There have been a few pretty cool developments of late here at Goat-central. I finally got our prototype Route 29 full suspension frame in. This one uses the 4" travel Ventana rear with a Fox shock. I think we are going to try one of the local motorcycle painters who recently painted a bike for one of our customers. It came out looking great and the price was reasonable. I've had a couple of ideas for paint but won't know until I talk to the painter. One possibility was to do a NC Yuppie which would have North Carolina images such as NASCAR, tobacco, Wright Bros, moonshine..........we could start one end of the bike at the beach and finish the other end in the mountains! The other possibility was to try some Goat skeletons. The painter does some really nice skeletons and it would be neat to do some Goats......maybe we could call it the Goatful Dead? Anyway, we are mocking the bike up and ordering some parts so look for the finished product soon!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
$4 / gallon
I suspect the most common question that people in the bike industry get these days would be something along the lines of "bet this $4 gas is great for your business, isn't it?". On the surface, it might look like it but I am not so sure. Bikes are still typically a discretionary purchase. Most people don't "need" a bicycle like they need food. Since most folks have already succumbed to the urban sprawl, and moved 20+ miles from their chosen place of employment, most don't consider commuting a viable option. So $4 a gallon it is, thank you sir may I have another. There goes another $25-$30 out the tail pipe a week and there goes your discretionary, aka bike, funds. And even if your job is on solid ground, the constant background noise about the economy circling the drain works its way into your conscience even if it is just by osmosis.
What we have noticed is increased repairs and accessories. People that bought bikes in the last decade, and let them become garage ornaments, are dragging out the remains to have them rehabilitated. The margins are pretty good on this stuff but it can still be relatively small dollars when compared to full bike sales. Of course, bike parts are getting more and more expensive and it seems like tire/tube prices are tied directly to the price a a barrel of light sweet crude for September delivery (not really sure what that means but it apparently hits a new high on a daily basis now).
There has been the slightest hint of an increase in bike trips but it has mainly been folks who already used a bike for recreation ,which doesn't help the bike shop bottom line to any large degree. We have talked about the tipping point and wondered where it will be........$5 a gallon, $6 a gallon or the $7 they talked about on the radio this morning. What will it take to get more people using bikes for "work" as opposed to "play. Stay tuned, we may be finding out soon.
What we have noticed is increased repairs and accessories. People that bought bikes in the last decade, and let them become garage ornaments, are dragging out the remains to have them rehabilitated. The margins are pretty good on this stuff but it can still be relatively small dollars when compared to full bike sales. Of course, bike parts are getting more and more expensive and it seems like tire/tube prices are tied directly to the price a a barrel of light sweet crude for September delivery (not really sure what that means but it apparently hits a new high on a daily basis now).
There has been the slightest hint of an increase in bike trips but it has mainly been folks who already used a bike for recreation ,which doesn't help the bike shop bottom line to any large degree. We have talked about the tipping point and wondered where it will be........$5 a gallon, $6 a gallon or the $7 they talked about on the radio this morning. What will it take to get more people using bikes for "work" as opposed to "play. Stay tuned, we may be finding out soon.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The 24 hours of Burn
This year marked the 8th year of the Source Burn 24 hour race which was held just north of Statesville, in Wilkesboro, NC. Since it is so close, we have a good local turn out for the event. The Dark Mountain trails work out nicely for the race and the big field, by the lake, is a great place for set up shop. The last couple of years, we have taken a herd of Goats and let them graze in the field. It has been a nice way to get a little local exposure. There seems to be growing interest in the custom frames and folks like something unique.
This year, Darrell rode his single speed Mountain Goat Route 29 in the solo category and completed 18 laps. Other FoFFB (friends of First Flight Bikes) were Ross, David, Paul, James, Clyde and Carl. They raced in various categories and had a great time. Matt, Sean and Wes hung out for the whole event and supported Darrell, David and Ross. I took the boys up after the shop closed to hang out for a couple of hours and ride the Over Mountain Victory Trail (nice berms!). Last year, Wes crewed for Darrell, Matt and Ross, who all rode solo (Matt and Ross single speed, Darrell geared). In 2005, Ross, Matt and Wes teamed up with Bob to do the 4 man single speed team.
