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What the hell?! British Cyclocross 2010 national championship postponed due to snow! I enjoyed this article. But, I’m not sure that Percy Stallard was ever a World Champion… of anything. Any Brits care to clarify?

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I am a fan of the childless “movement”. This planet does not need more “little miracles”. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a kid-hater. I just really don’t want them for myself (or my partner).

Pete told me a statistic this morning: something like %90 of Willamette Week readers are childless. My response: “cause if you have kids you will be too busy to have time to read it!”

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Speaking of Brits. If you don’t already read WashingMachinePost, you really should. I mean, he gets a Cielo before I get a Cielo. That means something. Sidenote: I decided to give Chain Lube Number Five a call to check it out. And I got an awesome rambling message from one of the guys in New York! I love small businesses! I appreciate it when someone gives me a personal call back. (and the same day.) I’ll check the lube out and let you know!

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And… speaking of more Brits. I have mentioned that I am a Sci-fi nerd. Well, it turns out an author I have ben reading has a blog, that he actually updates (more often than I do mine). This lead me to his Facebook page. This is pretty awesome. I mean, the future is now. Why the hell should not fans have a little access to our online personalities? Neal Asher writes good Sci-Fi. I have a policy of not keeping a book library and passing books on to those who need them so, if you want to check him out, give me a holler.

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Finally: (this is old news) CyclingDirt did a profile video on both of my businesses. It is pretty cool.

And yes, I finally cut all that damn hair off.

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

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Imma let you get back to work, but I just want to say: molly cameron will be updating this blog on a more regular basis! A REGULAR BASIS! (PS: I still think what Kanye did was brilliant!)

A rare sight. Captured here in its natural environment… the beauty, the grace. Quietly perched upon a Cielo. This majestic beast, poised to strike… a fleeting moment now preserved on film.

Decided very last minute to bail on all of my real life responsibilities yesterday and head over to race my pal’s Wednesday evening race series. Blind date at the dairy was held under the lights, in the dark. I hated the first few laps, I had no idea where I was pedaling, what the hell I was riding over. And the Alpenrose course is too too bumpy. Like really bumpy. “bumpy as shit!” is how I put it more than a few times.

Fair to say that I was exhausted last night and probably would not have won if not for a competitors mid-race tubeless tyre burping that forced him to visit the pits. I don’t think there is a lot of glory in winning due to another riders mechanical issues.

I would like to note that I raced on my Dura Ace tubeless wheels set up with those Hutchinson Bulldawgs. So if it comes down to having the best gear…

Well, I win.

And ps: Speedplay, I thought I was the only one allowed to put “Y” in all my words like I am Euro or something. You can’t name your new cx pedals the SYZR. My cellphone is named the RAZR and that is bad enough.

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Thanks for the video heads up Booooooom. Combines a few of my favorite things: skateboarding, architecture and film:

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I am building up the heaviest training wheels I think I have ever built. dp-18 rims. It will be like weight training.
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I’ve been too busy to keep up on the current cycling news myself and well, Cyclingnews has been turned into an ugly mess. So I have other people digest and feed the important bits back to me. Another great read. Thanks Whit.
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Here is a sneak peek into my pals at Courier Coffee roasters.
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I met up with the rep for BONT shoes and 2XU compression garments. Going to bring the 2XU stuff into Portland Bicycle Studio. Very awesome. Check out those BONT shoes too. FULL CARBON TT SHOES? WTF!

Have you seen these K-Edge chain watchers? This is the new clamp on style. Take a look at Heidi Swift’s bike for the classic braze on model.

Things are getting awesome.

I keep ordering cx tyres and people keep telling me to order more. “hey you just ordered a couple dozen. why not a few dozen next time?” um… ok. sure.

New pricing, new program.

Lowered the price on their frame sets and compete “pre-pack” bicycles.

Complete Pro Machine with Ultegra SL at $3849.00

Would you like to know more?

Molly Cameron
Portland Bicycle Studio
503.841.8006

Take a glance at this machine.

Let’s talk about cyclocross bikes. I am really excited to take on the Ridley brand this season. The cyclocross bikes are world class. The road range is world class.

