Suffice it to say that as I take Mondays of today marks the beginning of a new week. And a glorious one to boot! Awoke to help Angela git the kids ready for school (by that, I mean I sat drinking coffee in a desperate attempt to wake up, as I was on baby duty last night after Izy got her shots yesterday. Fun.) and was met by a somewhat crisp cool air on the lanai, with just a hint of Autumn breeze (we can hope) heralding in the joys of cooler weather, and more eager bikers (hopefully) rousing from their summer slumber!
Ray was busy yesterday, after a quiet weekend we are once again almost out of stock. So after I put the finishing touches on the CCM (pics tonight...I hope!) its back to rebuilding stock. I have so many to choose from after last weeks buying binge its time to purge. Lord knows I can't wait to put away my climbing shoes necessary to scale the mountain of bikes we have packed in the back! So keep an eye on Craigslist for "What dreams may come"
On to something totally unrelated to bikes (as if much in these pages IS re-lated) In some earlier posts I have hinted towards something I had in the works that has nothing to do with our little cottage industry here, but has personal meaning to me nonetheless. I and my wife created this business out of necessity, and that necessity quickly became a passion. And as it grew we had something we knew could last. There is no shelf life for helping folks, and providing decent product and service (yes at times I'm sure that statement in regards to what we do can be questionable) and as my children grow I have hopes they will step in and want to keep it going. As some of you may have noticed my son Kaleb shows great promise. Eventually I will reach the point where I can not continue to do this full time but I have high hopes that our efforts will continue, unabated into a new generation. But, I am not the type to re-tire and sit in an easy chair watching Oprah. For the last several years there has been a germ of an idea kicking 'round the dusty reaches of my brain, that re-cently has surfaced as a viable "next step" in my personal evolution. And after much searching I have come upon a partner to help me let it see light. I'm talking about a comic strip. One based on a subject near and dear to me..my family. I know very little about this young artist but after seeing his portfolio KNEW he was the one to bring life to my whimsy. He has been kind enough to provide rough character sketches of some of the members of my expansive family unit, and I would like to share them with you, asking if you would to please render me an opinion.
I look forward to hearing your input.
RE-Cycle Bicycles, 380 Patricia Ave Dunedin, Fl 34698 (727) 831-9742 LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!!!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Portrait of Dorian Grey
But apparently my curse works in re-verse, as my photos stay timeless I seem to be showing the ravages of age. NOT fair.
Just caught my reflection in the two way mirror as I was contemplating tonight's composition...made me shudder! I swear I can just make out the logo "Samsonite" under my eyes! (obscure joke, sorry)
But, my weary worn exterior is welcome as it is a manifestation of a good week (and lack of sleep, too much coffee, hungry newborn, and some annoying toy that kept making kissy sounds and saying "I love you" intermittently from somewhere in our bedroom that took three days to find!) and many satisfied customers. A little side note too all the folks who have shown such an interest in our little operation: When you call our phone number you will more then likely get an actual real person, not an answering machine, or voice mail. And to the gentleman who called me at 5.47 am this morning to find out when we opened, or the other 4 folks whom called at (respectively) 6.12 am, 7.00 am. 8.21am and 11.53 pm last night...Why are you all staying up so late and getting up so early? its Sunday! Sleep in, enjoy a nice breakfast, have some coffee BEFORE planning your day. No, I'm not angry I'm a mixture of surprised and flattered (I was up anyway, Miss Izy likes her breakfast at 5.30 am SHARP!) that you all PLAN on coming to see us almost makes me feel like an ATTRACTION. But no I'm not wearing a silly cartoon character costume and waving at folks, FAR to busy, but I'm more 'n happy to shake your hand (if you don't mind grease) and chawin' the fat 'fer awhile.
Oh and to all you folks who may have entered the store at a moment when we we're "discussing" issues or "helping" each other re-member this is "family" run store, yelling is how we say "I love you!" If you're from up North or know someone who is, you'll understand.
Well we have been busy Little bee's (no, not the kind of "B" I call Ray under my breath) but the buzzing worker Bee's. Have put out alot of new stock this past week and bought alot more have actually turned the stock over 3 times this week and just trying to keep up. Have several beauties dotting the landscape and SO many more to build. Almost done with the CCM (picture to Right) and OHHHH does she look SWEET! Can't wait. And evidently considering the amount of phone calls re-guarding neither can the customer. Well I have to go and put the finishing touches on a real nice Old school Diamondback MTB before the boss'll let me git outta heah!
Just caught my reflection in the two way mirror as I was contemplating tonight's composition...made me shudder! I swear I can just make out the logo "Samsonite" under my eyes! (obscure joke, sorry)
But, my weary worn exterior is welcome as it is a manifestation of a good week (and lack of sleep, too much coffee, hungry newborn, and some annoying toy that kept making kissy sounds and saying "I love you" intermittently from somewhere in our bedroom that took three days to find!) and many satisfied customers. A little side note too all the folks who have shown such an interest in our little operation: When you call our phone number you will more then likely get an actual real person, not an answering machine, or voice mail. And to the gentleman who called me at 5.47 am this morning to find out when we opened, or the other 4 folks whom called at (respectively) 6.12 am, 7.00 am. 8.21am and 11.53 pm last night...Why are you all staying up so late and getting up so early? its Sunday! Sleep in, enjoy a nice breakfast, have some coffee BEFORE planning your day. No, I'm not angry I'm a mixture of surprised and flattered (I was up anyway, Miss Izy likes her breakfast at 5.30 am SHARP!) that you all PLAN on coming to see us almost makes me feel like an ATTRACTION. But no I'm not wearing a silly cartoon character costume and waving at folks, FAR to busy, but I'm more 'n happy to shake your hand (if you don't mind grease) and chawin' the fat 'fer awhile.
Oh and to all you folks who may have entered the store at a moment when we we're "discussing" issues or "helping" each other re-member this is "family" run store, yelling is how we say "I love you!" If you're from up North or know someone who is, you'll understand.
