Nutrition Failure

Getting old is no fun.  That's what I've come to conclude on the eve of my 39th birthday.

I've been biking for years, but there's no hiding the fact that my biking would improve greatly if I:

1. Biked more often
2. Cut my pizza, burger, and beer intake

#1 I'm always trying.  #2 just isn't going to happen.

Saving American Roads... Again.

I saw a short, interesting article on Autoblog Green about how bicycles built American roads:

In the late 1800s, a business man by the name of Albert Pope had noticed the growing popularity of bicycles and started up his own manufacturing company. In order to make his product more appealing to those who lived outside of well-manicured city streets, Pope began a crusade that would shape the face of transportation in America. He started a magazine with the sole purpose of bringing road quality to the public eye, donated vast sums of money to MIT to start a new road engineering program and eventually succeeded in convincing congress to found the Office of Road Inquiry – what would eventually become the Federal Highway Administration.

Many might not recognize Mr. Pope's name, but you may know about his company, Columbia bicycles. 

Progress on the Berkley bike racks

Some of you may recall that my town of Berkley has been attempting to do something about bike parking and bike racks.  While we still don't have any bike racks, things are getting closer!

This past March I put together a plan for installing installing 9 upside-down "U" style racks along 12 Mile road (a major portion of our downtown area) within the city.  The Berkley Environmental Advisory Committee (BEAC) approved it and we sent it to the city manager. In May, the City Council approved the funding for the racks.  So, all that's left is sign off on the locations and quantity by the public safety (police), city planner, and the city manager, who then sends the final plan sent to council for approval (there may be others players, but those are key players).  After that, assuming council approval, the racks get ordered, installed, and we have somewhere to lock up our bikes safely.  In theory, this is all going to happen by the end of July.

Hoekstra's Bicycle Logo

Noticed while walking the pooches yesterday morning, that Republican candidate for Michigan's governor Pete Hoekstra's campaign yard signs include a little red-white-and-blue bicycle.  I did not realize he was part of the bike caucus in the U.S. House (his current job).  So, I looked up his record on environmental issues.

Now I see why I wouldn't realize he was bike enthusiast.

More biking - Less driving

This weekend, I was asked whether I bike more than drive.  My gut response was, "Oh no.  I ride a lot, but I still drive more."  But my wife thought otherwise, and I started thinking about it...

• I don't commute to work anymore (work at home)
• I don't drive to the grocery store (bike 90%-95% of the time)
• I bike for most errands and some business meetings
• My wife and I have started biking to dinners much more often in Royal Oak because its such an easy ride and we can split a bottle of wine without having to worry about a designated driver*

Hmm, maybe I do bike more than I drive?

Columbia Bicycle Manufacturing

Here's a fun little video showing the manufacturing of Columbia Bicycles in the very early 1950's.  Unfortunately, by this point in history, bicycles were well under their way to being pushed out as transportation vehicles (despite the video's claim otherwise).  Owning an automobile was growing tremendously as a status symbol, promoting growth of the suburbs.  (The rest, as they say, is history - including almost all the bicycle manufacturing plants.)

The video is complete with a little information about the size of the auto industry, cellophane production, and nice little commercial for Stag Beer at the end. 

Enjoy!

Trading Bike Racks for Parking Spaces in Berkley

My dandy little town of Berkley, Michigan just had an article in the local little paper, Woodward Talk, entitled "Berkley aims to promote greater bike usage at city businesses".  This sounds like it will be all about new bike lanes and bike racks, right?  Sounds encouraging, right??

Well, almost.  The article is actually about how the council voted DOWN an amendment to the bicycling parking requirements for Berkley businesses and requested that the planning commission rewrite the ordinance.  From there it goes on to point out that...

...the original ordinance would have allowed existing establishments to reduce their number of required off-street parking spaces. By counting bike rack spaces toward this requirement, the number of parking spaces could be decreased by as much as 25 percent for commercial businesses.

and as written, the ordinance "...would have REQUIRED [emphasis is mine] business owners to install a new bicycle rack anytime their existing parking lot is developed or resurfaced."  But Councilman Dan Benton does not feel that businesses should be required to install bike racks if they don't want to.  He is quoted as saying, "We should not be making businesses put in more bike racks if they don't want to." and then claimed that bike racks are too expensive (the article quotes a cost of $100-$450 each).

