Want & Need…

 

I’m already breaking my own promise. I was hoping to post atleast 2 updates a month.. Well better late than never. Post winter, pre spring is always a crap shoot. Either it’s slamming with repairs or it’s still in hibernation. March was a mix of both, a much needed change of speed. Loads of new bike builds, 4-5 new wheelsets built and a large number of BWR bike upgrades. The Belgian Waffle Ride every year here in San Diego wrecks havoc on drive trains, training schedules, unpopulated rural roads & bike shop service areas. I’ve installed more 11-32 cassettes in the last month than back in 1996 on MTB’s. It’s been a pretty steady stream of 15-25 bikes a week. This summer, if it forecasts correctly, should be pretty awesome.

People keep asking when I’m going to have a physical location again. At first I thought it was the only way to build the business, people only want to do business with a brick n mortar. Then it started to sink in when my repair business was just as busy if not busier than when I had the shop.. People wanted a place to hang out, escape the traffic, drink a beverage, a destination.. To be honest I miss that as well. What I don’t miss is the distraction. It’s not easy to stay on track when your friends are hanging out. Don’t get me wrong, I do miss hanging out with all of you but, I can get bikes done a lot faster now which gives me more time to do all the things I couldn’t before like ride my bike, have a beer in the afternoon with a buddy, grab lunch. So what does that mean? Well my idea of the next “space” has changed dramatically. What I want and what I need are very different places. For now what I “need” is to keep rebuilding, repairing the abrupt change to status quo that happened last year. What I “need” is to keep focus, keep the overhead low, keep charging. What I “want” is a community retail space. What I like to call the Collective. I want to find a space to share with like minded individuals, for example “The Space” in Little Italy on India St. Several boutique shops under one roof. Retail spaces like this are popping up all across the world. Thats my goal. Will it happen tomorrow? No idea. Will it happen a year from now? Who knows.

Projects:

• There is a new Velo Hangar kit arriving soon for preorder. It will be made by Castelli. I’m working with Mike Heenan on a design. He’s one of Castelli’s very talented custom designers. I’ve been following Mike through Social media for several years now (@mwicross). Excited show this one to all of you.
• I released my first installment of “Flair” i.e. Pins for your apron, hat or backpack. 50 pins printed of each design. If you see me, request some flair.. (While supplies last)
• Hammering down some designs on socks & t-shirts.. Soon.
• Riding my bike more.. It’s bad that this has to be a project but alas it is.