Well we have been busy Little bee's (no, not the kind of "B" I call Ray under my breath) but the buzzing worker Bee's. Have put out alot of new stock this past week and bought alot more have actually turned the stock over 3 times this week and just trying to keep up. Have several beauties dotting the landscape and SO many more to build. Almost done with the CCM (picture to Right) and OHHHH does she look SWEET! Can't wait. And evidently considering the amount of phone calls re-guarding neither can the customer. Well I have to go and put the finishing touches on a real nice Old school Diamondback MTB before the boss'll let me git outta heah!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
What? Me? Self Righteous?
OK. A little.
But some people make it real easy.
I know you're saying to yourself, "this is a first, twice in one day!" Posting, I mean.
Well I just had a happenstance that I could not, in good conscience let wait until this evening.
OK. Set up: A young couple walk into RE-Cycle, asking if we buy bikes, and how do much we pay? I go into my usual schpeel about buying and selling cheap, not that their bike may not be worth more, but in order to sell good quality re-furbed bikes cheap, I have to buy them that way. Then they begin to spin a tale of woe that made this bike mechanic feel a little hot under the collar! Now mind you when this story is through you will undoubtedly be as flabbergasted as I was, bought I swear, its all true. I have seen the re-ciepts, and have the bike sitting behind me as I speak!
Well this fine young couple, relatively new to the area have decided to move back to their home state, as things have not been aces on the job front (go figure). Prior to leaving the young man (whom bears a striking resemblance to Justin Long) decides he going to have his bike tuned-up. He has a small problem with the three speed rear hub, and just wants a general tune-up. So he goes to a "well respected, long time in business" establishment an they charge him $87.00 for the tune-up (mind you we charge $20.00 for the same thing, and apparently we do a little more) They have the bike for four days (for a tune-up!?!) When our young hero retrieves the bike he notices not only does the rear wheel gearing still have a problem, but now the tires warped! So he returns it. They hem and haw and say they couldn't fix the rear wheel (???) no explanation why they still charged him though. So they offer to replace the wheel with a single speed wheel (they couldn't afford what they wanted for a three-speed hub) but they were out of that wheel and wouldn't have more 'till next Friday (convenient, as the young couple is moving back on Wednesday). So, disheartened and with no other offer of compensation, the young couple asks if they would be interested in buying the bike. They were promptly informed "no. we don't do that anymore" and re-ferred them to us.
Enter...us.
Well once we found out that the bike in question was a Townie Electra3. We shouted a re-sounding "YES!" and waited their re-turn.
1 hour latah...
They bring in the bike. Here's where I got a little perturbed. Now re-member, they just picked up the bike today, from being "tuned-up" This is what we found. The chain and drive train had been oiled, but none of the old oil sludge or sand had been cleaned off. The front brake shoes were not centered on the rims and the left on was cock-eyed and grazing the tire. The neck was VERY loose, posing a threat of accident or bearing damage ( I know that tightening it may have not been in their tune-up price but they should have t least mentioned it to the customer) and sure enough the rear hub not only clunked but was loose as well. So it begs the question; exactly WHAT was the $87.00 for!?!
Well we came to an amiable price for the bike given the fact that we had to re-place the rear wheel, and touch up the paint (and do a REAL tune-up on it) but they left happy that's what counts.
And in the end curiosity got the best of me, I just had to find out, yes the other shop did in fact have the rear wheel in stock. Eleven of them.
But some people make it real easy.
I know you're saying to yourself, "this is a first, twice in one day!" Posting, I mean.
Well I just had a happenstance that I could not, in good conscience let wait until this evening.
OK. Set up: A young couple walk into RE-Cycle, asking if we buy bikes, and how do much we pay? I go into my usual schpeel about buying and selling cheap, not that their bike may not be worth more, but in order to sell good quality re-furbed bikes cheap, I have to buy them that way. Then they begin to spin a tale of woe that made this bike mechanic feel a little hot under the collar! Now mind you when this story is through you will undoubtedly be as flabbergasted as I was, bought I swear, its all true. I have seen the re-ciepts, and have the bike sitting behind me as I speak!
Well this fine young couple, relatively new to the area have decided to move back to their home state, as things have not been aces on the job front (go figure). Prior to leaving the young man (whom bears a striking resemblance to Justin Long) decides he going to have his bike tuned-up. He has a small problem with the three speed rear hub, and just wants a general tune-up. So he goes to a "well respected, long time in business" establishment an they charge him $87.00 for the tune-up (mind you we charge $20.00 for the same thing, and apparently we do a little more) They have the bike for four days (for a tune-up!?!) When our young hero retrieves the bike he notices not only does the rear wheel gearing still have a problem, but now the tires warped! So he returns it. They hem and haw and say they couldn't fix the rear wheel (???) no explanation why they still charged him though. So they offer to replace the wheel with a single speed wheel (they couldn't afford what they wanted for a three-speed hub) but they were out of that wheel and wouldn't have more 'till next Friday (convenient, as the young couple is moving back on Wednesday). So, disheartened and with no other offer of compensation, the young couple asks if they would be interested in buying the bike. They were promptly informed "no. we don't do that anymore" and re-ferred them to us.
Enter...us.
Well once we found out that the bike in question was a Townie Electra3. We shouted a re-sounding "YES!" and waited their re-turn.
1 hour latah...
They bring in the bike. Here's where I got a little perturbed. Now re-member, they just picked up the bike today, from being "tuned-up" This is what we found. The chain and drive train had been oiled, but none of the old oil sludge or sand had been cleaned off. The front brake shoes were not centered on the rims and the left on was cock-eyed and grazing the tire. The neck was VERY loose, posing a threat of accident or bearing damage ( I know that tightening it may have not been in their tune-up price but they should have t least mentioned it to the customer) and sure enough the rear hub not only clunked but was loose as well. So it begs the question; exactly WHAT was the $87.00 for!?!
Well we came to an amiable price for the bike given the fact that we had to re-place the rear wheel, and touch up the paint (and do a REAL tune-up on it) but they left happy that's what counts.