I admit, I don't know how much resurfacing a parking lot costs, but I'll bet that $100 (or even $450 more) is pretty damn nominal if you get to reduce the number of parking spaces provided.  Plus the city already requires that businesses provide a certain number of parking spaces. So, how is requiring bicycle parking any different? A point made by Eric Auensen, chair of the Berkley Environmental Committee.  (oh yeah, I know how... its cheaper!)

Ok, ok, I likely won't win many friends in the business community with this opinion, so since we've already tossed out the ordinance, and we're starting over, then let's make it a requirement for the DDA area.  Hey, if you're a lawyers office or insurance agency locating in a "high traffic" area, then you should have to provide bike parking.  Plus, 12 to 14 bikes fit in each singular parking place, so you lose one space and gain 14 "spaces" - seems like a pretty good trade off to me.  All for 100 bucks.

As long as I'm complaining about this, might as well complain about the lack of bike lanes to safely get to businesses on Coolidge and 12 Mile Road too....    And HEY, how come our existing bike routes END at the city's edge?!?  Why doesn't Berkley, Southfield, Royal Oak, and Oak Park play nice together on bike routes?!?

Battles for other days, methinks.

Photo Credit: Cyclelicio.us

Why Don't People Tell Me These Things?

This post starts last week. Not the writing per se (the proofreading level alone will I'm sure convince you that this was not a week-long project), but the thought that went into it started last week.

You see, last week I was catching up on some Fat Cyclist reading that I had missed, when I read this little gem of a post: Distilled for Your Convenience: 15+ Years Worth of Acquired Wisdom.  Basically, he, in his unparalleled style describes....

...three things I have learned that I think are worth sharing. It’s entirely possible that my three hard-earned epiphanies may do someone some good.

 I always enjoy these types of articles and blog posts, because inevitably I pick up something from them at some point, though most of the tips are little things that have a nominal impact on my riding.  However, this one was different.

The three (paraphrased) tips that Fatty goes on to share are:

1. Ride with less air in your tires (20-22psi)
2. Slower is not safer - ride faster, particularly on the downhills
   
3. Ride without a camelbak or backpack

After reading this, it was a couple days before I could get back out to the trails (mostly due to rain).  The 2nd and 3rd tip I've heard before.  Sometimes I ride with a camelbak, sometimes I don't.  I always try to ride downhills faster (with varying levels of success), so that wasn't new.

But it was the first tip got me to thinking.  I'm not entirely sure where he lives, but I believe it is in the Redmond area (Washington), which means he's probably getting a lot of similar mix of mud and hardpack that I get here in Michigan.  I ride with tubes and I'm guessing that Fatty rides tubeless, which is why he can run at 20-22psi.  But I was wondering, am I running my tires at too high pressure?  I usually run between 40 and 50psi depending on sand, mud, and whether I remember to check my air level at all.

For yesterday's ride, I decided to try lowering my tire pressure, and ran the front at 30psi and back at 33psi.  I couldn't bring myself to drop all the way to 20, because I wasn't carrying spares and didn't care to find out the hard way that tubes didn't like that low pressure. The trail was a nice mix of intensely muddy with standing water (in the woods) and dry hardpack (in the sun).

Let me tell you...  this made a HUGE difference.  The biggest instant change to my riding I've ever felt.  I would not have believed it if I hadn't ridden it myself.  The ride was smoother (much less bouncing back wheel syndrome - BBW), braking was better, handling was tighter, I think my gut was smaller, and I'm pretty sure I was more attractive to my spouse.

I had no idea how little pressure I should have been running all these years, and just how much difference it would make overall. This also helps me see the attraction of tubeless (which I could never fully understand before yesterday).

When I was running off-road events for Trips for Kids, I used to make sure tires were at about 45-50psi, but now I see that was way too much - particularly for the lighter weight kids.  Sorry to make that so hard on all of you kids over the years.  That'll teach you to trust a guy who self-taught how to mountain bike.

