really supportive of the business because it's local," Stoops said. In this city, people are willing to pay a higher price for products that are designed and produced locally. Sticking to a core demographic – in Black Star's case, everyone from bike commuters to recreational bike touring – allows smaller operations like Black Star to focus on their customers. With a big company "you lose focus on your customers and their needs and it becomes about the bottom line," said Stoops. "I think there's more to business than that."

With such a citywide emphasis on bikes, incorporating cycling doesn't just build community; it can also be a powerful marketing tool. But having a bike-powered business isn't necessarily about attracting a following; it's about staying true to a lifestyle.

When Joel Domreis launched Courier Coffee Roasters with Alex Geddes and Matthew Sperry, cycling wasn't a crucial component of the initial business plan. Delivering all of their craft roasted coffee – coffee roasted on the premises in small batches – by bike was simply "part of our DNA," said Domreis. "The bike is something that we do, but our number one goal is to have great coffee."