And in the end curiosity got the best of me, I just had to find out, yes the other shop did in fact have the rear wheel in stock. Eleven of them.
I Love A Good Challange.
I admire the hootzpa of those willing to brave the elements to achieve what they require! And under the vicious storm front blowing through here the last couple of days and torrential downpours we've had to wade through (I have an inflatable rubber raft under the chair at my desk, no kiddin' just in case I get bored and want to go white water rafting in the parkin lot.. hey, could happen) we've been just as busy as ever. Sold the Fila MTB ( ANOTHER CONVERT OF THE COMMUTE!) traded a young man up to a 20", 18" he had was knockin' his knees! A young lady traveled 2 hours (by BUS!) to purchase the Miami Sun 3-wheeler (tip o' the hat to Terry once again for delivery help!) Finally got the parts in we've been waiting (!!!!) for an pumped out all but one of the re-builds we've been trippin' over! Bought a REAL nice Diamondback old school hard tail, hopefully be done today. Also brought in 3 higher end BMX'ers Redline, Haro, GT. but NOT at a high end price, soooooooo they get to go out CHEAP! Those should be done in a day or two. That was the cool thing though, bough the bikes from a young family with a teenage boy and younger son. The teenager knew his stuff, clearly him in his dad we're partners in Passion for all things peddlin'. Apparently they have quite a collection. As we talked the mom noticed the little Trek Trikester we had out, and was shocked when she found out it was only $35.00 (though not quite as shocked then when she found out the thing was $259.00 new!!!) but as we talked she revealed that her younger child was disabled, I couldn't really tell, but she wants to outfit the trike with a special seat and harness so they can help exercise his legs. No folks I know we all love are kids, but that kinda thing really does pluck at the 'ol heartstrings! I really don't know if I could have that kind of tenderness, and patience. These are people we should all aspire to become! Well anyway, so theres my new challenge. I look forward to helping these wonderful people out. And yesterday was the beginning of our (Angelas and mine) new schedule. She comes in at 6 to work 'till close and I get to go home and do the drill Sargent git-'em-fed-cleaned-and-in-bed bit (guess who's idea this was) But it's cool, the older boys are workin' at the shop so I get to spend "quiet" time with the babies. 'Sides I read the bedtime stories better anyways!
Well 'till later!
Well 'till later!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Boys of Summer
Veering away from the mundane shop talk, I hope all the parents out there had a good first day of school. May you have had a moment to kick back, sip some coffee and enjoy a moment of relative calm basking in the peace of a once more quite house.
I had enjoyed such a brief moment. Brief being the operative term.
This morning my wife and I were on the ball (a surprising new development for us, trust me I give it the rest of the week before it decays into its normal chaos!) My wife rose at 5.30am to awaken our new high scholler, Elijah. A good thing as if it were me I say get up once...then break out the ice water! Then promptly woke me at 7 am (lord!) to assist with the three elementary students. Rozy and Owen were given their baths (Rozy still wants me to wash her hair) then dried and dressed. Logan takes a shower (he's a big boy and won't take a bath with the babies!) then dried and dressed, by 7.30am they were ready to go (a new record!) So with a half hour to spare and our middle scholler not having to wake until 8.00 am my wife and I retired to the Lanai for coffee. Going pretty well so far...at 7.50am we left the Lanai and taking the functionary "before the first day of school pictures" opened the door to leave...and were met with a torrential downpour. And guess who didn't have enough brains to buy umbrellas or rain slickers? OOOOOhhhh you got it first try! SOOOO as we are not car drivers we were faced with a wet walk. I jumped on my Schwinn and shot up the 2 blocks to CVS and paid WAY to much for four slickers, upon my arrival home our resident savior Keri "the Panera bread lady" was waiting to drive us up, not wanting to see us get wet. God bless good friends! Well I still needed my bike so we loaded the kids into the van and I rode the three minutes to school. 34 minutes later poor Keri pulled into the school parking lot (reason # 2 why I don't drive. Traffic!) We did the customary walk into chaos, trying to locate each child's new class only briefly getting lost (it wasn't my fault I had a bad map) But thankfully each child was quite excited to be back in school (and be away from the house, I'm sure) and several kisses and "Have a great day"'s later I was off to the shop, early to start what I planned on being a good, productive day! ("hehhehehehehehehehe" fate manically cackled) Barely an hour later I got a frantic call from my wife "the school called!" My first words being "What did Kaleb do NOW!" It wasn't Kaleb it was Logan. Now please understand parents don't have favorites (yea, right!) But they do...expect certain things from each of their children, and trouble from Logan is not something we EVER expect. During the playing of a simple game in class he fell and cracked his head on the edge of a desk and suffered a deep pressure split. Now have you've herd the expression "sunken heart" and "pit of your stomach"? that was it.
Needless to say within minutes the shop was locked up tight and my Schwinn was moving again!
"Deep" gash was an understatement.
In steps Keri the savior once again.
And we're at the ER. Now I don't know what it is about rainy days and hospitals but the beds are always full. So we waited, cuddled for warmth and waited. Logan was treated to lunch "Whatever he wanted" He wanted chocolate cake and orange Crush. Well what would you do? Finally we were seen, and yes stitches were needed, 6 to be exact. Now I always take the children to the ER, not because my wife is queasy or all girlie about blood or whatever, but have you ever watched "Animal Planet" when the stupid photographer tries to get to close to the tigresses cubs? My wife doesn't go to the hospital because I don't want to explain to the coroner why my wife mauled the doctor!
Well I have never broken down in ALL the times I've gone to the ER, most of the staff knows me and my kids on a first name basis, but folks to see your child helpless, scared and in pain...I thank my wife, whom I often kid alot, and fight with but still love so very deeply, for holding me when all was said and done, so I could just cry.
I had enjoyed such a brief moment. Brief being the operative term.
