Colonel's Hoodies Now In Stock

Hoodies are in stock now for $35. I know that my photos stink but the sweatshirts actually look really good. We have sizes small through XL. If you are out of state just give us a call and we'll ship one to you. Thanks, Colonel's (817) 924-1333 or email info@colonelsbikes.com

Happy Holidays From Colonel's Bicycles

J-Wall's Custom Scott "Addict"

Custom bikes make most bicycling enthusiasts stop and stare, then they wonder about who created the machine and to what specifications. When one of these custom machines is decorated with paint and designs by a fastidious artist it seems to evoke a sense of excitement and a desire to get one for ourselves.

This bike is a 2007 Scott "Addict R2." It was originally black with red pinstripes and had Scott's logos all over it.
The bike was involved in a "crash" and was not eligible for warranty. Justin Wallace decided to contact Brad at Kirklee bikes to find out if they could repair his carbon fiber frame, which Brad agreed to do. Then Justin had a great idea about custom paint and designs, so, he contacted Justin Vickers of Austin, TX. Vickers is a tattoo artist that works out of a shop called Shaman Modifications and is renound for his attention to detail and his inventive style.

The frame was repaired, painted, decorated and painted with a deep clear coat to seal Vickers' work from the elements. The final product is a "custom" production bike. Justin Vickers is now considering offering his services to the rest of us bike nerds. He's not cheep, but he's damn good!!
Enjoy your "new" bike, J-Wall.

New 2010 Salsa Titanium Mariachi 29er

Salsa Cycles sales manager David Gabrys recently stopped by to show off some of their new titanium offerings. David knew in advance that we at Colonel's have a soft spot for titanium bikes and that we couldn't refuse placing an order for some as soon as they are available. There should be three models available to the public as soon as March 2010. The three models will be: Mariachi (29er), Ala Carte (26"hardtail) and La Cruz (cyclocross) . All three are made in America by Lynskey and will retail for around $1700-$1800 (frame). Give us a call if you would like to get on the order list. Otherwise, you may be waiting until later in the year. Colonel's is proud to offer the Salsa Ti bikes and for that matter the complete Salsa lineup. (817) 924-1333

Orbea Single speed 29er

Chris Comisky decided to sell his bike. He had a dream one night that heaven on Earth could be realized on bicycle... that bike is his new Orbea 29er. Some how, all of the greatest pleasures of bike riding can be achieved on one machine. Things like speed, superior handling, smooth pedaling and braking can all be yours for the low low price of 2k.
This build includes an '09 "Lanza" alloy frame, SLX brakes, Stylo cranks, DMR tensioner, Bontrager "race lite" wheels and GEAX tires. For a very moderate build it is suprisingly light at 23lbs. You can see Chris racing his new bike in the Dorba "Frozen Endurance Series." http://www.dorba2.com/

Enjoy your bike, Chris.

February 7, 2010-Great Southwest Bike Swap Meet-Reserve Your Spot

It's time once again to reserve your booth space for The 2010 Great Southwest Bike Swap, brought to you by The Colonel's Army and Lone Star Racing Club. The swap meet location will remain at The Tarrant County Resource Connection Gymnasium, located at 1100 Circle Dr., Building 2300, Fort Worth, Tx., 76119. We've bumped the date/time this year to Sunday, February 7, 2010 from 9:00am to 3:00pm . The layout of the meet will remain the same as previous years, with three booth sizes to suit most needs. The 10'x10' spaces are $30.00, the 10'x20' spaces are $50.00, and the jumbo 20'x20', for clubs, shops or people with a problem, are $100.00. We will be holding a raffle and giving away prizes throughout the day. I will be posting all updates on this blog, as well as contacting everyone by email, phone, newsletter, etc.. The G.S.B.S. website will be updated in the next few days with all current info available at your fingertips. Those wishing to score their spot early may do so by sending a check or money order for the full amount to Colonel's Bicycles, 3053 S. University Dr., Ft. Worth, Tx., 76109, or making cash payment in person at Colonel's. Prepayment in full reserves your spot. Payment/questions contact rick@colonelsbikes.com or call 817-924-2453. Stay tuned and prepare to swap.

