Howdy All. Sam here.
My father used to say he was 'busy', 'really busy' or 'busier than a one armed paper-hanger.' Well, being firmly on the 'paper-hanger' end of things I've been remiss in my bloggin'.
John and I are officially back from the sacred ground and carnival of inspiration and love that is the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. We have reminded our families what we look like, returned to eating with silverware and cleaned up the piles of wood shavings, silver braze filings, bike parts and paperwork that accumulated prior to the show. We have started to follow up with the many, many, did I say
many, people we met at NAHBS and are back in production, filling orders and trying to get more test/demo/review bikes out to the growing number of riders (individuals, shop owners and the media) who really want to get on a Sylvan. We even got in a celebratory ski day before the sugarin' really picked up and Mud Season replaced thoughts of gliding through the trees in knee deep powder with thoughts of long rides on back roads (without studs and fenders) and planting peas.
I'll let John have some fun writing about NAHBS too but for me, it absolutely blew my mind. At one point I worked my way out into the aisle because the booth was packed and, quite honestly, I wanted to see it. I wasn't able to get back in for well over an hour. I could have spent a day talking with just about everyone who stopped in. Folks were engaging
and nice
and smart. Not any big surprise but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.
When I was out at Interbike in September I was taken by how may people
got out bikes. I knew people would like them because, I think it's fair to say, they are really beautiful. I was surprised, however, by how many people understood why wood composite and/or wood composite and stainless steel would make a super high-quality bike with great ride characteristics. With that said I was still unprepared for our reception at NAHBS.
There is something evocative in what we are doing and people want it. As a craftsman, occasionally holed up in our shop for weeks on end, it was incredibly affirming. And really, who doesn't like it when people appreciate their work? I got to soak it up solo in Vegas so it was especially great to share NAHBS with John and see him 'feel the love.' I loved it when John's 3 1/2 year old daughter came marching proudly into the booth, while it was packed, big smile as always, just like she does at the shop and climbed right up him. Nothing like a little perspective on why we are doing this.
So, my impressions of what people liked... Well, a few folks came specifically to see our bike or to see our bike and the bamboo bikes of Calfee and Boo. They seemed to be interested in every part of the whole; wood composite technology, ride quality, joining and brazing, design philosophy, durability, customization, sustainability... the whole ball of wax.
Some people were drawn to the bike we brought because of it's unusual material and/or it's unusual tube shape (though a pencil is technically hexagonal, we may take many of your suggestions to heart and make a yellow one.) As folks got closer and got to talk to us there seemed to be a palpable shift from novelty interest to genuine excitement with what we are doing.
A lot of folks resonated with the sustainability questions we are asking and trying to answer. A lot of folks really liked what we offer for ride quality though I wish we could have blasted around the convention center a bit, bunny hopping cases of wine at the wine expo next door. Lots of people liked geeking out with John and I about the technology we are utilizing and have developed.
The part I wasn't expecting as much was how people, attendees, frame builders, shop owners and the media, took to the lug work. We were on the mothership for custom bicycle fabrication and finish and what we are doing was still quite unique. We are quite proud of it and I wish our brazer and all around ace, George Combs, could have been there. Next year. A bunch of you probably got his card when I ran out of mine. Al least they had the typo with my email address on them. Who knew...
The fact that our miters are light-tight, that we are using stainless steel and that we can get to the inside of the lug for brazing allows us to put a really big, super strong silver braze fillet on the inside of the lug and then just kiss the outside of the joint to make it pretty. Since we didn't paint these lugs, they really stood out. Bringing some show and tell of the joints for the table didn't hurt either.
Our designing, cutting and joining all our own lugs, dropouts, bridges and hangers was very well received. It was great to point the the plank of Ash we brought and say' 'that's where our wood comes from. I'll take you to the stump." Then, to pull out a seat cluster destined for a canti compatible Adventure frame and say, ' this is where we get our steel. we make it.'
We seemed to have a lot of dealer interest. I think many of them appreciated our desire to support local economies and shops that are active members of not only their local cycling community but also of their greater community. We also have a product that has a lot of 'Wow' and makes for good-talkin' with customers. Dealers help us get bikes further afield and under more riders. We are definitely looking forward to developing relationships with more shop owners and their communities this season.
My only regret is that I didn't get to spend more time getting to know the other frame builders, vendors and suppliers. We were just so...wonderfully... busy. These frame builders are the well from which I draw my inspiration and encouragement. I was, mouth agape and head bobbing, in awe of the beauty, craftspersonship (awkward word but accurate) and professionalism on display.
