Spring :: Sprung Saddles

Spring must officially be here. We've been busy, and folks are anxious to get out on their bikes.  A couple of recent builds stand out, and we've got some exciting events on the calendar

First up is a red and black steel Club Racer. The client wanted a classic steel ride, and the ability to run larger tires. The interest in running larger tires has increased a lot lately. The growth in dirt road riding seems to be driving demand, but also the realization that a bigger tire not only increases comfort, but the larger contact patch actually leads to lower rolling resistance (I know, it's counter intuitive, but look it up).

We were given a bit of creative license on this one, as long as we made it black with red accents.

We get to do lots of exotic builds with top of the line parts, but there is just something satisfying about doing a versatile steel machine with solid components. SRAM's Rival group is great value for money, and their WiFLi system allows you to run up to a 32 tooth cog, which when combined with a compact front crank gets you pretty close to a 1:1 gear ratio... perfect for long and steep gravel climbs.

A classic Brooks B17 provides the perfect perch to grind out the miles.

Another recent build is a bit more challenging to describe since it falls into the "adventure by bike" category. The client is an intrepid world traveler, often finding herself in less developed parts of the globe, so she wanted something extremely robust and very discreet in terms of branding and aesthetic.

If there was a HUMVEE of bicycles, this is it. Rohloff 14 speed internal hub for a virtually maintenance free drivetrain, heavy duty racks for loaded panniers, three bottle mounts, ergonomic grips, pedals and saddle for all day, day-after-day, comfort. The saddle even incorporates vents to provide air in strategic places.

Look closely and you'll notice that there is no paint on this frame-set. The client asked for naked steel, which is a real challenge because you can't simply spray clear coat over bare steel and expect it to hold up. Our normal paint process is a minimum of three stages; 1) a primer that chemically etches into the bare metal, 2) a base coat that carries the color, and 3) a top coat of clear to protect and shine. 

In order to have the bare steel show through, we had to find a clear epoxy primer that would chemically bond with the base metal, and then spray standard clear coat on top of that.

A White Industries crank transfers power to the Rohloff hub, mated to Velocity rims built by Cycle Monkey.

A bulletproof Phil Wood hub handles the duty up front.

The Selle Italia Respiro saddle features a ram air intake under the nose which vents through the center of the saddle, keeping everything cool.  The air suspension bladders look like something you'd find in a high tech running shoe.

Ergon grips and bar ends provide lots of flexibility for hand positions over varied terrain and long days in the saddle.

I'm sure that this bike will see it's owner through many miles of epic adventure.

If you are up for an epic adventure of your own, or at least a mini epic, mark June 17th in your calendar to join us for the inaugural edition of RAID Rockingham. Put on by Loco Sports, RAID Rockingham is a challenging ride that begins and ends at our HQ and takes you through some of our most scenic paved and packed gravel local roads. At just under 50 miles, it is challenging enough, but will leave you with enough in the tank, or at least enough taken out of it, to enjoy Smuttynose beer, tasty food, and lots of great bike swag at the after party.

Online registration is open until June 13th, and we hope to see you then.

Lastly, Rapha's new mobile cycle club, Hennie, will be joining us for a visit on June 21st.  Come on out and grab an espresso and check out their latest cycling apparel and gear.

Cheers,

G

NAHBS 2012 :: Follow-up

NAHBS 2012 is in the books.  Spring is teasing us with nice weather, and it seems like everyone in our corner of the world is waking up from hibernation and starting to think about getting back on their bikes.

Sacramento was a great host city, and the crowds were big and enthusiastic throughout the three day weekend.  For those of you who could not make it to the show, here are some shots of each of the bikes that we presented.

First up is the SSR MAX Special Edition.  This is a limited version of our race proven Stainless Steel Road (SSR) frame set, built with a Columbus XCR tube set drawn on their legendary MAX tooling.

The main difference is the bi-ovalized top and down tubes which increase the frames overall stiffness.

The shapes of the tubes are subtle, but if you look carefully, you can see it at the tube junctions. 

In a nod to the frames Italian tubing and racing purpose, we modified the paint scheme from the new Fiat 500 Abarth series.