Giant Tricycle

Looking for a great gift for the little one? We have both boys and girls trikes in stock. These Giant brand trikes are made to last. Featuring cartridge wheel bearings and a laminate deck on the rear they can be handed down through the generations. Manufactured in two sizes and retail for $120.00. Colonel's (817) 924-1333

2009 Giant and Orbea Bikes On Sale

2010 bikes are on the way so we are blowing out the 2009 models. Following is a list of the 2009 sale bikes and prices:

2009 Bikes On Sale!

Orbea:

Orca 54 Cm Framset Red - was $3149 Now $2200

Onix 48 Cm White Sram Rival - was $2699 Now $2299

Onix 54 Cm White Ultegra SL - was $2799 Now $2399

Onix 57 Cm White Ultegra SL - was $2799 Now $2399

Onix 60 Cm Blue Shimano 105 - was $2150 Now $1825

Onix 54 Cm Blue Shimano 105 - was $2150 Now $1825

Onix 48 Cm Blue Shimano 105 - was $2150 Now $1825

Aqua Fleche 54 Cm Shimano Sora - was $929 Now $800

2008 Ora Ultegra 48 Cm Sale Price $2200

Giant:

Anthem X2 Large - was $2900 Now $2400
Defy 1 Small - was $1400 Now $1150
Defy Alliance 1 Large - was $1725 Now $1450
Defy 3 Large - was $810 Now $700
Defy 3 Medium - was $810 Now $700
TCR Alliance - was $1725 Now $1450
Avail 1 Green Small - was $1400 Now $1150
Avail 1 Red Small - was $1450 Now $1150
Avail 1 Red XS - was $1450 Now $1150
Boulder SE Small - was $410 Now $350
Boulder SE Medium - was $410 Now $350
FCR 2 Medium - was $929 Now $799
Cypress W Medium - was $410 Now $350
Boulder SE W Small - was $410 Now $350
Rincon Small - was $540 Now $450
Yukon Large - was $650 Now $550

Please call us here at Colonel's Bicycles if you have any questions (817) 924-1333 or email info@colonelsbikes.com.

Red River Riot MTB Endurance Event

The first annual Red River Riot will be held on January 23, 2010. This is a mountain bike event that will cover more than 100 miles of dirt roads and singletrack. More details at www.Spinistry.com

Great Southwest Bike Swap 2010

Pack rats, hoarders, semi-professional amateur athletes, The 2010 Great Southwest Bike Swap Meet is on the horizon. Box up all your Bicycle Related treasures and prepare to swap and/or sale them to your friends and neighbors. This years date is Sunday, February, 7 2010 from 9:00am to 3:00pm. The format will pretty much follow last years with a few exceptions. We will be raffling prizes every half hour, and I hope to have a food/snack vendor present. Our own Randy Sullivan will be master of ceremonies for the day, conducting interviews, giving away raffle prizes, spinning records, and pointing out notable luminaries in the crowd. Details on spaces, costs, etc., will be on this blog Monday 12/14/2009. All inquiries can be made to rick@colonelsbikes.com or call 817-924-2453. Your check, money order, or cash will reserve your space. Stay tuned and prepare to swap.

New Edition Colonel's Bicycles T-Shirts In Stock Now

Get em while their hot! New limited edition "Colonel's Army" t-shirts. We just took delivery and they will go fast. Just $15 here in store or buy them online. Just click HERE .

Pre production Factory Works Moots available for viewing !

Where is the only shop on the planet you can see a prototype 2010 Moots RSL? Colonel's bikes exclusive limited time only viewing of this sub 15 pound works bike will be between Thursday 12/10 & Monday 12/14. The bikes are not even available until February of 2010 and we got our hands on a pre-production model! Please call for available viewing days and times and pricing. You can also speak to local cycling icon Andrew Bradfield who bought one and will have the first production model available in February. Andrew gets to ride this one this weekend! It doesn't suck to be factory!

Dallas Cowboys Tribute Bike

Colonel's friend and customer, Scott Murphey, let us help him build this Dallas Cowboys tribute fixed gear bike. Scott lives close to the stadium and plans to ride this machine to the game. The bike will save on parking and with a $30 party pass, Scott can get out relatively cheap on game day. More pics can be found on the fixed gear gallery. http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2009/sept/3/JosephMurphey.htm

'Cross Houston Weekend

Houston was the place for cyclocross action last weekend. Two races, one weekend and a little bit of mud!! Saturdays race was held at Buffalo Bayou park on the western edge of downtown and was a surprisingly difficult course that included a nice muddy run up, levy climb and a mud "bog" with barriers at the end of it. The race tempo was set by Brian, as usual, and it didn't take long for the pack to blow up. Brian walked away with it and showed a kind gesture of mature racing savvy to yours truly!
Sundays race was on the southeast side of town (next to a cemetery) and offered a little more elevation which gave the skinny guys a leg up! Brian killed it again, but he was followed by Matt Davis who had a double 2 for the weekend. Big props to Matt for the consistency! Justin Wallace also jumped in for a 4/3... way to go J-Wal! 817 had some good reps in the 713.
Houston, we'll see ya soon for the Woodlands weekend!!!

