As reported in the Colorado Sun yesterday, Oveja Negra had to lay off seven employees, which shows that even small brands that make their gear in the United States with US-made materials aren’t immune to this perfect storm of tariffs, reduced consumer spending, and global price tensions…

Since 2012, Lane Willson has been at the helm of Oveja Negra, a bikepacking gear company in Salida, Colorado, known for producing some of the highest-quality bike bags on the market. Her workshop in downtown Salida recently buzzed with 16 skilled employees, affectionately dubbed “stitch witches,” who operated 20 sewing machines to create custom frame bags, backpacks, stem bags, and more.

Oveja Negra, Bikepacking Bags

As reported in The Colorado Sun’s feature piece, this week marked a difficult shift. Just in the wake of bad news for Revel Bikes, another Colorado outdoor brand, Willson, along with her husband Monte and business partner Stephanie Perko, made the painful decision to lay off seven experienced sewists and transition two others to part-time contract roles. The affected workers had spent years honing their skills under Willson’s guidance, learning the craft of designing and constructing Oveja Negra’s distinctive bags.

After growing year over year for the duration of its existence, Oveja Negra, “which sources 98% of its materials from the U.S. and manufactures everything but metal buckles in Salida,” is in a freefall, according to author Jason Blevins.

“I’m the U.S. manufacturer using U.S.-made materials and Trump is putting me out of business,” Willson says. “We figured out U.S. manufacturing and we figured out how to take care of our people and it came crashing down. I’m doing everything Trump wants but we are being punished by this tariff bullshit.”

Oveja Negra, Bikepacking Bags
  • Oveja Negra, Bikepacking Bags
  • Oveja Negra, Bikepacking Bags
  • Oveja Negra, Bikepacking Bags

Not surprisingly, Oveja Negra’s international clients—bike shops in Mexico, Canada, Australia, the U.K., and South Africa—have canceled bag orders as they’ve opted to not buy anything from the U.S. at this time. Additionally, dozens of bike shops in the US aren’t placing new orders for the coming season as they’re bracing for other issues, such as the drastic price increase of actual bicycles.

Having visited Oveja Negra a couple times over the years, this is all sad news to hear, and the whole BIKEPACKING.com team wishes them the best. If you’re in the market for a top tube bag, stem bag, or anything else, now’s a good time to buy one of their excellent products to show your support. Head over to The Colorado Sun to read the article in its entirety.

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