Although I am in no way a expert at mountain biking, in honor of Fatty's post, I thought today, I'd share my top three tips anyway:

Ride lower pressure than you think you should - (yep, just learned it yesterday and its now my top tip.) I'm planning to run at 30-35psi off-road from now on, though I'll probably carry spares with me just to be sure I can ride out.

And my next upgrade will be to tubeless.

Look where you want to go, not where you're going - this sounds counter-intuitive and is probably the hardest thing to do, but it also is the number one tip that improved my biking when I was getting started.

As you are headed off the trail, if you stare at the tree, you'll hit the tree.  I try to look down the trail, pick a path, inevitably, the bike follows my eyes and onto the path.

Sure, at some point I suppose you might want to change where you look as you roll off the edge, but to be honest, I haven't had that happen yet (which means it will probably happen to me the next time I ride).  When I roll off the edge into the woods, its because I forgot to keep my eyes on my desired path and my panicked eyeballs are now glued on the mess of trees, shrubs, river, or dirt that I'm aimed towards.

Important disclaimer - I do still crash more often than I'd like.  But these crashes are usually due to a lack of good judgment or poor riding skills, not because I'm steering myself off into the wilderness.

My final tip isn't really a "skills" tip, but a recommendation: Ride with a group.  There are great group rides out there, and talking to folks is how you'll learn these kind of tips without having to read them on random websites. Plus, this will help with my second tip, because you'll be able to pick a wheel/line to follow (assuming you don't pick a wheel that leads you off a cliff).

I always seem to ride better when I'm with a group.  I don't know if that's because I step up to the challenge, or have examples to follow, or just that I put in more effort to avoid looking silly in front of others.

However, I must admit that I'm terrible at following my own advice on this one. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy riding with folks in group rides, but I find that I can't/don't make many of them. And I'm slow. So, there's been many times when I started with others and ended riding by myself.

Riding by oneself is not a bad thing. But then I'm having to figure out a lot of these simple tips for myself - save yourself the trouble and ride with a group.  And, I guess, that answers the question from the title. People don't tell me these things because I'm not there to ask the question/hear the answer.

How come is it that I usually end up figuring out how to blame myself for my own problems? If TV has taught me one thing, it's that someone else should be to blame....

Bicycle trailers

My brother just clued me in to a fun link for a variety of bicycle trailers:
http://www.sfbike.org/?racks

I'm especially a fan of the idea of a "camper" bike trailer (like the Midget Bicycle Camper pictured to the left here).  Not that I want to drag one behind me, I just think they are a fun idea.  I'd like you to drag one and I'll sleep in it.  How about that?

I've always had this sort of crazy dream to build a mini-brewery or a coffee roaster on a bicycle trailer and then bicycle it around town makin' beer or coffee. Though, actually, as I think about it, I'm not really sure where I would bike it... other than to my pal's houses, and frankly, it's a lot less work to have them come to me.

I like the link to an instructable for building your own paniers.  I've seen this instructable before (perhaps it's one of the more popular ones?), and I might try and take this on at some point.  Mostly just because I'm drawn to projects like this, and if it can be done for cheap, then all the better!

I already have a BOB trailer, so I can't say that I have any need for another trailer, though "need" has never really gotten in the way of my desire for new bike gear in the past.  I've been watching craigslist and curbs on trash day for a cheap kiddie trailer that I can turn into an inexpensive cargo trailer (the start to the brewery?!?), but have not found one yet that fits into this project budget (that budget is about $10 for those that are curious). 

Anyway, truth be told, I'd rather just get one of these.

Frazz on the Independence of Biking

My friend over at m-bike.org gave a very nice synopsis of the strip "Frazz" created by Michigander, Jef Mallett. I thought it was worthy of a post as well:

Started in April of 2001, the Frazz comic strip from time to time reflects author Jef Mallett’s love of biking. Today’s Fourth of July strip is a great example.

Jef was raised in Big Rapids and his addiction to cycling began with riding to school because he despised taking the bus. Jef now lives in Lansing, where his cycling addiction continues.

For those less familiar with the strip, Frazz is a thirty-something school custodian who lives an idyllic life being around well-behaved kids and getting plenty of time to ride both on-road and off.

