The Goose Creek Blog

Vigor Nox hemets Revamped for 2012, Super Sweet.

2012-01-16T18:18:00.000-08:00

Ok, I catch some grief from time to time to time for getting excited about all the wrong products. Read the buzz in the cycling world and you will see people hopping up and down and drooling about the latest bit of carbon fiber, titanium or scandium. Small variations in products that produce weight savings with a value of about $1.50/g. Don't get me wrong, it is not that I don't love high end gizmos, its just that when you are talking about bikes that run over $3500, I just expect them to be nice. If you drop $1000 into a wheelset it would be really more surprising if they weren't crazy light and packing ceramic bearings. What gets me excited is when an inexpensive product steps up and turns out to be more than you should expect. So now that the guys at the shop are used to me rambling on about budget products I guess I will subject my blog readers to the same.

This years little surprise is Vigors Nox helmet.

For the past 4 or 5 years I have basically using the Nox as a jump off product for selling products. Basically I would throw it out there as an option for someone who just wanted a safe head for as little cash as possible. So I was a little caught off guard when I was in the middle of my "let me show you why I don't like this helmet" speil when I discovered that all the things I was about to point out had dissapeared.

For 2012 Vigor has finally done away with what could only be described as a cheesy retention system which basicaly jut pushed against the back of your head and hoped it stayed snug. The new sysem is the same as what they use on their higher end helmets (also the same as used on the even higher end Spiuk helmets). The retention/fit system is basically a band that wrapps around the back of the head with two little ratcheting clips that allow the band to be snugged up to your head and locked in. Small buttons on the ratchets allow them to be released and moved out in the event that you put on a hat or share your helmet with a friend. Adjustment time is less than a second.

In addition to the new retention system Vigor has also added 3 more vents (up to 16 vents now) Which allow greater airflow. design team has also added a little more style to the color scheme so they have a nice look rather than a plain solid color.

So while the Next helmet up the line (FastTraxx) still has better airflow and is marginally lighter. The improvements to the Nox are great enough that I am no longer sure the upgrade is worth it. So if you are in the market for an helmet but don't want to shell out three digits for a pro level helmet, have another look at the Nox. It is just unheard of to have a helmet that fits this well clock in at less than $40.

LaGrange Urban Short Track 2011/2012 Race 4

2012-01-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

Race 4 was crazy.
Period.
I would say "end of story" but it is one of those stories that needs to be told. Ok, I can't tell it, but you have to watch the video. The new years eve race could not have asked for better weather. Of the courses so far this was the shortest with riders turning 2-3 minute laps. But considering that we squeezed the whole course into 3 city blocks, that is not bad. The course ran through two buildings and in and out of alleys and cracks between buildings. Lots of thanks to John and Chellie who let us run across their property. I fear we have created permanent single track in Chellies back yard.

You definitely need to watch the video below that shows a couple of laps from the Cat 3 race. What I love most is watching the bikes out there and seeing the variety and the number of people that this urban format in drawing in. By way of example. The video below is shot from atop a full XTR Niner RIP9. You can see him passing a guy on a roadmaster who is racing in sweatpants. Both riders had a blast. Both riders will be back for next race, and what we are seeing is the development of the sport. New riders coming in, getting a taste and rolling with it. So thanks to all who have been helping with this, what we have done here is far cooler that I ever imagined. Now enjoy the video.

Urban Short track Race #1

2011-11-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

Well the first race in the series is in the books. Well almost in the books, I still have to put up the results, but the racing is in the books anyway. The weather held out for us perfectly, and it seems like a good time was had by all. Congrats to Nick Barbieri(Backwoods Racing Project) and Debbie Baker (Bishops Bicycles) who won the Mens and Womens Pro/1 catagorys.

Despite some technical diffuculties on the back end and some vandals playing with course markings between races, we have received generally positive feedback and the serries will roll into its next race on December 3.

We will have a couple of changes for the next race, the biggest one is the way we do timing. This race we used a standart Criterium timing which works great when you have a large peleton of riders. As it turns out, the whole system breaks down when you have riders spread over the course. For the upcoming race we will use a timing format typically used in 12/24 hour races. You will have 30 minutes to do as many laps as possible. If you come through the start finish at a time less than 30 minutes you will be expected to go out again. Over 30 minutes and you are finished. This should clear up a lot of confusion. So our appologise to the riders who we accidentally made do an extra lap, (a list which actually includes or Cat3 mens winner), but we should have it fixed for the next event.

We will also be putting award cerimonies on the schedule for next race so we won't miss any of our finishers as we try to do improptu awards.

Anyone who has other suggestions for us, we welcome your comments, this was just the first time out and we have a lot to improve on, but at the very least this was a good jumping off point. See you all in December.

Urban Short Track Racing in LaGrange

2011-11-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

A while back we tried to put a criterium in the downtown area, but there was just no good way to lay out the course without disrupting major traffic paths or cutting across the active train track. After leaving the idea on the back burner for a while we found the soulution...

What if we used Mountian Bikes instead?

This simple idea lead to the creation of the Urban Short Track series that will be going on all winter. Racing will be done primarily on mountain bikes but we expect a few yahoos to try them on CX bikes. Courses will run on roads, alleyways, sidewalks, ditches, down stairs, through buildings, on footpaths, single track, fields, yards, retaining walls, basically wherever we can get permission to ride, we will.

Short races will keep riders from freezing, and spectators will be able to jump into restaurants and shops to stay warm. Our first event will actually be able to seen quite nicely from the window of Karen's Book Barn and Java stop.

So if you are local you will need to come check it out either to race or just to spectate. I also need some volunteers to run crossings so if you are up for it, we will have some swag for the volunteers as well as the racers. See you out there.

Entry fee: $10/race or $60 for series
Online registration available here: http://store.goosecreekcycles.com/Product3062
Smack talk on the forums here: http://goosecreekcycle.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1340
We are looking for sponsors to sponsor either the whole series, individual Race days or individual events. Let me know if your business might be interested in cash, product or time donations.

This weeks bling

2011-09-30T05:53:00.000-07:00

Fresh off the stand this is a beauty. Nic named the Darth Vader bike, this is a top shelf Niner JET9. Full XTR, SID XX fork and Stan's NoTubes Crest 29" Wheels. There are some bikes that are just fun to build, and there are some details that just boggle ones mind, like hydraulic fork lockouts and Niner Carbon Bars. I could talk about this bike all day, but until you pick one up and ride one there are just no true words. The bike will be on its way out the door today so if you want to see it, just stop in. These are available for order and require about a week of lead time. Price available on request.

Can you fix this??

2011-09-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this falls into the "epic fail" category, or the "next time leave it to the pro's" category, but what just came through my door is something I hadn't seen before.

If the guy hadn't been injured pumping up the tire it would boarder on funny, but what you see here is what happens when you put WAY too much pressure in a tire mounted on a single walled rim. I wish I had taken a picture before it was removed from the bike, but what you are looking at is a rim that has been split down its center. Somehow the tire is okay, but we will be replacing the wheel.

The repair itself was actually a bit tricky because the first thing we had to do was remove the freewheel. Normally with the entire rim for leverage freewheels pop off with just a little man power. In this case trying to find a way to get a good grip on the hub and apply that much torque to the freewheel was a bit more of a trick that I would like to admit. Thankfully Jake was around to demonstrate just exactly how a sailor cusses.

So for those of you who are thinking about pumping up your own tires out there, just remember, tire pressure is like gambling. Know when to stop before you start.

Local races are fun

2011-09-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

Just rediscovered how cool it is to race locally. The Apex Mini Triathlon was this weekend and I talked myself into it despite that fact that I don't swim, I only run when chased, and I just sold my road bike. But only in a local race can you convert your mountain bike to a road bike and head out just to enjoy the day and try not to drown.

What I discovered is that I had forgotten how cool it is to race locally. Aside from being able to show up with crazy rigs and be under trained, you find that you know a good portion of the people there. This is not because it is the same people following a circuit that you have been on all year, but because they are friends of friends. People you work with, guys you saw on a club ride once or people you just happen to run into in your every day life. So thanks to the gang at Oldham County Parks and Recreation for putting on this event again, and thanks to my wife for convincing me to come out and do the race. I will be back again next year and next time I will be able to swim.

For those of you who are interested the Photo above in a Niner EMD9 fitted with 700X23 tires. You can do this? Yes. I was a little unsure at first if the rims would be a little wide to accomodate a true road tire, but they beaded up just nicely. If you try it though you will want to make a note that the bike has considerably less pedal clearance this way, so don't pedal through the corners as you might otherwise.

Cannondale is annoying again.... (aka. don't buy a KT013)

2011-04-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, I remeber back in the day when Cannondale was using CODA stuff and it bothered everyone because it was compatible with exactly nothing. I guess the idea was to make consumers replace Cannondale parts with Cannondale parts and to bother shops that were not Cannondale dealers by making them retool to deal with those few Cannondales that came through the door. Although they have dropped the headshock, the Lefty still poses some problems, but they have struck again with the HollowGram Cranks.

Cannondale claims that to remove the crank arms from the bottom bracket spindle you will need a specail Cannondale KT013 Crank removal tool. This tool runs about $50 and consists of two really small easily lost peices. In short, it is one of Cannondales annoying little ways to push you back to your Cannondale dealer, because no normal shop is going to bother stock this silly tool. On the other hand. If you look closely and use some creativity, you don't really need the tool, you can adapt your standard Crank puller to do the job.

WARNING: Do NOT simply put in a washer and try to pull the crank with your normal puller. Once you add the washer to contact the BB spindle there will not be enough usable threads on the crank for the puller to grab onto and you will strip the crank.

What you can do is the following.

1. Take a CCP-44 crank puller (the 22 will probably work as well) and remove the tip. (you know the part at the end that is roughly the size of a nickle that pushes against a splined axle)

2. unscrew and separate the handle/driver portion of your crank puller from the part that locks onto the crank (your puller is now in three peices)

3. Remove the Crank arm fixing bolt and washer from the drive side crank.

4. Thread the Crank arm fixing portion of your crank puller onto the drive side crankarm. (Note that this will have the same amount of contact as cannonales tool, so you won't have to worry about damaging the crank.

5. Now here is where you will have to be a little creative. Find a metal rod or bolt that will slide through the center of your tool and into the bottom bracket. I use a socket extender with a skateboard kingpin stuck in it, but an old hub axle cut to length might work jus as well. Insert you metal rod through your tool, through the bottom bracket so it comes in contact with the back of the Crank arm fixing bolt on the non-drive side. At this point, the bolt should sit inside the part of your tool that is threaded into the drive side crank.

6. Now thread the driver/handle part of your tool back into your crank arm tool. Tightening the driver will push on your bolt and drive the crank arm off the bike the same way it would if it were contacting the splines of a bottom bracket.

You do not need to remove the non-drive crank arm to service the bottom bracket, but if you remover the non drive fixing bolt, you may find that the other crankarm comes off on its own as the BB spindle is pounded out.

This system works well, and is a way to use a common $15 tool to do the job of a custom $50 never to be used again tool. Save you cash for buying cool new parts from you bike, don't let Cannondale sucker you int buying a new tool you don't really need.

Sketch of how this works is attached due to people not being able to understand what I was saying.

Push Catagory 1-3 Road Glove Review

2011-03-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

Push Cat 1/2 Road Glove $18.99

Ok, every now and then we stumble upon a "value" product that outshines it high end competitors. Now keeping in mind that every hand is different and some people will just like one glove over another for no apparent reason, and forgetting that we have a number of customers who will roll into the shop on full Carbon rigs and roll out with this inexpensive glove over its high end competitors, lets look at what we like about the glove.

The true goal of a road glove is to not know you have it on, and wonder why your hands are so comfortable. This glove uses a minimal padding approach. The theory being that if you have too much padding it will bunch up and become uncomfortable. While a minimal padding will be more like just having tough hands. This in conjunction with your normal handlebar tape will provide a comfortable ride.

On the filp side, the glove that covers the back of the hand really serves no purpose except to hold the glove on. Oddly enough, this is the area that we really like over the high end competitors. Many high end gloves focus so much on creating a light weight breathable material for this part of the glove that durability is dramatically decreased. I have seen many high end gloves damaged simply from pulling them on and off. The cat 1 /2 Glove uses a nice light weight material comprable to many of its expensive competitors, but the stiching that holds it on seems to be more rugged, so with equal comfort you get a more durable glove. Built in pull tab and "easy off" fingers complete the package.

