Wednesday, August 26, 2009

EB Preview

Eurobike for us is the biggest show in Europe, a great opportunity make contact with dealers and consumers while gaining all important media coverage. One has to have a nice stand that is a bit creative and stylish to stand out. I don't even want to begin to calculate what the big guys spend on their booths - you could probably wipe out some small third world countries debt...

IF is teaming up with EDGE (which if you know our history there is a bit of irony there) and I am bringing not just the bikes but the 'display furniture' for our stand. Luckily for us we have an awesome friend who is a master woodworker who had built us a stand already for EHBE. Some additions and tweaks, and we will have a sharp stand for EuroBike.

First off on Tuesday is DemoDay, we are teaming up with Connex, makers of some of the finest chains in the industry, where people will have chance to throw a leg over one of our two 29ers or 2 26ers on hand. All bikes are outfitted with EDGE wheels and top kits from FOX, Shimano, SRAM, Thomson, Chris King among other shiny bits. We are building our demo fleet up so that people can try it before they buy it. I was even thinking of providing demo bikes for races next season...

Handcrafted beverages for your enjoyment (if you are so lucky...)

You have to be creative to stand out, and it doesn't always have to cost you a fortune to do that, sometimes sweat equity is enough. If you read this blog on a semi-regular basis (it's not that I post regularly...)than you know I like to make my own schnapps (brandy). Last year we made a small batch of apple and our favorite graphic artist Marco P who designed our new logos made us some sweet brown-paper bag looking labels for the schnapps. We will give these out to soem customers, dealers, media and industry types. Did I tell you how good it is, amazing! The good news is that Sandi & I have already gathered Maribellen (they are like a cherry but more yellowish), and will be doing Plum and another batch of apple as well this year - yummy! I figure the schnapps will be a great gift and someone in the media will pick up on it.

nicht nur "white sex", aber IF-sexiness dazu.

Stunning bikes is another sure fire way to get noticed, which is not too difficult with a brand like IF. Toss some EDGE parts on there and you have show stoppers. But sometimes you have to go extra measures, thus I give you ltd edition ifbikes.de Dugast tires. These white babies would make even Greg lust to be on one of our ferrous beauties. These will be glued up on my SSX just back from the painters and will go on a Rapha shoot in Sweden following the show (now if only the owner could go with...)

Green with envy

hard to tell in these photos, but the IF crown logo on the seattube is out new suds crown logo, we will do lots of pics at the show. If that all were not enough to garner us the spotlight, then walking up on stage to accept the 2009 EuroBike Gold Award for Best Frame surely ought to do the trick. Joe and I will accept the award in the evening on the 2nd for our incredible SSR we did for Wiesmann that is in the current issue of RennRad.

It's Hammer Time!

Not that this has anything to do with EuroBike (wouldn't it be sweet to see LA cruising the halls of the show in these pants!), but it is good stuff none the less. I could opt for your standard "Does MC Hammer know you were in his closet?" joke, but I mean come on! Seriously?!? What fashion malfunction occured to make LA adorn a podium in these? Maybe he forgot his pants and these are his girlfriends maternity clothes...

See you at the show!

Saturday, August 08, 2009

WonderBra & Tubes

In preparation for EuroBike, we have been selecting which bikes to have in the EDGE/ IF Bikes stand. There were two obvious bikes that would make it into the show, the new Corvid and the Rapha Continental SSR. Joe's sick sub 9kg Ti Deluxe seemed like another great candidate, so it came down to a toss up between a cyclocross bike and a 29er. Being that the media has finally picked up on the 29er thing, and the EU manufactures as well (I have had a few ask me about sales, performance and geometry), I figured everyone would have one intheir stand this year. Rather than just showing them, we are taking a few to the outdoor demo day on Tuesday (Jeff and Chris D are bringing a couple of Cielo 29er with - curious to see those).

So I decided to refurb my 2 year old SSX for the show. Many riany rides, mud and trails left the once brilliant brushed finish a little dull, so armed with buffing pads from IF I went to work. It did not take long to bring back the luster of the fine brushed finish and in about an hour, the frame looked like new. Another reason I love this material. The ride quality is in my opinion better than any other material out there, it is stiff yet smooth on the trails. Scratch, dent and corrision resistant, I do not understand why you would want anything else, really. Then the fact with a just a little love, your bike can look like new again.

OK, off the soapbox. The bike is heading out for a paint job featuring our new logos to match our soon to be released website and promo materials (not too mention the custom made Dugasts with our logo on them). Can't wait. Besides we are trying to relight the fire of cyclocross here in Germany. You would figure a land that has won World Titles would have more of a scene, but it seems the Germans have a short attention span (think Schummi or Ullrich). If they are not winning (but they are with Hanka), then they are not interested it seems. Fortunately this stereo type does not hold water with small sub-cultures like that in Leipzig, Dresden and other communities where we would like to tap into that passion and build a cross scene.

I also built up Marco's SSX, since his wheels were absent, mine dutifully stepped in and looked good in the process. His bike built up super nice, and the HandleBra is the nicest bar tape I have used. Its musty, rustic smell reminded me of my old local shop back in Iowa, the Cyclery which was in a basement and full of old leather helmets, shoes, saddles and so on. The tape wrapped effortlessly with superb results. It felt great in the hand and looks stunning. We are also carrying this product in our line going forward and look forward to putting this on some more bikes.

Time to build some demo bikes and go for a Sunday ride.







Great looking and feeling HandleBra leather bar tape

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Great Clip

Passing through various wormholes across the net, I came across a great piece of cinematography. this is how cycling videos should be. the shots, camera work, editing and soundtrack add up to something that captures the essence of bike racing. watching this got my pulse going and the stoked the fire to get out there and rub elbows with others. this could be a clip of anyrace, although it is the hallowed grounds of Houffalize, the 'classics' course for mountainbikers. I had the pleasure of racing there back in 2001 on a very rainy, slick course, and it is all it is cracked up to be and more. This is one I would love to make it back to again, maybe next year...

enjoy.

Houffalize World Cup 2009 from Mountain Bike Rider on Vimeo.