Moving Right Along

DA and I spent a good portion of yesterday getting all the last bits and pieces out of the old spot.
When we had finished, washed up, last minute checked and locked up, we were walking away from the end of a pretty important era. After 2 years, the shop where I started out became too small. I hope I never have to move shops again. What a pain! Stuff has a way of accumulating, especially in dark seldom used places like the back alley and the basement. Needless to say, I found all kinds of stuff I'd forgotten about over the last two years.

Oh well. That chapter is closed, and we are working on making the new spot a big success, now that we are "officially" open. We had a soft opening on Saturday, which was great. We didn't exactly break any sales records, but we did manage to let folks know we're here. The weather has yet to cooperate. Still in the 30s, and still snowing. All I can say is, I hope spring comes hard and fast. We won't need rain until August at this point....

Here are a few shots of the new place from Saturday.


There is still a fair amount of unpacking to do. I'm also expecting quite a bit of product to arrive too. Before too long, it will look like a real bike shop...
...except without the clutter!

A Heartfelt Thank You

I'd like to express our gratitude for all the sympathies everyone has contributed. It really means a lot to us.

As you may imagine, it's been pretty tough to get excited about things lately. I'm starting to feel a little less bummed out, as the pain of our loss diminishes, and I remember the happier times with Dagget. He was a great dog. Well travelled, he had many friends, and enjoyed a great many activities most dogs will never get the chance to do. Only now do I realize just how sick he was, and how our schedules revolved around his failing health. There are a great many empty parts of the day now, where I would have been taking care of him. It is weird and lonely. But it was his time to pass on, and now it's time for me to let go. I choose to remember him in his prime, when he would all of a sudden, yet purposefully, do something hilariously inappropriate.

It has been very difficult at times to figure out what to do with these empty spaces. Mourning is awful. Nonetheless, we have been making progress at the new shop.


Thankfully, the day after was filled with deliveries and things to do. The slatwall arrived unannounced, and fortunately Nat happened to be hanging around to help get it off the truck. I never would have been able to do it myself without causing serious damage to myself or my surroundings. A whole pile of new bikes arrived, including Fisher Superfly's and Hi-Fi's and more, right after the slatwall.


Anyway, this second round of thanks goes out to all that have helped me out over the last few days. Once again, I could not have done it without you. Jaypro contributed most of his frontal lobe helping me stain the counters, Ponte, DA, Keller, Shaun, all helped with the schlepping and lifting of heavy things, Nat built it or screwed it to the wall straight and level, Mandy unpacked it, Dr Jones expertly applied huge vinyl window stickers letting folks know we're here while my new sign waits in the permitting process, Joe outsmarted some of the problems that were holding me back and Keiran watched Empire Strikes Back while it was all going down.


Saturday is the big day.

Dagget 1995-2008

Dagget in San Marcos, CA 2000

Today we said goodbye to our dearest friend, Dagget. Born on a farm near Swanton, VT, Dagget was 1/2 purebred Golden Retriever, 1/4 Lab and 1/4 German Shepherd. My first dog, he was given to me as a well-intentioned gift when he was only 8 weeks old and named after the robot dogs of Battlestar Galactica. As of lately he had lost nearly 20 pounds and had been suffering from apparent kidney failure.

Dagget at about 10 weeks old.

Dagget and George in 1999, Oakledge Park, VT

Dagget was a consumate outdoor dog. In his younger years he always went mountain biking with us, no matter the trail or distance. As he got older and started to slow down, he stuck to trail running and hiking and jaunts to the park or the creamie stand.

Dagget at Del Mar Dog beach 2001

Dagget 2007.
We'll miss you roo-dog.

mandy, george, and keiran

Closer....

I spent most of the weekend huffing fumes. Last week, Nat built me what will be my "retail counters". These are works of art, and are reminiscent of the counters I built for the old shop. The big difference, is that Nat knows what he is doing, and these are REALLY nice. I forgot my camera today, but I will get a picture of them up on the next post.

I spent a good chunk of yesterday, and a few hours today staining those cabinets to match the old ones, and man! I was on another planet for a while. Even with the windows open it was pretty overwhelming, but they sure look nice.

Also new, are the window decals provided by Great Big Signs & Graphics, expertly installed by our good friend Dr.Jones. Again, pictures will follow. The place is really coming along. Once my replacement slatwall shoes up, I should be just about ready to go.

Speaking of ready to go, the Gravel Grinder is coming soon. Some folks have asked about pre-riding the course, so here is the loop. It will be run counter clockwise from Waterbury Village.


View Larger Map

Don't forget to sign up! We will not be taking any ride day registrations!