“Frazz is who I want to be,” says Jef. “Frazz is a just a regular, likeable guy.”

You can catch your daily dose of Frazz at comics.com/frazz.

Jeff’s also written some Frazz books, which are available at Amazon.com.

Happy Fourth! (A few days late)

Good time to be a bicycle dealer?

It's summer, which means I've been spending a lot of time behind the handlebars. I've also been spending a lot of time in bike shops - broken wheel, bend chainring, frayed shifter cable... its been a rough summer on both the road and mountain bikes. But this has gotten me in to talk with and hang out with some of the great folks that run independent bike shops around town. Based on these conversations, I can tell you that its both a good and bad time to be in the bike business.

Let's take a closer look:

First, inventory is a huge challenge for bike shops. Most of the bike shops I've visited have got their inventory under control. They have been focusing shifting their mix of inventory towards the products that are selling (basically away from mid-range road bikes) and reducing overall inventory. This is a tough balancing act for bike shops, particularly in the summer.

Next, as with all businesses in a downturn, its very important to find the "right" niche and keep laser sharp focus on that niche. This is where many shops are struggling. The high-end bike business has been hit particularly hard by the downturn. Shops that depend on this high-end bike business are going to have to be focused on connecting with their customers in a valuable way (rides, accessories, sponsorships, etc.). Shops that are focused on mid-range bikes are finding increasing competition from online and big box shops. Either way the solution remains the same focus, focus, focus.

Finally, I have found that shops that have the traditional bike shop attitude are losing the battle. If you ever shopped at a bike shop in the 1990's, you know the what I'm talking about. The "holier-than-thou" talking way over your head attitude that I am constantly railing against. Most shops are doing much better with this, but I still run into it. Particularly for some reason in shops that work with a lot of triathletes (Do they like that attitude? Seems doubtful).

Is it a good time to be a bike dealer? Well, its definitely a tough time, no question. But there are opportunities if you can nail down a specific niche market that you can market to, reduce inventory costs, and still keep service friendly and with a smile.

My kind of racing.

My friends mmeiser and Todd of AllYearGear posted a great video.



I've always wanted to try and ride one of these, though I think the hardest part would be actually getting up on them. But if I can get on it, then I'm in for a race.

It seems like that big front wheel would be great for off-road. You'd roll over everything. And if folks can unicycle on trails, why not a penny farthing?



That looks to be somewhat customized penny farthing (probably a 36" mtn bike wheel?). Of course trying to ride the larger bike, the downsides would be pretty major... not the least of which is the header I'd be likely take with all that forward weight. Then there's the branches that would probably knock me off the bike before you even get to the first hill.

Could be fun to try though...

Handmade Bicycle Show - Part 2

Ok, so it took me a little bit longer than a day or two to write part 2... But no worries, I haven't forgotten.

I'm going to kick off this post with a review of an oft overlooked part from many mainstream bikes: fenders. Wood fenders were all the rage at the Handmade Bicycle Show this year, and its easy to see why. They are beautiful and stylish


These photos are of Inglis Cycles (from Napa, CA), Keith Anderson Cycles (from Grants Pass, OR), and DeSalvo Custom Cycles (from Ashland, OR), respectively. All have a slightly different style to their wood with graphic designs, inlays and custom stains. There were several others as well, including from Naked Bicycles and Design and Rich Adams.

Continuing down the component path, I talked last time about the slick new electronic shifter from Shimano. Well, SRAM's not about to be outdone by Shimano and they were showing off a slick new HammerSchmidt internal front gear from their Truvativ group. There's only one chainring on the front and the internal gears give you the feel of a higher gear. On the lower gear, the gear spins with a ratio of 1:1, shift it and the gear spins 1:1.6 (you pedal around once and the gear goes around 1.6 times). They had a demo bike set up and I can tell you, this was a really smooth gear and it would be GREAT in muddy or snowy environs.

The rep was explaining that once a year you do have to take the thing apart and regrease the gears (depending on how much much your ride through, I'm guessing), which seems like a lot of maintenance to me. But I suppose your shop could probably do this for you without too much of an extra charge. I'd hope, anyway. At about $700, this won't be cheap, but it was so slick that for a tour or race where flawless operation was required, I think this definitely could be worth the money.

