Brand Spotlight: 45NRTH

As we get into the coldest days of the year, we thought it’d be a great time to talk about one of the few brands focused on making sure winter isn’t an obstacle to riding bikes. 45NRTH started in Minneapolis, Minnesota where the winters are almost as long and cold as ours up here in Alberta.

At their inception, fat biking was growing in popularity and more people were choosing to ride all year long. In that, they saw a need in their community for gear that was designed and built to handle winter’s harsh conditions. They wanted to create a way for people in their community to not only be brave and survive the long, cold winters, but to thrive in it. To accomplish that, they decided to focus on eliminating the two biggest hurdles winter riders faced – staying in control and staying warm and comfortable while doing it.

45NRTH released their first products in 2011, creating some of the very first studded fat bike tires on the market. During that time, they re-designed the tire stud, forgoing the standard spike for a concave design inspired by trekking poles that increased the surface area and bite. Clearly, they did something right because over ten years later, we’re still reaching for their studded tires anytime we want the best grip and control available. Nearly every year since we started carrying them, 45NRTH’s tires have been our most popular brand in its category, which is a testament to how much the brand is loved by fat bikers everywhere.

After changing the game with their tires, the next category that 45NRTH wanted to tackle was footwear and gloves. Going back to their main focuses of comfort and control – keeping riders’ feet and hands warm and connected to their bikes seemed like an obvious choice. They started with the best available materials, combined with inspiration from proven designs in the outdoor and mountaineering world, and tailored them to work specifically for on-bike use.

If you take a look at their footwear, it’s obvious that a lot of time and care went into striking the right balance between warmth and performance. They looked at existing, time-tested designs in the world of mountaineering boots, found a way to make them compatible with SPD cleats, and then rebuilt them from the ground up to make sure they felt right while riding a bike. Not being a brand that likes to stay stagnant, 45NRTH has continually updated and refined their designs and still are one of the few brands dedicated to making truly winter-focused bike footwear and gloves.

Not afraid to experiment and try new things, we recently saw 45NRTH combine their dedication to on-bike control and comfort with Red Wing Boot’s love of hand-sewn leather and heritage design. That collaboration and experimentation directly led to their new Öland boots which were built to fill the gap between a dedicated winter bike boot and something you could wear to catch up with friends after the ride is over.

It’s one thing to create great products, but a core part of 45NRTH’s brand is helping to grow the winter cycling community. They attribute the growth of their brand to the connection they have to the fat bike and winter cycling community. From being a constant fixture at fat bike races and winter cycling events across the continent, to sponsoring one of the very first women’s fat bike teams – the dedication and passion they have for the sport and the culture is undeniable. Being a winter-focused brand, 45NRTH continues to find ways to be more sustainable because they’re intimately aware of the challenge global climate change is creating in the world. Along with their parent company, they’ve recently become a certified B Corporation which showcases their dedication to sustainability, transparency, and human rights.

It's that combination of rider-focused products along with a dedication to community and sustainability that makes 45NRTH a brand that we love supporting and sharing with our customers.