It is no secret that I have a penchant for custom bicycles. Long before I ever owned a frame whose builder I personally knew, I had begun admiring the beautiful craft of building a bike from scratch.
I suppose it began with my 2006 purchase of my Uno Pista Keirin frame from Japan. I was all about everything NJS back then.
3 years later, I was two years into running a bike shop and owned a custom Bilenky tandem and my appreciation for custom bikes finally warranted a trip to NAHBS, The North American Handmade Bicycle Show.
It became a tradition for me and I attended 6 times:
- 2009 – Indianapolis | My Hufnagel was shown this year.
- 2010 – Richmond | was my son Otto's 1st NAHBS
- 2011 – Austin | what a great trip! A recap from when I blogged!
- 2012 – Sacramento | also my last brakeless alleycat!
- 2013 – Denver | Otto's 3rd & my 611 was exhibited.
- 2014 – Charlotte | a fluke to attend after moving to Amsterdam but grateful I was able to make it happen!
Since then, Bespoked, The UK Handmade Bicycle Show has now become a tradition:
- In 2016, I 1st attended after speaking at a conference in India.
- I made the trip back to Bristol again in 2017.
- 2018 Twotone attended on behalf of SILCA & Hexlox.
- 2019, will already the 4th time & grateful to consider so many builders at the show friends!
If you'll be in Bristol for the show, lemme know!
As always, thank you for reading!
with appreciation,
Jon
p.s.
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Cycling
Pelago's Racks Help You and Your Bike Do More!
We've gotten back to work with Helsinki based purveyors of bikes & accessories designed to cherish cycling as a genuine mode of transport.
This time we're focused on establishing the #pelagorack as the benchmark for a sturdy, reliable and versatile means of increasing the cargo capacity of your bike.
Quirk Cycles has a new website!
My bud Rob will be at Bespoked with a build specifically for the show using 3D printed stainless steel parts with integrated seat clamps and a knockout silver leaf paint job from Cole Coatings Workshop. I'm stoked to see it in person!
He also has a new website. Some of the highlights:
- New bike models (Durmitor, Mamtor & the Kegety)
- A range of signature paint schemes
- Standard geometries for all models
- New Blog with stories and adventures
Moroccan Roll: A father and son bikepack through the High Atlas
I love this, of course : )
Startups
Work is Life - Earn a Living
What if the Japanese phenomenon of Karoshi, death by overwork, was the sign that we all needed to rethink our personal work-life balance?
Working together: How the developers behind Zwift are gamifying cycling
While most gaming companies are trying to top the likes of Fortnite, Long Beach-based Zwift is riding off in another direction: fitness.
Roubaix on the Mac App Store
My friend Samuel of Roundwall Software brought a friend his, Matt of Delightful Apps. by the Twotone office this week. Matt made this free Mac OS app to
- Visualise the route that you rode
- Understand the elevation profile
- Realise why a climb made you hurt
- How much power you put out
By viewing the files generated from your favourite cycling computer (like the new Elemnt ROAM!) in a .fit file format, you can see what's going on.
Sales & PR
The $13 Billion Lesson from Salesforce That Any Business Can Apply
Basic premise? Ideological branding. An ideology is a set of beliefs about the best way to achieve a goal. But it’s also a story.
It’s much more effective to repeat a story than it is a features and benefits message.
Why?
Because it’s more interesting for people to hear — a straight-up sales pitch gets ignored, but a story doesn’t.
I get by with a little help from my 🤝
Thank you Carmen for the kind words!
UnfoldTNW conference
Kindness.
"When you meet someone, work out how you can help them. Know a company they would love? Put them in touch. Know the perfect venue for their product launch? Send it to them. Do it on the spot, before you forget: they’ll never forget you."
40 Best Sales Tools for Sales Reps
Pretty comprehensive list to to identify leads, confidently close sales, and improve follow up communication with your clients.
Radness
FURTHER | A new frontier in Adventure Cycling
1. IF THIS WERE AN EXAM QUESTION IT WOULD BE : ‘DEFINE FURTHER’
Further the event is a race and a rally in the Ariège deparment in the south west of France. It’s happening from 23-26 August. There will be no women’s race, just one race. Women and men race on an equal footing. The race will play with borders, departmental and national.
Further the concept, to me, is not far. It’s about making a decision to ride somewhere you’ve never been before, somewhere that makes you curious for whatever reason, somewhere that presents a physical challenge, somewhere that is a point of interest. The interesting places are usually hard to get to, that’s the way the world is these days.
Further is about poetry in sport, not science in sport. It’s about gaining fresh perspectives via the bicycle but not necessarily on the bicycle. That narrative can be created by people – cyclists – from all walks of life coming together. Which is the call to action for the rally.