This morning my wife and I were on the ball (a surprising new development for us, trust me I give it the rest of the week before it decays into its normal chaos!) My wife rose at 5.30am to awaken our new high scholler, Elijah. A good thing as if it were me I say get up once...then break out the ice water! Then promptly woke me at 7 am (lord!) to assist with the three elementary students. Rozy and Owen were given their baths (Rozy still wants me to wash her hair) then dried and dressed. Logan takes a shower (he's a big boy and won't take a bath with the babies!) then dried and dressed, by 7.30am they were ready to go (a new record!) So with a half hour to spare and our middle scholler not having to wake until 8.00 am my wife and I retired to the Lanai for coffee. Going pretty well so far...at 7.50am we left the Lanai and taking the functionary "before the first day of school pictures" opened the door to leave...and were met with a torrential downpour. And guess who didn't have enough brains to buy umbrellas or rain slickers? OOOOOhhhh you got it first try! SOOOO as we are not car drivers we were faced with a wet walk. I jumped on my Schwinn and shot up the 2 blocks to CVS and paid WAY to much for four slickers, upon my arrival home our resident savior Keri "the Panera bread lady" was waiting to drive us up, not wanting to see us get wet. God bless good friends! Well I still needed my bike so we loaded the kids into the van and I rode the three minutes to school. 34 minutes later poor Keri pulled into the school parking lot (reason # 2 why I don't drive. Traffic!) We did the customary walk into chaos, trying to locate each child's new class only briefly getting lost (it wasn't my fault I had a bad map) But thankfully each child was quite excited to be back in school (and be away from the house, I'm sure) and several kisses and "Have a great day"'s later I was off to the shop, early to start what I planned on being a good, productive day! ("hehhehehehehehehehe" fate manically cackled) Barely an hour later I got a frantic call from my wife "the school called!" My first words being "What did Kaleb do NOW!" It wasn't Kaleb it was Logan. Now please understand parents don't have favorites (yea, right!) But they do...expect certain things from each of their children, and trouble from Logan is not something we EVER expect. During the playing of a simple game in class he fell and cracked his head on the edge of a desk and suffered a deep pressure split. Now have you've herd the expression "sunken heart" and "pit of your stomach"? that was it.
Needless to say within minutes the shop was locked up tight and my Schwinn was moving again!
"Deep" gash was an understatement.
In steps Keri the savior once again.
And we're at the ER. Now I don't know what it is about rainy days and hospitals but the beds are always full. So we waited, cuddled for warmth and waited. Logan was treated to lunch "Whatever he wanted" He wanted chocolate cake and orange Crush. Well what would you do? Finally we were seen, and yes stitches were needed, 6 to be exact. Now I always take the children to the ER, not because my wife is queasy or all girlie about blood or whatever, but have you ever watched "Animal Planet" when the stupid photographer tries to get to close to the tigresses cubs? My wife doesn't go to the hospital because I don't want to explain to the coroner why my wife mauled the doctor!
Well I have never broken down in ALL the times I've gone to the ER, most of the staff knows me and my kids on a first name basis, but folks to see your child helpless, scared and in pain...I thank my wife, whom I often kid alot, and fight with but still love so very deeply, for holding me when all was said and done, so I could just cry.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Sunday, Busy Sunday!
What an odd sensation. A mixture of exhilaration, excitement and exhaustion all in one. So this is punch drunk. Well LOTS went on today! where to start, first everything we put together last night is gone, 3 Roadmasters, a Vertical, Pacific, and a Huffy MTB. 3 gone in the first hour of opening! and 2 at the end. A reverend bought the Vertical then came back 1/2 hour later with a follower who bought a Roadmaster. And he blessed us all and the shop (does that make this place holy ground?) The Schwinn "Sgt Slaughter" went to the perfect candidate, this monster of a bike went to a gentleman 6'4" who LOVED it. Thought it was the perfect bike, and oh yes "HE"S A CONVERT!" another wise and wonderful follower of the "leave the car at home" crowd that we have been so happy to see growing by leaps and bounds. Yes he will now (and we hope forever more) be riding the seven miles to work as opposed to driving it!
We thank you all for your blessed patronage.
And ALSO, I got a little overly excited today and think I made one customer (at first) a little nervous because he was the "I-know-I-want-a-bike-but-don't-know-what-kind-I-want" type. I LOVE newbies!!! And OH did I put on my best interior designer , lets have fun with it persona when I realized he liked retro! whoAHHHH! I've been sittin on an old CCM frame that I've been DYING to sink my teeth into (love the chaingaurd) and he asked me what color I thought it should be. hoho! Then it struck me, go prestigious with a touch of POP! Soooo charcoal gray metallic flake, with cherry wood accents, and on the chaingaurd Cherry stained wood veneer! OH this baby's gonna be SWEEEET! I've included a photo to the right of the frame as is now, and when I finish you'll see the results!
Well tomorrow is my day of rest, but I'll talk to ya'll Tuesday.
We thank you all for your blessed patronage.
And ALSO, I got a little overly excited today and think I made one customer (at first) a little nervous because he was the "I-know-I-want-a-bike-but-don't-know-what-kind-I-want" type. I LOVE newbies!!! And OH did I put on my best interior designer , lets have fun with it persona when I realized he liked retro! whoAHHHH! I've been sittin on an old CCM frame that I've been DYING to sink my teeth into (love the chaingaurd) and he asked me what color I thought it should be. hoho! Then it struck me, go prestigious with a touch of POP! Soooo charcoal gray metallic flake, with cherry wood accents, and on the chaingaurd Cherry stained wood veneer! OH this baby's gonna be SWEEEET! I've included a photo to the right of the frame as is now, and when I finish you'll see the results!
Well tomorrow is my day of rest, but I'll talk to ya'll Tuesday.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Another Long Night
Just poppin' in to say HEY! Today was Mad Mad Mad busy! We are now almost Officially out of floor stock (well not quite) have 4 adult bikes left and about 10 kids bikes lest, Sooooooooooooooo, Another Long Night! It's not that we don't have a plethora of bikes in the back to re-create, its just us being so busy this week with re-pairs and helping out customers we haven't had a chance to re-build! And my brainchild of last week , re-organizing the shop? ahHAHAHAHAHAH! You have to be real careful where you step and make sure to lift your feet! And heaven help you if you open the bathroom door! Its now the tire locker!