The back of the thumb as with most gloves has the "Snot Rag". A soft material great for wiping your nose, which has always been a requirement for every glove I own.

The glove is designed as a road glove, but also works well for Mountain bikers who wish to use a short fingered glove. So if your looking for a nice set of gloves and don't want to have to shell out $30-$40 every time you crash, this is a great option.

The Glove sells for $18.99 and is available on our site HERE

2011-01-24T17:15:00.000-08:00

Ok, sometimes it is just better not ask why some things get posted to this blog. Anyway I was talking to a customer about this fork and this ended up being the easiest way to get a picture out there. This is an RST Neon T10. It is available in either a 26" or 700c version. Steerer tubes are sold separately which gives you the option of putting whatever steerer you want on there. 1" , 1 1/8", Thereaded, non- threaded whatever. For about $100 bucks it is a great deal to get your commuter going again.

Have fun now. Be fast in spring

2011-01-15T18:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, have you just gotten off your trainer for the fourth night in a row? Starting to get a little sick of riding in the basement? If you are, you are not alone. Far too many people rely way to heavily on their trainers to get through winter.

So if you don't have the luxury of going to the opposite hemisphere for the winter here are a couple of things to remember about winter training.

1. Your trainer is a useful tool, but if you rely on it 100% you will be burned out and slower come spring.

2. Winter is a great time to cross train. If you peek at the pro's winter training schedules you will see that they are putting in some varied cardio workout as well as time in the weight room. These other activities are great for balancing out oposing muscles that can get a little lopsided doing just one activity

3. Pull out the mountain bike and ride outdoors. Mountain biking (even for you road riders) is ideal in the winter because you move a little slower and work a little harder so that you stay warmer. Also for those of you in northern climbs there is the added benefit that you have new loops as snowmobile trails often cross lakes and swamps in places where you would have had to turn around in the summer.

3b. Get a set of lights. Riding at night adds a little variety, and with shorter days you may need to do it anyway. Also because it is colder at night, the ground is more likely to be frozen which allows you to use the trails without damaging them or sinking into soft snow. Our pick for lights this year is the Nightrider Minewt150. With 150 lumens and a price tag of $78.75 the Minewt is super affordable and pleanty of light for most applications.

MiNewt 150

4. Make your training fun. Remember that your goal for winter training should not be to get super fast for next season. Your goal is to balance your training and come out of winter without losing strength that you gained last season. Think stronger not faster. If your winter training is not fun and interesting, you will just be burned out come spring.

See you all out there on the trails

Snow and Black Friday

2010-11-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, tomorrow is Black Friday and we are gearing up for the black friday and Saturday sale. Just because things have to stay interesting, it is 11:30PM Thursday night and the snow has started to fall. Anyway if the snow is not too deep, come on in tomorrow we have some crazy stuff going on. Lane, Levi and I are holding down the fort at the shop tomorrow, so we know we are a little understaffed, but whatever, if we can get the cars through the snow it is all good.

To be fair, Black friday deals will continue through Saturday so if you don't make it in tomorrow, the deals will keep on as long as we still have stock.

As a heads up, Bike tubes are 40% off, this is on top of our regular volume discounts, so if you want to stock up, and buy 6 or more tubes, pricing will end up close to $2/tube. Definately come in for that. 30% off all tires means that we have road and MTB tires starting at $7/ea so if you need a cheap trainer tire or even a new race tire, this weekend is the time.

All sorts of other crazy stuff is on tap as well, we have dropped our in store price on Kinetic Road Machine Fluid Trainers to $240 for the weekend. Shred Sleds, normally $120 have been price slashed to $69, but Schoen convinced me to do a buy one get one free deal on them so if you buy one for $69 I will throw in a second one.

All skate stuff is 10% off even the new moonpop that just came through the door. We also just got a new Yoachler Complete skateboard that that is tagged at $55 that will be sold for 49.50 sometime this weekend.

Basically what I am saying here, is if you have been putting off any bike or skate purchases you need to come to the shop, there will probably be some great deal that you can find, and almost everything is on some sort of sale including all the bikes. See you there if my car will make it.

Being the third shop

2010-06-17T06:32:00.000-07:00

For the second time this week I have heard the opening line… "You are the third shop we have tried so I am not real hopeful but…"

We were able to square the customer away within a few hours in each situation, but it got me to thinking what is it that we are doing differently that makes these "impossible requests" something that we consider a normal part of our day. In both cases the request was simple, but the customer was looking for a low cost, slightly uncommon part. What I realized, was that the issue was not the availability of the part, but the quality of the people we have on board, and the basic philosophy of the shop.

Despite our internet side allowing us to grow a little too big for our own britches, we remain at heart a small town shop. Small town shops have the simultaneous advantage and disadvantage of having a limited customer base. This means that we know most of the people who walk through our door. We race with them, we live and work next door to them, and if they come in twice, we consider them a regular.

Where we might differ from the typical small town shop is that because of our internet division we don't shed half our employees for the winter like many shops do. Everyone who works at Goose Creek Cycle is here all year round. This means that all the guys have a better idea of how our systems work and have more of an interest in the quality of service we provide.

So twice this week, we were the third and final stop for customers who may have come to us from a little further than normal. The first was actually from a business that had a contract with another local shop to do their work. They were looking for a specific seatpost that their shop didn't have in stock. Neither did the second shop they tried. Neither did we.

The difference was that our guys took the time to look up the part, realize that a Louisville based distributor had them in stock. I took the long way in to work, picked up the part and had the customer rolling by 10am the next day. This was something simple that any of the other Louisville base bike shops could have done, but for some reason or another they didn't know they could or weren’t willing to go that little bit extra on a $13 seatpost.

As I wondered why the other shops wouldn't do this, I started watching my guys and realized that this was not an isolated case. This is just how they have become accustomed to thinking. Twice today I heard Schoen say "I don't have one in, but let me check if they have it in Louisville I can probably have it tomorrow"

Now a Flashback. Back to when I worked for someone else in a medium sized shop in Lexington. I don't actually remember much about the repair, except that is was something that most mechanics wouldn't bother with. I think it was a cone and axle that were trashed out in the hub of a WalMart bike. I was able to fix it with some parts out of both the shop and my personal junk box. What I do remember is the smug little smile my boss gave me. "Congratulations, you fixed his baby" he said. Whether he meant that he wished I had just sold the kid a new wheel, or that he was glad that I had done it, I never did figure out. What was clear to me in that little smile was that he along with most mechanics wouldn't have bothered. I guess maybe it is that I never knew which way he meant it that made that moment stick with me. Either way, I did in fact fix that one persons baby, and since then I have always prided myself on being able to, and willing to work on and fix things that most mechanics won't touch.

Back to today…

"Well I have already tried two other shops, but you guys said you were always up for a challenge, so here it is." We had related to her earlier how we had completely disassembled a big-box exercycle and replaced a bushing (in a spot where if the manufacturer cared about quality they would have used a bearing), and about the time we used Stans solution to fix a chronically flat dolly wheel. So she thought she would push us.

Sitting in front of us was a trike. None of the parts were standard bike shop type parts. The trike was the favorite of a special needs child, but the front tire was completely destroyed. The tire was hard rubber and the rim not designed for clinchers. The hub had a huge bolt for an axle, larger than a 15mm through axle, but not quite a 20mm. I will have to admit I was stumped. I was sitting on the floor trying to figure out a way to hand build a 20mm through axle hub around a 12 in rim, and shimming it in without being cost prohibitive when Schoen figured it out.

30 minutes later, Schoen was back from the tractor supply store with a perfectly matched wagon wheel. "Congratulations, you fixed his baby"

So anyway, it may be that we just have too much free time at Goose Creek. Or it may be that we just like a challenge. Maybe it is just pride in what we do. But it sure did feel good to be that third shop that took the time to figure out the problem and solve it.

Here is hoping that we never get so big we don't have time to try the weird stuff.
Here is hoping that we never get too good to look in the junk box.
Here is hoping we never tell anyone "If it didn't come from here we won't fix it"
Here is to being the third bike shop

Goose Creek Skate Partners with The Game Room

2010-05-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so every now and then things fall into place very quickly and cool things happen. We have just started a trial run with a skate "Hotspot" at The Game Room in Crestwood, KY. The game room is actually a really cool place to hang out, play Video Games, Pool, Trade games etc. But as of today it is also a place where you can pick up skate stuff. While it is not a full skate shop, this little hotspot will provide a small line of skate products for the local kids who may not have the time or ability to get into a car and drive to LaGrange (or heaven forbid Louisville) to get set up with a broken part. So with a couple of decks, some trucks, hardware wheels etc, there is a good chance that the gameroom will have what it takes to get them rolling again.

Also in the works are some competitions and some other little projects that will hopefully open up some new skating opportunities in the city.

So if you are in the Crestwood area and you want to stop in just to play games or whatever, check out our little addition and spread the word.

Will Gibson featured on Crankin site

2010-03-30T09:55:00.001-07:00

Goose Creek Employee Will Gibson got himself featured on the Crankin Wax site, which was cool. Pic Below.

Left side drive cranks

2010-03-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

And for the next installment of random tech questions that we get here. Periodically we come across an interesting question or get the same question enough that it warants being added to our tech qustion section of the blog. This week the question "why cant I just swap my left and right cranks to make a left hand drive system"

Ok, backing up a bit. First what is a left side drive and why would you use it? The idea is basically that by moving your chainring, cog and chain to the left side of the bike instead of the right, you can get them out of the way if you want to grind on the right. Other than that the bike works the same way. Basically you only see this on BMX bikes.

There are two problems with going to a left side setup. THe first is that you need a special hub because if you just flip a normal one around then your cogs work backwards. The question of the cranks is a little more interesting, and the first though that people have is "can't I just switch the cranks and run them backwards". The simple answer is, "yes you can, but..." There are two problems with running your cranks backwards. Both problems arise from the fact that your pedals are now backwards. The fact that the platform is now backwards is only a problem if you are using clipless pedals. In order to make your clipless pedals work, you will need to disassemble them and switch the axles so that you have the left axle in the right pedal and vice versa. So this problem is solved but it brings us to problem 2.

The threads on the pedals axles are designed that when you pedal normally (forward) the pedal action actually helps to tighten the pedal onto the crank. Now that your cranks are backwards, your pedal motion tends to unscrew the pedals from the cranks. To combat this you will need to overtighten the pedals and posibly apply some threadlock or locktight to keep the pedals from falling out.

All this is a long way of saying, "yes you can just switch the cranks, but there are some special considerations to take into account" We recomend that instead you take one of the three following options.
1. Leave your drive on the right where it is supposed to be.
2. Use a Spline drive cog on the left (attaches to your BB spline rather than the crank.
3. Spring for some Left Side Drive cranks.

UK cycling team scores big wins in season opener

2010-02-28T18:22:00.000-08:00

Goose Creek Cycle is proud to have supported the University of Kentucky Cycling team for the past few years, and it looks like this season is going to be another great one. This weekend was their season opener at Murray State and they guy pulled down the win on both days of racing despite a screw up with one of our distribuertytors wherin all their race wheels showed up as tubulars instead of clinchers. Anyway, I have taken the liberty of copying a portion of team captain Drew Lavey's race repoet below:

Murray State Collegiate Race Weekend
Saturday, February 27, 2010
After a night in a tightly packed hotel room full of 7 riders, 7 bikes, and all the appropriate gear we rolled out of “bed” and enjoyed a nice breakfast provided by Whole Foods of Lexington Green. We headed to the race course of the day, which was a relatively flat 2 lap course totaling 32 miles. After a very short warm-up, our race started with a rolling start. For the first lap we sat in the peloton waiting to make our move. The first lap was controlled by the Purdue team and the second lap the IU team took a turn keeping pace but in the last 5 miles our team took control. We picked up the pace substantially which strung out the peloton. We had our team out front with Ian Baker, Scott Ashcraft, and Patrick Sims taking turns pushing the pace. With less than a mile to go there was a crash splitting the front group in half. Then the other riders in our group started to try to make their moves for the win but Luke Avery and I covered everything they threw out. With about an eighth of a mile to go Luke began the lead out for me. After he pulled off there were two guys in front of me but I new I had it. I jumped on the second rider’s wheel. The first rider ran out of gas as we entered the final 100 meters then I kicked it in crossing the finish line inches in front of the IU rider.
With the first race of the season I was a little skeptical to see where my and the rest of our team’s fitness would be but as I expected it was there. We worked flawlessly together for our first race making the rest of the season look very promising.

Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday morning we had our criterium. The race consisted of a 6 corner ¾ -1 mile loop for 30 minutes. The first 10 minutes of the race were pretty quick with the riders at the front trying to weed out the tired/newer riders. After about 15 minutes the race started to slow down a little bit. Our team took a few turns at the front trying to position ourselves for another win. With 5 laps to go that pace really picked up again with Patrick Sims and Ian Baker taking some good turns at the front while Luke Avery and I sat back a little bit waiting for the right move. Going into the final 3 laps Luke and I were sitting third wheel, we held our positions still waiting for the right time to strike. In the last lap with three turns to go a few riders started to pick it up. We covered them and held our position after the last turn we knew we had it again. I began the lead out for Luke with just a few meters to Luke took control and sealed another win for us. For this race we took first and second finishing a perfectly planned and implemented weekend for racing

2010 KHS Flight 100

2010-02-26T13:01:00.000-08:00

Ok as the bling bikes start rolling out we will update you with some pictures of some of the custom bikes as they go out the door. Come on, face it everyone loves eye candy. Anyway, this last one we built up is pretty much stock besides the addition of a freewheel on the flip flop hub, but it is beautiful right out of the box so we thought we would share. Below is a 2010 KHS Flight 100 Track bike in Aztec Gold. Very nice bike it is heading out the door tomorrow so if you want to see it in person, stop by today.

Ok as the bling bikes start rolling out we will update you with some pictures of some of the custom bikes as they go out the door. Come on, face it everyone loves eye candy. Anyway, this last one we built up is pretty much stock besides the addition of a freewheel on the flip flop hub, but it is beautiful right out of the box so we thought we would share. Below is a 2010 KHS Flight 100 Track bike in Aztec Gold. Very nice bike it is heading out the door tomorrow so if you want to see it in person, stop by today.

Spring is here and the wrenches are getting HOT

2010-02-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

Spring is here?

Wait didn't it snow today?

And Yesterday?

And the day before?

Ok if you are a basketball fan you think it is still winter, but if you are a cyclist, you can smell spring and the road is calling. What this means is that it will be an act of sheer will-power to put down the wrench and get out on the shop ride tomorrow morning.

Things are starting to get crazy here at Goose Creek.

The team guys are all dialing in their bikes and we are building as fast as we can. Our riders on the UK cycling team have their first race this weekend and the guys are switching over from winter training parts to race rigs. Our new start up off road endurance team is putting the final touches on the sponsorship roster. Trainer rides and gym work are transitioning into epic road rides and weekend road trips to find trail frozen enough to be fast.

On top of all this prep work we just had a couple shipments of Demo bikes arrive from Niner bikes. The new bikes are getting pieced together slowly in between builds for customers and team riders. I had always had respect for the things Niner was doing, but the full scope of the how nice these frames are had not hit me until I got my hands of the frames and started building. If you have not seen one of these in person yet you need to come on down and get your hands on them. Cutomers bikes are the priority right now so the demos are not all built up, but we are getting there. Look for pictures of some cool custom builds to shop up shortly.

Ok, enough babbling I am building wheels and need to get back to it. After all, spring is here and there are bikes to be built.

Bling is good

2010-01-22T16:24:00.000-08:00

It is rare that people would ever be jealous of a bike shop owner, but if you have found your way to this blog, you might actually understand this one. Every now and then you get to rediscover why you are in this business in the first place and a little bit of bling just carries you away from the rest of the world for a while.

For those of you who have been paying attention to Goose Creek for the last week it might have seemed like there is not a lot going on. The FedEx guy hasn't been coming and going as much as normal, the website just blinks you over to a "our site is down" message, and we have been keeping our energy costs down by not losing heat from customers walking in and out.

So from the outside it may seem like we are just hibernating for the winter. The opposite is very much true. Bike and Skate guys alike have been franticly working on the new improved site, getting products uploaded, categories and search functions working properly. I have been on the phone almost constantly with tech guys from three different companies trying to figure the programming.

On top of this we are putting together a pro/Elite Endurance team and we have been negotiating with sponsors and gearing up for all that is involved with a team of this caliber.

Somewhere in all this it the simple fact that this is supposed to be about riding bikes has slid into the background. But as I said before, there is nothing like a little bling to snap you out of a funk.

The nice thing about being the boss is that you can pick your projects. So you can be assured that if a Huffy comes through the door, Schoen will be your mechanic and I will be working of something else. Today's project was a little different.

At 7:30PM, and hour and a half after close, I grabbed a stack of tools and pile of parts for a little home wrenching. By 9:30 PM dinner was done, the little man was in bed, and I pulled a $1200 hub out of the bag and started lacing it up. (Sorry Schoen, no bling for you, I claim this one)

Before I go further, let me say that if you don't build your own wheels, you need to start. There is some sort of zen experience involved that I can't really explain. Visit SheldonBrown.com and he will help you through it.

Now mind you, tonight was not a typical disappear into the basement with a six pack of beer and wrench until you get the urge to raid the fridge night. This is a Caffeine Free Diet Coke so your hands don't shake night. Somehow an old Trance CD seemed fitting and computer synthesized music blaring in the headphones seemed to go nicely with the slow spinning of an alien looking PowerTap hub with enough technology to launch a space shuttle.

I build wheels slowly. I am not one of these guys that builds 20 wheels a day, so I lace them up one spoke at a time. Keyspoke first, Driveside Trailing spokes next, and group by group the wheel comes together. Headphones come off so I can hear the rim in the truing stand. Tension comes up 1/8 of a turn at a time, there is no shop mechanic that will sort out any slush in the build later. The wheel is tensioned into dish, and true and round are checked after each round of tensioning. Two Hours dissapear.

By midnight where there had been a pile of parts, a ZTR 355 / Powertap / Revolution 29er Mountain bike wheel sat spinning in the stand. If you could walk into a store and buy this wheel if would cost you over $1400, more than the average cyclist is willing to spend on the entire bike. And if you bought this particular wheel from a bike shop your would probably be thinking that the shop owner would be really excited for such a big sale, but you would be wrong. The reason for that look he has on his face is that this one wheel, that one project, that one piece of craftsmanship is the reason he is in the shop in the first place. In a world where cheap machine build junk is a dime a dozen and there is still a place for products that are crafted rather than assembled. He would have built that wheel for free.

12:15am

Time to trade the Caffeine Free Coke in for something with a little more kick and return to the real world. There are products to be uploaded to the site and we need as much of it done as possible before the shop ride at 10:30 in the morning.

Slow day at command central

2010-01-21T13:02:00.001-08:00

Website conversion is almost complete. It is January. It is raining. Perfect time to open up command central at the shop. Good news is that this will double as living quarters for employees who are working late.

Sneak Peek

2010-01-19T13:40:00.000-08:00

The new shopping side of the website is under construction, and the guys are uploading products, descriptions and images as fast as they can. You can check out a sneak peek here Our instore database is liking to the site as we speak, and we should be able to process orders within the week (Probably tomorrow). The site should also start looking a lot prettier by next week. So for those of you that like to be on the cutting edge, you can start looking around.

Also watch for some special promotions coming down the line. We will be linking up some likes that act like coupons and having some contests. For example, the first 100 unique customers to order from the new site will receive a 10% discount off all their future orders for life. (Not a bad reward for fighting through our site in the current disorganized fashion.)

Power transfer and Cycling shoes.

2009-12-27T16:24:00.001-08:00

After years of cycling, reading the literature and spending hours and hours on new equipment of all levels and qualities you develop ideas about things that you just stop questioning in your mind. The problem is that over the years, as equipment changes and riders progress advancements in products are for the most part small incremental changes. Updates to products are the results of geeks on computers in labs and wind tunnels. We generally accept that what their computer models say are true, but the actual difference you feel on the bike is so small that you have to believe that all these product testers for magazines are simply regurgitating what the manufacturers say simply because the have to say something.

The discovery I made today comes not from side by side duels of the latest and greatest, but rather from backing up a few years.

The standard line on cycling shoes is that the stiffer the sole the better. The logic goes that a stiff sole basically becomes the platform of the pedal which is why we can get away with having tiny little pedals like Speedplays or Eggbeaters. This stiffness allows more energy to go into each pedal stroke and less energy to be lost trying to keep your foot from flexing around the pedal. As an exaggeration you can go ride barefoot and see how well you do.

The problem for me is that the last time I did a serious ride in tennis shoes I was a freshman in high school. From there is was a slow progression. My first pair of cycling shoes was a pair of resin soled velcro Shimano shoes and I attributed the boost in performance to the clipless pedals that came along with it. Maybe once in the history of all the shoes I have had have I really noticed a significant boost in power transfer between the old worn out shoe and the new one. So while I have sold and been sold on various shoe designs in the past it has always been more of a theory than experience. Because of this I have passed up Carbon soled shoes because they didn't seem to warrant the expense.

Today by taking myself completely out of my normal element I learned the real value of good cycling shoes. As many of you know my winter project bike this year is a 1982 Schwinn Fixed gear bike. I have been riding it mostly in sneakers and toe clips. The performance dip from my other bikes is across the board. In other words I didn't just change to sneakers, I also changed to a fixed gear and toe clips and a frame that was made when I was just learning to ride my first BMX bike.

But todays ride was a little different. I had left my fixie at the shop and I wanted it back, so I jumped on the Fat Chance with a pair of old SIDI shoes, rode to the shop and switched bikes.

For the last few week I have been learning to skid on the fixie. I feel like it is a skill I need to be able to ride safely, but the problem has been initiating the skid from high speeds which is where you really want it. As I headed out in the SIDI shoes with toe clips I hit a little skid just to see where I was at and found myself actually pedaling backward while still moving forward. The difference of changing only the shoes was amazing. No longer will I make fun of the people in spin classes who want cycling shoes but aren't using cleats. As it turns out the performance enhancement that until today I had attributed mostly to being locked in the pedal comes largely from the stiffness of the sole of the shoe.

Mind you I am not advocating that everyone go back to toe clips and just use cycling shoes, but never again will I regard the shoe design as just a little perk of going clipless. The difference is night and day. It just took linking pedaling power to braking to demonstrate just how great the increase is. So for this winter I will be wearing cycling shoes and have a lot more control over the bike. Next season maybe I will spring for some carbon soled shoes.

It's my fault, Sorry

2009-12-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

I have a long standing tradition of building up a strange bike and riding it through the winter. The logic has always been that in the off season training is not as important to have dialed in. Keeping things new and interesting is the key to having fun on the bike, and having fun is the key to successful training. Also it sucks to take a $5000 bike out into the salt and slush when you could build up a beater and not care about it.

Back in Maine I has a single speed Trek Antelope with drywall screws in the tires that I would ride on snowmobile trails and ice tracks when available. Also raced a February Ski Resort Downhill race on it once. Did pretty well, but got taken out in the semis.

Here in Kentucky I have taken to riding Fixed Gears. Two years ago I went with a stock KHS Flight 100 that broke me into the fixed gear realm, but this year I went full on hipster and built up my own out of parts that we found laying around the shop and a Schwinn Traveler that was built when I was still in diapers (perhaps before).

As we didn't have any brake levers laying around, we went hardcore fixie. Toe-clips and No brakes. The front wheel is set up with the old school 27" wheel, but we had to put on a new rear wheel to fix it, so I am running a 700 in back and as it turn out a 700 X 32 tire that we had lying around has exactly 2mm of clearance between the tire and the chain stays. Looks crazy, but works great and gives me a little extra rubber to burn through as I learn to skid.

I should have known that I had jinxed myself by going to the fixie a little early when the temperature dropped for the maiden voyage. We have been having great luck with a late season, but when I strapped on the lights and took it out for a 3 mile night spin in jeans and a hoodie, the temperature seemed to drop just because I was out there.

Yesterday I skipped the Cross race and took the fixie out for her first real ride. Bright sun cut the cold as I rode to the start of the 30 mile club ride, but it was clear that winter riding had begun. A small group of riders started the loop unaware that they were accomplice to the winter bike jinx. And we weren’t but 3 mile in before the first of the riders decided "screw it, it is too cold".

Four of us finished up the 30 mile ride. And the ancient fixie held up well except for a small problem with the braking system (I lost one of the toe clip screws so the strap kept sliding to the side). When I got home I parked the bike and took one of those long showers that you have to take. You know the ones where it is a race to see if you can get your core temperature up before you run out of hot water. Had some dinner and went to bed.