Another cool bike/component combo (note the sequey back to bikes...) comes from Kimori from Japan, with their very unusual suspension system.


The bikes themselves don't have 26" wheels, so they look a little, um, delicate for someone of my, um, stature (I'm not a diminutive guy). But they are definitely interesting.



Finally, let's get back to those bikes with a few of my other favorites from the show:



Bilenky Bicycles who does a lot of tandems and tandem recumbents was showing a very slick long-wheel base utility bicycles. I'm partial to these to begin with, so its no surprised I liked it. KirkLee had a road bike that they had incorporated hand painted canvas onto the top layer of the carbon fiber. Up close it was easy to tell that it was canvas and it made for a very unusual and stylish appearance on the bike. It was really not like anything else at the show (in a very good way). And finally on the track bike side of things, Vanilla Bicycles was showing a couple of very cool Speedvagen track bikes that were so light, you would think they were carbon (but they weren't).

Again, lots more to see from show on my flickr.

2009 Handmade Bicycle Show - Part 1

I enjoyed the Handmade Bicycle Show in Indianapolis this past weekend. I was relieved to hear from almost everyone that the recession has only been a minor blip in the world of cycling. Most builders that I talked to were positive about their year so far and were looking forward to the spring. As Lon Kennedy's wife at Nova Bicycle Supply said, "This spring will be our stimulus package."

I was unable to connect to WIFI at the convention center (didn't feel like paying the extra charge for it). So, here's a rundown on the highlights, post event...

Mark Nobilette of Nobilette Bicycles used to live here in Ann Arbor, MI, but now resides and builds in Longmont, CO. He has been building for about 30 years. His bikes were very well put together. He was showing steel bikes, mostly road/racing bikes.



I spent a lot of time talking with the production manager, Lloyd, of Independent Fabricators from Boston. IF has been building since the mid 90's They were showing a wide range of bikes including this very stylish “Year of the Ox" Track Bike.


IF was showing the only stainless steel mountain bike that I saw at the show with some very cool etchings. There were several titanium bikes that were polished with no paint so they had a similar appearance, but this was the only stainless steel that I saw. Lloyd told me that one of the great features of stainless steel is its durability. It won't rust and it won't dent in a crash.

My next visit was to Alchemy Bicycles from Austin.

I spoke at length with builder James about his bikes and learned that he launched Alchemy about 3 months ago and he’s been have some pretty good success. You can see why, his design is well thought out with some very small but important unique touches - like how he has inverted the stabilizing bars using “holes” on the chainstays instead.

I was looking forward to talking to Calfee Designs about his bikes. I was not disappointed. He has developed a program of building bamboo bikes in Africa and selling them here to fund more bike building education in Africa. A very ambitious program to improve the conditions in the third world. The program is called "Bamboosero". The bike he was showing was built in Ghana (buyers will eventually be able to request which country their bikes come from).
One of my favorites (who also won a People's Choice award at the show) was Naked Bicycles and Design from Guadra Isl, BC Canada (north of Vancouver). Builder Sam Whittingham talked for quite a while about how successful he's been. He said that he's facing a happy problem - his sales have grown to the point where he's needing to expand, but expansion at his level is big and expensive. He wants to make sure he's still able to build, and doesn't want to be relagated to "managing" other builders. That's a problem that a lot of entrepreneurs would love to have. But unfortunately for Sam, it's a real problem too. Hopefully he can get that balancing act worked out, because his bikes are very creative and interesting. One touch that I found particularly brilliant is that he uses headsets (where your handlebars attach to your bike) as the hinges on the rear suspension. Makes them easy to maintain/replace, and they are durable. Pretty ingenious.


Serotta had a huge display at the show. Ben Serotta has been building since the 1970's and has built a successful business through contract frame building. Currently, Serotta is partnered with the Carmichael Training Systems to provide carbon fiber bikes for their training program. Serotta was showing several carbon fiber and steel racing bikes.