Nick Legan from VeloNews called the SSR MAX one of his "Best of Show" here.  He rightfully points out that with all of the ornate bikes on display it was easy to walk by pure race bikes like this one.  That's OK by us.

Next up is something a little different; a single speed steel townie.

I like to show something each year that is not a designated model in our line up, and this one started out as an homage to early 20th century board track racers and morphed into a more practical run-about for around town errands.  Starting from this 1914 Indian board track racer you can see where our aesthetic inspiration came from.

Special thanks to Matt at Pass and Stow for the awesome rack.  We got this one naked and painted it to match.  You can't hide your quality when you ship something unfinished, and Matt's work is stellar.

I'm a bit of a parts pack rat, always acquiring and saving things for the right build.  A few years back Cane Creek did a limited run of titanium head sets with walnut inlays.  This bike seemed like the perfect place to use one.

I've also had this Rolls saddle in my stash for a few years now, and it was perfect for this project.

Another nice little accessory that I picked up at Frostbike from my pal Michael at Knog are these gem-like lights.  They are part of Knog's new Blinder series and they come in a range of anodized colors.  They are rechargeable through a pop out USB stick and use ultra bright LED's.

Rather than simply use gold paint for the logos, we had been experimenting with DIY gold leaf kits purchased from the craft store, with mixed results.  About a week before the show, I was chatting with a BaileyWorks customer at the bar while he was waiting for his bag to be customized and he mentioned that his studio was in the same building as the carpenter that built our bar, so I asked him what he did.

He said that he was a master gilder and did lots of work restoring old picture frames along with architectural gilding.  I think I surprised him when my eyes lit up and I asked him if he would take a walk out back to our bike factory and look at something.

We showed him the test piece that we had done with the home hobby kit, and he offered to come back the next day with the proper materials and tools to give us a seminar.  Talk about serendipity.

Ron Tuveson is a true master craftsman in the old school manner, and he was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge.

That's real 24 carat gold leaf.  Nothing shines on your coffee tumbler quite the same.

Keep your eyes out for this bike featured in an upcoming issue of Monocle Magazine.

Next up is another pure race machine, a disc brake equipped Ti Factory Lightweight cyclocross bike.  This was the only bike that we brought that wasn't built for a customer, so if you are a medium sized rider, give us a shout...

This bike is all business, featuring Shimano's new cross specific mini group, which includes a cross specific crank set, a top pull front der (eliminates the pulley on the back of the seat tube), and a set of canti's which we obviously did not use, instead going with Hayes new cross specific CX5 mechanical disc brakes.

Our Ti FLW series all feature an integrated carbon seat tube which passes through the seat tube cluster and forms the basis of our integrated seat post.  The ti topper that we fabricate allows for 2.5 centimeters of upward adjustment, and has proven to be very robust and features details like single bolt saddle adjustment and our crown machined into the clamp.

PRO's Vibe Series bar and stem keeps a firm grip on everything. Cyclocross Magazine's Andrew Yee did a video interview about this bike from the show floor.

Another off-road machine that we brought with us was the "fishing bike".  So named because the customer wanted an all-terrain machine that could take him to the deepest, most secret fishing holes.

This steel 29'r defies categorization.  All throughout the weekend folks kept asking what it was, so I just simply call it an adventure bike.

The drop bars and bar end shifters seem to throw most folks, not sure whether it is some sort of "monster cross" bike.  I like the notion of adventure bike.  A bike that takes you where you want to go with some measure of comfort.

A custom BaileyWorks front rack bag with a built in window for the customer's fishing license.  He'll add a rear rack and a possible cooler and fish creel, so we'll try to get photos and share them later.

The logos are ghosted into the frame, and are very subtle when not in direct sunlight. Given the amount of flake and the bass boat finish on the bottom half of the frame, this thing just explodes with color and brilliance in bright natural sun.

Shades of blue, green, and purple shift in and out of the bottom fade, not unlike the belly of a freshly caught trout.

Last but not least is a ti Deluxe 29'r built for a special lady friend.  The inspiration for this paint scheme came from a freshly cut cantaloup. I just love the way the bright green of the rind gives way to orange yellows and then that sort of pink color that is really hard to describe.