This morning I woke up to see snow on the ground. So sorry to all the drivers who wrecked on the Gene Snyder this morning, and all the riders who hang it up when the white stuff flies. And all you business owners, myself included, who's livelihood depends on nice weather, I have brought the long awaited winter by breaking out the "winter bike" a little too early.

Whats up with headsets

2009-11-04T08:01:00.000-08:00

Tech Questions #1- Headsets

Question from customer: "I'm looking at headsets, and the tech sheet says 1 1/8", non-threaded, integrated. What is all this?"

Our answer in three parts:

1. Headset size
2. Threaded vs. Threadless
3. Standard vs. Integrated

Definitions you will need to know.

Steer Tube - The part of the front fork that sticks up through the frame

Head Tube - The part of the frame that the Steer Tube passes through.

Headset - The part containing the bearings that allow the steer tube to turn freely in the head tube (more simply this allows you to turn the bike)

Headset size:

1 1/8" headsets are the most common on the market right now. Second most common is 1" and there are some 1 1/2"s out there but they are rare. Almost all modern mountain bikes use 1 1/8". The measurement is actually the diameter of the steer tube on the fork, so it is basically the interior diameter of the headset.

Non-threaded vs threaded headsets:
This refers to how the fork is attached to the frame. Threadless means that there are no threads on the steer tube so the fork is held on by clamping the stem to the steer tube. On a threaded headset the headset screws onto the top of the forks steer tube (this means that the fork has to be purchased with the proper length steer tube and can't be cut) In a threaded system it is the headset rather than the stem that holds the fork to the bike, and a quill stem is inserted down the center of the steer tube. Threaded headsets are seen mostly on older bikes, inexpensive bikes, and BMX bikes.

Integrated vs Standard headsets:

Traditional headsets have the cups pressed into the frame. In integrated headsets a sealed bearing inserts directly into the frame and then the top and bottom of the headset are the same as normal. Remember that with a sealed bearing the balls are completely contained so there is actually no movement against the frame so you don't have to worry about damaging the frame the way you worry about damaging the cups in a traditional headset. Integrated headsets are a little lighter and a little less complex than traditional headsets.

For the most part, the type of headset you choose will be dependant on what frame you pick. If the frame is set up for 1 1/8" integrated, that is what you will have to use.

USGP Derby City

2009-10-27T15:43:00.000-07:00

Given that he is the CFO of a bike shop, it seemed only logical that he start racing. So this weekend shop mascot and Cookie Finding Officer Lane entered his first race. Now there is no going half way for this kid so he started out at one of the biggest Cyclocross races in the nation, Derby City USGP.

After a considerable amount of effort trying to corral him away from the big boy course he settled into his grove on the junior course which was complete with a couple of run ups, a mud pit (bikewash run off) and a staircase run-up.

A couple of warm up laps and he was off to the obligatory port-a-pot visit.

And then the start.

The first lap held some excitement with a three-kid pileup that blocked traffic right from the start. After a short pause Lane was able to take the inside line and get around. He blew through the Cannondale tent and was out on course.

As the only one with training wheels Lane was at a bit of a disadvantage on the back section because as it turns out when you are on an off camber slope, the training wheels try to push you over rather than hold you up. It is because of this section that his pit crew believes that he so narrowly missed the overall win.

He blasted through the mud pit and dismounted for the staircase where he did have to receive a little outside assistance lugging the bike up the stairs. Back on the bike he headed out for lap 2.

With an uneventful lap 2 under his belt, his race was over, but he was not going to stop for something as silly as everyone else being done. Like a true champion he headed out on a victory lap so while everyone else was at the award ceremony Lane was turning a few extra.

Eventually we had to drag him from the course, but if you ask him today what he wants to do, you are sure to get his new standard answer.

"I want to do cyclocross"

Never go on vacation

2009-09-07T17:29:00.001-07:00

Ok, after taking a week off to go on a vacation with the family I have learned that Vacations are a bad thing. Those of you who were in the shop while I was gone or since, may have noticed some changes. We pretty much had some major disastor each day. One day a construction crew cut some fiber cable and took out phone and internet service to the shop (and half of LaGrange and Crestwood) which is no good when you run an internet buiness and like to process credit cards.

A couple of other snaffoos set us back a bit, but the big one occured when one of the employees downloaded a virus into our inventory computer. "I was just trying to charge my ipod, I swear..."

So that has blinked out one of the computers and made our cash register useless, so we are back in the stone ages and taking orders by hand. You can still order off our website, but we will have to wait for the holiday weekend to be over so the rest of the world will come back to work and we will can get our tecnical issues solved. (hopefully we won't have lost too much data). Anyway. I am back and we are trying to get ourselves back where we need to be, but if you see us running around like chickens with our heads cut off it is because nothing is working the way it is supposed to. Oh well.

So while vacation was largely a disaster, I did get a couple of interesting tidbits out of it. The first was this lovely picture of a bike locked up outside one of the buildings where we were staying. If it doesnt't strike you as funny, look again.

There were also some fringe benefits to being able to step away from my work for a while and rething my approach to a couple of things, so once we get all of our current problems sorted out, look for some cool things coming down the pipeline. Stay tuned...

Whats new...

2009-08-22T04:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it has been a while since we posted, but there has been a lot going on at the shop (which is why the blog is getting neglected) So here is what is new in a nutshell.

New Sign out front.
So it only took a year, but the sign is hanging and looks good. People seem to be able to find us a little better which is nice.

Home repair taking off... Our mechnics have been keeping themsleves busy working on repairs, we still have some room to grow the home bicyle repair side of things, but people are starting to figgure out that it is easier for a mechanic to come to them that for them to load their bikes up to get to us. We are also running weekly special deals for our home repair customers that adds a little value to the service for them. If you haven't checked it out, you can get details here: http://www.goosecreekcycle.com/ServiceForm.htm

Little ones go mobile- The munchkins of GCC have gone mobile. Lane has discovered the Adams Trail-a-bike and often reuses to get off. This works to our advantage as he now helps out with post office and bank runs. When he is not on that he is terrorizing customers on his Free Agent Lil Speedy. The coaster brake is his new best friend, so I am going to have to buy stock in Cheng Shin Tires. Landon has taken the first step now and he and his mom went on their first ride in a Adams trailer.

New products- As many of you know we have had some supply issues with our road bikes, but we are working to resolve this. We do have one new brand in the pipeline (deatails later) and we are starting to build up some frames that we have always had access to but never stocked. Look for some Pakes and Somas to start hitting the floor next month.

The holdiday order fo Dekline Shoes came in a little early so we will have our shipment of new shoes soon. Along those lines, look for in store sale pricing offered first to our local cutomers that will go live online as soon as our new shipment gets here. all our casual and skate shoes are marked between $34 and $50 in store right now.

Online inventory expanding at a rate you won't beleive. We have restructured a little so that some of our online inventory is stored off site (it wouldn't fit in the shop) so while this is a little bit of a bummer in that you can no longer look online to know exactly what is in the store, our online customers will be served with a better selection of parts and still have shipping within 1 business day of their order. And hey, if you are local you can always just have it shipped all orders ship for only $3 and they arrive pretty quickly. The first expansion push was in the trainer department, check out the selection here: Trainers and Rollers

Anyway, thats it for now we have been so hectic at the shop that I am sure I have forgotten something, but stop in and see us and see all that is new.

Bicycle Service to your Door

2009-05-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have been with us since the beginning... no the VERY beginning. Remember when we operated out of a small room dubbed "the ugly room" and the entire inventory was stored in a couple of Tupperware containers? Yeah then.

Well those of you who remember that will remember that at that time the logo we had on the business cards was "If you are going out, it should be to ride" At the time the concept was simple. The customers needed parts, I wanted to go for a bike ride, so I would get on my bike and ride the parts to the customers. It was win win.

The problem with all this is that I forgot to take into account one simple truth about cyclists. People who can install their own parts are generally people who like to hang out in bike shops. While they will grumble about wearing out a tire or breaking a spoke, they enjoy going to the shop to look at the new toys and put their hands on parts. What we realized was that we were not saving our customers the chore of going to the bike shop, we were impersonalizing what should have been a fun time out to see the gang at the shop.

So now, a little over a year since, canning the delivery service, we think we have fixed the glitch, and we are bringing back the "to your door" service from Goose Creek. To do this we have had to recognize that not everyone is the die hard, eat, sleep & breath bike stuff fanatics that we are. There is a portion of the population for whom going to the bike shop IS a chore. These are the people trying to shove a bike into their backseat, or borrowing a friends pickup so they can get both of the kids bike in to go get a flat tire changed. For these people we are now offering to your door repair service.

As of this week we are launching our pilot program for Buckner, La Grange, Crestwood, Prospect, Goshen, Skylite and certain Lousville Zip Codes. Basically the east side of Louisville and all the little towns between there and our shop. Customers will be able to contact us either by filling out a form on our website or by just calling the shop. We will set up a time and then come out for their bikes. Simple repairs will be performed on spot, for more complicated or time consuming repairs, we will actually pick up the bike, bring it to the shop, do the repairs, and return the bike when it is done.

There is a small premium, between $5-$15 depending on location, but considering that our normal labor costs are lower than many of our competitors anyway it all comes out in the wash. For instance if you live in St. Matthews, a tune up would be $25 + $15 for the pick up, so your total tune up cost would be $40 which is about what you would pay if you took it into your local shop anyway.

Official advertising for this service will start in the next couple of weeks, and we will have to get the vehicle painted up and some official uniforms for the guys so people won't think we are going to steal their bikes, but a temporary service request page is now up and functional and you can view it here: http://www.goosecreekcycle.com/ServiceForm.htm

I realize that if you are reading this blog you are probably the sort that likes to come into the shop yourself, but spread the word to your friends and neighbors. Thanks and see you out on the road.

Dirt Sweat and Gears.

2009-05-16T19:30:00.001-07:00

Ok, so our trip down to Dirt Sweat and Gears last weekend was a bit of a milestone for me. Not necicarily a good milestone, but lets call it unfortunate timing on a change that was three years in the comming.

For a number of years I raced in with the pros in the hyper-endurance events. To me it seemed a bit silly to travel around the continent to compete for a secondary prize like a age group award or an amature tite. On a number of occasions I have sat back and compared lap times to discover that a race that left me back in the double digits somewhere in the elite race would have put me on the podium or winners jersey had I only been competing for one of the lesser prizes.

At the beginning of this month we celebrated my sons 3rd birthday. This marks roughly three years since the last time I went out on a ride that I considered a "training ride". It also marks the first time that I fealt comfortable registering for a race as an amature rather than a pro. Although I have only got about 12 hours of time on the bike logged this year I was still really concerned what might happen if I actually did well in the amature ranks? As I said to one of my friend going down. "I will feel like a schmuck if I do well here"

The ultimate irony is that the training I did for this race was actually better training than most of the seasoned racers who showed up. For those of you who haven't heard the details of the race, the rain started while we were on the start line. Rain made the trails sloppy, but the rain stopped soon after we started. Most of us turned the first lap in about an hour and a half, and then everything turned to peanutbutter. Mud clogged every aspect of the bike every time the wheels turned making almost the entire course unridable. Without a doubt this was the slowest and most demoralizing race I have ever done.

My second lap took around 4 and a half hours. The picture above was taken sortly after I discovered that it was faster to carry the bike than to push. Pushing the bike was nearly impossible because the wheels wouldn't turn, so most people moving forward had their bikes in the air. Sortly after this picture was taken, I walked past my friend who is a much stronger rider than I am. It was then that I realized that my training for this race was better than most. While everyone else had been out riding bikes, I had been carrying a 40 pound toddler around all day. You tell me, if you are going to carry a 50 pound mud coverd bike through the woods, which is better training?

So I walked. Lap two took roughly three hours longer than expected so I was low on fluids, but I took on a lot of energy and fluid in the pits and went on out hoping that it would either start raining again or dry up so the third lap would be more reasonable.

My third lap took 5 hours. At one point I got stuck. I tried to ride down a hill to a gully, and my wheels locked up and I almost made it to the bottom. Three of four steps dragging my bike to the bottom left me in a ditch trying to get out the other side. My bike was so caked with mud that I couldn't lift it and the wheels were so clogged I couldn't push it out the other side. I was stuck. Eventually I took on some fluid and cleaned enough mud off the bike that I could lift the frame and carry it out the other side.