Oh Well. WE ARE BLESSED TO BE BUSY!!!!
My daily tip o' the hat goes to the lucky young man who purchased the "Black Irish" looking to convert it to power assist for cruisin' the neighborhood. Re-member, call if you need help!
The young re-peater who finally got the blue springer. See man, I told you it would wait for you!
Again, thanks to Terry our ever present scrap guy for your assist in delivering the aforementioned "Black Irish". I'm sure we'll call on you again, soon. And the young family shopping for school. It was so cool that the young brother paid for his sisters back-to-school bike. And of course ALL our Saturday regulars who come in to chew the fat, and drink coffee (moochers) JUST KIDDIN"! Oh yes an the young couple who have been waiting on their Trek re-build (see my tirade from yesterday you'll understand why they've been waiting) They saw the Fila road bike and fell in love with it, walking out with it as happy as can be!
And to all the other awesome folks who just popped their heads in to see what all the hub-bub is about, I say welcome, and thank you for stoppin' in!
Now business. Yes we sold quite a bit but have no fear, I've bought about as much if not more! Coming soon, Sweet Red/white ladies low step-over Schwinn cruiser, Schwinn mirada we're going to convert to a 26" BMX racer, several bangers that'll be under $60 when finished, 24" PK Vertical MTB aluminum, old school Trek 720 MTB, Kalebs working on a SWEET Old school BMX Mongoose dirt with all the trimmins (nice High gloss metallic RED) Ray's 'bout done with another banger that's actually real sharp lookin'! Me? gonna finish off this customers Huffy then wander around in a sleep deprived stupor, probably put on a movie in my bay and fake like I'm doin' somethin' of some importance. (its called MANAGEMENT!)
So all that, plus whatever else ends up on our doorstep!
Talk more at ya latta'
RE-Cycle
(...where evrybody knows your name...)
Oh Well. WE ARE BLESSED TO BE BUSY!!!!
My daily tip o' the hat goes to the lucky young man who purchased the "Black Irish" looking to convert it to power assist for cruisin' the neighborhood. Re-member, call if you need help!
The young re-peater who finally got the blue springer. See man, I told you it would wait for you!
Again, thanks to Terry our ever present scrap guy for your assist in delivering the aforementioned "Black Irish". I'm sure we'll call on you again, soon. And the young family shopping for school. It was so cool that the young brother paid for his sisters back-to-school bike. And of course ALL our Saturday regulars who come in to chew the fat, and drink coffee (moochers) JUST KIDDIN"! Oh yes an the young couple who have been waiting on their Trek re-build (see my tirade from yesterday you'll understand why they've been waiting) They saw the Fila road bike and fell in love with it, walking out with it as happy as can be!
And to all the other awesome folks who just popped their heads in to see what all the hub-bub is about, I say welcome, and thank you for stoppin' in!
Now business. Yes we sold quite a bit but have no fear, I've bought about as much if not more! Coming soon, Sweet Red/white ladies low step-over Schwinn cruiser, Schwinn mirada we're going to convert to a 26" BMX racer, several bangers that'll be under $60 when finished, 24" PK Vertical MTB aluminum, old school Trek 720 MTB, Kalebs working on a SWEET Old school BMX Mongoose dirt with all the trimmins (nice High gloss metallic RED) Ray's 'bout done with another banger that's actually real sharp lookin'! Me? gonna finish off this customers Huffy then wander around in a sleep deprived stupor, probably put on a movie in my bay and fake like I'm doin' somethin' of some importance. (its called MANAGEMENT!)
So all that, plus whatever else ends up on our doorstep!
Talk more at ya latta'
RE-Cycle
(...where evrybody knows your name...)
Friday, August 20, 2010
Re-Afirmation
Whoa! My mind is racing and my thoughts are careening in 20 different directions as I type so forgive me. This is how I gather my thoughts...incessant rambling (a personality quirk akin to that of a chihuahua). Today was wild, mad busy! I'd like to thank all the wonderful folks who came by the store today! Thanks Jerry for printing out those really cool business cards. He knew I ran out of the old ones and whipped out some real sweet ones on his home computer. Hes a cool guy folks. Brings his granddaughter bike in for re-pairs and no sooner does he leave with it but he's back in an hour with another granddaughters bike to fix up! Thank you so much to our new bestest buddy Chip. Not only has he been bringing us goodies from his private stash of bike parts but he came up with (from a brief concept of ours) a cool new logo and shirt design for our shop! Soon as I can figure out how I'll post it here. And "GOOD LUCK Chip" on your most re-cent book tour! We hope you sell a million copies! A tip of the hat to our "bike Junkies" for their daily visit to see whats new. Don't worry eventually your hubby Will be ridding right along side of you! And to the wonderful young couple with the two sweet children. The dad was so sweet when he had to leave his young sons bike for re-pairs and had to re-assure him that the bike would be ok and that I was going to make it feel better! SO damn cute!
I am talking to you amongst about a dozen or so re-pairs that had come in in the span of three hours, as well as two rather large trade/purchases which quite frankly I have no freakin' clue where I'm gonna put. But hey, that's OK I am blessed to be busy and welcome more! Actually the re-pairs are done but most people don't realize they'll be done that quick. They usually plan on having to leave them at a bike shop for a couple of days and are quite shocked (and unprepared) when you call them 2 or 3 hours later and tell them they're ready, so here they sit.
But, anyway I told you that story to tell you this one.
Let me tell two things; 1) I usually try and put a positive spin on every day (even the bad ones) but here now you will hear a very uncustomary gripe session from me so I'll understand if you stop reading now. 2) I have to say that, in part I screwed up. I took someone (or more accurately another company, our whole seller for their word)
OK.
