While the concept of models dancing on a stage in bike wear seems to work in Europe, we didn’t believe that the format was ideal for the US market and the style of apparel we were looking to feature. In search of the right format to showcase this apparel at the show, I came across a video of Momentum Magazine’s small fashion show that they had put on in an art gallery in Vancouver the previous year. The concept of the models actually showing the outfits while riding bikes on a small bike path throughout the audience was genius. A quick phone call to Mia at Momentum got the ball rolling and we’ve had two great fashion shows so far that have really struck a cord with the industry and cycling community.

But while the dancing-models-on-a-stage concept might not have worked for Urban Legend in the late 2000’s (aughts? ’00’s?), it obviously has worked at Interbikes past. Take a look at this scan that I took from the 1984 Interbike event guide.

In 1984, Interbike was in Las Vegas and the Rams were still based in Los Angeles. For those not in North America, the Rams – now based in St. Louis – are a professional gridiron football team. I can’t think of a choice of models more diametrically opposed in both appearance and spirit to those we’ve used in Urban Legend than pro football cheerleaders. Though judging by the number of ads in the magazine for super shiny bright skin-tight Lycra jerseys and shorts, I suppose they were an appropriate choice for the styles popular at the time.

There are some choice quotes from the text to enjoy along with the mental image that the thought of mid ’80’s cheerleaders conjures, too:

Star attractions of the show will be the L.A. Rams Cheerleaders, fresh from an appearance on the George Burns television special.

I’d bet that they’d also been featured in an episode of the Love Boat.

While she wouldn’t reveal specifics prior to curtain time, she hinted at some truly memorable moments–including a slow-motion triathlon…

Now that’s a coincidence. I performed a slow-motion triathlon once, too. But unfortunately, it was at the Cape Cod Sprint Triathlon back in ‘93.

Not surprisingly, it was my one and only tri.

I’m clearly having some fun at the expense of my predecessors here at Interbike who worked hard to bring you this show. But lest you think that I have something against cheerleaders, here’s a photo of me at the Tour of Palm Springs a few years back with the Xavier Prep School Saints cheerleaders who were enthusiastically welcoming all riders into one of the rest stops.

I’ve always had good luck with Sun’s rims, so I can’t wait to throw a cassette and some tires on them this weekend and take them out for a spin. SR’s website describes the intended use of this model as “cyclocross or performance commuter riding conditions.” From the tough looking design and build and the kind of riding I do, I’d put them in the “spring classics riding conditions” category. I don’t race any more, but I still like to ride like I do. I also don’t plan on running with a bike over my shoulder anytime soon, so the cross use is out the picture. And having a tougher set of wheels on the bike for when I commute will be very welcome, too.

I can’t say I’m familiar with their hubs, but they look solid and feel smooth.

While I don’t consider their just over 1,800-and-change gram weight unreasonable, I think most reviewers today would fall into the trap of calling them heavy because of the seeming abundance of sub 1,500 gram aluminum rimmed wheels on the market. The X2.0’s look like they’ll be able to take anything you throw their way without complaint: wide rim, eyelets, 32 14gauge db Wheelsmith spokes in a classic reliable lacing pattern. And while I can’t confirm this at the moment, from the hand-written sign included in the box, it looks like the wheels were built by one “Russell the Nippletwister.” A wheelbuilder with a name like that guarantees a quality build, right? Anyways, I like the personal touch, Sun-Ringle.

And that’s the kind of component I like on my bike: reliable, reasonably light, attractive and tough. I also like having some insight into the people behind the brand and design (like Russell here). I drool over the cool high end stuff as much as the most passionate bike geek (I still have to post my review of Shimano’s Di2 that I rode at the OutDoor Demo), but I’ve been pretty good at reigning myself back in to what I should be riding. Oh, and it shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg (I have two kids and a mortgage, you know?). Come to think of it, before I get a bruise from patting myself on the back too much for my practicality, maybe economics play the biggest role in the selection of parts that I ride.