Everything on this bike, from the fork, to the wheels, to the bar, stem and post, was painstakingly finished to match the theme of moving through a garden of vines.

I can remember when mountain bikes were bright and bold colors. I still have a late 80's Marin with a purple to hot lime fade. It's so much fun just looking at them...you have to smile.  It was a blast to watch people's faces when they saw this bike on the floor. Everyone just smiled, and that's what it should be about.

So if you're on the trail and this pinkish/orangish blur passes you, don't be bummed, just smile!

We did have one other bike in our booth, and that was the ti Duluxe single speed of our local Grassroots Racing Team member Ron Shevock.  Unfortunately I don't have pictures to share, but it was draped with a number of medals that Ron has won this past season, and it showed what an IF looks like when subjected to its true calling.

A big shout out to Ron for taking so much of his weekend to help us out and speak to so many show goers.

We will be displaying a number of these bikes in our showroom, The Bike Factory NH, so swing by 55 Main Street in Newmarket for our own little mini NAHBS.

Cheers,

G

2012 NAHBS :: Sneak Peek

We've been crazy busy getting ready for our niche's big dance, The North American Handmade Bicycle Show, or NAHBS for short.

The bikes are loaded onto the truck, and we'll be under way shortly, so here are a few teaser shots until the big reveal at the show next Friday:

I look forward to seeing many of you out in Sacramento.

Cheers!

G

Embro :: The Kind You Sew

Ever wished that you could tag your favorite hat, jacket, bag, or wubby with the IF logo? Well now you can. Steve at Black Sheep Design came through with these high quality 3.5 inch embroidered logo patches. Iron them on, or stitch them, or both, if you're a belt and suspenders type.

Get yours here. If you see one of these out in the wild, please send photos.

Tag Away,

G

Red Storm Passing :: It's All Rainbows and Unicorns

Ah, the inter webs and social media... they help give your voice wings and thus even the tiny can raise their volume and be heard.

A fine gentlemen from SRAM rang me up this morning and took the time to explain the circumstances surrounding the launch timing of the new 2012 Red group.  I mean gentleman in the sincerest sense.  I'm certain that he had better things to do with his day, but that he took the time to follow up and explain to me what was going on in a direct and fact based manner was much appreciated.

Simple answer is that they had production delays which pushed out the planned December launch date until now, and unfortunately, it is not likely that parts will arrive in time to make it through the distribution system and on to our NAHBS bikes before they have to be on trucks bound for Sacramento.

Perfectly reasonable, entirely understandable.  Even if it was BS, and I don't believe that it was, at least it isn't an excuse that demeans the small builder.

This whole brouhaha could have been avoided if this was the approach from the start.  The take away for me just reinforces the notion that a direct approach to a difficult situation is always best.

It also reinforces my commitment to never allow anyone to tell us that we aren't deserving of having the best.  I'm sure that sounds a bit silly to some, especially when placed in the narrow context of a conversation about parts to be hung on a bicycle frame.

But this was about more than that, and I struggle to articulate what it was about to folks that don't get up every day and obsess about small details.  I found a kindred spirit in this regard with Richard, but as things on the inter webs go, there has been some online chatter from folks with no skin in the game, but lots of keyboard courage, implying that this was all about ego.  Apparently these online commentators believe that Richard and I should have just sucked it up and moved on.

I've pondered that a bit over the past few days. Is it egotistic to be maniacal about the little details?  Is it wrong to be obsessed with how perfect your product looks?  I don't think so.

I believe that as soon as you allow someone to tell you that you aren't worthy of the best... well then you aren't worthy. I believe that our customers expect us to be obsessed with the little things and I believe that we have an obligation as professionals to never stop caring about the small details that add up to something more than just another consumable product.

So, crisis is over, the Red Storm has passed and I'll be the one proudly displaying my bikes with last year's Red(ux) prom dress, unless of course the new one miraculous appears in time.

And you know what? I think that we looked pretty sharp in last year's Red(ux) dress.

Thanks for listening, thanks for the encouragement, and thanks SRAM.

Cheers,

G

Red Tower :: Party Like It's 2011... or not?

Apologies in advance for bringing you something other than titillating bike stuff, but IF, and every other small builder out there has been told by the Red Tower that we are not worthy of having 2012 parts in, well, 2012.  Instead, we're supposed to party like it's 2011, and accept it.