What I didn't realize as I was slogging along was that only two amatures actually went out on the third lap. So with a 2 mile and hour average, I walked my way to the podium. The leading pro did four laps and my three laps would have put me in 4th in the pro catagory.

So while I do feel like a schmuck for taking a podium in the amature I have to think that this race was an outlier. As we return to the racing season I thing the advantage will again return to those who train by riding their bikes.

Don't get a Flat...

2009-05-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, someone forwarded me this picture. There are times when i complain about narrow shoulders here in Kentucky, but my days of complaining are over....

DNA Shoe Show

2009-04-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, so on Monday we all went up to Ohio to check out shoes and play with the pros. In additon to getting some new product orders in to get new skate stuff, Bobby got to skate the mini with Josh Kalis, Seth got to get whooped in a game of skate, and Will spent a long time hanging out with Omar Salizar and working the broken leg angle to get a lot of free swag out of the reps. Thanks to the guys at DNA for taking care of us. Below is Will on his big wheel with Omar. - Jon

Going throuhg the Drive through

2009-03-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

I wonder if I am alone on this, but it seems to me that I have not seen a lot of bikes using drive throughs at fast food restaurants. Until today I figgured that this was simply due to the low volume of people using their bikes as transportation and the higher probablility of a person who rides frowning upon fast food.

So it has never occured to me that that fact that I take my bike through drive throughs might annoy those businesses with drive through. I regularly use the drive through at the bank, and have been know to ride my bike through the drive through at fast food places when I am out running errands. Basically this saves me the hastle of trying to find something to lock my bike to when I go in to eat.

So it seemed like a reasonable plan to stop at Taco Bell for a burrito on my way home from the afternoon postal run today. I must say I do look a bit odd on the post office bike (a single speed with the largest basket we could fnd) and my Vigor Demise BMX helmet with the skull and crossbones guy on it, but whatever freaks eat burritos too.

I was contemplating the menu when the girl came on and told me that the drive through was for cars. "You Serious??" I replied. She must not have heard me that well becuase I looked at her through the window when I said it rather than talking at the little microphone on the menu board, and there was a long silence and then someone else came on the microphone.

"I'm sorry sir, go ahead with your order". So I started in with my order and by the time I finished, it was yet another person on the headset. "Sir, you are going to have to come in to pace your order"

I was a bit befuddled, so I just said "Thats okay, thank you" and rode back to the shop where I ate a Luna bar instead. Oddly enough I wasn't sure if I was more annoyed that I had wasted the time riding over there, or with the pricipal of the thing, perhaps it was just that I really wanted a burrito but I wasn't about to go in and buy one if they wouldn't let me use the drive through. In retrospect I probably should have walked in with my bike just to see what they would do, but I didn't feel like pushing it.

So for now it is just a "note to self" that if I want lunch while on the post office run it will have to be somewhere else. There is a McDonals next door where I have ridden through the drive through, but now I am just curious if there are other reastaurants where they won't let you use the drive through on a bike. Maybe tomorrow I will hit the Arby's and see what happens.

Thanks for bearing with us...

2009-03-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

Some of you have been with us here at Goose Creek since the very beginning. Those of you who remember when our entire inventory was two tupperware containers stored in the back room of my house are true veterans and know how much we have grown.

You also know that after our first two years of slow steady growth the last year has been an amazing ride which has brought a lot of changes to our business. The biggest change was opening of our retail store in La Grange. The second and maybe more important change was that shortly after our doors swung open, some changes in my personal life pulled me to St. Louis and away from the shop.

As such a new venture I was concerned that this move would doom the shop, but I was determined there was a way tomake it work. As it turned out, what in my mind was just a way to survive a bizarre turn of events, turned out to be the catalyst that changed the direction of our business and has pushed us into new areas and new heights.

As I brought in new employees to fill the gaps that would necissarily occur when I was 4 1/2 hours away, not only did new bodies come through the door, but so did new ideas. After some gentle nudging, Ryan convinced me to start selling skateboard products as a sideline, and Will and Seth have now taken that enterprise from a sideline to a full scale operation.

Schoen has taken the reigns as shop manager and had the unenviable position of dealing with a job description written be me which basically stated "I'm out of here, your in charge, good luck figguring it all out".

On top of that I left him trying to keep the shop alive through the winter in a down economy. The fact that the doors still swing open every day is a credit to Schoens work.

Meanwhile Will has developed our new computer system and the new website went live January 1, and he is now developing our skate team. Luke is in the process of redeveloping our cycling team.

So what am I getting at here? Simply put, the manpower and brainpower that has been added to our organization for the last year was designed to replace me, but it has grown beyond me. And we are about to take another jump forward (I hope)

As of next week, I am back in town.

For many of you, the only difference you will notice is that I will be pulling a wrench at the shop again, but those of you who have been friends of the shop and who have continued to support the endevor through all our growing pains, you will also notice that the increased manpower will now allow us to again become active in the racing and touring scenes.

So as spring approaches, expect to see us back out at the races, faster turn around times on repairs, larger inventories, new BMX riders on the ramps at Ollies, New Skateboarders and some new MTB team members.

And from now on, If I am not at the shop, it is because I am out riding, not because I am 2 states away. Again, thanks for your support and I can wait to be back and see everybody. - Jon

New Shoes at the Shop

2009-02-12T05:21:00.000-08:00

It is always exciting when we bring a new product or product line into the shop, and Skate shoes have been a long time comming. Since the first week we decided to expand into the skateboard market the question has always been, "what lines of shoes are you going to carry?" Now, half a year later that question has been answered, but who would have thought it would be such a journey.

With most of our products, picking a company has been as simple as trying a bunch of products, seeing what we like, and ordering the product. As it turns out shoes are a bit different, so for 7 months now, skateboarders in LaGrange have been skating in BMX shoes.

When we first sat down with our list of 30 shoe manufactures the early eliminations were easy. We got rid of all the ones that had a history of low quality right off the bat. We then took polls of out skaters to see who liked what an why. More brands were eliminated based on style and fashion (I was kept out of this process, because I have neither style or fashion sense).

Then we hit the snag that we hadn't expected. Manufacturers of nice skate shoes are fiercly protective of their immage, and as we are both a bike and a skate shop, on paper we don't look "skate core" enough for the reps who don't bother walking through our door. Never mind that we have one of the best in store selections of skateboard products in the state, and a dedicated skateboard staff, on paper we are still not "skate core".

This left us with a decision to make. Do we just open up an account with one of these big sell to anybody, reasonable to questionable quality, shoe lines that you find in the big box stores, or do we hold out for a nice shoe company and try to convince them to send a rep out. We decided not to comprimise on quality so for a long time LaGrange skateboarders stayed in BMX shoes.

And then we discovered Dekline

Dekline is a small company that has only been on the scene for a couple of years. This is long enough to establish themselves as a quality shoe, but not so long that we had to fight over dealer territories. Finally we had found the perfect match. A young high quality comapany that was not afraid to take a chance on another young company. Now with everything in place, we are proud to introduce Dekline Shoes.
The spring order will be showing up on Monday. A more complete line will be here this summer.

So if you are a skater who needs shoes, or a biker who needs something comportable to wear in the pits, come on down and check out the new line. I think you will like it.

The Worst Cup of Coffee

2009-01-24T05:03:00.000-08:00

Ok, I probably shouldn't share this, and Mark Ritz will be disappointed in me, but now that I have had a decent cup of coffee and the sun is almost up, I have to share the story of my morning and the worst cup of coffee in recorded history.

Those of you who know us at the shop know we are caffeine driven. A couple of years ago we started carrying Kinetic Koffee as a nod to a fellow team sponsor. What started as a nod became an addiction, and I now am used to drinking good coffee.

Recently we started carrying the AeroPress coffee maker which we talk up as both a better way to make coffee, and also a great tool for camping. What I am ashamed to admit is that I don't actually own one yet.

Now the transition to our new website has not only lead to some late nights, but an increased importance of caffeine in my life. So last night I was up until the wee hours of morning entering in all 130 of our Derailleur Hangers. When I finally got them all into the system I dropped bleary-eyed into bed.

The next thing I remember was a pair of cold feet on my face as my two year old crawled into bed on top of me. As my clock wasn't visible I had no idea what time it was, but all I new is that it wasn't time to get up and it was still dark. I made all attempts to get him to go back to sleep, but he wasn't having it, so I gave in and decided it was time to start the day. Once downstairs I discovered that it was only 4am, but I was in it now, and I just started on my day. And that was when the trouble started…

Lane and I were just working on our bowls of oatmeal, and I was about to brew a pot when the power went out. We have a gas stove, so hot water wasn't a problem, but like I said before I was not yet a proud owner of an aeropress. Now I could have gone without, but trust me when you go to bed at 2, get up at 4 and you are playing with Choo Choo Trains by candlelight, coffee is important.

So here was the issue. No Coffee pot, no Coffee grinder, no light. Fortunately I had some Folgers in the cupboard that I save for emergencies so I didn't have to grind anything, and as I said, I did have a gas burner so I had hot water. So here was the brilliant solution I came up with. Boil water in a teapot, dump in some coffee grounds, let it sit for a bit and then dump it into a cup, let it settle and drink.

How did it turn out? Let me just say that if you ever find yourself in this situation, you have two options. Option 1: use your aeropress. Option2: just wait for the power to come back on.

Incidentally I was chewing on my second cup when the power came back on. We are now half way through watching the Lion King, and the sun is coming up. This is going to be an interesting day.

Turns out buying stuff is fun

2009-01-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, Happy newyear everyone. I have finally emergeg from having my head in a hole trying to figgure out end of year numbers, and I am back to getting the shop in order and talking to people again.

So this is the fun part of the year. We go from trying to thin out inventory so we don't have to pay taxes on it to replentishing inventory with NEW product.

As it turns out I really enjoy buying stuff, so I highly recoment that everyone come in, check out the new product as it arrives, and most importantly, keep buying it, so I can keep these big orders comming in.

For you bikers the last big order was relativly unexciting as most of it was just repletishing products that haven't changed much. The big changes are in the Minoura line of trainers. Minoura has finally reorganized their line after years or no change. I am still sorting out opinions on the new system so I will let you know when I have a good opinion.

We have seen a lot of new clothing come in in the past couple of weeks. Most of it winter stuff, and there is more on the way, so if you are needing clothing the inventory is on the rise.

For you Skaters, things are a little more interesting right now. We just had a huge batch of decks, completes, and clothing show up, but the big addition is
DVD's!!!!!

I am sitting here looking at 20 or so new titles Including some pretty hefty box sets, instructional DVDs and your traditional hard core sountrack crazy skating videos. So if you can get out there and skate, get in here.

Other than the huge amount of stuff comming in the front door, things are a little slow here, so if nothing else, come in and bother Will, Seth, Schoen, Luke, Lane and Me. We are here and hanging out.

Solution to the enegy crisis.

2008-12-07T18:19:00.000-08:00

Energy crisis? Wait I though we were in an economic crisis.

Lest we forget, our economy, and the economy of the world, is very closely linked to the energy that powers it. So what fuels our economy right now? The quick answers are Coal, Oil, Natural Gas. People thinking a little further will start listing our electicity sources, Solar, Nucular, Wind, Hydro etc. But the one we often forget is food.

A huge segment of our productivity is human powered which means that the energy source is cheeseburgers, Clif Bars and sweetpotatos, and pasta. The beauty is that most food stuffs are domestically produced, renewable resources. So while our politicians work out all the details of trying to find ways to get greener sources of energy for our big machines, we have the ability to change many things in our lives over to food fuel.

Now I want everyone to stop and examine the treadmill.

A treadmill is a machine designed specificly to waste energy. The average treadmill user will get in their car, drive 2-8 miles to a gym, get on the treadmill, run for fourty minutes, get back in their car and go home. Now lets look at that in terms of energy.

Our treadmill runner had a cheeseburger for lunch which was 400 Calories which she now feels guilty about because she thinks it is going to make her look fat, so she heads to the gym. Assuming 5 miles each way in a car that gets 20 miles per gallon, the car ride to and from the gym will burn 1/2 gallon of fuel. At the gym she is on the treadmill for 40 minutes to burn the 400 Calories. Now remember that the treadmill is an electrically powered device with a roughly 2.5 horsepower motor that will be running for 40 minutes. The calculation of how much coal you have to burn to create the electricity to run a treadmill for 40 minutes is beyond me, so let it suffice to say that it is an amount that exists.

So in sum we are out the 400 Calories in the Cheeseburger, 1/2 gallon of gas, and some coal to power the treadmill. Net work done? zero.