On a fun note, you can see in the photo that Sun-Ringle include a bunch of stickers with the wheels. This is a nice unexpected touch that I’d recommend to all manufacturers. It’s a small gesture, but adds to the overall experience of buying something in a not too expensive way. They’ll be going right up on my tool chest at home.

Much to my surprise, I was the lucky winner of one of the many raffles that the BikeHugger crew held at their tent at the USA Crits Finals, part of their Mobile Social ride down the Strip from the Sands Expo Center to Mandalay bay. By the time I realized I was free to do the ride, it was too late to secure a bike. I ended up just watching and photographing the start of the ride and then meeting up with them at the crit. Someone handed me a raffle ticket, and lo-and-behold, they called out my number. Can’t rememebr the last time I won anything – much less something as nice as a set of wheels!

Byron and his team at BikeHugger had some great schwag to give away and I came back home with a Breezer Bikes t-shirt and cool mini Swiss Army Knife/USB flash drive along with the promise that they would ship me the wheels I had won. I felt a little funny as the “Interbike Guy” winning a prize, but everyone good naturedly insisted that I accept. As the host of the event, I don’t ask for or get much schwag (everyone there is my customer, essentially, and it’s best reserved for the retailers in attendance), so to actually come away with something like this was a real treat and definitely appreciated. I also remember seeing a set of Hed wheels and a Novara bike raffled off that night to happy attendees.

Despite the somewhat bewildering summary of Interbike 2009 in theirwrap-up story, I like what BikeHugger.com is trying to do and had a lot of fun the crew at the Mobile Social this year. You should visit their site and read up about their M.S. MoSo events that they piggyback off of various trade shows and conferences around the country like Interbike and South-By-Southwest. As the intersection of social media and riding, they’re a blast and a great way to bring passionate cyclists together.

I’ll end by saying thanks to Byron and the BikeHugger team once more for a great event and a big thanks to Sun-Ringle for supporting the Mobile Social with these wheels – I’m really looking forward to enjoying the fruits of Russell’s handiwork!

I wasn’t thinking of this anniversary when we decided to make the trip, but when we got there, the first demonstration we caught was of a paratrooper deployment featuring a plane that actually dropped soldiers into Normandy on that June 6th day back in 1944 (in the background of the photos below). After watching the precision landings of the parachutists, we heard some loud popping sounds and followed the crowds over to a re-enactment of a battle between US and British allies and the Germans. It was all very exciting with incredibly detailed outfits and gear assembled by the re-enactors. Oh, and the Allies won (in case you were wondering).

I also wasn’t thinking of D-Day when we walked over to the US, German and British ‘camps’ set up by the actors to see their gear up close and found a bicycle on display. It was a replica of a BSA folding military bike in matte green paint. I took a couple of photos that I posted on Twitter, but later in the day, we came across Private Ken of the British Army riding his BSA (Birmingham Small Arms) across the tarmac.

We flagged the friendly soldier down, and in typical ‘Brit’ (he was actually from Riverside or San Bernardino) fashion he enthusiastically and patiently entertained all our questions and requests for photos. What we learned was that some of the paratroopers deployed in the D-Day invasion were equipped with these folding BSA’s along with their weapons, rations and other gear. With a bike, the troopers could cover more ground more quickly than on foot. A rifle could be be mounted along the top tube and he described a range of other packs and panniers that the bikes would have setup with back in the day.

Ken showed us the simple and sturdy folding mechanism using wing nuts. I asked him about the coaster brake, and he admitted that this was only major difference between this Norwegian-made replica and an actual BSA that would have had caliper brakes.

I’d always known about the Swiss army’s use of bikes fairly recently (I think Ochsner used to distribute them a while back) and that other armies had used them over the years, but to learn that bikes were used during the Normandy invasion was fascinating. And not just behind the lines, but actually inserted behind enemy lines right in the thick of things.

As my 3 year old son said throughout the day, “that’s pretty cool.”

[Update: Make sure to read the comments to this post since Ken Glaze (Private Ken in the post) fills us in on a few more details about his bike.]

