Hello!
The last time this newsletter made an appearance in your inbox, was a month ago! How has your summer been? Undoubtedly a weird one, I bet, but hopefully way less so than last year!
The last issue I sent, Nº223, was the most opened & clicked edition in 10 months. I relished in the splash & focused on my limited time with my son & daughter back home in Holland for the summer.
Our holiday plans to get to the Ardennes in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of southern Belgium; known for its medieval towns, Renaissance-era architecture, and traditional Trappist beers, were dashed by creeping Corona travel restrictions & climate change incurred flooding in the region.
So, we opted for Friesland instead. Historically known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the northern part of the country & is sparsely populated with a mere 160 people per square km. This makes the region a great destination for those seeking solitude and peace. It was nice to get away, even if only for a week, and in our backyard!
Well, as any reader like you knows, I'm always on the hunt for rhyming subject lines & content that aligns. When I was asked by my friend Ricky at Velocio to include their latest video, (you should watch it below) I pondered the 'less is more' mantra; a common one for me.
It is an unsurprising paradigm considering the line of work that I'm in; my company promotes new bike stuff to people. Yesterday, I particularly liked how my colleague Kike wrote about the custom Serial 1 we're promoting:
"We believe that enhancing the symbolic value of objects increases their intrinsic value and personal attachment to help fight back the disposable culture that is harming so much the planet and diminishing the human experience of being alive!" Kike Molares
At the end of the day, it is all about making the most of our finite days together, respecting the symbolic & intrinsic value of the planet & material things around us, and striving to appreciate all the fleeting intangible aspects of life as they pass us by.
So, from a professional perspective, I like the challenge of how equally easy (DIY repairs, shared experience) & tough (global supply chain, consumerism) this is to do with the bike industry. And, I feel that this ironic allegory applies across the board in life: we've all gotta try & do more with less.
Thank you Ricky & Kike for the inspiration & reminder!
as always, thank you for reading & sharing this newsletter,
Jon
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📷 Banner handlebar image of Serial 1's 1 of 1 custom Mosh Chopper
Cycling
Serial 1, powered by Harley-Davidson, available at dealers across Europe & debuts 1-OFF Series with a Mosh / Chopper at Sturgis!
It's been a busy week for Serial 1!
Twotone, with our partners Crank Communication in Berlin, 138 Alternatives in Munich for the Nordics, Philippine Lauraire Relations Presse in France & Lavinia of Sustenobil Pr/oduction in Romania, has getting the news out about Serial 1 bikes being available at Harley Dealers across Europe + the launch of this radical 1 of 1 Mosh Chopper with custom paint & fabrication work done in Milkwaukee.
I'm especially proud of how international this project is for us! The regions & languages covered for the project in our newsroom are:
- Central Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia)
- The United Kingdom
- DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
- Southern Europe (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Andorra),
- Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg)
- Nordics (Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden)
p.s. You're stoked too? Serial 1 is hiring in Europe!
SILCA 3D prints ultralight titanium shop tools, hammers away the weight
"Titanium bike shop tools save a lot of weight in your travel case, and when they're 3D printed in-house at Silca, you know they're good!"
Thank you, Tyler & Bike Rumor for the shout out about SILCA launching their new Titanium Ultra-Light Pro Shop Tools!
Albion's Graeme Raeburn on Rouleur's tech podcast: Clothing design and technology
Graeme Raeburn, the lead designer at UK-based Albion clothing, joins host Dan Cavallari to discuss current trends, future technologies, and the hot potato subject of hi-vis fabrics and their effectiveness.
Also worth a listen: Albion's Transmission #009; a playlist by esoteric folklore fans Weird Walk.
Startups
PR Dot Co's PR on a budget: a guide for startups and SMEs
Pr dot co always crushes it with long form resources like this one.
I'm grateful to have been included & suggest you bookmark this one for the 6 month run up to your next big launch! ; )
Against the commodification of community.
"If your experience of community isn’t individualized, fine-tuned to generate success on your terms, are you really living?"
A somewhat sobering read about a lot of what marketing has become focused on. (yes, I know he roast home trainers & co-working spaces, haha!)
I'll just keep doing my part and rallying for more offline 'activations' & face-to-face components to campaigns that simply should not just be stacked & scored with and by boring vanity metrics. ; )
Friends
Ryan Le Garrec's Migration Gravel Race Experience
The Migration Gravel Race is a 650 km gravel route, 4 stages, about 8000 meters of elevation.
Some time ago, my friend Sjors introduced the Twotone team to his fellow Ericeira, Portugal residing homie Ryan Le Garrec & we connected Ryan to our client Albion.
A wonderful aspect of this story is not only did an introduction via friends lead to Albion lending a hand in Ryan's chance to compete in the race but Ryan got to ride with another good friend of mine from Atlanta, Sharif Hassan.
I love how small the world is after all & the title of the write-up; "No Word for Stranger", really captures what these mixed terrain & mixed culture adventures are all about to me! Awesome work, Ryan!
p.s. some of the riders from East Africa will be competing in events in the USA thanks to Wahoo too!
My friend Danielle is raising money for the Macmillan Cancer Support and the North Tees NHS District Nurses Charitable Trust in memory of her father, George
After a short but difficult battle with cancer, Dani & her family said goodbye to their much much-loved dad, George Fejer, on January 29th, 2021. She wants to give back to the charities whose nurses and carers helped her Dad in such a dignified and loving way at home, ensuring that he was always comfortable and not in any pain.
Mikel Delagrange, founder of the Migration Gravel Race interviewed by Stefano of BroomWagon
One more Migration Gravel Race link! The founder of the race, Mikel, is also from Atlanta like me and, wait for it, also based here in the Netherlands!
Early on, I helped make some intros for Mikel as this project got rolling and it's awesome to see how big it's become making such a positive effect for so many!
Radness
Velocio takes a look at the trouble with bike apparel
Back in grad school, I had an entrepreneurship class. I interviewed the co-founders of Outlier, Mission Workshop, Rapha, and other companies. I even wrote a business plan for starting a cycling apparel company!
Fast forward 10 years & brands like Rapha have paved the way for micro-brands like Velocio, Ornot & Albion (just to name a few!) to offer options to cyclists and increasingly, those options have become more sustainable across supply chain, sourcing & manufacturing but like the documentary asserts: this isn't enough.
I think if you're in the industry, a rider, or even a consumer at all and don't care about spandex: we all need to do more with less. Nice work on pushing this conversation, Velocio!