JC

OFF SEASON TRAINING- EDUCATIONAL CLINIC

WHEN: Wednesday December 16, 2009 6:15 pm
WHERE: Colonel's Bikes, Fort Worth
WHAT: Educational clinic presented by Brent Poulsen about off season training. Question and answer period post seminar.
PRICE: FREE!!!!!! Special sales at Colonel's for everyone who attends! Remember, races are won in the off-season so come on by for a heck of a good time!! Please feel free to ask any questions, hope to see you all soon! Brent

The Ultimate Travel Bike

This friendly looking fella is Kyle Carr. Why is he grinning? Because he is going to save some money every time he travels with his bike. His new Moots Vamoots is equipped with S&S couplers which allow you to disassemble the frame and put in a travel flight case. In times gone by the bike would fly free as luggage. These days there may be a fee depending on the airline.
Great bike. Have fun traveling!

Thanks To The Guys At Orbea USA !

Just a quick blog to say thanks to the guys from Orbea USA for making our demo day a success. Brothers Jason and Chris Vivion braved the cool temps on Saturday and worked their tails off. They even bought pizza for the crew. I think the look on Sully's face in the photo above says it all. Thanks again guys!

Colonel's Gift Cards Available On Line Or In Store

Looking for the perfect gift for your picky cyclist? Look no further. We now have gift cards available in store or on line. Just click the link and we'll send you one in the US mail.

http://store03.prostores.com/servlet/colonelsbicycles/the-Colonel%27s-Stuff/Categories

Whopping Deals on 2010 Orbea Demo Bikes!!!!

OK, here is the deal. Orbea USA will be clearing out all their demo bikes at drastically reduced prices here at Colonel's after the demo on Saturday. This is the last stop of the demo tour. These are all 2010 model bikes. This is a rare chance to score a smoking deal on a new Orbea! The prices are as follows:

• Orca 51cm Orange Shimano Di2 Electronic Components $5829.99
  
• Orca 54cm Red Shimano Di2 Electronic Components $5829.99
  
• Orca 57cm Silver Shimano Di2 Electronic Components $5829.99
  
• Orca 51cm Orange Shimano Ultegra $3369.99
  
• Orca 54cm Orange Shimano Ultegra $3369.99
  
• Orca 57cm Orange Shimano Ultegra $3369.99
• Orca 60cm Orange Shimano Ultegra $3369.99
  
• Diva 53cm Pink Shimano Ultegra $3369.99
  
• Diva 49cm Blue Shimano Ultegra $3229.99
  
• Alma 18" Silver Shimano SLX $2119.99
  
• Alma 18" White Shimao XT $2869.99
  
• Alma 18"Blue Shimano XTR $4379.99
  
• Alma 18" Red Shimano XTR $4379.99
  
• Occam 21" Carbon $4279.99
  
• Occam 19" Carbon $4279.99
  
• Ordu 51cm Matte Black $5249.99
  

Orbea Demo Day Bikes On Sale

Here is the official list of bikes that will be available for demo on Saturday December 5th at Colonel's Bicycles from 11am to 3pm. Keep in mind that these bikes will be available for purchase at a discounted price after the demo.

• Orca 51cm Orange Shimano Di2 Electronic Components
• Orca 54cm Red Shimano Di2 Electronic Components
• Orca 57cm Silver Shimano Di2 Electronic Components
• Orca 51cm Orange Shimano Ultegra
• Orca 54cm Orange Shimano Ultegra
• Orca 57cm Orange Shimano Ultegra
• Orca 60cm Orange Shimano Ultegra
• Diva 53cm Pink Shimano Ultegra
• Diva 49cm Blue Shimano Ultegra
• Alma 18" Silver Shimano SLX
• Alma 18" White Shimao XT
• Alma 18"Blue Shimano XTR
• Alma 18" Red Shimano XTR
• Occam 21" Carbon
• Occam 19" Carbon
• Ordu 51cm Matte Black

Bring your shoes, pedals, etc. and be prepared to ride. Free Orbea bikes or Colonel's Bicycles T-shirts while supplies last! Free Colonel's Bicycles bottle openers while supplies last.

New Colonel's Bicycles Shop Vehicle?

I'm thinking about a new Colonel's Bicycles shop vehicle. What do you think about this baby for making deliveries, going to events or just hanging out in the park? It's a Ford Econoline but I'm not sure of the year model. The yellow wheels and bubble window make a bold statement. We may not get there fast (or at all ) but we'll do it in style!

Orbea Demo Van Coming December 5

Keep and eye open for this baby from 11am to 3pm Saturday December 5. Details coming real soon.

Colonel's Bicycles is on Facebook

Become a fan of Colonel's Bicycles on Facebook. Just Click the link

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Colonels-Bicycles/214823411076?ref=mf#

Orbea Bikes Demo Day Saturday Dec. 5

The guys from Orbea USA will be at Colonel's Bikes on Saturday December 5 with a van full of 2010 model bikes for you to ride, fondle or just gaze at. There will be road, mountain and multisport bikes available. Details will be posted later this week.

Texas Willie returns home and shows his true colors!