It was good to see that Darrell upped his lap total even though he switched from a geared bike to a single speed bike. I bet Darrell will claim that he upped his mileage by training harder and riding more but I like to think it was Mountain Goat! (Gotta be the shoes)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Bike racing
I've never been horribly athletic so most competitive sports are not my cup o' tea. I threw discus, a some shop put, in high school but that was about it for actual scored competition. That may be part of the reason the bike riding has always appealed to me. I enjoy riding and can keep up a reasonable pace but have never felt compelled to "race" a bike. With kids, it is tough to find time to ride, let alone train. Fortunately, the boys (Sam 10 and Seth 13) are getting to the age that they can ride along reasonably well. Seth has even gotten to the point that he is probably faster than the old man. When we ride, he can pull away on the open runs but I catch back up on the technical sections (at least for right now).
Neal, who helps us with the Cackalacky Cup, puts on a fantastic summer series of mountain bike races, including a couple of kids categories. With Seth getting a little bit faster, I thought the race series might interest him. I checked the calendar and the race at the Fisher Farm trail was June 11. Fisher Farm is a great local trail that isn't terribly technical and,even more importantly, isn't on the other side of Charlotte (important when registration is @ 5:00 on a week night). We decide to give it a shot and wnet down the Sunday before to ride the trail and check it out. Mark Sullivan, trail boss @ Fisher Farm, was felling a decent sized tree so we stopped to spectate and then help. After the sixth cut or so, the tree was down and we were on our way again.
Wednesday evening came and we headed out to the trail. Seth got all signed up for the 8-13 year olds race which ended up being only one lap. To break up the start, Neal added in a long climb through a grassy field before going into the woods. The entry to the trail is a really quick downhill section so this strung out the field to reduce the carnage. The kids group had 5 racers in it and Seth was first tot he summit of the grassy knoll. There weren't a whole lot of places to pass so I had warned him about letting some of the older, faster riders by. Unfortunately, when one of them called the pass, another kid snuck by Seth along with the expert rider and beat him to the finish by a couple of bike lengths. The kid who beat him was named Anakin (insert, Luke......I am your father joke here).
Anyway, Seth was riding an old school Jamis Diablo with a 1" steerer tube and rigid fork! Looks like it might be time for a little upgrading. Wes had a pair of SPD compatible shoes so we'll start there. Couple other races this summer on the North side of Charlotte so maybe we'll give it a go. Might even see if we could get anyway interested from the Boy Scouts!
Neal, who helps us with the Cackalacky Cup, puts on a fantastic summer series of mountain bike races, including a couple of kids categories. With Seth getting a little bit faster, I thought the race series might interest him. I checked the calendar and the race at the Fisher Farm trail was June 11. Fisher Farm is a great local trail that isn't terribly technical and,even more importantly, isn't on the other side of Charlotte (important when registration is @ 5:00 on a week night). We decide to give it a shot and wnet down the Sunday before to ride the trail and check it out. Mark Sullivan, trail boss @ Fisher Farm, was felling a decent sized tree so we stopped to spectate and then help. After the sixth cut or so, the tree was down and we were on our way again.
Wednesday evening came and we headed out to the trail. Seth got all signed up for the 8-13 year olds race which ended up being only one lap. To break up the start, Neal added in a long climb through a grassy field before going into the woods. The entry to the trail is a really quick downhill section so this strung out the field to reduce the carnage. The kids group had 5 racers in it and Seth was first tot he summit of the grassy knoll. There weren't a whole lot of places to pass so I had warned him about letting some of the older, faster riders by. Unfortunately, when one of them called the pass, another kid snuck by Seth along with the expert rider and beat him to the finish by a couple of bike lengths. The kid who beat him was named Anakin (insert, Luke......I am your father joke here).