While I can’t claim that Steve and I were friends, at a previous employer of mine we sponsored his mtb racing career and I was able to speak with him fairly regularly and met him at a few races during the season. Eventually, he purchased a shop in his native Davis, California, and he became a customer of mine, too. Always a great person, very professional as a representative of our brand, appreciative of our sponsorship and a fast and savvy racer. When I heard of his passing, I dug through my pile of memento jerseys and photo albums to find the items in the two photos accompanying this post.

The photo of me with him was taken circa 2000 when he was dividing his time between his mtb racing career and doing a few choice road races for the old Prime Alliance team. We were at the USPro race in Philadelphia in the photo. I don’t remember how he did there, but as you can see in the photo of the jersey, he had just won back the stars and stripes jersey as NORBA National champ.

The bike community lost a great man and racer. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this time.

A memorial service is planned for Saturday at 1 pm in his hometown of Bend, Oregon. Information about the service, a memorial ride and memorial fund that has been set up can be found over at VeloNews.

The usual path to the Star Wars (sorry, Clone Wars, according to our 3 year old obsessed fanboy) section leads past the bike aisle. We don’t usually stop in there, but with our daughter’s birthday coming up, and a new bike high on her list, I was curious about her opinion of BMX vs. beach cruiser bike style (about all that’s available in 20″ wheel bikes for 7-year-olds), so we took a detour.

I casually followed an online discussion recently about the role that mass merchants like these could play in getting more people on bikes. For a while now, I’ve felt that the mass is the perfect channel to introduce the non-cycling population to cycling by offering the right bike in a non-threatening environment that they are comfortable in. A fairly practical, easy to ride, sharp-looking bike in a store they already feel comfortable in. It would follow the same lessons that Shimano learned in researching their Coasting project on why 161 million Americans avoid specialty bike shops: They’re apparently intimidated by the perceived complexity of the bikes, the crowded technology-laden merchandising and oft elitist staff.

Here’s what caught my eye:

It’s a “just a bike” bike. With some added style thrown in.  The Schwinn Tourist is a decent sporty-looking bike with light 700c aero-profile, paired-spoke wheels; flat bars; linear-pull brakes; tapered straight blade fork; quick release skewers; tasteful satin metallic gray paint. Didn’t really look into other component details, but at a quick glance it’s not exactly your typical department store bike. I know some of you are thinking “yeah, but it’s not a 3-speed internal hub.” Or it’s not a single speed, or have wide enough tires, or have fenders, or dyno powered light or a rack.

Curiosity piqued, I poked around their website when I got home to try to see full specs and how they describe the bike. I was surprised to find a number of other “urban” styled bikes and even two that approached full-on commuter status.

Check out the Schwinn Gridlock with fenders, rack, transparent chain guard, aluminum frame and Amsterdam-esque all black paint scheme:

Or how about the Huffy Commuter (bet you never expected to see those two words together)? Also with fenders and rack and simplified 1×5 drivetrain.

According to the website, these models are only available online and not in stores, which is a shame. It would be great to have models like this in front of the non-cycling public. Still, I think it’s another sign of the organic growth of the bicycle as a means of transportation that we’ve been experiencing over the last few years. (Though with most of these big box stores located in suburbia, you would expect the demand for this category to be weaker than if they were in urban areas.)

But alas, back at the store, I was jerked back to the reality of my surroundings and reminded of one of the top reasons why independent, specialty bike stores are by far the best choice for your next (or first) bike purchase. Just down the aisle from the Tourist was this beauty of a build:

It sort of looks like the curved down tube was designed to actually accommodate the occasional improper fork assembly by store staff, huh? With our litigious society, shouldn’t this scare the heck out of mass market suppliers like Magna? (If you’re new to cycling or didn’t notice, the fork is mounted backwards).

Any other examples of general merchandise or mass merchants starting to catch on to the growth in transportation/utility cycling?

Following the recording (via Skype) and while Julie and the kids were still out at a friend’s, I managed to squeeze in a couple hour ride out to PCH. It was a gorgeous day and I missed riding all last week with the work load.

