Ok, I missed July in full, June was rather uninspired, but now August… Time for sweet blog redemption. Lets start out with this: Dear kind blog reader, Thank you ever-so-much for taking the time to read the meager offerings that we provide.  It is easy to get caught up in the daily in’s and out’s of the shop, so much so that I often find myself reflecting on the day while staring into the bottom of a pint glass,  rather than sharing my thoughts here, where they belong.  Now, early Monday morning, glass of fresh, not from concentrate, cool, and delicious grapefruit juice on the desk, I bring you….  THE AUGUST UPDATE!!!

The changes around the shop have been overwhelmingly fantastic. Many (read “almost all”)  of our staff have chosen to leave their respective positions at other fine Gainesville bicycle shops, and join our team.  ( *note:  i say “team” because we do stuff together, outside of work. With any luck we will excel beyond bowling against each other and perhaps be able to challenge other shops. end note. ) 

(Top L>R: Dave, Brian, Jim. Bottom L>R: Ben, Paul, Neal)

With our new staff and constantly evolving shop image, we are set to bring about some new life to the Gainesville bike shop scene.  2009 is going to be a very exciting year for us, as we are in the process of fine tuning our bike lines. We are in negotiations with a very fun and exciting bike company and with any luck will begin stocking their bikes by late 2008/ early 2009.  We will not be stocking Nirve bicycles any longer, and Diamondback bicycles are not expected to make it into the 2009 roster. Bianchi will be a major player with their city, hybrid, and road lines, while Raleigh will fill out the Comfort bike section. Off-road bikes, mid to upper end road, beach cruisers, and Tri bikes will all come from our new brand, that is yet to be announced. This is big, very big. We are all excited about it.

——————————————————–

We posted some time ago about the Spooky Skeletor . We now have our first one built and on the road. It handles like a dream. It climbs like a Sherpa, handling my weight with ease, and descends like a middle aged man on one of those really tall, very steep water slides.  (read “scary fast”). It doesn’t get speed wobbles, and has no noticeable flex in the sprints. The Edge 2.0 fork that comes with it is a masterpiece. The steering is super sharp, and it holds it’s lines on corners.  The bike in it’s current form weighs in at a scant 14.8lbs. Mind you, that’s full Campy Record with Zipp 303’s, but still, that’s not exactly a hard build to come by.  Carbon rims are almost the standard, and Campy Record parts are a must for razor sharp shifting.

——————————————————–

July saw more renovation work done on the shop with the completion of the new bathroom. Gone are the sheets of fist-hole-punched drywall, and the curling, black-grease stained linoleum floor. Gone is the leaking sink, and the toilet with a makeshift tank cover. Gone is the door, riddled with screwdriver stab marks, no latch, and duct-taped frame.  We have entered a new phase in bathroom aesthetics. We now have high gloss white wainscoting, that gives way to calming cucumber green walls. The toilet, sink, mirrors, cabinets, and flooring have all been replaced.  It is now both a changing room, and a restroom. It is easily the cleanest place in the shop.  “Come on down to bikes and more, we have a clean bathroom” is not going to be our new slogan, but it could be, if we wanted it to be. but its not. but it could be. seriously.

———————————————————-

We have tickets to Vegas. Look out Interbike at the Sands Convention and Expo Center, here we come. Wooo.

———————————————————-

The Tour is over, and sadly, nobody was able to place Sastre as the winner. Next year, the challenge will be to pick who will be caught doping, bonus points for Non EPO related busts. Double extra secret bonus points for picking the rider, the drug, and the stage.  What a sad state of affairs, when cycling’s greatest race is not against fellow cyclists or the most challenging road courses, but simply against the clock, to see how far one can push the envelope before being busted for using “undetectable substances” . Totally lame. Thanks Ricco. (this just in… special news flash thank you to Miss Moreno for being the first to Podium in the Olympics)  For the record I am not for or against doping, I’m just in favor of playing by the rules. If the IOC or UCI want to allow performance enhancing drugs, great, but until they do, the use of performance boosters still counts as cheating in my book.

Keep it rubber-side down,

Paul