ANT (Alternative Needs Transportation) builds bikes for urban riding and commuting. Their bikes featured built in racks and generator hubs for powering lights. The philosophy behind how Mike builds his bikes is fantastic (again a builder since the 70's), but I found the designs to be a little too utilitarian for my taste. Don't get me wrong, utility is great, but if I'm going to spend that much on a bike I want it to stand out... dramatically. But that's just me.












I also got my opportunity to try out the newest tech from Shimano and SRAM. Shimano's new Dura Ace Di2 is basically an electronic shifter for road biking. It is very quick shifting and requires almost no effort to make the shift. It's basically like pushing a button, rather than pushing/pulling a lever that pulls a cable. I got to test it out and for me, it was good, but not worth the extra $750 or so extra that it will add to the price. I suppose if I were racing I'd be more interested.




There's plenty more to see on my flickr set from the show. I'll have more details on the show tomorrow as well.

Some atypically good stolen bike news

Photo ©: SF Examiner

I had heard the other day that Lance Armstrong had a bike (along with a few others too) that was stolen out of the back of his team truck at the Tour of California. This bike was a one of kind track bike, so I expected that it would be returned, because really, unless you've got access to an out-of-country sale... who's going to buy it? Oh, who am I kidding, unfortunately, someone probably would.

Anyway, the interesting part of this story is what happened after it was stolen. So, the first thing that happened was that Armstrong tweeted the theft. Then someone started a Facebook group "1 Million Citizens Looking for Lance Armstrong's Stolen Bike". A few days later, the bike turns up. While that's good news obviously, the other bikes that were stolen with it have not turned up yet. While I'm sure they are high-end bikes,they probably aren't one and only custom bikes and therefore, are a lot less likely to turn up. This is the fate of many bikes in America (3,000 bikes in America are stolen every day (pdf)).

I will be interested to what impact the facebook and twittering had to do with the return of the bike (and hopefully, the other bikes as well). This interconnectedness should be a boon to the National Bike registry, it seems. Hopefully, better coordination comes from the NBR, social networking, and sales sites such as craigslist and ebay.

I am hopeful that perhaps this greater awareness and usage of these networks to will help to better cooridinate on bike theft and help others have more luck with returned bikes.

Photo ©: Sacramento Police Department via cyclingnews.com

Handmade Bicycle Show

I will be at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show this year. I'll provide some updates and pictures from the show floor. Urban Velo had a pretty good photo summary from last year's event in Portland, OR. This year promises to have just as many interesting frame builders as last year, and I can't wait to meet them.

ThisWay

I've neglected to mention my new favorite blog for funtime reading (not that it's a new blog, I'm just new to the party). Bicycle Design is essentially exactly what it sounds like - a blog about Bicycle Design. It is written by James T, "an industrial designer who has a slight (but I think healthy) obsession with bicycling and cycling." It's entertaining in part because of his clear passion for the bicycle, but also because there are so many others that share that passion, but not necessarily his opinions about bicycles and their design.

Anyway, he held a design competition recently for a "commuter bicycle for the masses" that concluded in late January crowning the "ThisWay" bike design by Torkel Dohmer the winner.

©Bicycle Design

It was considered controversial by several who left comments in the blog because they felt that not only will the roof make it heavy, expensive, and difficult to use with public transit, but also because of the recumbant (sitting back, not on) positioning. However, there were many who liked it and felt it was more likely to draw interest from non-cyclists for its more car-like shape, style, seating, and roof. But as with all things, it's often difficult to project yourself into someone else's shoes.

As James said:

"Many of the people who work in the bike industry are in those positions because they are really passionate about bicycles. They absolutely love cycling, and that is great, but it also means that sometimes they have a hard time looking at the product line that they offer from the point of view of an average person. "

My personal thoughts are that it's a beautiful design and would be fun to own, but I don't see it as driving masses of people to give up their cars for it (not as I sit here in a 14 degree, windy, February in Detroit, anyway). However, I do think there's a niche for it. And that's where our marketing thoughts for today come in...

As someone who has dealt with automobile manufacturer vehicle teams in the past, I've seen a wide variety of vehicle designs, good and bad (um, some very bad), that get marketed and sold. How? It almost always comes down to finding the niche. A lot of the complaints about the design from the comments seemed to be focused on the bike not being "right" for all commuters (which may be justified since that was goal of the original competition). As James said, the bike industry needs to think about "reaching the people who currently have no interest in the products that they already make." Big manufacturers have got this (literally) down to a science. Identify a niche, develop a complex profile of that niche, and develop products that fit that niche or answer issues raised by the research.