Anyway, Seth was riding an old school Jamis Diablo with a 1" steerer tube and rigid fork! Looks like it might be time for a little upgrading. Wes had a pair of SPD compatible shoes so we'll start there. Couple other races this summer on the North side of Charlotte so maybe we'll give it a go. Might even see if we could get anyway interested from the Boy Scouts!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
May Updates
For some reason, blog updates always seems to fall to the bottom of the stack of stuff to do! Just a couple of recent happenings.
Both Ti frames are in and we are working on getting pictures of them built up. The etching looks fantastic on the frames but is tough to picture.
We did get some really nice wicking jerseys made up. These are a casual cut without pockets so they work great off the bike as well as on the bike. We have been trying them out the last couple of weeks and they work great. Right now, all sizes (s-xxl) are available in either royal blue or team orange for $34.99
The Source Burn 24 hour race is next week end and is always a great time. Darrell will be rocking the single speed Goat on his first solo single speed effort. Wes is going to be crewing for Darrell as well as Ross and David.
We did sell our first "in-store" spec bike over the weekend. When we built up the last batch of frames, we bought a couple of extras that weren't painted so we could finish them in the customers choice of colors. We wanted to have one built up in the shop so we built up a 19" single speed Route 29 with a nice mix of parts and had it powder coated in red. Lee, a long time customer and trail worker, came in and decided to give 'er a new home. Looks like it is time to built up another.
The National Geographic channel ran a program called "I was Superhuman" which featured Goat Owner, Sinjin. The short story is, Sinjin was trapped under a boulder while hiking and was able to summon up superhuman strength and push the boulder off of him. Towards the end of the segment, there is a great video of Sinjin riding his Mountain Goat. I'm going to try and post a copy of it soon.
Both Ti frames are in and we are working on getting pictures of them built up. The etching looks fantastic on the frames but is tough to picture.
We did get some really nice wicking jerseys made up. These are a casual cut without pockets so they work great off the bike as well as on the bike. We have been trying them out the last couple of weeks and they work great. Right now, all sizes (s-xxl) are available in either royal blue or team orange for $34.99
The Source Burn 24 hour race is next week end and is always a great time. Darrell will be rocking the single speed Goat on his first solo single speed effort. Wes is going to be crewing for Darrell as well as Ross and David.
We did sell our first "in-store" spec bike over the weekend. When we built up the last batch of frames, we bought a couple of extras that weren't painted so we could finish them in the customers choice of colors. We wanted to have one built up in the shop so we built up a 19" single speed Route 29 with a nice mix of parts and had it powder coated in red. Lee, a long time customer and trail worker, came in and decided to give 'er a new home. Looks like it is time to built up another.
The National Geographic channel ran a program called "I was Superhuman" which featured Goat Owner, Sinjin. The short story is, Sinjin was trapped under a boulder while hiking and was able to summon up superhuman strength and push the boulder off of him. Towards the end of the segment, there is a great video of Sinjin riding his Mountain Goat. I'm going to try and post a copy of it soon.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Spring is good!
Man it sure is nice when the weather takes a turn for the good. It is great to ride on a fairly regular basis again. The Goats are all getting their regular exercise now.
A couple of updates:
-#26 arrived, got build up and is out on the trails. Joe was unsure about totally committing to riding a single speed so we set it up with stealth braze-ons so it can be run geared in the future. Pictures are posted on the Mountain Goat web site.
-#27 is the first ever (to my knowledge) titanium Mountain Goat.The etched panels sure do look great. It is a unique and subtle look. We are currently gathering parts to build this one up and will post pictures when it is complete.
-#28 will be the first Ti 29" frame and will also feature the etched panels. ETA is April 10th on this one.
-#29 is in line at Sycip and will be heading to the Netherlands when finished.
-#30 looks to be our first frame built by Carl @ Vicious Cycles. We have talked to Carl for awhile now and will be looking forward to getting our first frame from him. We have been taunting Sean on our local rides about being the only person on a production bike and #30 will take care of that issue. We are still working on the finish options but it is sounding very cool so far.
-#31 Could be you, give us a call!
-The SWOBO jersey may still live but we'll see.