A complete full carbon 1192g cyclocross frame set starting at $1500.
A complete race ready sub – 17lb. cross bike at $2600.

The Cyclingnews Ridley 2010 preview has some more details.

Shoot me an email or give me a call, we will talk cyclocross.

Portland Bicycle Studio
503.841.8006

Thanks Mud and Cowbells for bringing this to my attention.

“Bonjour, FMB vous présente ses nouveautés 2009. Cordialement, Francois”.

Looks like FMB is releasing some new treads!

yay!

Wait a second. These are tread patterns that already exist on other tyres. I can’t keep it straight. But I know someone who can;

I met up with Donn from Challenge tyres this afternoon. The cyclocross is in full effect.

As he explains it: “I’m playing Switzerland (read: neutral party) in all this. We love Francois, he has been to our factory. We are selling him our treads for FMB use.”

“But Donn” I say, “why the hell would I buy a Challenge tyre from FMB?”

Hands in the air: “Hey, don’t look at me.”

One could argue that a handmade FMB coton casing is superior to a handmade Challenge cotton casing. “only by someone attuned to the subtle nuances of various tubulars and their properties” – why thank you Donn.

But, with that said, I did tell him: “the Fango? meh.”

“alright, I’ll get a little defensive about the Fango, I mean, I had a lot to do with the design process. It has won a lot of races! It is a great tire!”

“Fair enough Donn, fair enough. I’m not saying it sucks, I’m saying it does not give me enough performance over the traditional Grifo tread. Who needs killer cornering knobs when you are sliding through all your corners anyways?”

“Well, what can Challenge do then?”

“Design another badass tread design. A mud tread design! Something for the NW. Something for mud, not like a Racing Ralph, kinda like a Rhino but not quite like a TUFO.”

“fine.” he says. And, proceeds to show me photos so secret and so fresh on his laptop that he is also seeing them for the first time.

“boo yah.” I say. “convince Alex to keep those side lugs and you are in business.”

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I also got a call from TIRE ALERT! yesterday looking for a source for 700×30 latex inner tubes. He can’t find a source for them. And, I can’t seem to find a supply of them either.

I had Francois build up and send me some last year for my own stock to send along to TIRE ALERT! when I had FMB and Dugast repairs that needed latex tubes as TIRE ALERT! was not putting latex back in my fancy cx repairs.

How many times can I write TIRE ALERT! in one paragraph?

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There you have it. I’m not even going to touch on Vittoria, Continental, Geax or others. I like the traditional, the time tested and race proven. I’ve seen some dope tread designs out there but, I’m convinced that any Euro on any day of the week can win a muddy US cross race on file treads and 15 psi. So, at a certain point tread design it is not the issue eh? We just need to be riding faster and handling our machines better.

And I badly needed to con Matt in to making me an espresso on his sweet little Breville.

I’ve had far too busy weeks recently. Barely riding my bike, racing here and there, working, hiring and recovering from being sick. Story of my life, no?

I received a sweet package in the mail the day before and figured it would be a good time to try out this exciting gift.

Winston’s Knickers.

The tubular tyre has been a fascination for me since I learned about them. I still get excited When I make orders from Francois at FMB, I’ll send a little care package along, some coffee beans, some local flavor.

Imagine my surprise when a package arrived from new friends bearing something similar: home made Embrocation from Mary in Louisville! (or rather Mary’s BF)

I took the time to take the embrocation into the garage and lovingly rest it upon my moto. I inspected the aroma and texture.

Then applied.

I was off to the local training crit. It was windy; very windy for Portland and looking like a spring rain would hit us.

The embrocation was perfect for the brisk windy conditions we raced in, it kept me taken care of during the race and did not sting the shit out of my raw, bloodied legs.

I can’t say I did the embrocation any justice with my mediocre riding in the crit…

Thanks Mary!

Hooking each other up with gear and creating and putting good energy back out there is what it is all about.

bike racers. sponsorship. teams.

I threw my hands in the air: “man, I am maxed out. I sold everything I had left to sell to barely afford to go to Europe last season. And now I’m in debt. Instead of starting the cyclocross race season with money on my credit card, I’ll be starting my race season trying to pay down my credit card!”