To top off the day, after a show and lunch, I headed down to the Mission Valley area of San Diego for the inaugural San Diego Custom Bike Show. Having followed the success of the 3 year old North American Handmade Bike Show from a distance, I was really looking forward to seeing some of the craftsmanship first hand. As an added bonus, Tim – a fellow San Diegan – was going to be there.

While I expected to be floored by aisles full of of amazing bikes, I am really amazed by the sheer number of custom builders that are out there now. Truly unbelievable the quantity of creative craftsmen (and women) that have sprung up over the last 5-10 years. The SD show attracted builder from a number of staes including Oregon and Arizona. Wish I could have taken literature from each, but I didn’t have that much time to spend at the show.

I snapped a bunch of photos of all the beautiful bikes, but am having some trouble with my Flickr account and Wordpress’ image uploading is too slow and cumbersome to handle so many photos, so I’ll post the rest in a bit. Here’s a selection of some of the scenery at the Town & Country Resort and Convention Center:

I love kids’ road bikes an I saw a few here. Abby’s a lucky girl.

Argonaut Cycles had some just beautiful work and attention to detail like this treatment of a new Dura Ace crankset. Improvement over the matte finish, I say.

I had never heard of Argonaut before checking the show’s website for the exhibitor list. I have to say, from top to bottom, they’ve got every detail covered: clean building, awesome paint and professionally designed logo. Argonaut is based in Portland, OR.

Form Cycles also impressed me with how pristine their bikes looked – just so clean. Form is from Sedona, Arizona.

Hey, this is a Southern California bike show, after all. Oh, yeah.

Taylor is originally from Australia and had some sweet looking bikes with tastefully embellished lugwork and paintjobs.

Richie Ditta of Ditta Cycles from here in San Diego is a bike messenger by day and framebuilder. He had some tough looking fixed gear bikes on display and is a part of the MASH crew based in San Francisco.

Proprietor of my local bike shop, Pacific Coast Cycles in Oceanside, Chuck Hoeffer (L) is a former Masi employee from the days when they had just moved to California back in the early 1970’s. On the right is fellow Masi alumnus, Robert Morgan who was showing his custom Masi from circa 1976 that had about 8 miles on it. Conveniently (or frustratingtingly) it was exactly my size (61cm c-c).

Not a fan of the band, but this Holland Grateful Dead bike (about 70cm by my guestimate) is just so nice. Love the skeleton’s hands painted holding the cable stop. Holland is one of the premier San Diego builders. Super impressed by everything of his I’ve seen. He works a lot in titanium and carbon.

Can’t resist the kid racing bikes. Can you imagine having a Ti-Carbon Holland as a 9 year old? Or even a 37 year old, I guess.

I have to say, that the builder that impressed me the most was Slow Craft Maldoror. Didn’t get a chance to speak with him (or them?), but the bikes and the craft were both stunning and unique. They’re a San Diego builder.

A detail of the seat stays from another Maldoror. So clean and such beautiful lines.

I’ve got a bunch more photos to upload, but it’s late and like I said, I need to get my Flickr account running again to post the rest, but no post about San Diego custom bikes would be complete without a mention of master builder Brian Baylis – a real legend in these parts. There, I mentioned him (that’s him in the center), so now I can go to sleep. Look for more soon.

]]> http://www.interbiketimes.com/2009/04/07/san-diego-custom-bike-show/feed/ 3 http://www.interbiketimes.com/2009/02/02/watching-the-tour-of-california-on-palomar-meeting-floyd/ http://www.interbiketimes.com/2009/02/02/watching-the-tour-of-california-on-palomar-meeting-floyd/#comments Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:13:00 +0000 Rich Kelly http://www.interbiketimes.com/?p=518

On Saturday the Julie and I piled the kids into the car for a ride out to the top of Palomar Mountain, site of the major climb of this year’s Amgen Tour of California on the last stage of the race. I think that it’s safe to assume that Palomar will be the most popular viewing spot for locals since this will be the first time the race has visited deprived San Diego cycling fans on their own turf. The problem is, there’s limited access and it’s not like there are parking spaces lining the narrow two ane access road all the way up to the top. Our plan was to see the climb from a fans point of view and get some idea of what we will need to do to watch the race from a decent spot on the climb without too much stress. 

