Saturday, June 11, 2011

Studio Velo Mill Valley California :: PicFest


Studio Velo in Mill Valley California is one of our best dealers. Scott, Colin and Chris are great representatives of IF given both their passion for, and participation in, the sport. They provide unrivaled customer service and fitting skills, contribute to the community, and they design some fine looking bikes.

Scott recently sent me a link to a Picassa photo gallery that features some of their complete builds, including a few of their personal rides. It's full of serious bike sweetness, and here is just a sampling.

Titanium Factory Lightweight:

Steel Factory Lightweight:

Titanium Deluxe 29er:

A Belgian flag paneled steel Planet X:

Di2 equipped XS:

SSR with polished panels:

Scott's personal Planet X with disc brakes and S&S couplers that he rode across Cuba:


There's lots more to ogle in the complete Picassa album here.

Thanks Scott, Colin and Chris for doing what you do... you make us look good.

Cheers,

G.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Good Wood :: Salmon Falls Woodworks

I made a field trip late last week to visit Fred Loucks at his Salmon Falls Woodworks shop to see a number of the pieces that his crew is working on for our new facility.
He's got an amazing shop, full of every kind of modern and traditional wood working tool that you could imagine. Among the many things that he is working on for us is the 24 linear foot curved bar that will be the centerpiece of our showroom.
Our build station and service area will be behind the bar, and the top will feature built in windows to showcase our favorite components.

My personal favorite is the way that Fred is incorporating our logo into the doors of our custom team lockers. The lockers will be pro-sports style (see the example below) with a large open area topped by lockable cabinets. He is CNC routing our logo into the cabinet doors to provide ventilation. Pretty trick.

Some might think that its silly to spend so much time and resource on stuff like a bar for folks to simply hang out at and pro-style team lockers.

I say nay... one of the most compelling reasons to move out of the hood is to be in a place where we can actually make the audio match the video of our brand.

The locker room and other employee amenities are there to acknowledge that our folks are in fact pros, and part of a very special team. We've rebuilt much of our team over the past six months as a necessary part of this move, with some skilled veterans coming back to IF and some fresh young talent signing on. As a result, the clubhouse atmosphere is vastly improved.

We want our new home to be a welcoming place where folks can come in, pull up a seat in the metaphorical kitchen and watch us bake cookies. Folks like Fred and his crew at Salmon Falls Woodworks are helping us set the table.

We look forward to hosting you in our new digs.

G.