I'm grateful to Tony Maietta of Maietta Handbuilt Bicycles for getting the Massachusetts frame builders together for a picture.
That is a picture I am proud to be in! John and I are plotting some kind of wingding for Mass frame builders around D2R2 (
http://www.franklinlandtrust.org/randonnee.html ) next summer. More as it develops.
I'm very appreciative to Don Walker and the organizers of NAHBS for an opportunity to participate in the show. Next year we get to go to Austin, TX and I get to wear my summer hat!
A final shout out (if a fourtysomething can say that) to the people of Richmond, VA. What a universally wonderful bunch of people. I would count myself lucky to ride with any of you in and around your great city!
Back to it for me. Thank you for reading and being interested and so darned supportive. We are a couple months out at this point but there is still plenty of time to get you on a Sylvan for the season. So air out the chamois and come on by... or drop us a line if that's easier.
Cheers,
Sam
All of a sudden it is the end of the year; the end of the decade and, arguably, the end of our start-up period. Generally I will indulge myself in retrospective critique and doggy paddle around in memories of glories past. This year I'm thinking only of the promise, fun and the truly rewarding work I have to look forward to when I get back form visiting family for a few days. And the people! The wonderful, creative, dedicated, fun people who have graced our shop and who we have met along the way this past year I get to know better this year and meet, in all likelihood, even more.
John, myself and our families wish you a fun, creative, prosperous and healthy new year.
Howdy Folks. Sam here. I'm finally taking the time to reflect a little on Interbike '09. Since I got back I've been focusing on the stream on emails, in and out, to and from many of the people I met in Vegas. I knew people would dig our bikes but I wasn't sure how many people would really get it without a lot of the back story from our website of from John or me personally. One of the first people who stopped me as I walked on the floor picked up the frame by the chain stay and pinged the down tube up near the head tube, felt the way the vibration moved through the frame, put on the yummy-face and said something like: 'This is wood?! This must ride reeeealy nice!' From then on I kept meeting people who either got it without explanation or with just a little primmer.
Here is Bruce Gordon (right) http://www.brucegordoncycles.blogspot.com/ with one of his award winning and utterly gorgeous bicycles sporting wooden rims from Ric Hjertberg at Wheel Fanatyk http://wheelfanatyk.blogspot.com/ .
It is still possible in Vegas to get steak dinners and beer for four people for 60 bucks. Of course it is in a small, 'family casino' where a friendly little wooden bike frame can be put in protective custody for fear it could be brandished as a deadly weapon. This very nice security guard has obviously never crashed a carbon frame...
I was great to see see so much of what makes our little part of the globe (New England)so damn fun represented out there. Pedro's has done so much for so long for the sport. One of these days I'll rant at length on the subject of blind spots in risk assessment in small businesses like bike shops and teams letting their mechanics poison themselves on the clock while low and non-toxic alternatives exist and perform really well. Like I said, one of these days...
I also got to spend time (never enough) with my dear friends Jannine and Scott Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald's Bicycles http://www.fitzgeraldsbicycles.com/ in Jackson, Wyoming. We are very excited to welcome them as our second and currently our only Western Sylvan Cycles dealer. Fitzy worked it in the Wheelers and Dealers race at Cross Vegas after taking a sightseeing trip through the less photogenic neighborhoods of Las Vegas in his Lycra on the way to the race...on sew-ups. This picture is from after the Wheeler Dealer race but before Katie Compton showed us why she will soon rule the world. Next year I'm told the race will be a family affair. Jannine, I'll hold your cow bell. Norm, eleven months and counting to train for the East-West showdown...
On the 'what cool stuff did ya get out there' front, high performance wool still rules my world; four seasons. There were lots of great products out there. On my way through the Earth Wind and Rider http://ewnr.com/ booth discussing our forthcoming kit I had the great pleasure of meeting Nan Eastep of B. Spoke Tailor http://bspoketailor.blogspot.com/ . Nan makes some the coolest, most skillfully made and best designed tailored cycling clothing I have ever seen. She is making me some blue plaid western style (smiley pockets with piping and everything!) wool knickers and I am sooooo excited! Telemark and nordic skiing bring me as much joy as anything on Earth and the fact that I will be able to wear these from September to May from biking through skiing and back to biking makes me very happy. Maybe a little classic route climbing and a few cool days on my brother's old sailboat in the Gulf of Maine just for kicks. It may even replace my kilt... Here is Nan with or Cross frame festooned in one of her Lumitweed top tube covers.