Here's a guy that gets invited to Lance's race, they give him #3 in the Pro class, he flies in and gets shacked up at a mansion on lake Travis, gets more press than anyone except Lance. He is the current North Carolina Cyclocross State Champion (pro), he has a U.S. Pro Mountain bike license and a UCI medal in Cyclocross Worlds from Belgium and he's faster than you and he's 42yrs. old and if real isn't real enough he buys his Colonel's shorts and jersey. Will Black and Colonel's Bikes: Keepers Of Real !

TARRANT COUNTY'S EXCLUSIVE SALSA CYCLES DEALER IS COLONEL'S BIKES

Fort Worth's exclusive Salsa Cycles dealer is now us and not a moment too soon since cyclocross season is here and so are the Chili Con Crosso scandium bikes! We will feature different models as they arrive. We received 3 of these last week and 2 are gone! Come in and see these in person and you'll want one for sure. Stay tuned next week when we'll feature the retro steel Casseroll.

World 70.3 Triathlon Championships!

2009 Clearwater 70.3 Race Report

This past Sunday I raced at the 70.3 World Triathlon Championships in Clearwater, Florida. It has been a long, fun season and I was looking forward to one last hard effort in 2009. Coming off a great race two weeks ago in Austin, Texas I felt pretty confident that I was ready to go.

At the end of the day, I feel as though I came up a bit short finishing overall in 37^th with a time of 3:47:55. Taking the week to evaluate things I realize that it was a solid race, with a very big field of 85 pro men.

I realized early on in the race that the swim was going to dictate my position going into the run. Leading into the race my swimming was very strong; to analyze my swim in Clearwater I would have to say it was a poor performance. I knew I had the speed however; I spent the first 800m battling with other swimmers for position. Eventually I decided just to back off and swim because I was expending too much energy. I ended up exiting 45second’s back from the leaders. Mistake number one of the day was relaxing and ending up in a second group.

I rode relatively smart trying not to get any penalties which was very tough with a big field on narrow flat roads. The chase pack that eventually formed was huge, there had to be 40 of us. I felt like for 2 hours I was often slowing down trying to not to get a penalty. I was in a chase pack but we were still riding very fast, it contained a lot of good athletes from different countries that have been top 10 here in the past or that have won 70.3 races this year. The pack had the likes of James Cotter, Richie Cunningham, James Hadley, Jeff Symonds, Renaldo Colluci and half way through the bike Oscar Galindaz and Chris Legh entered the group. Overall, the bike went well except I lost a bottle from the back of my bike and I dropped another at the last bottle drop forcing me to survive on one bottle. At the end of the bike I had started to get a headache and the temperature started to rise.

After a slow transition due to a lost bag I started to get in my rhythm. The run course was 2 loops which means I got to see spectators frequently which brought positive energy when I needed it most. I ended up running 1:17 and change for the half marathon putting me in 37^th place. With such a quick field there were easily 10 spots in front of me within 1 minute and another 10 spots right behind me. It was great to hear Alicia Kaye and all of the friends and coach’s I had watching and cheering. I gave it what I had on the day, but if I had swam 30 seconds faster the race could have been different.

A perfect summary of my 2009 season is illustrated in this Andre Agassi quote that I came across while reading his biography Open. To give a little context to this quote, Andre said this after losing the US Open when he was 15 years old. I still think he made $90 000 that year and bought himself a new Corvette. “Looking back it was good but not great. I see a gap between where I am and where I need to be, and I feel reasonably confident that I can close that gap.”

I would like to thank Dan Smith, Colonels Bikes, LifeSport, K-Swiss, AquaSphere, Path to Wellness, Frank@ PowerBar Canada, Ridglea Swimming and of course Carley and my parents for all of their support this season. I am super excited for 2010, however now its time to rest. I would like to congratulate all who raced on Saturday and to wish everyone a safe and healthy off-season.

Thanks for reading,

Brent

Hot Holiday Bottletops

For those who know there are a limited supply of alloy bottle openers in orange with the shop logo on them. They were custom made for the cyclocross racers at Z Boaz park...but if you come in and make a purchase and you ask for one there are a few left and they are free. Just ask your friendly cashier!

Bianchi D2 Super Pista

We have one Bianchi D2 Super Pista in size 53cm. This is the real deal, made in Italy. If your looking for a great track frame at a great price, here it is. This one is $700. Stop by or call us at (817) 924-1333 if you have any questions. info@colonelsbikes.com

Salsa Selma Single Speed

We have one Salsa Selma frame left in stock. This is a new 2009 model in size large. The sale price is $750 which includes shipping to the lower 48 states. This is a great scandium frame with size specific tubing and carbon seatstays. The chainstays and seatstays are flattened for a compliant ride. Includes Bushnell EBB English 68mm bottom bracket. Give us a call at (817) 924-1333 or email info@colonelsbikes.com if you have any questions.