Now if you promise to save us a spot if we’re running late that morning, I’ll let you know what I found out. OK?

As a preamble to all of this, just remember that this is just friendly advice from a fan who scoped out the course. I don’t know exactly what the authorities have planned in regards to access to the mountain or what other fans are planning. From my experience riding the climbs in the Alps during the Tour de France back in 2000, many camp out on the mountain sides to reserve their spots. Will US fans do the same? The CHP seems to think so.

The first thing to note is the road closure schedule. There are big signs posted throughout the race route like the one above one stating that the roads will be closed beginning at 9:00am. I called the number and it goes to the ATOC general info line. My guess, if you’ll be trying to head up the mountain for viewing spot, plan to be heading up South Grade road before that – probably much earlier.  Once you’re on the road climbing up, I can’t see the authorities making you turn around. Unless, of course, the road is already jam packed with cars and fans. An alterative is parking at the bottom and hiking up by foot or bike. Given that the signs also state that the roads will be closed until 5:00pm, you might want to look into that last option to make a quicker get away. From the summit businesses’ new blog:

Road Closures

• GET HERE EARLY! Estimates are that 4000+ people will line the uphill portion of the race on S-6 (South Grade Rd.)
  
• The CHP has stated that S-6 will be closed from 9 AM to 5 PM to vehicular traffic. S-6 will stay closed until 5 PM.
  
• Bicycles will be allowed to ride on S-6 after 9 AM until approximately 60 min prior to estimated arrival of the first rider.
  
• S-7 will be closed from 11 AM to 5 PM, but will likely open 60 min after race passes in reality. This will be the only paved road down Palomar.
  
• Highway 76 will be closed from 11 AM until 5 PM
  
• IMPORTANT: CHP has stated that there is “NO WAY IN HECK” you can get to the finish line in Escondido so don’t bother rushing back. The race course loops back onto Highway 76.

Good to see that bikes will be allowed on the roads after 9:00am up until 60 min prior to estimated race arrival, so plan on having the bike be a part of your, um,  plans for that day.

The access roads (S-6 and S-7) themselves offer limited parking along the way up. It’s just a two lane road with mostly mountain wall on one side and guard rails on the other. Occasionally there is a turn out spot that might accomodate a few cars. Will any of you be planning to camp out there overnight?

So where to park on the mountain? At the summit, there is a small shopping area with a general store, Mother’s Kitchen restaurant and the post office. That’s really the only game in town (or on the mountain literally) for miles. Here’s what their new blog says (I recommend you bookmark their site for the latest info leading up to the race):

Parking

• The summit businesses (www.palomarsummit.com) will offer limited parking for a $10 fee on a first come/first serve basis.
  
• Remote parking will also be provided before 9 AM on a location less than a mile from the Summit just before the 5000’ elevation marker. Look for the sign on the right. Sign up on our website and we will provide bleacher seating if the demand is high and weather permits.
  
• Roadside parking will be limited to turn outs along the racecourse. CHP expects RVs to start lining S-6 as early as Friday night, which they will allow, but they will not let anyone inhibit the roadway and will enforce this beginning Friday night. (Both wheels must be off the road is what I heard, and less “off-road worthy” vehicles may be challenged here)
  
• Roadside parking will also be limited to turnouts on top of the mountain past the racecourse along State Park Road and the road to the Observatory. Bring your bikes so you can find a place to park and ride to a place to view the race. (I second the “bring your bikes part” since there’s a lot of parking available leading up to the observatory and a bike makes it much more manageable.)

I spoke with Johnny at Mother’s Kitchen about their festivities planned for that day (and for those that will be camping out that weekend). I learned that Johnny has a long history in the bike industry (mostly in the Santa Cruz, CA area) and is a great guy. Said he’d been going to Interbike “since about 1973″ (about 10 years before there was an Interbike, btw). You should check their site for details, but activities include their “mile high block party” at “KOM Race Central” at the summit. They have limited space, but they are taking reservations for up to 56 people for VIP spots at the restaurant all day. TV coverage and in-out priviliges all day and access to warm homestyle food. They’ll also have an outdoor beer garden with local micro-brews and big screen TV action and for after the race passes (looks like VS. TV coverage begins at 2:00pm that day, unfortunately). Racers are expected to start hitting the summit at 1:30pm on Sunday.