In this case (and this is just off the top of my head without any real research into the niche at all and no mechanical background at all), I could see ThisWay being a great start to the development of a design for new parents. Some tweaking and I could see a child's car seat fitting in front of mom or dad, facing them. Add the storage on the back, and you have a fun little run-about for neighborhood errands with very easy access to babies (which parent's need), with the added security of a child's seat.

Ok, so that's not really the point of James original competition (and sure the width of the child seat may offer some additional design problems) but the point is to think about the niche first, then develop a bike to fit it. There is an outstanding video of Trek Bikes development of the Lime bike using this process: http://www.solidworksmedia.com/Trek/screencast/trek-screencast.html (click on the "Non-expert" video for an example of how to develop a bike to fit a niche).

When Grassroots isn't so Grassroots

GT Bicycles has come up with a fairly unoriginal (but still not all bad) way to promote their brand through word of mouth - get grassroots folks to do it. GT is sponsoring 35 amateur mountain bike racers to ride the newest GT machines in at least 6 IMBA sponsored races. They are calling this the "Dirt Coalition." While this is a good idea, what I think is particularly good is some of the things that the company is looking for to sponsor. Specifically:

You might be right for the Dirt Coalition if…

• You live to ride and race your mountain bike
• You currently/have ever worked at a bike shop
• You’re a leader in your cycling community
• You coach other mountain bike riders/racers
• You’re an active IMBA member or local trail advocate
• You lead rides or organize cycling races and events
• You compete in cyclocross, too

In other words, they are looking for vocal and opinion-leader people, because having a sponsor who goes to races and then goes home without talking to anyone is not really very helpful and completely misses the point to their investment. But bike shop folks who are active in the cycling community through either advocacy or organization are very likely to be those with many connections and that's who this program is targeting.

Read the details a little closer though, and the wheels start to come off the grassroots part of the program... this expands the reach (or actually probably replaces some) of the GT marketing reps. GT is likely thinking this will get more representation to smaller races, to grassroots events, trail maintenance days, etc. The theory (I'm guessing) is that by having individuals who are vocal and people know, and who aren't paid by GT represent GT at races, it will improve the affinity for GT. Here's the details on what these "grassroots" reps have to do at each race:

Race and represent GT at a minimum of 6 mountain bike races (including mountain bike tris) between Apr. 1 – Dec. 1, 2009.

Spread the GT gospel. Know the goods on GT’s patented Independent Drivetrain, what makes their carbon lay-up process the best in the biz, etc.

Fly the GT flag at races

• Race and train exclusively on your GT Marathon Pro or GT Zaskar Pro
• Set up your 10x10 GT Dirt Coalition tent on the race premises and prep there
• Race in the GT Dirt Coalition kit…always
• Hand out GT stickers, brochures and cool swag at each of the events

Get to know your local GT dealer and connect other riders with him and the GT brand

Act as an ambassador for the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) at races

To me, that sounds like a regular, ole, rep. How believable is it really, that this is not a sales pitch, if your friend shows up at your local race on a brand spankin' new $3,500 GT ride, sets up a GT tent, starts talkin' GT tech, and starts handing out GT swag? Not very.

But perhaps the hope is for deeper reach into more local events. If so, then the challenge to the marketers will be one of measurement. Sure, I get what its supposed to do. But how will GT know if it worked (particularly if this is used as a trigger to end representation at some other events or events that will now have the Dirt Coalition attending)? At the end of the season, how is GT management going to know whether the investment paid off? My gut says, they won't. The marketing chaps that came up with this will spin it and will lay out a big jargon-filled explanation of what GT's getting from it, but at the end of the day, they won't know and GT won't be able to see it.