Team Think Cash Trinity Park Cyclocross

Sunday morning 11/8/09, I found myself getting the sheepdogs and heading to Trinity Park for some NorTex cross action. My girl found us prime parking about a mile and a half away giving us ample time to warm up and let the dogs shake out any cobwebs before descending upon the cross crowd. We ran into Colonel, watered the dogs and had a quick chat with two of my favorite area riders, Austin Stewart and Chopper Kincaid. Austin S. is a U23 machine and one to watch(3rd on Sunday). Chopper Kincaid is an all around tough guy and journeyman bike racer(6th on Sunday), whom never ceases to impress me with consistancy while juggling marriage, fatherhood, and working a physically demanding job 50+ hours/week. Art Exum and his crew layed out a nice course with Bryan Fawley attacking late to take the win. The rest of the day proved just as enjoyable with cold Hoegaarden flowing until dark.

Ironman Here We Come

Here's a shot of Brian, Laura, and Dave picking up their new rigs. These guys have been friends for years (Dave and Laura are married) and enjoy a good challenge and adventure. They have their sights set on doing an Ironman distance Triathlon next year in Arizona. Stay tuned for the gritty details and let the riding, running, swimming, eating, drinking, and recovering begin.

Ibis Bicycles Road Trip (Meet Chuck Ibis)

The Ibis Bicycles road trip will make a stop here at Colonel's on Monday November 2nd. Mountain bike hall of famer and Ibis owner Scott Nicol will be by with a demo fleet of about fifteen bikes. Please stop be and say hello to Scott and take a look at 2010 lineup of Ibis bikes. Ibis offers five models: the Silk SL road, Hakkalugi cross, Tranny hard tail MTB, MOjO and MOJO SL. I promise that it will be worth the trip just to see the award winning MOJO up close and personal. Scott should be in store from 2pm to 5pm on Monday November 2. I found an interesting interview with Scott (aka Chuck Ibis) on the web. Check it out here:


How many bikes was Ibis making during its peak?
Never more than 1500 per year, usually far less. At our peak we capped in-house production at about 1200 bikes a year. We didn’t make them very fast. Google’s third core value is “fast is better than slow”. We didn’t do too well on that one, but should have. Off subject already—we did share many of their other core values including their philosophy of “never settle for the best”. Other commonalities we shared with Google’s 10 things they found to be true: #1-focus on the user and all else will follow, #2, it’s best to do one thing really really well, #6 you can make money without doing evil, and really close to home #9 you can be serious without a suit.

Why the move to carbon?
It’s a move back to Carbon. We did a few custom carbon bikes in 1988. Built them with the highest tech tubing you could get at the time. Apparently, most of the fiber we spec’d for the bikes “ended up in space” according to the people who built the tubes. There’s a picture of one on our website (http://ibiscycles.com/tech_faqs/technology/), and we have one hanging in our office. They were pricey.
There used to be a lot of reasons not to build in carbon, and now there are no reasons to not build in carbon. I’m not saying that we won’t use other materials, it’s just that carbon makes a lot of sense.

Any plans for steel in the future?
No plans, but that doesn’t mean yes or no. It has been talked about.

How much can I get for my Ibis Hand Job bottle opener on eBay?
They will keep becoming more valuable, because we are not going to do them again. I hope we do other cool things like that, but we’re not planning on merely duplicating old Ibis stuff, as cool as some of those things were.

Any plans to bring back details like the Hand Job and Toe Jam to the bikes?
V-brakes and now disc brakes have sort of rendered the hand job useless. And CO2 has kind of rendered the toe jam useless. So we’ll need to be clever and come up with the next thing…

What's the warranty on the Mojo - which I think I'm correct in saying is one of the first two "all mountain," all-carbon frames (the other being the Scott Ransom)?
Three years, and we have a pretty generous no-fault replacement policy. You could make the case that Carbon is more repairable than Aluminum (which is really the only other widely used material in full suspension bikes). Calfee repairs them, we have a link to his repair page on our site. Many of the Aluminum FS bikes are solution heat treated, and would need to be re heat treated after a repair. It’s not easy to find a manufacturer who will repair and re heat treat a bike for you. Carbon is quite repairable, and you don’t need to put the frame back in an oven or mold to cure the repair. Because cured carbon re-melts at a much higher temperature than pre-preg, you can do spot repairs without affecting the surrounding area.
Scott has the Ransom, I’m not sure where Specialguys is positioning their S-Works carbon (except expensive) and BCD has been making their downhill carbon frames since 1996.

Are there bikes in stock? Can you talk numbers?
Mojos begin shipping in April, and are sold out until November. We had to turn a lot of dealers away who wanted them this first year. Silk Carbons are easier They’re selling well, but we have a better supply and our back orders only go to late spring. Our current production is 50 Mojos and 100 Silks a month. We’re hoping to bump those numbers dramatically in the next …let’s just say soon. We’re working on it.

