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The Backstory
Long before the founding of Nuclear Sunsrise Stitchworks (now Nuke Sunrise Bike Bags), Dave Wilson was doing bike stuff. A family bike tour on the coast of South Carolina at the age of 11 was the start of the adventure mindset that guided him through the 80's on an '83 Stumpjumper Sport into the 90's riding a variety of mountain bikes around Appalachia then out west to Utah to learn to ski and tackle the West's iconic mountain bike trails. A bit of a side-track found Dave in El Paso, Texas, for service in the US Army and then a fulfilling career teaching high school physics, Finally deciding to get into true bikepacking in 2012, many bags were made on a clapped-out industrial sewing machine for a variety of XC racing bikes hanging around the garage. After tackling the AZT 300 both geared (2012) and singlespeed (2013) and the Colorado Trail (2013) on a single speed, Dave launched Nuclear Sunrise Stitchworks as a brand and focused on small batches of products developed to meet his needs and the requests of fans and customers. North-bounding the Divide in 2014 on a custom Walt Works drop bar rig named Fargasmo sporting a bolt-on top tube bag, Dave was getting pretty busy sewing bags and teaching high school and did his best to "mute" business, only producing what he wanted and meeting the needs of customers' custom frame bag orders.
Pandemic 2020 orders depleted inventory to almost nothing. While on the road during his summer vacation, Dave met a rad mountain biking woman in Moab. Courtship intertwined with a trial co-habitation. After a disappointing 20-21 school year, it was easy to pull up roots, move to Moab, and make Nuke Sunrise a full-time thing. With a little bit more space, contract sewing machine operators, and local employees, growth is happening with an intentional focus on continued production in the US.
What the hell is up with the nuclear theme?
While teaching the block on radiation, students always brought up discussions about the atomic bomb. One year, a student told Dave that he heard family stories about his grandma going for a dog walk early one morning and seeing the sun rise twice. To make a long story short, Dave decided to name the company what it is with product names based around iconic items of the atomic age. Dave is NOT pro-war or pro-nuke, rather a lover of science and history.
Long before the founding of Nuclear Sunsrise Stitchworks (now Nuke Sunrise Bike Bags), Dave Wilson was doing bike stuff. A family bike tour on the coast of South Carolina at the age of 11 was the start of the adventure mindset that guided him through the 80's on an '83 Stumpjumper Sport into the 90's riding a variety of mountain bikes around Appalachia then out west to Utah to learn to ski and tackle the West's iconic mountain bike trails. A bit of a side-track found Dave in El Paso, Texas, for service in the US Army and then a fulfilling career teaching high school physics, Finally deciding to get into true bikepacking in 2012, many bags were made on a clapped-out industrial sewing machine for a variety of XC racing bikes hanging around the garage. After tackling the AZT 300 both geared (2012) and singlespeed (2013) and the Colorado Trail (2013) on a single speed, Dave launched Nuclear Sunrise Stitchworks as a brand and focused on small batches of products developed to meet his needs and the requests of fans and customers. North-bounding the Divide in 2014 on a custom Walt Works drop bar rig named Fargasmo sporting a bolt-on top tube bag, Dave was getting pretty busy sewing bags and teaching high school and did his best to "mute" business, only producing what he wanted and meeting the needs of customers' custom frame bag orders.
Pandemic 2020 orders depleted inventory to almost nothing. While on the road during his summer vacation, Dave met a rad mountain biking woman in Moab. Courtship intertwined with a trial co-habitation. After a disappointing 20-21 school year, it was easy to pull up roots, move to Moab, and make Nuke Sunrise a full-time thing. With a little bit more space, contract sewing machine operators, and local employees, growth is happening with an intentional focus on continued production in the US.
What the hell is up with the nuclear theme?
While teaching the block on radiation, students always brought up discussions about the atomic bomb. One year, a student told Dave that he heard family stories about his grandma going for a dog walk early one morning and seeing the sun rise twice. To make a long story short, Dave decided to name the company what it is with product names based around iconic items of the atomic age. Dave is NOT pro-war or pro-nuke, rather a lover of science and history.