The dilemma. I’ve gone over this year after year. My heart is in the small, the hand built, the local.

priceless:

The latest Embrocation cycling journal will be in stock in a couple days.

Hott white-sex PRO bars and stems in my hands too. yikes.

Holy crap! I’ve made it a point to personally go out and work on the trails that I ride every year all over the Portland-area. Each winter has seen me hiking around with a chainsaw and shovel in the woods. But, $50k?

“Open letter to OBRA members,

David Guettler”

Either of the above businesses are easily doing 10x the amount of $ both of my businesses combined do. And both are reaching out to the community, which is a good thing. I feel good about directing business to fellow shops like RCB (rivercitybicycles) and Sellwood cycles because it is clear they both share my vision for the greater riding community and maintaining very high retail and service standards. When I read something like the link above about Universal, I feel conflicted. I should make it clear that I don’t know much about the shop and maybe that is part of the issue, the only people I know who have shopped there order online and go pick it up at the location later. I’ve never heard anything about their culture or commitment to quality and high service standards. What I hear about is a business that undermines a “standard” retail operation (like mine) by selling parts online at very low prices (undercutting standard retail margins?), donating more money than I could fathom putting into anything. $10k a year? That could send a couple juniors I know to Belgium to race cyclocross for 6 months each year! That is a lot of cash.

And I wonder… why do I keep at it? If internet sales are that profitable, I should close up the retail shop and switch to a web-based specialty service.

But, it breaks my heart to think about that. And then I re-read the owner of RCB’s letter. It tells me they must be feeling the pinch too. The letter speaks directly to their customers: “hey, think about us.” As far as I know, RCB does not have much of a web-sales presence. And everything I know (which is a lot) about that shop is mostly great. Great service, great sales selection, great staff. Like I said, if I did not already own a bike shop, I would probably spend my cash there. Or at least get on one of their sponsored teams so that I could get all the sweet deals and hook ups they offer to their teams.

And, what would happen if that shop was to close. Or go web based?

Portland has the unique distinction of having an overabundance of great bike shops. (and framebuilders, and coffee roasters and coffee shops and record stores and movie theatres and organic grocers and food carts and massage therapists and independently-owned everything liberal white folks like.) So, I don’t expect many of the better shops are going to go belly up anytime soon. But, we have to respond to the changes the internet and the web-based way of business bring to the current way of doing business. (writing a letter to the 4000+ OBRA racing community email list is one way)

Or… FAIL.

I wondered what prompted the letter to OBRA from Dave. Was it hearing for the 1000th time “I saw it for sale cheaper online…” in his shop? Or was it just a passing thought in the reflection of 10+ years in the community and the changes he has seen?

I am rambling and digressing. But, mainly wanted to concur. The final paragrah of his letter says it: “please consider that the internet company or national chain that may offer a perceived lower price is doing so without the service or contribution to OBRA and our local biking community”

It is the perception of a lower price. And sadly the perception from behind the computer screen is only dollar signs. And that is only sad because, it is so convenient. If we need info, we google it. If we need to buy something, we google where to buy it. And, there are a couple of those “evil web-based” bike retailers who would be the downfall of small shops like mine, right here in town! So you can buy cheaper and still buy local!

I ask myself: how do we as “non-web based” bicycle retailers. Increase the value perceived in our existence/services? And clearly express that value to our customer base? (I can answer my own question here)

Customers (whether we like it or not) will search out the best value. I have seen loyal, long-time customers become bitter when they feel they are being “over charged” for something they have seen for much cheaper on the ol’ internets. (they will leave and not come in again if they perceive that they have been cheated) I have had loyal customers bring in bikes, brands I sell in my shop, that they have purchased off the web, for less than retail, to have my employees build them. In their mind, they are “supporting local” because they are giving us the work. If they can find the parts cheaper somewhere else, that is not wrong is it? At the end of the day, it is all the same Taiwanese crap, no?

I should stop writing but, clearly this is on my mind. Has been for years. Thanks for penning that letter to OBRA Dave.