Sketchy jumps and scary moves

Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm Bailey Van Etten, currently living in Bellingham, WA. Originally, I am from Denver, CO, with some intermissions in Southern California and Minneapolis. I design bicycle parts for QBP, primarily working on the Teravail and 45NRTH brands, but I am regularly collaborating with Salsa and Surly designers too!

From your perspective as both a cyclist and a designer, what advancements in cycling technology do you think are most promising?

It is a token and contentious answer, but e-bikes are going to get a lot of people into the sport. Cost aside, it really reduces the barrier to entry in terms of physical accessibility. Skiing and snowboarding would not be as popular if we didn't have chairlifts, and that is basically how I see eBikes. For me, it is easy to imagine riders starting out with an eBike and as they get more engrained, wanting to explore traditional bikes and how both are unique experiences.

I think separate from technology, there is a growth in more engaging and standardized infrastructure that will help bring in new cyclists. I am thinking specifically of public bike parks and more comprehensive coaching or outreach programs that give people confidence that they need to get on a bike.

Speaking of Bikes. What’s in your current rotation of rides? Favorite bike ever? AND if you could choose one dream bike for the rest of your life what would the build out look like?

My current rotation is...difficult to count!!! My daily riding time is split between a Salsa Cassidy for bigger/steeper/scarier stuff, and a Commencal Tempo for more playful trails and longer days. At the moment I also have a sweet protoype gravel bike to play on, a cross bike that does really good at leaning against my wall, and a commuter bike for getting to the coffee shops.

My favorite bike ever is a hard answer, but at this point, I think I would say the first Sunday BMX bike i built up when I was much young. That one is mostly nostalgia, as its the first bike i built up on my own, and I generally have a lot of good memories on it.

I don't really have a DREAM bike, and I am not super picky about my setups, as long as I can get used to them. If you made me pick something today, I would be looking at the Sour Cowboy Cookie. It is a 120mm steel full suspension bike. I figure if we are talking about FOREVER, something like that is light enough and squishy enough for an old man to pedal around, and while I am still on my way to getting old, it would be pretty fun to skid around on!

Could you share with us how you first got into cycling and what inspired you to pursue it alongside your career in industrial design?

Early on, I was building jumps with cinder blocks and plywood, doing my best to impersonate a Jeremy McGrath Nac-Nac.

Eventually, when I was around 10 years old, a metal skatepark got build near my house, so my skills quickly evolved into grinds, manuals, and weird miniramp maneuvers. I didn't I own anything bigger than a 20 inch BMX bike until my senior year of high school, and I didn't really commit to mountain biking until a couple years later, after I had spent a decent amount of time working as a mechanic in bike shops.

I actually found industrial design through a coworker at a bike shop, and had no previous in design or making things, aside from backyard ramps and a summer spent with an angle grinder in a metal shop. I went as full steam as one could into industrial design, but never really considered that I might be able to get paid to design bike parts. I spent time designing in consumer packaged goods, outdoor softgoods, exhibit design, and medical equipment, and eventually took advantage of the 2020 bike boom to squeeze my way into the industry. Now I spend pretty much every day designing bicycle tires and cockpit components.

The little version of me hitting those sketchy jumps wouldn't believe it.

What are some of your most significant achievements in your cycling career, and how have they impacted your professional journey?

I have always been relatively risk averse. In my BMX days, I spent a lot of the time doing technical tricks close to the ground. In recent years, I have found a new ability to overcome fear more effectively and focus my thinking so that it feels less like I am just rolling the dice. I have been able to ride some pretty iconic PNW features and bigger jumps than I ever though I would. Even though the physical experience is different, having the mental fortitude to roll myself down a pile of rocks translates somewhat effectively into confidence in working through projects or presentations.

In what ways has your experience as a cyclist influenced your work in industrial design, particularly within the cycling industry?

