Updates

The most important thing to report on, is that Niner has requested all dealers to halt all sales of the Jet 9, due to an issue with the upper rocker links. In some instances there have been failures, IE breakage of these links. They are quickly determining a solution to this problem, but in the meantime, for liabilities sake, they have asked that Jet owners keep their bikes grounded for the time being. Not one of the breakages have occurred from a bike sold from Bike 29.

Anyone that would like to know more specific details about the Jet 9, should contact me directly.

I haven't been able to ride my Jet in a while anyway, my work schedule and the rainy weather has kept me off the bike, up until early this week, when it was being horrendously sick that kept me on the sidelines. I don't often get sick, but when I do, I come down hard. I'm still trying to peer though the fog as I write this.

And on a positive note, the shop got it's new sign. It is absolutely killer. More details about the install can be found on the Five Hills Bikes webpage. It's water jet cut aluminum over a painted plywood background. The light is from an LED rope light that is mounted to the back of the aluminum. It looks awesome. A big thank you goes to Dr. Jones is on order for making the sign everything it is.


I hope to get out on the bike soon, I'm starting to get stir crazy!

Internet Free Zone

Not by choice either.
So much of the work I do goes on after store hours, and since the internet has decided not to work at my home, I'm forced to reduce my work load slightly. Apparently, I'll be waiting until they can get a technician over to sort it out. What is even more annoying, is that my Crackberry has also decided to stop receiving emails, so I am in true radio silence.
Stupid technology...

So the Gravel Grinder was a huge success, we have a great post on the Five Hills Bikes blog with pictures, and a video of the descent down Loomis Hill that someone was brave enough to film one handed. Next year, we'll have more room. We had to turn away a bunch of folks, which was a huge shame, but we had planned for a certain number. A huge thanks goes out to all of our sponsors.

I've been building Jets and shipping them out furiously. What an amesome bike. I should be able to get mine dirty this weekend, if I can ever get caught up in here!

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!

The First Event of 2008

Winter still has a firm grip here. This picture is a squall rolling over Camel's Hump at sunset. Beautiful.

Still, I am getting very fired up to ride my bike. In preparing myself for warmer climes, I looked at my calendar for this coming year, and I was left scratching my head as to how I was going to get it all done. I mean, we have some pretty LARGE events we plan on being a big part of...
Well, none of it is completely out of reach, but if we don't aim high, we may never make the mark.

There are many things that have not yet been finalized, but I can tell you about a very important one, the first event of 2008.

The Five Hills Ride -Gravel Grinder Spring Classic
25.5 miles, 2900 vertical feet of climbing, up and down the 5 hills of Waterbury. It goes off rain or shine on April 20th, leaving downtown Waterbury at 9:00am. The ride will take you on some paved, but mostly unpaved roads, with some serious climbing, but also some serious descending.


April can be extraordinarily unpredictable, so it could be really calm, really cold, raining, snowing, or 70° and sunny or all of the above. Price of admission is $23, you get a super cool T-shirt, fed, supported along the way, and anything left goes to the Stowe Mountain Bike Club, to help raise funds for the work that still needs to be done on Perry Hill. I can usually do this ride on my single speed in about 3 1/2 hours, and I'm not particularly fit. There will be a sag wagon at various points along the way, as well as water, snacks and "recovery" drinks.


Sign up through Active.com.

If you are coming in from out of town, please let us know, and we can help you find a good rate at a local B&B. This is MUD season after all, and rates will most likely be attractive.
I really hope to see you there... if you think you can hack it!

Business News

There are going to be some exciting things happening in the next 2 months.
First of all, we've been sneaking a new look on our website, little by little.
One of the problems about "doing it yourself" sometimes, is that you run out of time to effectively "do it". This was a problem with the webstore. Since the site was set up, component models changed, parts were redesignated, prices have changed etc. It was a lot to juggle. We now have a little help on the back end of things, and we'll be streamlining the catalog as we go.
We're going to be staying pretty 29er-centric on B29, but we'll still be offering the parts and gizmos we use and love. Think of it as January Thaw Cleaning. Same great stuff we always sell, but without the fluff.

Five Hills Bikes is going to become a bigger part of the picture. Besides being the mothership for B29, it is a shop that services the cycling needs of local community and beyond. We're making some pretty significant changes in it's operation too. Still can't divulge the whole picture yet, but let's just say this, it will be a very big deal.

We are planning a spring kick off ride in April that I will announce this comming week.

I write this in the middle of a nasty bought of weather, that has pretty much brought the entire northeast to a standstill with freezing rain and high winds. It seems as if the precipitation has remained mostly frozen up here, which will make for some good turns in the morning!

Owning your own business is full of ups and downs, especially a seasonal business such as mine. It's important to take the good with the bad. While I'm enjoying winter to the fullest, with lots of days on snow already (and many more to come) I look forward to warmer weather, wearing shorts, and cooking outside comfortably. I especially look forward to throwing a leg over the ole' two wheeler again.