So, I'm getting pretty excited for the upcoming Interbike trade show in Las Vegas. This will not be the first time that I've been, but I'll have much more of a purpose in being there than in the past when I simply wandered around and got drool on the 'unobtainium' on display (please don't sue, Oakley!). There are a few reasons why I'm excited. I'm going with Colorado Multisport, so we're going to have a bunch of meetings with our vendors so they can show us their new wares for the upcoming '08 season. Well since we carry most of the best equipment that's on the market today, that means I'll get the lowdown on what people are going to be lining up to buy in the next few months.
I'm really excited to see the new SRAM Red group. I have a titanium frame with a carbon rear-end (a Primary, of course!) that is just about out of production, and I think I'm going to outfit it with the new Red group. I'm also going to put this awesome Fizik Arione saddle in the Acqua e Sapone team colors on the bike. It should be a sweet ride when it is done. I'll be sure to post some pictures of it. I'm becoming a total Fizik whore, these guys should sponsor me! I just got the AG2R saddle a month or so ago, the one with the black 'wings' and the white stripe down the middle. It was a hot saddle as well, but the AeS saddle is really hard to get. In fact, I lucked into one myself, as Ryan was on the phone to order some Conti tires from our distributor, who also happens to do Fizik, and we asked them as an aside if they had any. I fully expected a 'no' but they'd had a couple of orders cancelled and so had 2 of them. Lucky me, unlucky wallet!
I should be meeting with our graphics guy this upcoming Friday to try to finalize the finish on our carbon frames, which should be arriving very, very soon! The forks for the carbon bikes are ready to go, they in themselves are really nice. Made by Dedacciai and really light and stiff, with a nice finish. Anyway, I'm really excited about the ideas that I have for the graphics package. It will be used across all of our frames as well as on any clothing that we do. It's going to be some simple sort of stripes, strategically placed to have a good impact on the people looking at it. Think racing stripes but a bit more subtle.
I've been having some good discussions with a good friend of mine, Jack, who is my neighbor here in Boulder. He's in the surgical supply business, and it seems to me he has a great outlook on business as well as life. We've been talking about how some objects, some material items, posses what is referred to as 'soul.' Many items, such as lugged steel bicycle frames made in the hands of a master (let's say Richard Sachs) have an aura of such craftsmanship associated with them than the ownership experience is enhanced to a degree supposedly not found in items that haven't been created by the hands of a 'master.' What I'm wondering is why this is? What gives an inanimate object a 'soul?' I would submit that it goes into the relationship the owner has with the item. For example our bicycle frames. Our carbon frame for example, is a light-weight carbon fiber frame that rides really well. But beyond that it reflects the personality of it's owner. A bike's ride quality, for example, can be enjoyed under certain circumstances and at certain times while the bike is being ridden, while a bicycle's visual appeal can be appreciated at any moment. You cannot simply look at a bicycle and say that it is stiff or lightweight. But you can look at a bicycle and decide that you enjoy it's appearance. (you might just see this epiphany in some Primary literature at some point... I'm calling myself out!) I guess what I'm getting at is that there's more to what a bike means than one simple aspect of it's existence: where it was created, how it tests in the lab, or what material it is made of. A bike is a composite of many different aspects and they are all layered up one upon another. What Primary is good at doing is taking all of these layers and arranging them in a way that makes our bicycles desirable. I wonder what Jack would think of this, I'll have to ask him next time we exchange hello's.
Well it's off to bed, the Simon Lessing ride leaves at 8am tomorrow morning, and the last time I rode with that crew I got a mini-lecture from Simon that I should be pushing myself a bit more. I guess he would know what works, being a 5-time World Champion and all!
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