Customer Profile: Justin Lewis and Two Birds Brewing

A Black woman wearing a denim shirt is carrying a bicycle down a set of stairs in an urban environment. The bicycle has a green paint job and honey leather wrapped handlebars.

Original, unique designs to help with lifting and carrying your bicycle

Lifetime leather bar wraps in five styles for every type of handlebar and bicycle

A woman bicycling on a bright summer day over a green lawn wearing suede fringe cowgirl boots and with a 6-pack of Anchor Steam beer connected to the top tube of her bicycle with a honey leather 6-pack frame cinch

Best-selling "commuter essentials" for making the daily commute easier

A dark brown leather round, barrel-shaped saddle bag with cedar wood sides mounted to the back of a brown leather Brooks saddle on a cream-and-brown painted bicycle

Stunning handcrafted bicycle bags carry the essentials and turn heads!

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Our original best-selling Travel Cribbage Boards have fans worldwide

Two sets of travel dice on a dark brown leather table surface. Both sets show six dice coming out of a square brass tube. The dice are 7mm, smaller than standard. One has white dice and the other has black dice.

Play dice anywhere you go in a handcrafted brass keychain or necklace.

Two people playing dominoes using small, domino-sized playing cards on a walnut wood table with snacks and drinks. The domino cards are double 12 with different colors for each number and hand-drawn.

Uniquely functional for travel: hand-drawn domino playing cards (2 sizes!)

Close-up of a folding leather travel backgammon board mid-play on a weathered wood surface. A hand is reaching in and moving four game pieces (which are brass nails) between triangles, which are laser-engraved in the honey dyed leather. Accessories are visible, dice and doubling cube and peg storage

Our newest folding leather board and favorite game: Travel Backgammon!

A variety of handcrafted leather and wood handles on a sample board as seen from above and an angle

Leather handles in 8 styles, 4 leather colors, and 3 metal finishes

A white chest of drawers in a white and lilac baby nursery with three colors of leather Morrison bin pull handles, in Honey, Dark Brown, and Black

Strong yet soft, durable and sustainable, no-bumps and no-bruises

A white kitchen drawer under a gray countertop that has a natural tan colored leather handle with nickel hardware and an engraved label that says 'Silverware'

Add a label to handles and pulls for superior organization

Two cabinet doors swinging open towards each other with matching leather Lovejoy loop handles. The leather touches so the cabinets don't crash into each other, a solution for problem corners in kitchen design planning

Flexible but sturdy, creative solutions to tricky problem corners

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Valerie and Geoff from Walnut Studiolo are standing on a pile of driftwood between two boulders on the North Oregon Coast beach near Manzanita, with mountains and grey sky in the background

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A long dark brown leather blueprint tube is shown on a long countertop being hand stitched together by Geoff, whose stitching hands are in the background

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Valerie and Geoff Franklin of Walnut Studiolo standing behind their bicycles on a grassy green lawn. Geoff is doffing his hat to Valerie and she is smiling, as a gesture of service.

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Our blog "In a Nutshell" is chock-a-block with fresh and intriguing content written by in-house humans!

by admin
June 24, 2016
2 min read

Justin Lewis has been a road cyclist for nearly 20 years and over that time he has developed a passion for buying, assembling and customizing bikes. So when his sister mentioned she wanted to start riding a bike to work, he jumped at the opportunity to put a bike together for her and he chose Walnut to help make it special. But Justin's project wasn't destined to be just any old bike. Justin's sister Jayne is the co-owner and head brewer at Two Birds Brewing in Melbourne, Australia; he wanted to theme the bike around her brewery using industrial and crafty materials as much as possible. "I chose a Budnitz No. 5 frame for its clean, sweeping lines and the gates belt drive which is simple and requires minimal maintenance. I designed a custom paint layout using design elements from Two Birds Brewing." After Jayne's project was complete, Justin just couldn't stop. He then moved on to build up a singlespeed bike for Jayne's husband Lewis, who also works at the brewery. Needless to say, the singlespeed is also themed after Two Birds Brewing. Throughout both of these projects, Justin relied on Walnut Studiolo to help dial in the finer points. "The details and accessories in a high end bike build are important. In order to complete these builds, I wanted leather beer-specific accessories to add to the overall effect. The smell and the feel of leather is always special." Justin added a Walnut 6-pack beer holder with a customized frame cinch for extra personalization, and leather mud guards to add to the fenders. Justin says that the bikes turned out great. "I like that the Walnut items are handcrafted, custom and beautiful. The added visual appeal is stunning for these bikes." Justin says that living in one of the world's most remote capital cities means he winds up ordering a lot of his project needs from the internet, but with Walnut it was fortunately a more personalized experience. In 2014 Justin made a US-wide tour by bike, where he stopped in Oregon and met Walnut owners Valerie and Geoff. "Actually meeting the owners is special - it gives an extra heart to a product, elevating it from being a number pumped out of a factory by a faceless corporation. I must admit, though, it was a little surreal. We met through the internet because of Walnut Studiolo, and managed to meet in person many months and kilometers later." "Walnut's items set a bike apart as special and custom, and that is important to me. The company also reflects the same qualities that Two Birds Brewing are offering - hand crafted beer made by passionate craftsmen. And women." We love seeing the gorgeous projects Justin completed and we'd love to see yours, too! Want to meet Geoff and Valerie? Come join us at our workshop and stay in our cozy guesthouse on the gorgeous Oregon Coast. We offer overnight stays, workshop tours, and on-the-ground intel for cyclists, and crafting enthusiasts from near and far.