Seems like everyone has a carbon road frame this year, what's the reaction been to the new Ibis road frame? Any indication it's getting lost in the shuffle and can you give a hint as to how the product line is going to evolve?
While the Mojo is clearly getting more attention-as it should-the reaction to the Silk has been excellent. You’ve got to remember that the two markets (road & mountain) are still very different. The road market does not adopt change as quickly as the mountain bike side of things. So if you introduce radical departures of technology or aesthetics too quickly, you’ll be fighting a battle of acceptance. What’s radical about the Silk Carbon is the price. We had long talks about the pricing of that bike. We could easily have charged a lot more and sold all the bikes we could build.
This leads us to an interesting marketing discussion about the positioning of the company. There is a lot of history in the Ibis brand. The luddites wanted to see more steel hardtails from us. Same old same old. But that’s not what we wanted to do. It’s like a musician who only plays the hits from 20 years ago. You appeal to the same crowd time and time again, but any sort of creative process is hibernating. That’s fine if it’s what you want to do. The continuity to old Ibis is that we’re still building bikes that we want to ride, and like Kip in Napoleon Dynamite, we like technology. And we embrace change. Since we (my partners and me) also seem to be serving a life term in the bike industry, we’re no strangers to poverty. So another aspect of the company is that we’re building bikes that we would actually purchase at retail. We’re not pricing them at what price we might be able to get. We’re amortizing development costs over a longer period of time to kept the cost down. We’re taking a much smaller margin that what we could get, because we want to make the bikes affordable (this is a relative term obviously). This goes along with Google # 6, making money with out being evil. We’re not charging what the market will bear, but what we think is fair. This might sound like a bunch of hooey, but these were the actual reasons we chose the prices we did. Some of the other manufacturers aren’t too happy with our pricing.

Industry stuff;

Where do you see the future of the industry? (Nice big, vague question for the old grey matter to ponder.)
From a rider’s standpoint, I like what I see. Clearly there are tons of choices for good suspension bikes and good carbon road bikes. That’s where the main thrust of the market is. But I think looking elsewhere is a good indicator of health of the industry. I absolutely love the whole cruiser movement. And the commuter/city bike scene is great. Sky’s (Sky Yeager of Bianchi USA- Ed)Castro Valley is my current favorite. Trek’s Soho, the Breezers, and the custom guys doing fun stuff like the Sycip’s Java Boy.
Cycling is still too exclusive. And I mean that in the truest meaning of that word: we exclude people. I don’t have a solution to this problem. It’s more of an observation. I think the new incarnation of Ibis will be a lot less exclusive than the old Ibis. See the McBikeshop question below for more on this subject, where the industry is going.

Did Interbike make sense just as a launch pad or is there use for it past that? Is Interbike dead?
Interbike worked very well for us for the launch. And I suspect that it will continue to work for us if the present state of the industry stays more or less as it is. Interbike was our only advertising/promotional expense for the entire year, and it was money well spent. That might not be true for others. It’s actually a benefit that Trek and Specialized aren’t there (see below for elucidation).

How's the dealer base coming along? Will Ibis eventually hold it's own dealer pow-wows in lieu of Interbike?
We are having no trouble signing up dealers. Interbike was great for that. It’s been much harder for us turning away really good dealers because we don’t have the capacity. How the effectiveness of Interbike will play out in the future is not visible in my crystal balls.

Interbike's effectiveness has been questioned for a number of years now, but with Trek and Specialized both moving away to one extent or another, the question seems to be getting bigger. What do you see as the "point" of Interbike now? Social function or is real business still being done at the show?
We did a ton of business. I think the limited presence or outright absence of Trek and Specialized only helps all the small guys. Everybody is fighting for the attention of the dealers and press before Interbike, which has made Interbike an ideal launch pad (again) for new products. We very purposely waited and didn’t say a peep about Ibis until the show. It worked well; we weren’t at all lost in the shuffle.

Is Dirt Demo now replacing the exhibit as the real reason to go to the show?
Not at all. In reality there are long lines to ride the hot bikes. We didn’t do Dirt Demo last year and will do one day this year. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic venue, but by no means replaces the exhibit.

Does the show need to leave Las Vegas?
It doesn’t matter to me. We stay in a condo, get up, make breakfast, walk to the show, jabber for 10 hours, then find a quiet spot off the strip for dinner, come home, go to sleep and do it again the next day. It could be in Des Moines or Dearborn for all I care. On the other hand, a lot of the industry is on the west coast, so there’s some sense to having it in Vegas. Flights are reasonable and frequent.
Nobody is holding a gun to your head and telling you to be a part of the excess that is Vegas. It can be avoided. Conversely, you probably can’t get as good a lap dance in Des Moines.