Another plan Johnny’s been working on is a bleacher viewing area. They have access to a spot about a mile from the summit down S-6 (South Grade Rd) at the 5000′ elevation that could accomodate a bleacher and parking. If they can get a minimu of 50 people to reserve spots, they will order the bleachers. It’s a great spot on a sweeping curve with a parking area. With enough interest, he may be able to get a second bleacher there as well. Would be $20 each and $10 for parking. Give them a call at 760.742.4233 to show interest. Also, if your company is interested, he’d love to hear from you about setting up a tent in their expo area at the summit.  

One last tidbit from Johnny: the potential for snow on the mountain in February is good. There was still some snow lining the sides of the road leading up to the summit on Saturday that my kids loved playing in. If it snows between now and then, it could make for an epic stage.

When we got up to the summit, who was waiting for us there? Why, it was Floyd Landis and his whole Team Ouch. I pulled over, grabbed the camera and introduced myself and hammed it up a bit for a photo with them. Nice bunch of guys. The team mechanic (I think) gave me a souvenir of the occasion: a Team Ouch ball cap. Thanks, guys! Know who I’m rooting for now…

After heading back down, we drove the rest of the course to the finish in downtown Escondido which included a nasty little climb up Cole Grade Road. That’s no slouch of a climb condsidering you just climbed Palomar. Hopefully, the race overall will still be in contention on this stage as the racing could be awesome on this course if they’re still fighting it out. Long way to go after Palomar to the finish…

Here are a few more photos of our little trip:

Burned trees from the last wildfires that went through here in 2007 lined the road up Palomar.

Beware of cow signs are posted all the way up. Racers, you’ve been warned. Have to admit we didn’t see any cows.

Shopping area at the summit of Palomar with Mother’s Kitchena dn general store. “KOM Race Central” on February 22.

My 6 year old modeling the Team Ouch cap they gave me. Note the Palomar Observatory in the background. The observatory is worth the trip. The enormous telescope is impressive to see. Unfortunately, you can’t get a peek through it…

My kids playing in the snow at the summit. Snow is very common up there in February.

Sign outsiode the observatory. It’s a few miles up the mountain on S-6 past the race summit.

The very top of Palomar at 5,550 ft (1,692 meters) at the end of S-6.

Now aren’t freakin’ lasers the solution to all of society’s ills?

The idea – called the LightLane – (just a concept at this point as far as I can tell) comes from two designers that work for a design firm called Altitude, Inc. Read their original post about the light here.

From the posts by pro- and anti-bikes-on-the-road people on another blog, this would be either a revolutionary enhancement in cyclist safety or the final straw to encourage acts of rage against cyclists by motorists harboring some latent hatred of us.

This has been a great concept and all of us basked in the neutral BRAIN glow as dealers opened up to us and expressed their hopes, expectations, results and experiences of the past and future of the bike business. And it was a good excuse to get out of the office and ride a really nice bike for a week…

At Interbike in 2007, I was walking around with a camera crew from Cycling.TV looking for footage of interesting sites and events to capture. I led them over to the MirraCo booth where bmx legend Dave Mirra was supposed to be wrapping up an autograph session. Since the booth looked quiet, I walked up to the guy standing near the entrance to the booth and ended up asking Dave Mirra himself if “Dave was coming back to sign more autographs” later that day. Mr. Foot, meet Mr. Mouth. Without saying a word, Dave pointed to his head with both hands and smiled. Now, I don’t think I can be faulted for not recognizing fellow-bmx kegend, Perry Kramer, he of PK Ripper fame, last Tuesday on our tour, but I was darn happy to see him in the BRAIN office again on Friday so that I could properly introduce myself and express my excitement in meeting the Man. Turns out we’re almost neighbors and he offered to show me some trails near my house. The fact that he is PK would explain why he was jumping every curb and bunny-hopping sewer greats the whole ride on his flat-bar road bike.