So a couple of weeks ago a young man came into our store looking for a nice Mountain bike, something a little higher end. I just happened to have one of the later Gary Fisher's in the back about 85% done. I was waiting in a rear wheel with a six lug disc brake set-up. Not something we usually see here, so I was debating whether or not to buy a new one (new..evil word). This bike was a wreck when we got it. It looked like someone rolled it down a mountain rather then ride it. But torn down cleaned up and re-painted looked rather SWEEEEET! He loved it dropped a deposit on it and with my assurances that it would be done in a couple of days left happy. Then the trouble started. After two weeks of promises from my whole seller that they would first ship spokes to me, then giving me the wrong price, then saying they were out of stock, an aborted attempted to re-string the wheel (no fault of the fine gentleman Bullet, who tried valiantly to help me) And in the end deciding to just order another whole new wheel (eating the cost of course for all the customers troubles) which I should have done in the first place, only then to find out on Thursday that they never shipped the darn thing and I was going to have to RE-ORDER and wait until next Tuesday (I hope) t get it!
WHEW! Well needless to say our customer was NOT happy and gave me a well deserved tongue lashing. Although all things considered he was rather conservative and understanding given the circumstances. He had had plans for the weekend for the bike and this whole debacle screwed him up (sorry) and was offering to pick up the bike as is (with a price break) and get a wheel from another shop, and mount it himself. He asked if I would mind checking around to see if another shop in town had the wheel he needed. Not that I want to loose the business, but wanting to help solve his dilemma I started calling. Well out of four shops I called I found one that had it, I won't say which one of course because here's where the story takes a sickening turn...
With part number, dimensions and description in hand I asked for the wheel. The service department at "blank" told me they had several in stock, no problem and they were only $119.99...ONLY $119.99....!!!
"Back the truck up!" This store orders their parts from the SAME whole seller as we do. Its the same EXACT wheel that we ordered from the same exact catalog from the same exact place that we both pay the same exact price...(actually these folks are much bigger then us so they probably get a little better price break) but the wheel only costs...$25.00!!!!
I'll give you a moment.
How...what...who... I mean I can understand making a profit, that's what keeps us going but seriously, we charge $45.00 for this wheel and feel a twinge of guilt for that! Maybe I'm just naive but this just seems wrong. Yes businesses have overhead, but if you have to charge that much to cover it maybe you have to eliminate some overhead! I kid the big guys sometimes and lord knows I can be full of sarcasm (my therapist says that's anger, and anger is bad) But all jokes aside this is just plain wrong! Look times are tough, lord knows we all know it but don't you think that corporate greed and outright highway robbery should just become a thing of the past. We all gotta help each other outta this mess not just help ourselves.
Love ya'll and goodnight.
I am talking to you amongst about a dozen or so re-pairs that had come in in the span of three hours, as well as two rather large trade/purchases which quite frankly I have no freakin' clue where I'm gonna put. But hey, that's OK I am blessed to be busy and welcome more! Actually the re-pairs are done but most people don't realize they'll be done that quick. They usually plan on having to leave them at a bike shop for a couple of days and are quite shocked (and unprepared) when you call them 2 or 3 hours later and tell them they're ready, so here they sit.
But, anyway I told you that story to tell you this one.
Let me tell two things; 1) I usually try and put a positive spin on every day (even the bad ones) but here now you will hear a very uncustomary gripe session from me so I'll understand if you stop reading now. 2) I have to say that, in part I screwed up. I took someone (or more accurately another company, our whole seller for their word)
OK.
So a couple of weeks ago a young man came into our store looking for a nice Mountain bike, something a little higher end. I just happened to have one of the later Gary Fisher's in the back about 85% done. I was waiting in a rear wheel with a six lug disc brake set-up. Not something we usually see here, so I was debating whether or not to buy a new one (new..evil word). This bike was a wreck when we got it. It looked like someone rolled it down a mountain rather then ride it. But torn down cleaned up and re-painted looked rather SWEEEEET! He loved it dropped a deposit on it and with my assurances that it would be done in a couple of days left happy. Then the trouble started. After two weeks of promises from my whole seller that they would first ship spokes to me, then giving me the wrong price, then saying they were out of stock, an aborted attempted to re-string the wheel (no fault of the fine gentleman Bullet, who tried valiantly to help me) And in the end deciding to just order another whole new wheel (eating the cost of course for all the customers troubles) which I should have done in the first place, only then to find out on Thursday that they never shipped the darn thing and I was going to have to RE-ORDER and wait until next Tuesday (I hope) t get it!
WHEW! Well needless to say our customer was NOT happy and gave me a well deserved tongue lashing. Although all things considered he was rather conservative and understanding given the circumstances. He had had plans for the weekend for the bike and this whole debacle screwed him up (sorry) and was offering to pick up the bike as is (with a price break) and get a wheel from another shop, and mount it himself. He asked if I would mind checking around to see if another shop in town had the wheel he needed. Not that I want to loose the business, but wanting to help solve his dilemma I started calling. Well out of four shops I called I found one that had it, I won't say which one of course because here's where the story takes a sickening turn...
With part number, dimensions and description in hand I asked for the wheel. The service department at "blank" told me they had several in stock, no problem and they were only $119.99...ONLY $119.99....!!!
"Back the truck up!" This store orders their parts from the SAME whole seller as we do. Its the same EXACT wheel that we ordered from the same exact catalog from the same exact place that we both pay the same exact price...(actually these folks are much bigger then us so they probably get a little better price break) but the wheel only costs...$25.00!!!!
I'll give you a moment.
How...what...who... I mean I can understand making a profit, that's what keeps us going but seriously, we charge $45.00 for this wheel and feel a twinge of guilt for that! Maybe I'm just naive but this just seems wrong. Yes businesses have overhead, but if you have to charge that much to cover it maybe you have to eliminate some overhead! I kid the big guys sometimes and lord knows I can be full of sarcasm (my therapist says that's anger, and anger is bad) But all jokes aside this is just plain wrong! Look times are tough, lord knows we all know it but don't you think that corporate greed and outright highway robbery should just become a thing of the past. We all gotta help each other outta this mess not just help ourselves.
