Haulin’ Colin: A Seattle metal shop specializing in pedal-powered creations

Bikenomics is a feature series to spotlight the greater Seattle area’s growing bike businesses. Know a business that should be featured? Send me an email at amrook@cascadebicycleclub.org.

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Business: Haulin' Colin
Owner: Colin Stevens
Industry: Metal fabrication

With cargo and family biking growing in popularity, Colin Stevens of Haulin’ Colin is optimistic about the future of his business in custom pedal-powered creations. Specializing in bike trailers, custom bike frames, cargo-conversion, components and other custom metal fabrication, Colin says he’s plenty busy with “bike stuff.”

“I eventually would like to have a product line and a steady workflow while still doing custom work. I’d also like to expand to where I have a few employees,” said Colin. “And all that might only be a year from now. We’re working toward it.”

He’s come a long way since he first started playing with a welding tool eight years ago.

“Years ago a friend of mine said, ’Hey, let’s buy a welder and learn how to weld things.’ So we did. I later got an apprenticeship with a frame builder and I slowly transitioned into doing this fulltime,” Colin said.

Today, three years after obtaining a business license, Colin is perhaps best known in the Seattle cycling community for his heavy duty trailers.

“Early on, when I was just playing with the welder in my backyard, I built myself a heavy duty trailer for hauling lumber, bike frames and metal,” said Colin, who lives a car-free lifestyle and bikes every day. “I thought it would be fun hauling things around by bicycle. It’s also just more practical to haul it by bike than it is to rent a truck or own a car and pay insurance.”

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This earned him the nickname “Haulin’ Colin”, which later would inspire his business. Built to last a lifetime, the Haulin’ Colin trailer measures 5 feet long and 2 feet wide, weighs 35 pounds unloaded, and can carry more than 500 pounds.

“There is a bit of a learning curve to ride with a trailer,” Colin warned, but the size of the trailer is large enough to carry all sorts of items yet slim enough to navigate tight spaces and bike paths.

“Carrying large objects by bike is doable; it’s not crazy,” said Colin.

Colin still uses his original trailer and has carried things like a queen-size mattress and box spring, Christmas trees, bulky boxes, multiple bicycles and lumber.

“I started building these trailers because I saw a need for heavy duty trailers,” explained Colin. “There are doggie trailers, kids trailers but you have very few options when it comes to a heavy duty trailer like this. Mine have the advantage of having a really strong hitching system, and I provide custom options.”

Since starting his business, Colin has sold around 45 trailers. But making trailers is only a small part of what he does.

“The other stuff is just more profitable,” said Colin, who is trained in many aspects of machining and fabrication but specializes in bike-related items and has built everything from supersized water bottle cages to an eight-person pedal-powered parade float.

Learn more about Haulin’ Colin at www.haulincolin.com and browse through Haulin’ Colin’s photostream for a sample of his creations.