Where did all This Stuff Come From?

In know where it came from, but it's still amazing to see it all in one place. In a previous post's comment, Racin' Rick (or Negative Rick as I now call him) said it would come to this. At the moment, he is absolutely right, but this is just a temporary thing.

I brought over all the bikes with the help of Nat and his almighty Tundra. It took 2 trips. (I soooo want one!) Right now everything is stuffed into the shop while we get the retail floor (or "ska" floor, as I like to call it) up and running. It's a good thing I have 30 hooks now! The rack stayed up overnight too, so it has been adequately field tested.

The wheel building station has been getting a lot of action lately too. I 'm really glad to have it. Because it is in it's own area, it is isolated from a majority of the chaos. I'm getting 2 sets of Royales a day out the door.


My slatwall showed up on the truck yesterday completely destroyed. A quick phone call ensured that another shipment was going to be headed my way immediately, but it still screws things up. The new counters are done, we'll just need to jimmy them in to place tomorrow afternoon, and finish them. The slatwall will just have to be addressed later.


Another item showed up yesterday that many of us were waiting for. Big B's RIP9 frame. Bruno rode the crap out of his RIP9 last year. It is now getting a full overhaul. Step 1 was to strip the frame down in it's entirety, including the bearings and head badge. I sent it off to Spectrum Powder Works for some paint. The original frame was Hi Ho Silver, but the big boy's sweat was so caustic, it made the clear ano run. Maybe lay off the canolis B?

Anyway, this sort of thing is not uncommon. I play guitar, and destroy strings and bridge saddles in a similar fashion. Especially when I am rocking extra hard. B rode this thing every day from May to October, so I'd say this amount of wear and tear is pretty normal. I mean, he turned a Rampage into a semi-slick. That's some miles.


So the front and rear triangle are adorned in a beautiful pearl white powder coat. I'll document the rebuild process over the next week. I so want a pearl white Niner...

Updates

We plan on having a fully armed and operational battle station within the next 2 weeks.
We are just about there right now, but it all comes down to having a few things happen. These things are rather large and important things, but the picture above is a pretty good metaphor for where we are at. Notice the giant super laser. The business end of this thing is all there.

I've been able to process Bike 29 orders in a pretty timely fashion, thanks to the flexibility to do business wherever I have an internet connection. I've been able to ship in stock items very quickly, and things I have to build, like wheels, have not taken any extra time than they normally would have. Sometimes, I amaze even myself...

Here are a couple of updates for folks that may be waiting for stuff. If I haven't addressed you individually, please excuse me.

Wheels
Building them like mad, 3 sets built today to ship tomorrow. Will be continuing building wheelsets throughout the week. I expect no further interruptions here, pending availability of King hubs. They are a little shy of certain colors.


Jet 9
Niner is experiencing a production delay. Current projections are an end of March ship date, but we'll have to see. If you haven't ordered one, now might be a good time, as I only have a few sizes and colors left that aren't spoken for.

Five Hills Bikes
It's coming, bigger and badder than ever. Obviously.
But, what you may not know, is that I have a growing demo fleet. When the trails dry out, you will be riding distance from finding out why bikes like the Bandersnatch and RIP9 are so awesome. I even have a couple of Superfly's on the way for the new digs.

The best part about it, no Bothans were harmed!

Souvenirs from the Garden State

Well, what can I say? After a serious bought of indecision, I decided to leave my camera back at the hotel, only to see that everyone else brought theirs when we got inside. The parking lot was a trip, it was just like that movie "Heavy Metal Parking Lot." People tailgating, drinking beers, the evening air filled with the sounds of Maiden blasting from car stereos, and the smell of meat smoke rising from their grills.

I watched the show from the 3rd row, this time in a much tamer crowd relative to the Montreal show of last year. Not only did they almost every one of my favorites, there were some serious pyrotechnics, the heat was amazing as 15 foot flames shot into the air during Number of the Beast. The epic 13 minute Mariner delivered with a spectacular light and firework display. The infamous feather mask came out for Powerslave. It was mind blowing. Eddy made his appearance in the encore as the "futuristic Eddy" from the Stranger in a Strange Land album cover. I was kicking myself the whole time for not bringing my camera, but still managed to have the time off my life.

And what could be better than 2 hours of up close and personal, in your face, live Iron Maiden? One of your own coming home with a prize. Nat caught one of Nicko's drum sticks. Now that is a souvenir!


To add some more good news (at least for us), Maiden is adding more dates to this incredible tour in the US, including a show in Boston in June.
...hmmm, guess where I'll be?
With my camera this time.

MAIDEN!