Since I am currently working on bike parts every day, my experience in bikes has a 1-to-1 effect on my work. One of the biggest things that I like to do is figure out how I can design products that make riding more fun and inspire a creative approach to the experience, as opposed to simply shaving grams off of parts. Creativity is what motivates me to stay involved in any endeavor, and I always hope to help facilitate a similar approach for others.

Can you tell us about a specific design project you’ve worked on that you’re particularly proud of, especially one that had a direct impact on cyclists?

I have some new tires coming out that turned out really well-they don't fit the "center of market" mold in a lot of ways, but they still perform really well. The part of the project that I am most proud of is that the tires work as I intended from a concept phase, and they fit the intended use cases really well.

What are some of your future goals and aspirations in cycling? Are there particular races or milestones you’re aiming to achieve?

I have a list in a notebook of a bunch of scary moves that I want to do. I also just want to make sure to keep riding as many days as possible, regardless of how hard those rides are.

Can you share any of those moves with us?

There is a pretty good variety! Some of them are just getting through some of the bigger jump lines here in Bellingham, like the pro jumps on Cedar Dust. There are a lot that are not on the map, but are pretty recognizable. Some of them that I checked off is the Filthy Ape rock roll in Whistler, and the In-N-Out "pro line" in Squamish. A new one on the lis is a rock roll on a trail in Squamish that broke my back in 7 places the last time I tried it. I have some courage to regain before going back to that one.

What current trends in the cycling industry excite you the most, and how do you see them shaping the future of the sport?

There are a lot of smaller events coming onto the scene that are more focused on what riders want to do. There is also a lot of more lo-fi content being created that reminds me more of BMX/skate videos and I think it presents mountain biking in a way that is appealing to an audience that maybe was not as interested previously.

What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your dual career paths, and what key lessons have you learned from them?

Riding and design both take consistent effort, and the outcomes are not always what you want them to be. I don't know if I have super specify examples, but I have definitely gotten very good at remaining persistent and not being dissuaded by what others might perceive as failure. I have instances in both design and cycling where I considered giving up, and then I just...didn't give up!

What advice would you give to young athletes and designers who aspire to follow a similar path and integrate their passions into their careers?

Cycling and design both benefit from learning to practice and giving yourself space to experiment and fail. The physical execution and skillset for both can come from many different avenues, whether it be traditional college education or YouTube university. The people who excel are the ones who have figured out how to try over and over again and align that physical skillset with an equally strong mental fortitude. I think there can be some level of machismo, arrogance, or ego that gets associated with both disciplines, but learning to be humble is critical to being able to function in either case.

How do you manage to balance your time and energy between your rigorous training schedule as a cyclist and your responsibilities as an industrial designer?

Luckily, I work from home, and I have positioned myself to live in a city where mountain biking is very accessible, so I can ride world class trails from my front door.

That being said, I have no real routine to any part of my life other than a weekly group ride and a good group of friends. I think the biggest thing for me in my current state is acknowledging how lucky I am to live where and how I do, and making sure to take advantage of it. I usually end up riding about 5 days a week with variable levels of enthusiasm. Whether it is work or riding, I get a lot of satisfaction from working out little detail, so usually I will spend a few hours melting my brain with some 3D modeling, and offset that by spending a few hours trying to scare myself by jumping off some rocks or seeing how much speed I can carry through a turn.

Long story short--I don't do a very good job of balancing my time.

If you could plan out a dream bike trip where would you go and explore?

First, I need to acknowledge that living in Bellingham and having access to so much riding in a 4 hour radius still feels like a dream trip.

For a dream trip, Oaxaca,Mexico seems to be developing a fun riding scene in what looks like a really cool city to visit. There are so many cool places to ride in the world, but I really like to be able to plan trips to acocunt for the time when I am not riding. It is cool to use the time to hang out with your friends while everyonw has a normal heartrate, and maybe end up making some new friends at the same time!

Be sure to follow Bailey on Instagram

Special thanks to @nic.adv / @markierausch / @vmisc for photos!