Event Recap | Northwest Tune-Up

One of North America’s premiere mountain bike events, the Northwest Tune-Up occurs in our backyard of Bellingham, Washington every summer in July. This year, we were proud to represent Osprey and Norrøna at the event! It was a great opportunity to get both brands in front of the mountain bike community. Both booths were centrally located in the festival grounds, meaning we were able to interact with customers, both casual from town and some of the most hardcore mountain bikers who travelled across the country to be there.

Osprey demos were undoubtedly a hit at our booth. We sent out 24 Demos with the most common demo being the Seral series. Most riders already owned a backpack or hip pack that holds bottles and were most curious as to how a larger volume lumbar pack would fit. Nearly every rider who demoed a pack returned to the booth impressed with how the packs didn’t bounce around or shift when riding.

Customers were also seriously impressed by the Escapist packs. For Escapist, we commonly heard “I didn’t know Osprey made bike bags”. Some customers were very keen on bikepacking with them as a set, while others saw value in individual pieces for commuting and daily riding. They were also impressed by the multiple attachment points and fit solutions like the multiple frame bag sizes and the wedge bag, knowing Osprey will never make custom bags, but that there were solutions for as many bikes as possible.

As a “newer” brand to the mountain bike space, the NW Tune-Up was a great place to get Norrøna in front of dedicated mountain bikers and outdoor enthusiasts.

This was a great gauge of the sentiment towards the brand. Most people had never heard of Norrøna, as expected, but those who either owned a piece already or had friends that owned Norrøna LOVED the brand. Those with familiarity spoke about the durability of the products they owned or just the fit and comfort they provide. One customer had a baselayer that they bought second-hand knowing nothing about Norrøna and said it was the best piece of ski gear they owned.

Customers who were unaware of Norrøna resonated with the brand’s core principles, particularly their sustainability through durability, and offering a robust warranty and US-based repairs. Even though some customers were familiar with Norrøna, most still did not realize we made mountain bike clothing. This was a great opportunity to inform them of Norrøna’s long history of bike gear and get them fired up about their opportunity to win a kit.

Our group ride was also a resounding success! Norrøna Ambassador, and Bellingham local, Delilah Cupp did a fantastic job taking people on a tour of the local trails. Although the group ride left the booth with just 3 people, the group grew to ~20 at the trail head. The ride also grew from 1-1.5 hours to roughly 3.5 hours long, including multiple laps of some of the newest trails on the mountain.