This was my very first "CD", remember those things? I received this CD as a gift from my stepfather in 1985.

Before CDs, there were records. Growing up I had records. All of my Maiden records were played on an early 70s vintage Goodmans Module 80 turntable, with a SHURE diamond stylus. I know it was a diamond stylus, because I gave up candy for 2 weeks to buy the replacement for the broken one that came with the stereo. The switch was amazing. I loved my records, but holy cow! This newfangled CD thing was AMAZING!

Sadly, this particular CD is lost. The last time I had it was in an old car I used to own, where it resided in the 3 spot in the 6 disc changer. I distinctly remember having to drive to Burlington at 7:30 on a Saturday morning for a sales meeting, when I worked for a company that almost killed my spirit, and what got me there, was the EPIC, Rime of the Ancient Mariner. What an amazing song...

So, Maiden's new tour is a re-enactment of that most amazing album. I have floor tickets. For tomorrow night.

God willing, I'll make it to the venue unscathed, and will get to see the band I've loved for 25 years rock the house!

The Move

We continue to make progress with the new space.


While it is pretty nerve wracking, it is also a lot of fun. I did not get any sleep last night. I count myself lucky to have this new opportunity to set up a service area to fit my needs, instead of having to make do with the space allowed.

While space will always be a limiting factor, I have more than enough room now to have a wheel building station, and an easily accessed parts washing area, and a place to work on suspension forks. I can't wait to see how it all works when we get into full swing!


Once the service area is done, we'll turn our eye to the sales floor...

New Fixtures

One of the most challenging aspects of dealing with every day life in a bicycle repair shop, is that bikes take up a lot of space. They are always moving; repairs being dropped off, repairs being done, repairs being picked up... There is never enough room, and you are almost always moving other bikes to get to any specific one.

The current, or old shop, has 16 hooks. They were always full, and overflow went on some racks I had outside. They had to come inside when the weather was bad, or when I was closed. 16 is not very many hooks. What a PITA.

The location of those bikes was less than convenient, but you make do when that is your only option. My rim storage was on the other side, tires around the corner in a cramped alley with poor lighting. It was the only place the repair bikes could go. Sometimes I had to walk 30 ft to go 6.

With the blank canvas, many ideas were hatched, and a couple of the cool ones were immediately built. What we have here is a bike hanging system that will hold up to 30 bikes. There is no such thing as perfect, but this comes pretty darn close to it with respects to the space alotted.


Also new, is a rim and tire rack, that will have a large storage shelf. There is more than enough room to hold everything neatly in one spot. Things are looking good.


The goal is to have the shop squared away by Friday, as I am heading to New Jersey to see Iron Maiden!

Deconstruction Begins

As we move forward with the move, it is becoming apparent that there is more to setting up a shop than I remembered from the first time. There is also a lot more to taking one down, especioally if you plan on being open for business. You can't move everything, unless you plan on doing it all at once.

Because Bike 29 is always open, I can't do anything that will disrupt that side of the business. I still need to be able to ship, which becomes difficult if you have your inventory scattered over a three miles.


Oh well, growing pains I guess.
Now the shop is in a choatic state, which most regulars know is not that far out of the ordinary for me. I moved a couple of large non essential items, with the help of Nat and his awesome Tundra, one of the counters, the large bike rack, the kids bike rack the 3 tier presenter. The other stuff will move when we are closer to "flick the switch" so to say. There is just so much stuff!


So with all the stress of moving and trying to keep it all straight, Nat and I decided to take advantage of the 40° sunny afternoon, and we went for a grind on the bikes. We are nearing true mud season, where the roads will be really soft and gooey. I'm hoping that the worst will be over by the time the Gravel Grinder happens, but you never can tell up here. We could be riding in a blizzard!

The wool jersey is awesome BTW! I wore that with a vest and was at the perfect temperature during the ride, in spite of the freezing cold mud that splashed up.

You can still sign up for what will most surely be the most fun you'll have on a bike in April. Proceeds are going to help maintian the Perry Hill Trail system. These trails see a lot of use, and there are a dedicated group of folks that take care of those trails all summer. They need your support!

29 Days of Madness

I have made mention over the last few weeks of several large projects that we have going on at Bike 29. The biggest one is coming very soon. What is it? Well, for lack of a better description, we're movin' on up. That's right. I'm moving the shop.


I often lay awake questioning what exactly it is that I'm doing, but I always come to the same conclusion. We're upgrading. More than just a new space that's bigger, nicer, closer to the trails, it's an opportunity to take something that works, and evolve it into what we've always wanted to do. It's very exciting.

As things progress, you'll be able to see our dream unfold. April 1 is not very far away...