As I said, I don't think this is an all bad idea, but I think it needs a little refining. If I were the guy managing this, I'd change a few things:

• Dump the Tent - they seem to be doing a good job of targeting opinion leaders, so let them be that without placing them in the confines of a sales space - if you are going to give them a tent, then call it a sponsorship and give the other participants a reason to visit (free massage, free juiceboxes, free beer - well, that's what I'd want anyway)
• Do Some Communicating - if the sponsored rider doesn't have a blog, myspace, facebook page, then get them on it. Make sure that they are doing some updating about the ride, the bike, the feeling of being sponsored. Make it interesting and make sure its something that gives some honesty to it
• Maybe Some Viral Marketing? - This seems like it could be an excellent tool for building a new viral campaign. Arm some of these new coalition members with a helmet cam and let them catch the action or do interviews. Place videos online and invite other racers to come get their videos.
  
• Get Some Numbers - No doubt - these kind of campaigns are difficult to measure. But let's make sure we're working with dealers to understand whether GT traffic improved after a race. Watch the links to GTbicycles.com from the blogs/facebook/etc. Sales would be an ideal measure, but in the current climate, I'm not so sure that measuring sales pre/post racing season is really going to reveal whether its worked or not. (But I certainly wouldn't completely ignore that either!)

I'll be watching for my local Dirt Coalition member... wonder if I'll know her/him and want to talk to them in their tent or just wait until we're at the bar after the ride?

Portland Design Group

A new company launched in Portland (of course) featuring new high-design bike products, called Portland Design Works. They don't have many products listed yet, but based on what they do have now, I'm eager to see what they come up with. It will be interesting to see how their national distribution works out (if at all). I think they would not be doing too poorly, though to start with web and mail-order sales and build that first.

Oh, and I'm partial to their "Panda Treat Grips"... that's good stuff.

Here's the press release from them:

Portland, OR- January 19, 2009-

Industry veterans Erik Olson and Dan Powell have launched Portland Design Works (PDW), a new brand of urban bicycle accessories with a focus on simple, beautiful design. The first two categories of product, grips and inflation, will begin shipping in mid-February and can be viewed on the new PDW website, www.ridepdw.com. Cargo racks, tools, mini-pumps and fenders will be available by late spring.

PDW is still finalizing their national distribution lineup, but hopes to have their goods available nationwide by summer. Products will be available direct to bicycle shops in the city of Portland, and Powell and Olson will deliver the orders by bicycle.

“We want to be a part of the community, to have a connection,” says Olson, “plus making deliveries by bike is a great excuse to get out and ride.”

Olson and Powell last collaborated as the general manager and sales/marketing guy, respectively, for Planet Bike. The new venture is a dream come true for the native Midwesterners, who are excited to be living in Portland.

“You’d start a surf company near great waves, or a wind farm on an enormous plain. Likewise, we moved to Portland because its bike-friendly culture allows so many folks to get around easily by bike,” says Powell. “We wanted to design and test our gear in that great urban cycling atmosphere.”

PDW is a member of 1% For the Planet, an alliance of businesses that donate at least 1% of their annual revenues to environmental organizations worldwide.

Let's Get Visible!

Momentum Magazine did a fun (read as: cheesy & goofy) video that was entirely lighted by bicycle lights to draw attention to the need for cyclists to have lights at night.

My friend Todd over at M-Bike.org also noted that:

MDOT recently issued a related press release:

“Drivers should always pay close attention and look out for other users of our roadways,” said MDOT Director Kirk T. Steudle. “In addition, pedestrians and bicyclists should wear bright and/or reflective clothing to significantly improve the likelihood of being noticed by motorists.”

Increasing ones visibility doesn’t have to be all that expensive. Wearing brighter clothes with reflective strips and adding bike lights are a good start. Those rear red LED blinky lights are almost a necessity.

Anyway, here's the video for your enjoyment:



Presented by: VACC, B:C:Clettes and Momentum Magazine
Videography by Gwendal Castellan and Dave Niddrie

Visibility accessories generously donated by:

• Halolux - Halolight Bicycle Helmets and Haloracer Bike Illumination Light
• Monkeylectric - Monkeylectric Monkey Light
• Rock the Bike- Down Low Glow Lights
• Sweetskinz - Reflective Coloured Tires
• Knog - Frog, Gecko and Gator Lights
• Hutchinson - Reflex Reflective Tires
• Lazer -Urbanize Helmets