All of this energy was wasted by design.

Alternativly, our heroin could have simply eaten the cheeseburger and ridden her bike home from work. The 400 Calories that she didn't want in her body would be gone, but they would have been used for productive means, and we would have saved the energy consumption of the trip to the gym.

Now I am not saying that we should stop using the gym, but I wonder if we all converted a fraction of the energy we waste by design into productive energy what kind of effect we could have on the energy market. Understanding that biking to work is not always logistically possible, here are the two big things that cyclist can do than many of us neglect.

#1. Ride to the Gym. If you go to the gym for your winter workout, ride your bike there and back. It makes for a great warmup and cooldown.

#2 Ride to your Ride. How many times have you gotten in your car and gone to meet someone to go riding? Next time ride your bike to the start of the ride, it saves you the effort of loading up your car, and you also get to feel smug about having ridden more miles than anyone else there.

Your bike is a great toy. It is also an amazing tool, and too many of us forget to use it as such.

Stans in my car?

2008-11-29T10:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have recently had a rash of slow leaks in my car tires. Normally when I get a flat I check the tires and see if it is time to replace them. If it is, I just do that. If not, I use a plug kit. But these last two flats have been slow leaks. These are the kind that you pump up and the tire stays inflated as long as the car is sitting, but as you drive you slowly lose air. I coundn't plug them because I couldn't find the hole, and I was not due for a change in tires, so I decided to put Stan's in.

Considering that I have had better luck with Stans than Slime on my bike, it seemed to be the way to go in my car as well, but I checked with Stan first. So the things you will proabably want to know.

#1: Yes the normal Stan's is the same as the Lawn and Garden Stans. They just put it in a different bottle.

#2: The recomended volume of Stans in an Auto tire is 2oz. More that that may mess with your balance at high speeds.

#3: The best way to get it into the tire is to remove the valve core, then use and injector to measure and inject the Stans, then put the valve core back in, pump up the tire and drive around your neighborhood to spread the Stans around in the tire.

#4: The soulution remains liquid down to about -40degF so it will work fine in the winter

#5: The solution may dry up in a few months, depending on how many flats it prevents, so you can either add a little two or three times a year, or you can wait until you get a flat as a sure indicator that the sealant has dried up and then add solution.

All of this was done with the same tools and solutions I use on my bikes, so other than being out 8oz of solution this (about $4 retail) This was a very inexpensive fix to what would have otherwise meant buying new tires. This should also prevent further flats in those tires. So again I have found new uses for my bike stuff. If you care to join me in my worry free driving experiance, everything you need to get your car proteted is at the link below.

Stans Stuff

Stans sues Specialized

2008-11-14T10:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, I just got the press release today that Stan's No-Tubes is filing a suit against Specialized asserting that some of Specialized Wheels infringe on patents that Stan holds. It will be interesting to see what happens with this. Comparativly, Stan is a very small company and so if Specialzed wanted to they could probably just burry them in paperwork until such time as they didn't want to produce that wheel anymore, but who knows. Anyway, press release is below

NoTubes.com Files Lawsuit against Specialized Bicycle Components Inc.

BIG FLATS, N.Y. – Nov 12, 2008 - On September 15, 2008, NoTubes.com® filed a lawsuit against Specialized Bicycle Components Inc. (“Specialized”) alleging that certain rims and wheels of Specialized infringe U.S. Patent No. 7,334,846 (the “‘846 patent”). This lawsuit, styled K.G. Motors, Inc. v. Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc., is currently pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.

As set forth in NoTubes’s complaint, Specialized is alleged to infringe the ‘846 patent by making, using, selling, offering for sale, and/or importing into the United States certain tubeless wheels and rims, including without limitation Specialized’s Roval brand wheels. The technology disclosed and claimed in the ‘846 patent was invented by NoTubes’s founder and owner, Stan Koziatek, while pursuing a better solution for tubeless bicycle wheels and rims.

Georgia Gould wins at USGP.

2008-10-27T19:58:00.001-07:00

Yeah so Georgia Gould took the win, but the cool thing is Goose Creek Cycle Rider Caitlyn Swinford got her picture taken with her...

The Tubeless revolution continues

2008-10-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me or have visited our shop know that every time I sell a tube, it is with a heavy heart. I discovered Stan's tubeless system a few years back after a 24 hour race in which I had 6 flats. Even in 24 hours, fixing that many flats costs a significant amount of time. So within a week of that race I had my first Stan's tubeless system mounted on my bike. Since then I have had only one flat in a race, and that includes numerous 24 hours solo bids, and local cross country races. So whats new?

Stan has been busy over the last few years. With the way paved by Hutchinson and Shimano with the developement of road tubeless systems, Stan jumped in with rim strips that will allow you to convert any road rim to tubless (sorry you have to use the Hutchinson tubless tire). Also in stores now is the cyclocross version and a cyclocross version of Stans "Raven" tire which is specifically designed for lower pressure riding.

So it looks like, from now on there is really no need to buy tubes ever. So whatever your reason for hating tubes (don't like flats, sick of paying for them, don't like to buy stuff from China, not hip enough, boring, the term pinch flat, etc) It looks like you can leave that in the past.

Below is some other suggested reading:
Original stans review - Includes tips
Pricing

Both of these products are now in store for us, but are not up on our website due to the impending website conversion. Feel free to call in your order.

Offroad Catagories Changed for 2009

2008-10-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

According to VeloNews, there will be a change in the ranking system for mountain bikers in the 2009 season. The move makes the off road catagorise look a lot more like the Road catagories and is designed to enlarge the pro field. How will this affect you?

If you are a Beginner you are now a Cat3

Sport-------> Cat 2

Expert -----> Cat 1

Semi-Pro-----> Your choice Cat 1 or Pro

Pro ------------>Pro

Why they felt the need to rename the catagories is beyond me, but basically they just eliminated the Semi-Pro Field. Leaving Semi-pros the option to go big or go home.

Their gamble is that more of the Semi-Pros will suck it up ang go pro rather than take the perceived drop in catagorization. At first this will probably be true, but I predict that people are a lot more cautious about jumping out of the Cat 1 class that they were in the old system. I hope I am wrong here, but what it will take to really get the move upward started is to ensure strong (numberwise) Pro fields at local races. Riders will want to have some feel that they can ride at a pro level at all of their races and not be strictly limited to traveling to big national events to get enought pros together to have the race be worth while on a pro level.

As it is now I have seen local races where only one pro shows up and only needs to turn the laps to win. There is not fun in that and it is not worth anyones time. With the semi-pro ranking at least there was the feeling that you could race the pros if they showed up and race in with the experts without feeling too much like a schmuck if that was the only competition you had. We will see what happens. Maybe I will actually get a NORBA liscence this year so I can get stomped by a bunch of Cat 1's who used to be semi-pro. (and also probably the Cat 1's who used to be Expert, either way I'm getting stomped)

It has been a while

2008-09-26T06:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, it has been a while since I have posted to the blog, so I may as well let you all know what has been going on at the creek. So here is the brief run down.

Product: Since the last time I posted, be have become a Salsa dealer, and have a couple of frames on the floor. Look for a more complete line to show up for 2009. We have also taken another big skate shipment so expect to start seeing some more skate related cloting. Preseason orders are filling in from any number of other product lines, so expect to see a lot of new product in the next month. Also we have some 2007 bikes left on the floor which have now been marked way down, we should start to see 2009 bikes shortly, so we don't want to be sitting on and 2007's

Racing Team: We have added a few new riders to the lineup. Rich Buchannan has been pulling down some good results in an Ironman and some Local Tri's. Luke McLaughlin has joined the team and pulled a 4th place at the Otter Creek Sport Class race. He should be flying for Cross season which is now upon us. (First local race in Sunday)

The Shop guys: There is a little flux in the shop guys and folks head back to school. Ryan joined the Army and is off at basic, so Will has picked up a bunch of hours. Schoen is at the shop quite a bit and is holding down the bike side for the time being. I am a little in and out of the shop, and am working on some big things on the online side. Expect our new online site and shop to by up and functioning by end of year.

The deals: Because of the transfer in the sites, we are going to start having some screaming deals on the old version. This saves us from having to upload products to the new site, so check the site out frequently you sould see some deals on there that are beyond the normal good pricing. Check out our selection of bike parts

New logo???

2008-04-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

Ok we got some new graphics programs here so we can enhance the site etc. So I got messing around with is and designing a new logo. What do you think? Add it in? or just stick with the old Curls logo? I figured it is pretty basic and a little more recognisable. It probably needs a little refining, but I thought I would just put it out there. -Jon

Drink More Coffee

2008-04-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

Ok so I got an earfull the other day. It wasn't anything I had done wrong, but every now and then my wife works an overnight shift at the local children's hospital. One would think that working with kids even sick kids would be an uplifting experiance, but when you have a floor where half a dozen of your patients that night are labled "non-accidental Trauma" it is hard to remain upbeat, and when she comes home I serve as the outlet. "Non-accidental Trauma" is a steril way of saying that mom or dad beat their toddler or infant nearly to death. How someone can throw an infant against a wall, or hit their own child in the back of the head so hard that his eyeballs explode, or otherwise bludgon a child to the point that the bleeding in their head causes the brain to swell leading to brain damage and a life on the ventilator, is completely beyond me. But apparently it is not that uncommon.

Many of these children, simply die. And in many cases this is a blessing. Still many of them live as vegitables or in constant pain at least long enough for their parent to be charged with the lesser crime of child abuse rather than murder.

Some of them survive and regain some degree of functionality, and yes some do recover completely from their wounds, and if they are luckey find a loving home that will take them.

So I hear these stories a lot, and I usually become mad enough that sit around and contemplate ways to get even with people who do these things, and invision myself as some crazed vigilanti. Unfortunately, I have no way of tracking these people down, and even if I did there would be legal issues to contend with. All this is topped off by the fact that I am probably not strong enough to pull off what I would want to do. The way I see it, any worthless, sissy-faced pansy can throw a 13 month old at a wall, but I would have a little more difficulty throwing an adult hard enough to cause his brain to hemorage on impact. So as all these fantasy of being some sort of masked avenger fade into a pile of logistical problems, I have to focus on what I can do.

And what I can do, is drink more Coffee.

Not long after we started this business we started our Koffee for Kids program. The idea was origionally that we would give $1 for every bag of coffee we sold to the Home of the Innocents. When we got around to sending that first payment (aproximately $3) it was just impossible to send a $3 check so we sent one for about $20 instead. Sales have picked up slightly since then, and we finally gave in and just said we would give 100% of the profits, but every time I go to write the check, it doesn't seem like it is enough, so despite our advertised 100% of profits, we usually come in well above that. I just sent in our payment for our march sales, and realized we still have yet to have a month were we send over $100 from coffee sales. In my book this falls roughly between pathetic and shamefull, especially considering that most of the kids I talked about in the first part of this eventually end up at Home of the Innocents. So I am going to drink more coffee. It would be awesome if everyone else bought a buch of coffee too, but it would be even cooler if they just sent a bunch of money to the home. (www.homeoftheinnocents.org)

If all this just sounds like one big guilt trip, please know that I am not intending to guilt everyone, I am just letting you in on the guilt I have been having every time I hear one of these stories. Any letting you know why I am sitting here at 10:30 at night drinking decaf.

The obligatory April Blog

2008-04-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

So I figgured I ought to blog at least something this month. Things have been busy, and it is safe to say they will remain that way. There are a lot of things that are on the verge of happening that should be really good for us, so lets run through some of them.

Getting an employee. No names yet released, but suffice to say the holdup is on my end getting all the legal junk out of the way to start hiring employees legally. This is really exciting for me as the website has been a little neglected other than taking and shipping orders of current product. I have a "Clearance Section" in the works that desperately needs to be finished, as we are now getting bombarded with 2008 product so it is time to roll out some discounts on 2007 product and bikes. Some of these have already hit the site, but are not organized into a section of their own. (If you run tubeless, you should check out the deals on the Racing Ralphs with last years tread design) I am also hoping to be able to get out and ride more with the new addition. Everyone was racing or at Thunder over Louisville this weekend and I was sitting in the shop.

We have a fridge!!! Ok so we have an old dorm room fridge with Gatoraid in it, but at least it is now possible to get a cold drink if you are out on a ride and stop and see us. A real display fridge is in the works.