How big do you and your partners want Ibis to become?
We have big plans to keep it small. We think there’s a sweet spot with around 10 people in the company, plus or minus a couple. Hans wants to avoid having layers of bureaucracy. Direct communication between all involved contributes to efficiency. We’re going to run it pretty lean.
Coming back into the game after sitting out awhile, what's the most striking change you see?
I was never gone. I only missed one trade show during the hiatus. We were planning new Ibis for almost three years before the actual launch, so we were paying close attention.

From a macro level, the number of shops keeps going down and with Trek and Specialized honing their McBikeshop approach, where does Ibis fit in?
This is really the big question about the future. Where are the bike shops going to be in a few years? If the two 400-pound gorillas (do the math) are capitalizing 70-80% of floor space in the successful dealerships, that leaves a lot of small guys fighting for the crumbs. Is it similar to the Wal-Mart’s kicking in the heads of the mom and pop stores on main street, USA? I don’t know. I could start to talk about American Culture here and why our kids don’t ride their bikes to school anymore and why people live a long way from their jobs and live instead in their cars and why their lives are out of balance and so there’s road rage and obesity and ugly things like that. But that would make me very angry and then I’d start drinking. So what I will do instead is talk about my other favorite non-essential luxury item industry: Wine.
Seriously, there are a lot of parallels. Bikes and wine, both non-essential luxury items that people have tons of passion for. Both make you feel good. Both have three (and sometimes four) tiered distribution systems involving manufacturers, distributors and retailers. Neither do a lot of online business (wine.com and others continue to flounder and there is no Amazon of either the wine or bike world). OK, so you’re a bike manufacturer, your choices are sell direct to a dealer who then sells to a retail customer, or possibly you sell to a distributor (in our case only in other countries) and then they sell to a dealer who sells to the end consumer. There are always two or three margins in there. This is pretty much true for all of us. The big wine producers are pretty much in the same distribution boat as everyone in the bike industry (big or small). There are arcane prohibition-era laws that are only now being challenged in the highest court of the land, so some of this may change soon. What I think is an interesting trend to follow though, is how the smaller boutique producers of wine (the Ibises and Sevens and Moots’ and IF’s of the wine world if you will) sell a lot of their wines directly to consumers through their wine clubs. And this number is only going to increase with the aforementioned Supreme Court rulings. Let me make up some numbers for illustrative purposes. You might sell a 40-dollar retail bottle of wine to a distributor for 20, to a retailer for 30 and you already know the retail price. The wine guys know that they need to have presence in stores and restaurants. But they also know that certain numbers of their customers don’t need the wine retailer or restaurant guy because they know more about the wine than the person selling it to them does. It’s not always true, but is frequently true. And when you blend the margins, if you’ve sold a significant percentage of your wine at retail as opposed to distributor, your bottom line looks a lot better. The exact scenario is true in the bike industry. Now don’t jump down my throat here, because I’m generalizing; there are always exceptions. There are some consumers who know far more than the guy selling them the bike. Our customers are not entry-level customers. Trek and Specialized have a lot more entry level customers than we do. So it makes sense to have a bike shop person hold their hand through the sale. And sometimes it makes sense for this to happen with our bikes. But does it always? The high-end wine guys have a nice little component of their business that delivers them a spectacular margin with their customer, someone who they’re also in direct contact with. The numbers are purposely kept small, as they don’t want to cannibalize their other distribution venues. Like the small bike guys, they don’t have big (or any) ad budgets, so they rely on reviews to inform consumers about their product. I know that building a bike is more complicated than opening a bottle of wine, but there are plenty of customers who are capable of and actually want to build their own bikes. An obvious question is what about test rides? I’d be curious to know what percentage of customers who will buy our bikes through retailers will actually ride a perfectly set up bike: the right sag, air pressure, stem configuration, etc. How many will actually get to try it on a trail? I think we can trust the magazines to give us good reviews. Just like the wine industry (unless in a restaurant), you don’t get to sample the product first. I’m just rattling a few of the common reasons we here for not selling directly to a consumer. I guess I end up this little observation with a question, why not do it like the wine industry?
This whole scenario might make more and more sense moving forward as the Trekification of the IBD continues. I think we small guys need to keep our eyes on this excellent question you bring up.

Marketing stuff;

What are you doing to advertise the brand?
It’s all guerilla, word of mouth, and hopefully some decent magazine reviews. No magazine ads or race teams in the foreseeable future.

Someone was telling me about an hilarious ad a while back, playing off the Clif Bar ads featuring prominent athletes who had "converted" from Powerbar. I was told the ads had a picture of the athlete with "CONVERT" written on top. Word has it you sent in an ad of yourself with "PERVERT" as a headline. Nice job. Can we expect more of that sort of shake-it-up-a-little advertising?