Love ya'll and goodnight.
In The Begining
Ok Kiddies, this is an Origin story!
A long time ago...(nope, cliche')
Once upon a time...(to overdone)
It was the best of times..(who'm I kiddin')
On December 12, 2008 after having worked in the construction industry for several years, our family was hit! I had not worked steady in over 8 months and what meager savings we had we're sufficiently drained! Subsisting on what small morsels of cash we could dredge up, what the pawn shop would give us, and what food we could get from the food pantry we found ourselves at a dead end. On this day we had nothing in the house to eat and needed money for dinner. What to do?
Now as parents of 8 children you can imagine we have a lot of junk in our garage, and amongst the rubble were several partial bikes and parts that the children (and I) had burnt out. Well someone (not sure who) came up with the idea of fixin' 'em up and stickin them out to the curb with a for-sale sign and seeing what happens. This was one time where living on a busy street paid off (compensation for all the mini heart attacks when children got to close to the road) because within 45 minutes we had sold four! We ate well that night! I believe it was Papa Johns Delivery. The wife and kids really deserved it after going without for so long. Whilst we scoffed down several LARGE pies, the events of the day were bantered about, and the realization that "HEY, we got something here!" hit us.
Thus RE-Cycle was born.
I'll take this moment to do a "WayBack" thing. 4 years prior after watching Al Gores "An Inconvenient Truth" My wife and I sat back in terror, knowing the planet had its problems but not knowing (or willing to except our complacency) the whole truth. On that day we made a decision to alter certain aspects of our lifestyle. The biggest change being that we ceremoniously sold our family van for scrap, and have been walking, riding bikes,or taking buses ever since. Not an easy adjustment at first, but after a little while it had become old hat.
OK...SWISSSH! Time warp back to the present!
So after deciding that we were going to pursue this bike thing I and my wife (more Angela because shes the brains, and the conscience of the operation) set some ground rules;
1) utilize what has already been produced! (sometimes, some new parts are necessary, much to our chagrin)
2) Help those who need it, when they need it!
3) NO RUST! Always deliver a clean well running bike. Yes there used but they don't have to look or ride that way!
4) DO NOT get greedy (sometimes hard for me) Even when you get popular and recognized realize WHY you are popular and recognized.
5) Remember, ALWAYS why you are here; The customer. Period.
6) Keep it light, personable, and fun. Once its not, 'aint no reason to be doin' it!
7) Give back to the community. Keep the money local!
8) Minimize and try to eliminate waste.
9) Be home RIGHT after closing! (thats Angi's rule)
So the ground rules being set, we began the arduous task of building our small company, and believe me its had its ups and downs. See the problem with becoming popular no matter how well meaning your intentions may be theres always some who do not share in your happiness. Don't get me wrong 99.9999% of the people we encounter are nothing but nice! I could go on and on for days at all the AWESOME folks who have treated us SO WELL over the last two years, from the folks who buy or repair their bikes here, to folks who bring us homemade business cards, flyer's, t-shirts, food (thank you Keri "The Panera Bread Lady") or to folks cleaning out their garage or back yard and bring us bike donations because they "like what we do"! I can't tell you how many times I've walked out of my house to work and found one or more bikes leaning up against our garage door in need of a good home. And always anonymously.
But as I said, not everyone shared in our joy.
Once we became known the city took notice. Apparently they don't 'cottin to folks operatin' no business out of their home UNLESS they git their fair share. So ok, to keep legit we went and got our "Occupational Licence" well once they had their fees...then came the rules. Can't display bikes outside, can't see the operation from the road, can't have customers come to the house, can't put out a sign, can't advertise, can't work in the driveway, can't work with the garage door open...
Well...I've never been a big follower of some authority so...I...pushed it.
For a year and a half.
Well one thing I found is folks do like their gossip (I DO NOT exclude myself from this category) and info started to trickle down to me. Now taking it with a grain of salt I did not heed some of it, only because I really didn't think business folk could be like that. Well I was wrong. Turns out that even though the city cited "neighborhood complaints" as their reason for serving us several registered letters, driving by once a day to see if we we're out (hey we we're nice..we always waved) sitting in their cars across the seat to take photos of our transactions...etc, etc,etc, we had NEVER received one complaint from our neighbors, quite the contrary they we're some of our best customers (still are) and always had a kind word to say. Nope turns out the rumors were true, confirmed by the very same city employees (code enforcement) who paid us daily visits. Turns out that a cadre of fellow bicycle shop owners signed a petition of sorts sighting "unfair competition" (not all of them mind you, just a few). I didn't know whether to be confused or flattered. We didn't get into this to compete with anyone. I mean we are trying to fill a niche' that I as a bike rider could never find. I relied on my bike for transportation but the few times I had to have it serviced no matter where I went it would cost me as much to buy a NEW bike as it would to fix my 13 year old Huffy! I can't speak for everyone, but there are allot of folks out there (especially nowadays) who simply cannot afford that. Who's representing them?
well...now...us.
But the likelihood of someone bringing me a 10,000.00 bike for a tune-up?
So...the final straw came when I was ordered to appear before the zoning commission. My wife and I sat down and realized we had a decision to make. Do we give it up and find day jobs, or do we pursue what had become our life goal and keep this thing moving.
Well a little $$$ and a signed lease and we began building out our little nook here at 1893 North Highland Ave (only 2 blocks from the "Old Garage") Do I miss the old days? Yes. But like everything else comes change, and in retrospect the move was not as scary as we had thought. And the best part is we didn't have to alter our ground rules or even raise our prices (ok..a tad).
Because we always said "We're not lookin' to get rich, only popular."
A long time ago...(nope, cliche')
Once upon a time...(to overdone)
It was the best of times..(who'm I kiddin')
On December 12, 2008 after having worked in the construction industry for several years, our family was hit! I had not worked steady in over 8 months and what meager savings we had we're sufficiently drained! Subsisting on what small morsels of cash we could dredge up, what the pawn shop would give us, and what food we could get from the food pantry we found ourselves at a dead end. On this day we had nothing in the house to eat and needed money for dinner. What to do?