Ok, so how about putting up a sign?? - We are working on it. Yes we will eventually hang a sign in front of the shop, but the way we see it. EVERYBODY has a sign, and why should we be like everyone else. Being hard to find sets us apart. Look soon for our ads... "Bike Shop now open, but we ain't tellin' where it is!!"

More Spiuk: A shipment of Spiuk womens clothing is now on the way so we will no longer have to pitch "unisex" as the best option for womens clothing. And as a footnote, the 2008 Blue and White Spiuk shoes are on the shelves.

BMX: We took our first shipment of Free Agent BMX bikes early this month, and we now have most of them built up. If you are into BMX you should come have a look, they look better in person than in the catalogue.

Anyway, that about wraps it up for now. See you all soon.

What happened to the Blog?

2008-03-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

For those loyal readers of the blog (and other ficticious charactors) you may be saying, what is it with the lack of updates and stunning commentary. Well, the deal is that as indicated by the last post, March happened. People have started to walk through the doors and we are getting busy. On top of this, new products are arriving every day. We just took a huge delivery of Rocky Mounts racks, and we have been keeping the folks at Wheels Manufacturing and Stans busy making product for us. At one point today I was staring at deliveries from three of our major distributors which had effectivly blocked the entry way to the main "showroom" and I just didn't know where to start. (The pile has now been cleared, so it is okay to come visit us again) At any rate, I will try to get some new pictures and stories up in the next few days, but your best bet is to come down and check out all the new developements. There is something new every day.

Three Cheers for march

2008-03-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

Ok everyone, pull your bike out. It's March and the sun is shining. Since we kicked open our retail doors in February our mantra has been "get through February, make it to March". So now our last excuse for putting things off is gone. It is time to ride. The first race of our spring series is today so the roadies have been shining up their bikes and wiping the last of the salt away. And the mountain bikers have prepped themselves for the pre-season.

Here at the shop we are finally moved in to a point where we feel comfortable with the day to day traffic and no longer have to start every sentance with "when we get fully moved in..." Despite this, there is still a lot of work to be done until we get the shop exactly where we want it. We have yet to put in the "lounge" in the front room. And the office space is still just a computer on a card table, but with the arrival of clothing racks this week, the showroom floor is just about done.

The design work for our sign in being finalized and then it is a waiting game to get it approved by the historic committee and liscenced by the city. But people seem to be finding us without it. Sometimes a bike in the window is all the explanation that a shop needs.

So good luck to the racers today. Spring may be 20 more days away, but we are ready for it, and are going to start without it.

2008 Teams and Beyond

2008-02-19T04:16:00.000-08:00

The Goose Creek Cycle team actually got a little press in the Courier journal last week, but since then a lot has happened. The roster will look a lot different in 2008 as we are adding riders quite quickly. We just signed a group of 5 new road riders who are already used to training and working together. The group does include one Junior who we should expect to see great things coming out of in the future. Also a couple of Cat 3's that should give us more of a presence in the local scene.

It looks as if we will also be adding a couple of mountain bikers for the 2008 season. I will release a full roster as soon as we get it all finalized.

We are also in the middle of releasing a "Club" team that is focused on local and natioal riders who enjoy the sport and ride a lot but would not typically be candidates for true sponsorship deals. By end of season we will convert that team over to the current jersey and you can look to see a new jersey design with a new list of sponsors for 2009.

All and all very exciting stuff. Even for February. See you all out there on the road.

Ahh the Joys

2008-02-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

So it has been kind of slow at the shop customer wise, but there is plenty to keep us busy. It seems like we are hitting one fiasco after another. Our printer stopped working in the move, so we got behind a day in shipping while we went and got a new one. All of out gridwall shipped, but we found out after the fact that they were backordered on all of the mounting brackets, so once it arrives we will have no way to hang it. Our tire display shipped, but went to the old location and the moving company couldn't get the truck in there so I had to go pick it up in my station waggon, which was a trick considering that I just had surgery and can't lift anything over 10lbs. We still need to regravel the neighbors parking pad which we had to dig up when the water main broke. An issue with the citys new sign policy has caused them to suspend issuing sign permits for the next 4 months, so getting a sign up will be a bit of a trick and golly it would be nice if people rode bikes in February because customers walking through the door would make all this a lot easier to pay for.

Anyway, these are the joys. To pass the time we are going to start doing trainer rides at the shop which should be fun. See you all out there

It is starting to look like a shop

2008-01-25T18:23:00.001-08:00

Ok, so it doesn't really look like we are open yet, but it is getting closer. It my gimped out, not allowed to lift over ten pounds state, it is going a little slowly, but thanks to some help from David we have gotten the shelves built in the stock room and more of the product is tagged and out on the floor. We did have a couple of firsts today that I was excited about.

First #1: The shop phone rang - Sure it was a telemarketer, but whatever. Really, how do these people get you numbers so quickly.

First #2: someone I didn't know walked in. Sure she was looking to find out what happend to the store that was in there before us, and she never actually got all the way through the door, but whatever it is a start.

So hang on to your hats folks, eventually someone is going to come in and buy something.

Open... Sort of

2008-01-24T16:52:00.001-08:00

We have now moved most of the product from the internet end into the new shop now and we have the doors open. This by no means means that we are a fully functional shop. We are still short some things like a cash register and most of the diplay cases, but if you need a small part, or a repair we can do that. Once we move the computer system in we will be able to take credit cards, but for now we are taking cash and checks. Please feel free to come by and check us out, we don't have set store hours yet as we are kind of in and out picking up supplys as we need them, but after today someone should be out there most of the time. Once we get settled we will set up real store hours and we should have a grand opening in March sometime.

Oh how far we have come...

2008-01-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

This almost doesn't look like the same building, but asside from some minor finishing work and installing racks etc. the inside of the shop is done. Now that the interior is safe for people to walk around in, we will be "open", and people can come in and hang out, check out the shop etc. As you can see the inventory is a bit limited, but as of today much of our online inventory has been moved in, and I have started to build some bikes.

Also note that Lane has been hard at it as well. If you look closely at the far end of the shop there is a pile of jackets. Lane is fast asleep in that pile.

Random interlude...

2008-01-04T11:04:00.000-08:00

Ok so enough with all the updates about the shop for a minute...

This is what happened when Santa told Lane he couldn't have another bicycle for Christmas. It wasn't pretty and he still hasn't recovered.

Fixing the floor

2007-12-31T10:31:00.001-08:00

Any time you pull up flooring to expose hardwood underneath, you are taking a gamble. Our gamble payed off mostly, but there are definately some areas that needed some work. Because the floor is 80years old we were unable to match the wood exaxtly, so we improvised a little. Actually the end result turned out to be a lot cheaper than replacing flooring and will look okay in the end. We had long since given up the hope that the floor was in good enough condition to refinish, so we are simply going to paint it. The replacement wood for these repairs was salvaged from other parts of the building that we are taking out. The smaller patch was actually part of a windowsill in a wall that we removed. The larger plank was cut from a sturdier piece of subfloor.

2007-12-31T10:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture for 12/20/07. You can see that the cealing has been painted but that there is still a lot of work to do. We took a week off of work for the holidays, but are back at it.

2007-12-16T17:40:00.000-08:00

For consistancy, all of the images on this blog are from roughly the same angle. This way you can scroll down and see how things are progressing. This picture was taken a couple of days ago, so there has been more done since then. The ceiling has been primed in preparation for the paint that will go up tomorrow, so it is currently gray, but will probably be black the next time I put a photo up. The terrible wallpaper in the front room is now gone as well. Progress was slowed somewhat over the last couple of days because with this snow/rain we discovered 3 holes in the roof, and I was up there in the freezing rain patching them. The roof will eventually be replaced, but for now the priority is on fixing the broken water main and getting the shop open for business. The roof can be done at a later date. I will go up again and make sure the patches hold, but hopefully the roof can wait until spring.

Wouldn't you know it!!!!

2007-12-14T17:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we finailly finished all the electrical, HVAC and plumbing issues, and it was looking like we were going to come in under budget, and then our water main broke. So much for staying on budget.

Other than the water issue, the place is starting to look good. Most of the Demo is out, and we have starting with painting the ceiling. Right now it is just primer up, but we should have the ceiling in the main room finished by the end of the weekend. The new ductwork is so shiney and new that I considered leaving it silver, but shiney doesn't last long, so it will go black with everything else. So while a Jan 1 open date may be a little ambitious, we will get pretty close to it I think, Taking Chrismas off will slow us down but we will get some work done between holidays.

2007-12-06T17:50:00.000-08:00

This picture is the Same view as the pictures in the posts below. Although it looks a little more cluttered, there is progress being made. You will see that the drop ceiling is out, and what you don't see is that some of the floor has been pulled up to reveal the hardwood underneath.

2007-12-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

The following is a photo update of our progress sorry some of the photos are low quality, many of them were taken from my phone.
Photo 1: This picture is looking from back to front when this was a Cricket Store. Notice that you can look through the little window and see a yellow wall that separates the front from the main part of the store.

Photo 2: This is the same view as of 12/2/07

photo 2 on top

Demo gets underway

2007-11-28T03:23:00.000-08:00

Internal layout plans are finalized and demo sin underway. It looks like the next couple of weeks will be busy ones. Most of the walls in the place will be coming out and the the Drop ceiling will be removed. Unfortunatly all of the ductwork and electrical is just sitting on the drop, so we will have to put in all new ductwork and find a way to tidy of the wiring. So there is a lot to do, but once the plumbers, electricians and HVAC guys get in, we should be moving rather quickly.

2007-11-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

And here is a picture of the shop if you are interested.

We Have Keys!!!

2007-11-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

As of yesterday we have closed on our new building on main street in downtown LaGrange. The design team will be in next week and we are hoping that we can get the remodel of the building done by end of year. The shop should be complete and fully stocked by February and we will pull off some sort of real grand opening sometime in March. We will, however, have the doors open for those in the know much sooner than that. We will move current inventory and some new lines in as soon as the security system is functional. Internet operations will switch over as soon as the computer sytems and internet are in.
In case I have forgotten to say it before, thanks to all our customers, team riders and distributors who took a chance on us. The past two years have been a great ride. We started out as simply some guy hawking bike parts out of his "bike room". The inventory was stored in a couple of tupperware containers, and we sold $40 worth of product our first month. Since then our inventory has grown steadly and we have added brands monthly. Our additions of SRAM, Wheels Manufacturing, and Stan's no tubes have brought us to a competitive position in the online market. Brands like Spiuk and Viner rounded out our line and got us into some high end niche markets. Our racing team which was new for the 07 year helped us get some of the word out and start bringing some local business.
All of this is now coming together to a point where the inventory that was in two boxes in a small room in the house has taken over the dining room, office, and bedroom as well as the "bike room". So two years after putting up the sketchy initial version of our website we are moving into a brick and mortar shop.
All this is especially exciting because not only am I no longer wrenching on my front porch, the new building will allow us to further expand our line of products. Watch for an expanded Campagnolo line as well as the addition of Shimano, Thompson, KHS, Time, Crank Brothers and many more.
So again, Thanks to all of you who have helped make this possible. I think most people on this forum will understand how excting this is for me. Now when someone asks me what I do I can say "I play with bikes for a living."

Whats with the ad's

2007-11-15T19:33:00.000-08:00

Ok, here is a question that has come up, and I suppose it is worth talking about. If you look at our site you will see that we actually sell ad space to our competitors (via google ads) So if you are looking at tires on our site, you may see ads for tires from other companies.

To understand this you must realize that we are well aware that our customers already know that they have options. As one of the smaller sellers, we realize that our customers have already checked out the big guns before they come to us. The beauty is that because we are so small, we have much less overhead than the big guns, so our prices are usually lower or at least on par with our competitors. So we allow these ads for two reasons.

1. We are not sending anyone anywhere that they didn't already know about. So in a sense we are just allowing comparison shopping between rivals. Since our prices are typically lower we are confidant that most customers will come back. In the event they find a beter deal somewhere else, we may lose the sale, but at least we made a little on the ad. This brings us to point two.

2. By putting a small proportion of our competitors advertising dollars in our pocket, we are able to keep our prices lower. The better our prices the more we sell and the better it is for everyone.

So until such a time that we get large enough that the general public will come to us first and not know about the smaller guys. We will continue to leave the ads on the site and take the extra revenue as a bonus.

Ever Closer

2007-11-03T07:28:00.001-07:00

For those of you who follow such things, we are marching ever closer to opening the new shop. Most of the details with the building have been ironed out, and so we look to be on track for opening by the end of the year. KHS is now on board, so we will have some bikes to play with when we open the doors. Should be good fun for all....

