Month: February 2012

Designer Builder Maker ?

While signing up for the Philly Bike Expo earlier this week the question came up if I was a “Builder”?  My first answer was no, “Designer” with an OEM contractor.  Then I filled in the description a bit more with “Bag Maker”.  The thing is, it is hard to describe this in one simple phrase.  Would I make the upcoming bikes if I had the means?  I am pretty sure the answer is yes, but the tooling and equipment are out of reach and not feasible in our current space.  For now I am a Designer with respect to the bikes.

On the bags I am designer, and maker at the moment.  Maybe that makes me a bag and wallet builder?  That is an issue of semantics.  For now I wear all three hats.

The bottom line is that I know what I like, the way I want particular things to be and perform.  This may sound selfish, but I love to make things.  I get an idea in my head, work it out on paper, and often take it into the workshop to bring it into reality.  Today’s example is a couple of revisions to the Makr style touring wallet.  Based on feedback from the first round, the design was revised into a wallet with more pockets and a version that can hold a boat load of cards for a trade show (NAHBS is this weekend). Two completely different wallets, and what was an item is becoming a line.

The wallet is going to a friend who will run it through the paces.  The card holder is for me.  The exercise helped fuel my creative energy to complete more complex designs, like the handlebar bag I have in the works.  Likewise it is a release so that I can better focus on the business side of things the rest of the day without the distraction of pent up designs floating around in my head.

I know how to design things so that they can be made over and over, in the hopes that more people than myself agree with my line of thinking and want one of my designs for themselves.   My qualifications stem from a 35 or so years of making things the way I want them, an engineering education, another 15 years of working in the post college world and a deep understanding of what I want things to be.  It is my hope that as Ocean Air Cycles grows, you will have faith in the ability of my designs, and through use transform the faith into understanding and appreciation.

…………………….

Enough lofty thoughts, it is Leap Day, get out and ride.  I can not imagine missing the unique opportunity, and having to admit that one did not ride a bike on Leap Day.

If you like the wallets, let me know.  I can get you a custom soon, or in a bit will be producing them in small batches.

As mentioned above, NAHBS (Hand Built Bike Show), is this weekend in Sacramento.  I am planning on being up there to walk the floor on Saturday.  If you see me and feel inclined, it is always nice to meet readers in the wild, stop me and say Hi.

Commitment

There is nothing like a monetary commitment, skin in the game, to keep you focused on the target.  Aside from the myriad  of bureaucratic and general business expenses there are the specific costs, engineering, prototypes, testing etc.  Each new cost is another step to the center of the ring.  Today I signed up for my first Expo, Philly Bike Expo October 27 & 28 to be exact.  The check is in the envelope and on the way, locked in, I need to get busy so I have something to show.

My post office rides seem to always fall on stormy days.  Today is supposed to be a rain day according to the weather man, but it looks like a miss.  I am not sure there is going to be any rain this year, the hills never turned green and things are all brown and crispy before spring has even shown up.  It is going to be an interesting year in the coastal desert, where easy access to fresh water is often taken for granted.

It was good to get outside for a break though, and a quick trip to roll past the ocean.

As a side note, I am loving the new/old pedals.  I need to get a deeper set of half clips fabbed up, but outside of that, they are sublime for riding around town, even in Birkenstocks.

Mid Day Escape and Masu Logo

I am not sure winter ever really happened this year.  I am sure we will pay the price in the coming dry months, but for now it is 68 degrees and gorgeous outside.  A perfect day to hit the farmer’s market and take the long way home through the hills.

I really should be taking rides through the hills more often, once a month is marginally (nice way to say not really) enough to stay in the level of fitness I would like.  Today the weather and new pedals did the trick, I got out there, and it was worth is.

I have some art ideas in my head for the logo on the upcoming bike.  I still like the name Masu, and am trying to make sure the steelhead trout connection can be made.  Here is a sketch of what I am thinking,

This would be on the top tube, drive side a little bit back from the head tube.  It wraps about a third of the way around the top tube.  The color would match the Ocean Air Cycles logo on the down tube with the body of the fish transparent so the bike color shines through.  Subtle but there.

Let me know if you like it, could care less as long as the bike works, or think it is a horrible idea.  As always I value your input.

Video From Last Week

As promised I put together a quick video from my ride last week.  I am using IMovie on my wife’s IMac to edit and post process.  While intuitive, it is a double learning curve for a lifetime PC guy like me.

I learned a bunch just making this short clip, from the importance of really thinking out for each shot to the need to have the camera perfectly plumb and level.  I am working on adding music and refining my editing skills, for now it was time to quit editing and move on from my first pass at video.  There will be better ones to follow for sure, this was fun.

Any tips you out there can provide are welcome, Thanks for taking a look.

Pedal Thoughts and Tinkering

I will admit it, I am a pedal snob.  I have big feet, like to ride in Keens, and hate little tiny pedals that only support out to my middle toe.  It always feels like my foot is about to roll off of the ends.  When I am looking at a new pedals the distance from the crank arm to the outer edge of the pedal is a big deal for me.  I have tried clipless systems, but found that the gains were not worth the need for an extra pair of shoes in most of the ways and places that I ride.  Most modern platform pedals are not really that wide, and off I went into the depths of vintage pedals.  My bread and butter has been the Sakae Low Fat, wider than the current MKS touring it has been a good pedal for me.  It works easily with clips and straps or naked for shorter rides with lots of stops and starts.  The downsides are weight, bulk and the general in-elegance of the clunky pedals on classically styled road bikes.  Enter my latest acquisition along this quest:

I recently scored a near new set of Specialized touring pedals.  Their MKS lineage is pretty clear.  They are as wide as my Low Fat MTB pedals, 30g lighter each, and look a whole lot prettier than most of today’s pedal offerings.  While nice they had some shortcomings out of the box.  The toe strap arrangement, appears ingenious,  but does not really work in the real world.  The strap makes its upward turn at the outer edge right into the bottom of my foot.  Off to the drawing board, I came back and turned my MKS large/deep toe clips into a new set of half clips.  This is my first set of half clips, so time will tell how they work out.  I made each a little different to see if, well if it makes any difference in function.

For now these will be going on my Roadeo, to get me motivated to put some miles on it while I am waiting for the Masu production samples.  I will let you know how it is going in a week or so.