Another very familiar face (and new ex-coworker) getting ready for the day’s ride was Robert Roman, now in the employs of Bicycle Retailer. After 9 years serving Interbike exhibitors, Robert decided to make a change and move a few exits north on the 5 freeway to our industry’s trade mag. We’ll miss his wit and sense of humor here, but will hopefully still get to experience his powerful turn of the pedals on a regular basis as BRAIN’s lunch rides frequently go past Interbike’s HQ.

Nice to see Fred Clements, executive director of the NBDA, working from the saddle of a bike. This is why we all work in this industry, right?

Mr. Tony Lo, CEO of Giant Bicycles. Guest of honor on today’s ride and inspiration for the whole tour itself. Tony’s industry tour of Taiwan last year planted the seed for this Stateside version. Tony is an avid cyclist and rides with style and class.

Scene from an Orange County bike path as we wind our way from BRAIN’s offices to our first stop in Dana Point. I believe that’s Kip Mikler of Bike Magazine, Megan Tompkins and Nicole Formosa of BRAIN (L to R).

Robert and Tony enjoying the typically sunny, but unusually hot November OC day during the ride.

First stop of the day: Revo Cycles in Dana Point, CA: Bicycles & Espresso.

Darrin Duhamel – ex corporate suit and current Revo owner, explaining his bike retailing philosophy to the group. Darrin woke up one day unhappy with his life as a globe-trotting executive and decided to go into business in one of his passions: cycling or scuba. Guess which one won?

Kip Mikler with Andrew Juskaitis of Giant listening in at Revo.

Chris Zigmont of Pedro’s doing his job (actually Tyler’s) of spreading the love with bike shop mechanics – the people that use their products the most and the ones most likely to recommend it to their customers.

Revo Cycles’ colors:

Some of the other brands that Revo carries besides BMC, Bianchi and Specialized. I think you can infer the typical Revo customer by these brands.

The tour group stoppong for a photo opp overlooking Dana Point Harbor.

Marc Sani, publisher of Bicycle Retailer on the roads of Dana Point.

Our lunch time rides here from the Interbike offices typically include a swing by Doheny Beach. Below, Lance Camisasca of Lifeboat Solutions and Interbike consultant and Zig from Pedro’s ride by some volleyball players at Doheny.

What am I supposed to do at South Coast Cyclery again? SCC believe in making what they do obvious – no ifs, ands or buts.

Andrew from Giant (center) began his bike industry career in high school here at South Coast in San Juan Capistrano. SCC is Interbike’s LBS, by the way, a short walk from our office.

Passionate owner, Jim Curwood, espousing some of his many ideas for growing the bike industry. Megan doesn’t seems convinced… If you live in Orange County and watch (very) late night television, you’ve certainly seen some of Jim’s homegrown “Buy My Bikes!” ads. He says that the ads that he runs around the holidays have a big impact on sales. A perk of working for Jim? He believes in saying “thank you” to his employees at the end of each day and buys lunch for them daily.

Call me immature, but I love bike industry stickers. My tool chest back home in my garage is plastered with them. When I see a display in a shop like the door below at SSC, I’ll pause for a few minutes admiring all the classic and retro company logos. When a shop’s been in the same place for close to 30 years, there’s bopund to be a great collection.

SCC also have an awesome collection of Rosarito-Ensenada posters. R-E is an anual ride in Baja California, Mexico, with thouands of riders. Tons of So Cal bikers head down for the party on wheels just south of Tijuana.

Karl and Kenny have tended the wrenches at SCC for many years and are a friendly and knowledgeable team. And yes, they speak Campagnolo.

Jim has a poster in the window for the First Annual High School Mountain Bike Series.

In the courtyard in front of SCC saying our goodbyes.

Merry, my trusty Giant Advance 2 treated me well this week of the tour. Too bad I need to give her back.