Let the building begin

2007-10-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

There are few things quite as hard as saying goodbye to an old bike, but the beauty is that this loss is always coupled with the excitement of building a new one. So sorry if I am a little distracted in the next week or so. I am focusing on building the new Cyclocross bike. This is an 2006 model that they were clearing out, but what the heck, how much have cyclocross frames really changed in the last year. Anyway, thought I would drop in a picture just to show off a little. Let the building begin.

What does your bike say about you.

2007-09-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

I am a firm beleiver that you can tell a lot about a person by how their bike is set up, and the gear they use. Sometimes they will fool you if they just bought the bike second hand from someone and haven't had time to modify it to their own personality, but usually you can have a look and learn a lot about the person.

Sometimes this is easy. If you spend enough time at the races you know that single-speeders are a breed of their own. If you can count the number of gears on a bike on one finger, you know you have a special kind of nut on your hands. But there are often more subdle things that you can note, even on a brand new bike. Which accessories if any did the person go in for? Did they go for flashy looking bits on the bike (disc brakes on an entry level bike) or did they stay basic (entry level bike). Did they opt to get all the little safety bits (saddle bag, tube, tire iron, multi tool), or did they shell out for the upgrades that would increase the quality of the ride (clipless pedals). Or did they just walk out with the bike as is? All these things tell you a little about how a person goes about their life.

As the bike ages, you can see what parts get replaced when. Is the bike ridden into the ground or is is kept fresh. How clean in the drive train? How clean is the bike? (By the way I love seeing bikes that are all muddy and dinged up, and then you look at the drive train and it looks like it has been washed with a diaper and lubricated one link at a time) Did the person go in for the latest bit of technology or did they stay with the tried and true.

Most important is the frame material. Seeing a steel hardtail tells you almost as much as seeing only one gear. Ti riders have a similar mentality, but they either have more cash to throw around or they are obsessed with quality. Carbon riders tend to be techno-weenies. Aluminum is either a financial decision or a simple decision that all that other junk isn't worth it, and that aluminum can be made just as light and stiffer anyway. (You will know which from the other parts on the bike)

So what is my point here? Well I just had a scary realization. My son is a much more hard core rider that I will ever be. I checked out his rig the other day, and there were two glaring indicators. "Steel is real" and "No Brakes".

Whats with e-haggle lately?? (e-bay haggling tips)

2007-09-19T04:01:00.000-07:00

e-bay is sort of a strange place to do business. As a young business starting out, it is a good place to bump up your sales a little. It is also a good place to determine pricing for online products. You can dump a couple of unknown products up there and see where the auctions come out. It is a good way to determine demand. It is also a good way to see where your markets are. For example, Californians are usually willing to pay more for a product because everything is so un-Godly expensive there that no matter what you throw out seems like a deal. Brazilians, will pay crazy amounts for shipping as long as the deal on the product is good. (both of these incidentally have to do with tax structure in those locations)

At any rate, while the fees associated with e-bay make your profits a little less, you do reach a large audience quickly. Sometimes I laugh about my e-bay store because to account for e-bay fees, many of my products sell for more than I have them listed at in my normal online store. I guess e-bay gives people the feeling of shopping around without actually having to shop around.

All of this is beside the point of this post. What I don't get is that it seems like e-bay is slowly turning into e-haggle. With the original auction format, there was no haggling, if you won, you won, if not you had to try again. The online stores and "buy it now" pricing made things a little easier for people who needed a part quickly, but removed the feeling of being able to "work the system" and get a good deal. So people have started haggling.

Haggling is fine, except that when you run a business that is focused on value and volume (that is selling with low margins at high volume) you don't have a lot of room to haggle, and in addition you don't have a lot of time to go back and forth with people who just don't get it. You would not believe the hours I have spent going back and forth with people over the prices on stuff, and the more time I spend on it, the more profit I would have to make to make it worth my while.

So if you want to haggle on e-bay here are some things to remember.
#1 You are more likely to have a successful "haggle" when the seller has their "accepts best offers" option on. Those are the sellers who are openly willing to haggle. All of the others probably will haggle, but don't really want to. They just want to take orders and go about their day.

#2 Don't be afraid to ask, but learn to take a hint. - My favorite e-mail to get, for whatever reason usually comes internationally, and looks something like this. "I see you have a screwdriver for sale... Can you quote me a price for a screwdriver, a hammer, a saw-zaw, and a jackhammer? I need it shipped to France". There have been times when I happen to have all of their list, so I quote them a price, and sometimes we go forward. Sometimes (usually) most of the stuff is special order. So here is the tip. If you are trying to get someone to special order stuff for you, don't haggle quite so hard, you are more apt to kill the whole deal. Someone who is ordering up something specifically for you will rarely have the same price as someone who has a bunch in stock and needs to blow them out. If they can get you stuff and save you some cash by combining shipping, its a good deal don't push them, because you are at a disadvantage that you may not know about... Your approach is the same as what a lot of scam artists use. They order a large volume of stuff that is not normal stock for you so they can draw you to a transaction that is outside of the e-bay system (which is illegal by the way) and then find a way to screw you. So if someone is willing to work with you a little an order stuff up, either take the prices they give you or don't. Don't come back at them with "well ScrewdriversRus has the driver for $2, and theJackMan has the jackhammer at $78, can't you come down a little on those items? No, go ahead and place three orders and get your deal that way.

#3 They are looking at your feedback - Don't try to haggle if you have a feedback score that is negative. No one wants to take that risk. Generally speaking, I don't negotiate at all with anyone who has a feedback score less than 10 who has negative feedback. If they have a feedback score over 5 and it is all positive, I might talk to you. Honestly though, it is hard to get negative feedback, you have something go really wrong with a transaction. Chances are if you have done 5 transactions of e-bay and two of them got you negative feedback, you are doing something wrong and no one wants to mess with you.

#4 The 3 e-mail rule - You should probably be able to work everything out in 3 e-mails or less. If you are sending your 4th e-mail because you aren't getting the deal you want, you aren't going to get the deal you want, try someone else or take whatever offer you have. The 4th e-mail is just ticking the seller off. The exception to this is if you are getting such a good deal that you want to increase your order. I recently worked a deal with a guy that went over the 3 e-mail rule because he worked a deal that he liked, and then went and got some of his friends in on it and came back at me with bigger numbers. I was okay with that and ended up shipping 20 sets of brake pads to Germany.

#5 Finally keep in mind that most online sellers don't want to haggle. They have essentially already done all of their haggling by comparing their prices to other online dealers and pricing their products accordingly. Be nice and they may hook you up, otherwise you are using more of their time so they can earn less money which will make them less apt to deal with a person who just doesn't get it.

Eco-Shipping

2007-09-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

When I first got this thing going, I had two ideas that I thought would reduce the environmental impact of the shop as well as save my business and my customers some money. One has worked rather well but I am being forced to stray a little, and the other has done next to nothing and I am about to can it.

Idea #1 Courier Delivery via Bicycle: This was actually one of the things that I thought was going to set us apart from other business in the area, but it really has had limited effectiveness.
The idea was that if I was going to be riding every day anyway, why didn't I spend some of each ride dropping off packages to local customers. This would not only save the customers shipping costs, it would limit the amount of fuel that was burned in the process of getting parts to customers, and if would also be a selling point for the business. For whatever reason, probably lack of advertising, the idea never took off. In fact it is probably a good thing that it didn't because I spend so much of my time packing up and shipping the regular orders that I wouldn't have time to do all the riding I would have to if the idea had really taken off. In the end I will probably kill the whole idea, but as we move to our new shop, I may start it up again for a limited local market.

Idea #2 Use 100% reused packing material: This idea made sense from the start, and has led us to be remarkable cost effective when it comes to shipping. To date we still have not bought a box for the purposes of shipping something in it. We have devised some neat ways to turn a large box that we get from a distributor into a lot of small boxes that go out to our customers. While this sounds relatively simple, actually doing it can take some time, so we have been working on ways of becoming more efficient at it. We have also become rather adept at turning cereal or cracker boxes into shipping envelopes for small parts like brake pads.

In terms of environmental impact, a strong argument could be made that it would be just as well just to recycle all this stuff and let a professional turn it into boxes, but our other issue is that there is no local Recycling pick up where we are, so we have to pack up all our recycling and take it to the recycling center. On the other hand, the mailman will pick up at our location, so we actually save ourselves a lot of trips by shipping our "trash" around the world rather than taking it to the recycle center. As I am typing this I am sitting next to a Trisket's box that is heading to Brazil. The Triskets box is sitting on top of a Raisin Bran box that is headed to Germany.

Every time I ship a derailleur hanger, two pages of our phonebook go missing so that the hanger will be well packaged in its little box. While ordering pizza has gotten a little harder, we figure that by the time the new phonebook shows up we be about half way rid of this one.

Our 100% reused policy has of late hit a small snag in that we have discovered Flat Rate shipping. Some of the items that we ship around the world are quite heavy, so the cost of shipping them can be prohibitive. The wonderful solution we have found is flat rate shipping. Basically USPS has a box that they provide and will deliver for a set price no matter how much it weighs. By stuffing these full of heavy items (like Stans solution) we can get our customers a reasonable deal on shipping. The only problem, it that you have to use their box. And so, as easily as that, the 100% reused policy went by the wayside. We do however still ship about 95% of our orders in boxes that are reused and packed with reused packing material.

I guess it's true what they say about the "best laid plans", but we are trudging forward with our 95% reused policy.... At least until we hit the next snag.

Thinking like a rock

2007-09-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

My brain works in geologic time. This is not always a good thing in the business world as it tends to prevent rapid growth, but it may also provide some stability. Most people tend to look at things and see how much money they can make on it over the course of a hour, day, month or year. I tend to live about ten to thirty years out from the present. Because of this I was very slow to do some of the things that will bring results quickly.

For example, as I started out I didn't really want to spend any money on internet advertising, because the end goal of an internet store in not to have someone click on an ad to find you. The goal is that someone searchs for a product and finds it at your store. This is a result of search engine ranking, not advertisements. So I set out to advertise the store basically by internet "word of mouth". Once the site was up, I submitted it to some search engines for review, and then promply began telling as many people online about it as possible. Everytime I published anything online, even a note on a forum, it had a link to the site worked in tastefully. I never Spammed anyone, but in the course of being online I managed to generate more and more links to my site from other sites. These links will eventually help the site rank higer in the search engines which is the eventual goal. What I failed to recognize is that this would take forever doing it myself.

When I finally did wake up to this truth and actually start spending money on advertising, my sales quadrupled overnight. Now it is not me trying to promote my site, but rather it is my customers promoting it for me. And while none of them are as active about it as I was, a lot of them do a little, and the effect is probably greater, and I have more time to focus on the site.

I also tend not to think about individual sales. If I did, I probably would have quit long ago. When you see a sale come through for a small part, and stop and calculate your profit after everything that goes into the sale, it hardly seems worth it, but my mind is always looking at what happens if I make that sale every day for the next year, and what if I find 10 more products that I can sell every day. Suddenly the numbers become a little better. And I start to focus not on individual sales, but on finding niche products that I can sell every day, even if it is at a small profit. Sure it is nice to get the big sales now and then, but it is the volume of the small ones that is keeping the shop alive.

I could go on giving examples, but suffice to say, through this first year and a half, it has been thinking in the long term that has kept me motivated. While sales have been increasing almost every month (this in not hard considering we sold $30 worth of product our first month) they are still not enough to feed the family on. Fortunately my wife works, and I have a part time job on the side, so we have been able to reinvest 100% of the profits into the shop, and it continues to grow. Not many people I know could spend two years working on a project and never see a penny, but I guess that is the beauty of thinking like a rock. I'm thinking 10 years out and it looks good out there.

Hello and welcome

2007-09-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is a blog that should have been rolling since the day I started Goose Creek Cycle, but it was always on the "to do" list and never done. Part of me thinks I should keep all my business secrets to myself and not let the competition know what I am doing until it is done, but in reality, I usually don't know what I am doing until it is done, so this blog really won't work against or for me in any real fashion. On the other hand, by putting all of this out in the open, my customers, friends, and employees (when we eventually have them) will all kind of know what is going on at the store if they care to read about it. So, sit tight, we are about to explore all of the trials and tribulations of running and internet bicycle store.

Feel Free to visit the site at http://www.goosecreekcycle.com/