Faster, Faster!

It has been a busy few weeks and as the Rocky Mountain Bike Show get closer, I think I will need to keep up the pace.

One interesting thing though is a few enquiries for a short turnaround for bikes. I sure appreciate the interest out there for my work, but in all honesty, a custom bike within a few weeks is close to impossible. For many other builders, it is absolutely impossible. Just getting the bike to paint and back can easily take up 2 weeks at the quickest, and in many occasions it takes 4 weeks plus.

I hope I do not sound like I am complaining, but in order to have a good experience for future customers, I would like to be open in communications. One thing that is crucial to customer satisfaction is what kind of expectation the customer has. Expectations can be shaped by the customer's previous research or experience, but is also promoted by the builder. I do not like to hype up my customer's expectation and run the risk of not delivering.

So, if you are considering a custom bike and you have to have it on the road by a certain time, please let me know a few months ahead and I am sure I can get that ready for you.

BTW, the Di2 stuff is dope and I have a good source for it! Here is a pic of a frame built with it in mind and you can see it painted at the Rocky Mountain Bike Show, August 22 - 23.

Cheers,

mission accomplished

The MS150 weekend happened in a quick blur, Leigh had a good time and felt that she had helped a good cause and accomplished something meaningful. She wrote a few words to sum it up:

Just finished the MS150 Colorado Ride. It was a fabulous ride! Saturday’s route started in Westminster and took us through the scenery of Niwot and Hygiene with a challenging finish in Ft. Collins after the Masonville and Horsetooth Reservoir climbs. On Sunday, the 28^th we headed back through Horsetooth and Masonville enjoying the scenery of Buckhorn Canyon after a well earned descent. The route continued through Berthoud, Longmont, and Lafayette with a steady climb back to Front Range Community College in Westminster via Lowell Blvd. Excellent weather both days was an added bonus.

Our training paid off – the last several months I have been getting in a combination of short sprint rides, hill climbing rides, and longer weekend rides. Overall, I am feeling pretty good at the end of the event. Thanks to Rose, Arica, Mary, Mike and my husband Renold for the last several months of training rides – we were ready!

I am sure over the next few days many moments of the ride will enter my thoughts and stand out as memories. I rode on Team Intrepid – a big thank you to Ken Heisel (Arica’s dad) and all of the family in the Heisel clan as well as the associates of Intrepid Potash for their support of our team. Congratulations to all Team Intrepid riders! All of the volunteers who supported the ride were wonderful – rest stops were well organized with plenty of food, drinks, and bike shop support. The folks along the route who cheered us on were also awesome – a ringing cowbell, someone misting water and the shouts of encouragement helped me to keep on pedaling. Hearing the words “thanks for riding” from those individuals who have MS truly made the effort worthwhile. Finally, thank you to all who made a donation and supported me as a rider.

Most importantly, a huge thank you to Renold (my husband a.k.a. Yipsan) for all that you have done – the custom bike you built for me rocks! Thanks to the custom fit I have absolutely no aches or pains! (Just tired muscles……). The new component group (more in another blog at another time) was a dream – smooth, responsive and easy shifting all day long. Thank you!!

This is an awesome ride and I look forward to next year!

MS150

My wife, Leigh, is riding the MS150 in a little more than a week. She has been training religiously and I feel she will do fine and enjoy the event. I am reminded everyday of what people with MS feels like after my spinal cord injury. I hope there will be a cure for nerve damages, and events like MS150 will help make this a reality.

Here is a message from Leigh:

On June 27-28, 2009 I will be cycling in the 24th Annual Colorado Bike MS Ride. This event attracts over 3000 riders for a memorable and challenging weekend ride from the Denver area to Ft. Collins and back.

It's a 150 mile ride and at some point along the way I am sure my legs will ache and I will feel tired. However, I think that is nothing compared to what people with MS go through on a daily basis. Completing the ride will be a personal achievement as well as a means to help the National MS Society fund research, advocate for change, and help people with MS and their families lead powerful and productive lives.

Currently there is no cure for MS. The money that is raised at this event will be used to find the cause, treatment, and ultimately the cure of multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis affects people in the prime of their lives, between the ages of 20 and 50. Every hour someone is newly diagnosed and more than 2.5 million people worldwide live with this unpredictable disease.

Please join me in the movement to do something about multiple sclerosis. I have set a goal of raising $500.00 for this cause. It is easy and convenient to make a donation. If you prefer to donate on-line, follow these links:

www.bikems.org
Select "sponsor a rider"

Select "search for a team" and enter team name INTREPID. Click on the blue button “Find A Participant”

Select Team Intrepid (make sure you select the first Team Intrepid that is listed – Team Leader is Ken Heisel)

Select Leigh Janko on the team roster and make your donation!! Thanks.

Black Lightning

Another recent build in cooperation with TBE was for Colm. He made my day by sending me this message:

I'm just in from my first 50mile ride on my new bike. I wanted to mail you and Tom and let you know its absolutely great! You did a fantastic job with the frame. I think its the best handling bike I've ridden - it goes around corners like its on rails.

I did not have time to picture the frame before shipping it out, but here is some pictures when the bike was finished at TBE.

Thank you Colm.

Catherine's All road

Being a framebuilder is interesting. I get to work with my customers to build something that they would enjoy for a long time in the future. While I try to incorporate their personal preferences and desires, I am also responsible to provide the technical details that will allow them to be at one with the bike.

The wait for a custom is never easy for the customer, but sometime it can be stressful for the builder too. Case in point, Catherine's bike. This bike was built for Catherine in cooperation with TBE and so I did not complete the build of the bike with components. Seeing the bike finished with paint gave me satisfaction that it will be wonderful, but not being able to see the bike fully built up can be a torture. However, I am confident to leave the final finishing work with TBE. Check the complete bike here.

I hope Catherine enjoys the bike.

Seat Binder

A recent repair on an old Raleigh really got me thinking of how many of these old frames have this same problem.

It was not difficult to repair and I am sure it would last a lot longer than the original pressed ears.

Here are some pictures of the sequence.

Dirt Rag

Just want to let you all know that one of my NAHBS bikes made it to the current issue of Dirt Rag. Get a copy to check it out.