-There is a new wicking t-shirt stype jersey in the works. This one will feature the "cartoon" Goat, by Gabi, standing on top of a bike. Colors will be royal blue or orange and they should run about $35. ETA of about 3 weeks on this one.
-We'll probably end up with a Mountain Goat bar end cap next time we order headset caps and spacers.
That's about it for now.
A couple of updates:
-#26 arrived, got build up and is out on the trails. Joe was unsure about totally committing to riding a single speed so we set it up with stealth braze-ons so it can be run geared in the future. Pictures are posted on the Mountain Goat web site.
-#27 is the first ever (to my knowledge) titanium Mountain Goat.The etched panels sure do look great. It is a unique and subtle look. We are currently gathering parts to build this one up and will post pictures when it is complete.
-#28 will be the first Ti 29" frame and will also feature the etched panels. ETA is April 10th on this one.
-#29 is in line at Sycip and will be heading to the Netherlands when finished.
-#30 looks to be our first frame built by Carl @ Vicious Cycles. We have talked to Carl for awhile now and will be looking forward to getting our first frame from him. We have been taunting Sean on our local rides about being the only person on a production bike and #30 will take care of that issue. We are still working on the finish options but it is sounding very cool so far.
-#31 Could be you, give us a call!
-The SWOBO jersey may still live but we'll see.
-There is a new wicking t-shirt stype jersey in the works. This one will feature the "cartoon" Goat, by Gabi, standing on top of a bike. Colors will be royal blue or orange and they should run about $35. ETA of about 3 weeks on this one.
-We'll probably end up with a Mountain Goat bar end cap next time we order headset caps and spacers.
That's about it for now.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The girl in the wall
This is our girl in the wall.
You'll often see bikes with some type of "mojo" zip tied to the handlebars of a bicycle. The girl in the wall is the mojo for our shop. When we first moved into this building, in 1995, the area around the bottom of the stairs was walled off and didn't have much light coming in. I was coming down the stairs with a flash light and as the beam hit the wall, the doll eyes lit up and scared the bejesus out of me. When I calmed down, I took a closer look and saw a disembodied doll head wedged in a hole in the brick wall. It was kinda spooky but neat at the same time.
A couple of years later a guy came into the shop that worked in this building when it was five and dime store in the 1970's. He told stories about going upstairs and pulling out laid-away toys at Christmas time. After we talked for a bit, he asked if the doll head was still in the wall. I told him that she was still there and we went to the stairway so he could check her out. He said that it had been there as long as he remembered. That makes her at least 35 years old!
And now a couple of Goat updates:
-The first Ti Whiskeytown Racer should be here around March 19th. Can't wait to see the panel etchings.
-We have now placed an order for the first Ti Route 29 as well. We are doing the etched panels on this one as well.
-Mark, owner of the purple flamed Goat, has started a Blog to update the building of the beast. Check it out at http://thepurplegoat.blogspot.com/
You'll often see bikes with some type of "mojo" zip tied to the handlebars of a bicycle. The girl in the wall is the mojo for our shop. When we first moved into this building, in 1995, the area around the bottom of the stairs was walled off and didn't have much light coming in. I was coming down the stairs with a flash light and as the beam hit the wall, the doll eyes lit up and scared the bejesus out of me. When I calmed down, I took a closer look and saw a disembodied doll head wedged in a hole in the brick wall. It was kinda spooky but neat at the same time.
A couple of years later a guy came into the shop that worked in this building when it was five and dime store in the 1970's. He told stories about going upstairs and pulling out laid-away toys at Christmas time. After we talked for a bit, he asked if the doll head was still in the wall. I told him that she was still there and we went to the stairway so he could check her out. He said that it had been there as long as he remembered. That makes her at least 35 years old!
And now a couple of Goat updates:
-The first Ti Whiskeytown Racer should be here around March 19th. Can't wait to see the panel etchings.
-We have now placed an order for the first Ti Route 29 as well. We are doing the etched panels on this one as well.
-Mark, owner of the purple flamed Goat, has started a Blog to update the building of the beast. Check it out at http://thepurplegoat.blogspot.com/
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