My pal Richard Sachs broke this story in the most eloquent fashion in two blog posts earlier this week:
Leap of Faith
This is Leap Year

Like Richard, I have been a long time supporter of SRAM.  I like the product, both the way it works and the way it looks.  I like the fact that they are the underdog, the newcomer, the interloper against the heritage of Campagnolo and the precision of Shimano, and I like the fact that they are the home team, based in Chicago.

So, earlier this Fall, just like last year, they made us a generous offer to purchase kit at reduced prices for our show bikes to be displayed at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS), coming up the first weekend in March.  That's March of 2012 to be clear, the current year of 2012... you know, the one that we are in right now.

So, I bellied up to the bar and ordered kit for all five of the bikes that we will have on display next month. Within days of placing my order, one of our customers who is tight with folks from the Red Tower had procured a new, yet to be released, Red group, and had displayed it on one of our bikes... weeks ago.

I immediately rang up our contact at SRAM, and inquired about getting the "new" Red for the order that I had placed, and was told that no one at NAHBS would have the "new" Red based on being "fair".  I said that it was not my place to be concerned about what the other exhibitors had on their bikes, and that I wanted to be sure that IF had the latest and best SRAM, since we support the brand and want to show up with only the best.

Fast forward to the past week, and the new Red is all over the inter-webs.  Luminaries and VIPS were riding it in Majorca, and distributors were already sending out offers to place orders against their incoming allocations, scheduled to ship in the next few weeks.

Clearly, had the Red Tower deemed us worthy, not just IF, but the rest of our little niche, they could have reserved at least a few dozen of those groups to ensure that our 2012 NAHBS bikes had the new kit.  But, as it turns out, they did not deem us worthy.

I'd been quietly having an internal hissy fit over the whole ordeal, progressively getting more worked up as each new tweet or web article hit the interwebs extolling the features of the new and improved Red. The thought of building out our best show frames in March with what was now, by virtue of the SRAM PR machine clearly last year's prom dress, was weighing heavy.

On Wednesday morning when I received Richard's first blog post, I sent him back a reply with my regards for his eloquent, and public statement of exactly how I was feeling.  When I got to the shop later that morning, I was admiring Richard's courage for speaking his mind in public, so I thought that I'd try a bit of diplomacy.  I forwarded his post to the Red Tower, along with a plea that surely they could find a few groups to make available for NAHBS.

I received a call back, and once again, I was presented with the "fairness" argument, along with three other lines of logic.  First, NAHBS is supposed to be all about the "frame", and that it would just be a distraction to have the new parts on it, and second, the Red that we had been sold was in fact carrying over unchanged until September of 2012, and thus it was still current product, even though they would be calling it, wait for it... "SRAM Red - 2011(Black Edition)".  Third, and this is where the smelly stuff ends and some semblance of the truth starts to emerge through the fumes, they needed all of the available new kits for the VIPS in Majorca, the previously mentioned allocations to distributors, and the OEM's with the big order pencils that would be at the upcoming Taipei show.

As a business person, I can understand the last bit, and almost respect it.  That doesn't mean that I agree that it is a smart business decision.  I explained to the Red Tower that I had once been in the position in my previous life of managing new product launches and allocating scarce units.  I explained that my philosophy based on that experience was actually quite different from the one currently being pursued by SRAM. We always allocated hot new product to customers with the most influence, not necessarily those with the most cash.  In other words, don't mistake cash for cachet.

I went on to plead my belief that our customers, and those of our colleagues who show at NAHBS, are often the most influential and discerning cyclists in their respective little cycling worlds, and that those little microcosms add up to some serious numbers. I firmly believe that you focus on cachet first, and the cash will follow.

Alas, all to no avail.

The Red Tower has allocated it's units, our ilk didn't make the cut, so what of it?  Should I care?  Should I dump the investment that I made in SRAM parts to recover the $ and scramble to move on to something else? I really don't know, but it sucks to be told that you don't matter.

So, I'm left pondering.  One thing that I do know for certain is that putting lipstick on a pig doesn't change the fact that it still a pig.

XOXO, Red Tower.

G