Waiting for the invite for the next dealer tour…

One constant at all but one shop we’ve visited so far is that fixed gear bikes are firmly entrenched in their shops. Most had a special section devoted to fixie gear, but even traditionally mountain bike focused shops like The Path in Tustin have seen fixie cultire become an important catgory and visible presence on the show floor as evidenced by the MKS and Nitto caps for sale.

Here’s part of The Path’s fixie parts and accessories section that was typical of most shops on out tour. And remember, this is Orange County – not New York, San Francisco or even LA. The fixed gear phenomenon has hit suburbia pretty hard.

Another common sight in our shops was colored Velocity wheels – a big seller.

The Path\ had a pretty awesome invengtory of Chris King componentry on display:

Marc Sani of Bicycle Retailer talking to The Path’s Tani Walling:

Santiago Cycling, just a few hundred yards away from The Path. Another true roadie oriented shop. He’s solely a Trek dealer and sought them out back in the 80’s since they were a USA made brand and still makes their high end bikes here.

Owner Robert Kahler, owner of Santiago Cycling. He’s in fatigues to commemorate Veteren’s Day. Thanks for your service, Robert! Robert is a former California state road race champ and national team member and his wife, Jill Koval, raced for the 7-11 women’s team.

A big part of Robert’s business is training. He has a huge fleet of Monark ergometers and wind trainers and rollers to lead classes of up to 50 riders in indoor training sessions that he calls “Torture Clinics”.

Lunch in downtown Orange at Watson’s Drug and Soda shop with the tour gang and John Pavlisin Jr., owner of Orange Cycle.

Arriving at Orange Cycle:

I have never seen more beach cruisers in one place than I saw today at Orange Cycle. Needless to say, an important category for this family-oriented shop.

Al from Orange Cycle educating us on the influences that are bringing suburban kids into the fixie scene. He pointed to music videos with the bikes, dj’s, Complex Magazine among other influences. He is amazed that kids will pay $100 for NJS-certified toe straps. Hate to sound like an old fart here, but seeing high school kids on fixies in my suburban San Diego neighborhood just floors me and I’m really curious where they are getting the vibe from.

In the back of Orange Cycle, there’s a semi-hidden room/lounge/office that is just unreal. These photos don’t do it justice. John P. Sr. served up some awesome espressos and some wine to our group in a the uber-posh room. Fully stocked kitchen, bar and lounge area made with fine wood and granite counters. You just wouldn’t expect something like this in a bike shop. Sort of remids me of the hidden kitchen in the Italian Pavilion at Interbike – if you know about it, they’ll serve you a fine pasta lunch.

Tyler James, tech guru with Pedro’s and Elysa from Giant enjoying Orange’s hospitality.

Throught the magic of  Twitter and updates of our tour throughout the day, Steve Boehmke found out we had seen him in his truck while we were eating lunch. He called me and met up with us at Orange with his bike and gear to join us on the rest of our ride. In the photo below riding next to Steve is none other than Perry Kramer, former BMX pro and Hall of Famer. If you’ve ever heard of the classic PK Ripper model from SE Racing, Perry’s the “PK” in the name. I didn’t realize who he was until later in the day – just thought he was a really cool guy named Perry. He’s a sales rep for Giant here in SoCal and led us around Orange County today.

Here’s Chris Zigmont of Pedro’s, 2003 ABA Grand Nationals Champion next to his trophy at Fullerton Bicycles. You don’t see enough trophy’s like this anymore. Growing up it seemed like every pizza joint had a few on a shelf. All joking aside, Fullerton takes their BMX racing heritage and business very seriously and had more than one of these trophys on display at the shop.

Mike Franze, owner of Fullerton and Buena Park Bicycles. Great guy with a passion for the industry. He’s working with Giant on re-merchandising the store – obviously a big Giant dealer.

Just some quick comments from today since it’s late. Unfortunately, I’m back in the office for some meetings Wednesday and Thursday. I’ll be making a return to the tour on Friday. This has been a really insightful trip so far getting to know so many great dealers and learn about their businesses and where they see bike retail heading. More on some of what we’ve learned once I’m back and settled.