What are your plans to reconnect to your old fans? On the flipside of that, how are you planning to grab new fans? What sort of magic are you hoping to entrance people with this time?
I’m satisfied with how word is spreading about Ibis. All the little things we’ve been doing to announce the relauch over the last 10 months. New fans are going to be sucked in by the beauty of the bikes. Particularly when the realize how reasonably priced they are. This is really where the dealer comes in, because when you see the bikes, your jaw drops.

How is the Chuck Ibis blog coming along? Is the traffic growing still or has the traffic been steady from day one and stayed pretty much level?
I’m not a very good blogger. I don’t keep track. Nor do I make regular entries. I make irregular entries.

What has the feedback been from the "Old Ibis" fans? Since I have a brand that is very similar in the cult-like following, I know how hard it is to deal with the obstacles that come from history while still trying to use that history to sell bikes. Do you feel you have a tough battle or is it proving to be as easy as it always was?
I don’t think it was ever easy. It’s actually easier now that it has been. Part of that might be experience, part is having such a kick ass product. The good thing about Ibis is that we were constantly changing and evolving, so what we are doing is only a natural progression of where the company would have been anyway. I really believe that. And to that end, there will always be people who associate us with one thing or another and want us to just keep building that product. Those people are in the extreme minority though. What has been very successful is keeping our old base very loyal, while catching the eye of an entirely new audience. The challenge is to keep doing that, and not to keep referring to history. Innovation creates value.

What roll does blogging play in your over all strategy? People used to love to interact with you and Ibis in the past and now blogging can do that much more "real time" without being on the phone all day and night with people who want to be your buddy. The blog existed before anybody saw the bikes, so I would assume you see a value in blogging, but has that role diminished some now that the bikes exist?
It’s a great tool to stay in touch. I will see a lot more opportunity in the future as products, reviews and customer feedback comes rolling in. We haven’t delivered a single bike at the time I’m writing this, so there’s less to talk about. All the stuff happening now is sort of mundane production related issues. Not the great stuff of entertainment.

What role does print advertising play now? Has web-based advertising replaced it or will it?
No advertising for us right now. But that will change. Web has not replaced print. TV didn’t replace radio, but it shook things up. We can be certain that things will continue to change. For Ibis in the immediate future, we’ll rely on our dealers, on reviews and word of mouth.

Will company websites replace catalogs? (This has been a big question for us the past few years.)
For me as a consumer they have completely replaced them. You can put so much more info on the web, include motion graphics and it’s easier to show engineering concepts. If I want to learn about a car or a shaver or a camera, I go online.

Thank you Scot for this exceptional conversation. The pleasure was all mine... and I'm stealing your ideas!

Tim Jackson
Chief Kool-Aid Dispenser
(Editor's note; I failed to mention on the original posting of this interview that the questions for the interview were provided by the Krew's Karl Wiedemann, myself and future contributor Chris Lesser- formerly of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. My apologies to both for the initial omission.) Posted by Tim Jackson at 8:29 PM

Race Report from Austin 70.3

Thanks to Colonel's for making me fast this weekend @ Longhorn 70.3 in Austin, Tx.
I have posted a race report @ www.brentpoulsen112882.blogspot.com! The Orbea was lightening quick as i averaged 25.4mph for the hilly 56mile course. If anyone has questions regarding triathlon equipment or training/racing questions please email Colonel so i can help answer them. Please keep an eye out for future postings about group rides and group runs leaving the store. Exciting news coming soon so please stay tuned.

Cheers,
Brent

NiteRider and Light & Motion Light Systems

Light season is here. Get ready to fall back! We have NiteRider and Light & Motion light systems on sale. From Light & Motion we have the Vega 120 and 200 models. These are a all-in-one rechargeable package that delivers more than twice the light of most commuter lights. The 120 lumen is marked down to $89 and the 200 lumen is $135. We are also stocking the Stella series of multi-sport lights. We have the Stella 150, 200 and 300 priced to move. The Stella has the longest run times for its weight and power of any Light & Motion systems. These lights have powerful LED's and an efficient electronic driver circuit system. The prices are $205, $240, and $270. We will SHIP to anywhere in the lower 48 states. Just give us a call at (817) 924-1333 or email info@colonelsbikes.com

Guess Who This Leg Belongs To

Came across this photo of a well known American bike racer. At first I thought this dude had some kind of disease. Turns out he just has a really good blood delivery system. Those veins look mean!

Count Down To Monster Sale!

In case you haven't heard, we are having a huge sale starting October 26th and running through October 31st. You will find bikes, clothing, wheels, small parts, tires and much more on sale. Please stop by and check it out.

This just in...Custom signature bottles & seatbags here while supplies last !

New signature water bottles and seat bags in stock now. The seat bags are handmade in the USA and feature two different sizes and colors as well as a key holder and waterproof liner with custom embroidery. The bottles are 22oz. with shop logos everywhere.
The bags are priced at $25.99 & $19.99, discounts on complete flat fix kit with bag also available. Bottles are $8.00 each. (Moots stem and seat post sold separately)