Now as parents of 8 children you can imagine we have a lot of junk in our garage, and amongst the rubble were several partial bikes and parts that the children (and I) had burnt out. Well someone (not sure who) came up with the idea of fixin' 'em up and stickin them out to the curb with a for-sale sign and seeing what happens. This was one time where living on a busy street paid off (compensation for all the mini heart attacks when children got to close to the road) because within 45 minutes we had sold four! We ate well that night! I believe it was Papa Johns Delivery. The wife and kids really deserved it after going without for so long. Whilst we scoffed down several LARGE pies, the events of the day were bantered about, and the realization that "HEY, we got something here!" hit us.
Thus RE-Cycle was born.
I'll take this moment to do a "WayBack" thing. 4 years prior after watching Al Gores "An Inconvenient Truth" My wife and I sat back in terror, knowing the planet had its problems but not knowing (or willing to except our complacency) the whole truth. On that day we made a decision to alter certain aspects of our lifestyle. The biggest change being that we ceremoniously sold our family van for scrap, and have been walking, riding bikes,or taking buses ever since. Not an easy adjustment at first, but after a little while it had become old hat.
OK...SWISSSH! Time warp back to the present!
So after deciding that we were going to pursue this bike thing I and my wife (more Angela because shes the brains, and the conscience of the operation) set some ground rules;
1) utilize what has already been produced! (sometimes, some new parts are necessary, much to our chagrin)
2) Help those who need it, when they need it!
3) NO RUST! Always deliver a clean well running bike. Yes there used but they don't have to look or ride that way!
4) DO NOT get greedy (sometimes hard for me) Even when you get popular and recognized realize WHY you are popular and recognized.
5) Remember, ALWAYS why you are here; The customer. Period.
6) Keep it light, personable, and fun. Once its not, 'aint no reason to be doin' it!
7) Give back to the community. Keep the money local!
8) Minimize and try to eliminate waste.
9) Be home RIGHT after closing! (thats Angi's rule)
So the ground rules being set, we began the arduous task of building our small company, and believe me its had its ups and downs. See the problem with becoming popular no matter how well meaning your intentions may be theres always some who do not share in your happiness. Don't get me wrong 99.9999% of the people we encounter are nothing but nice! I could go on and on for days at all the AWESOME folks who have treated us SO WELL over the last two years, from the folks who buy or repair their bikes here, to folks who bring us homemade business cards, flyer's, t-shirts, food (thank you Keri "The Panera Bread Lady") or to folks cleaning out their garage or back yard and bring us bike donations because they "like what we do"! I can't tell you how many times I've walked out of my house to work and found one or more bikes leaning up against our garage door in need of a good home. And always anonymously.
But as I said, not everyone shared in our joy.
Once we became known the city took notice. Apparently they don't 'cottin to folks operatin' no business out of their home UNLESS they git their fair share. So ok, to keep legit we went and got our "Occupational Licence" well once they had their fees...then came the rules. Can't display bikes outside, can't see the operation from the road, can't have customers come to the house, can't put out a sign, can't advertise, can't work in the driveway, can't work with the garage door open...
Well...I've never been a big follower of some authority so...I...pushed it.
For a year and a half.
Well one thing I found is folks do like their gossip (I DO NOT exclude myself from this category) and info started to trickle down to me. Now taking it with a grain of salt I did not heed some of it, only because I really didn't think business folk could be like that. Well I was wrong. Turns out that even though the city cited "neighborhood complaints" as their reason for serving us several registered letters, driving by once a day to see if we we're out (hey we we're nice..we always waved) sitting in their cars across the seat to take photos of our transactions...etc, etc,etc, we had NEVER received one complaint from our neighbors, quite the contrary they we're some of our best customers (still are) and always had a kind word to say. Nope turns out the rumors were true, confirmed by the very same city employees (code enforcement) who paid us daily visits. Turns out that a cadre of fellow bicycle shop owners signed a petition of sorts sighting "unfair competition" (not all of them mind you, just a few). I didn't know whether to be confused or flattered. We didn't get into this to compete with anyone. I mean we are trying to fill a niche' that I as a bike rider could never find. I relied on my bike for transportation but the few times I had to have it serviced no matter where I went it would cost me as much to buy a NEW bike as it would to fix my 13 year old Huffy! I can't speak for everyone, but there are allot of folks out there (especially nowadays) who simply cannot afford that. Who's representing them?
well...now...us.
But the likelihood of someone bringing me a 10,000.00 bike for a tune-up?
So...the final straw came when I was ordered to appear before the zoning commission. My wife and I sat down and realized we had a decision to make. Do we give it up and find day jobs, or do we pursue what had become our life goal and keep this thing moving.
Well a little $$$ and a signed lease and we began building out our little nook here at 1893 North Highland Ave (only 2 blocks from the "Old Garage") Do I miss the old days? Yes. But like everything else comes change, and in retrospect the move was not as scary as we had thought. And the best part is we didn't have to alter our ground rules or even raise our prices (ok..a tad).
Because we always said "We're not lookin' to get rich, only popular."
Thursday, August 19, 2010
You always remember your first
This will be my first blog and for those of you not familiar with who I am or what i do you'll be suprised to know, I am short on words tonight (NOT , I assure you a regular dilema) But as I have spent the better part of my waining hours at the shop on the 'pooter trying to figure out how to do this, my first will be brief.
That brief enough? I must away, as my dinner and plethora of children await! But fear not, I in my abonable fasion shall regail you with words of wisdom, and whimsey and depart upon you otherwise meager lives brief rays of sunshine and hope!
(Whoa better git yer wadders, gettin' deep in heah!)
That brief enough? I must away, as my dinner and plethora of children await! But fear not, I in my abonable fasion shall regail you with words of wisdom, and whimsey and depart upon you otherwise meager lives brief rays of sunshine and hope!
(Whoa better git yer wadders, gettin' deep in heah!)
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