Discouts for blog followers

Ok,  so I totally get that there at only about 6 of you who pay attention to my babble on this blog,  so if you are one of the elite few,  I am going to make it worth your while.

From here on it,  if I review a product,  or have to personally buy a product in one of my adventures  (like my current Ironman quest)   I will give 25% off that product for 7 days following my blog post about it if you are buying in store and mention the blog.   If the item is in stock, it is 25% off the tagged price,   if we have to special order,  it is 25% off MSRP pricing.   This discount doesn't combine with other promotions.

At the bottom of each post I will have in parenthesis what items will be on sale.  How specific I am depends on how I am feeling at the moment.  For instance if I buy a cable lock I might put (cable lock) at the bottom of the page which means all cable locks will be on sale.  Or I might be less specific and say (locks) which means all locks of any type will be on sale.      Another example is if I review the KHS Four Seasons 2000 Fat bike, I might put (Four Seasons 2000) which means only that model is on sale.   Or I might put (Four Seasons)   which means any model of the four seasons bikes would be on sale.  If I am feeling particularly feisty,  I might put (bikes) which would mean any bike would be on sale.  

No mater how you slice it,  if you watch the blog you will find some deals.    So enjoy my blather and get some cool swag.  

New sport new gear.

As I start out on this new triathlon adventure I am having to look at some some of my gear in a new light.   Those of you who know me know I am a cheapskate.  When it comes to my gear I ride it to the bitter end.   I won't throw a tire out until you can see fabric or the sidewall blows out.   I have been known to put all the little chain installation scraps from the shop together and make a new chain for my fixie.  Given the choice of the product that matches my bike and the one on sale,  I get the one on sale.

That being said,  as one who has spent endless hours on a bike,  I understand what quality can mean to a ride.   If you put junk components on your bike,  it will ride like junk.   Together these two qualities have left me with the general view that usually your best bet is to ride component groups 1 to 2 years old.   If you always chase the latest and greatest, you will pay a premium and often get the components before the bugs have really been worked out.   For example if you were the first to jump on SRAMs road components you got the version that didn't have a trim-click.  2 years later, prices came way down and you had a trim click.  If (like I did)  you jumped on the XX1 bandwagon when it first came out,  you got to ride a fully dialed system that changed the industry.   Of course now the prices of your replacement rings and drivers have come down to about half the original price and they are every bit as good and more available.

As I start in with triathlon gear,  I am finding that I already have a lot of the gear I need.  The increased use of said gear will hopefully give me the chance to wear some of that gear out and buy the gear I want.

For example as much as I like to taunt my wife with the fact that I have been wearing the same swim suit since high school,  I have to wonder how many more trips to the pool this piece of history is going to survive before I suddenly discover that it has completely disintegrated.  I recently heard a preacher on the radio suggest that God never intended men to wear Speedos,  and after some time at the pool I tend to agree with him.  I am guessing that there is probably some happy medium

that will allow for a little more speed and a little less "oh!" but that is a bridge I will have to cross when I need a new swim suit.

Until that time comes however I am starting my assembly of new gear a little slower.  So while no one can steal my swimsuit while I am swiming,  my valuble flannel shirt and the keys to my 94 Ford Explorer remain unprotected in my locker.  So purchase #1 for the new venture was a combination lock.  While significant,  I'm sure this won't be the only purchase I will have to make as I wind my way toward the Ironman,  so I have decided to have a "feel my pain" sale at the shop for those of you who follow my blog.  I'll post the details later but basically if you mention the blog,  anything I have to buy will be on sale at the shop for a week after I post it up here.  So for the next week all locks will be 25% off if you mention this post.

Congrats to the 7 of you who actually read my ramblings.  You get to keep your stuff safe for discout prices.

Ironman Louisville 2016

Ok,Ironman Louisville 2015 is safely behind us. As usual the Goose Creek Cycle team experienced the race from the sidelines. As bike shop guys we experience the race a little differently from those of you who were racing or cheering on your friends and family members.

The Shop rats (Lane, Levi and Cam) set up their annual "lemonade" stand in the Goose Creek tent while the mechanics nervously check split times of the bikes we built or serviced going into the race.  While we like to see our riders do well,  the main thing we are looking for on our little electronic devices is even split times.    We are equally happy with a rider who's average pace is 14MPH at every split as with a rider whose pace is a solid 22MPH.  What we are looking for is the dreaded "Long Split".   The Long Split is that one where there was clearly a problem.   A suddenly drop from a 20MPH pace to a 10MPH pace screams mechanical problem.   And mechanical problem means either a crash,  or we made a mistake. 

This year we continued our clean streak.  To date, none of the bikes (at least that we know of) that we have either built for or serviced going into the race have had any major mechanical problems.  We like to think that this is a testament to the almost neurotic testing and retesting we do on bikes especially when someone has flown half way across the country or world to get here for this one ride. 

But something new happened at the 2015 Louisville Ironman.   This year the Shop Rats moms showed up and put their heads together and issued a challenge.   In past,  I had actually been forbidden from doing this race on account of the time it would take to train for it.   But now with the kids in school and a little extra time in the margins of our lives there is a possibility of getting back back to racing.  

Now keep in mind,  I am not a triathlete.  I have done one sprint triathlon.  If you look back far enough into history you will see that I have a background in 24 hour mountain bike racing,  so the distance here is maybe not as daunting as it might otherwise be,  but lately my focus has been on light commuting, beer drinking and snack cakes.  So with the exception of the fact that my extra layer of blubber helps me float a little better in the swim,  I am singularly unprepared for an Ironman.  

Truth be told,  I probably wont actually do it,  but I am putting this post up on the shop blog just so there is a public record that I said I would so now maybe I will have to.   I have a year,  so I am starting with baby steps.   Baby step one was to take a bunch of steroids to try to get rid of this terrible case of Poison Ivy I contracted clearing trails at Briar Hill.  Steroids can only help right?   Also,  and mainly because I was told that the chlorine would help dry up my poison ivy,  I got in the local pool for 20 minutes this morning before work.

So there you have it.   Day 1 training:  Don't drown for 20 minutes.  Mission Accomplished.

No Pro Family rides

Starting in March 2015 there will be a series of what we are calling NoPro rides. Generally these are 40-60 minute rides at a casual pace. Perfect for pulling kids in a trailer or just getting your heart rate up in the morning. Incidentally, If you are doing the Humana Vitality thing, I have also designed them so that if you run Strava they will just perfectly meet your daily exercise requirements. To Start with these will be out and back rides on the Bike Path, starting from the public library in LaGrange, but I am also working on putting together some neighborhood loops that will be safe even for little riders and relatively free of hills. The first of these rides is on Wednesday March 4th at 8:30am

These rides will continue EVERY Wednesday at 8:30am unless raining and until it gets too cold as fall turns to winter.

Bike,Trailer and Trailer Bike rental Special deal on Trailer rental for this ride. For $2 and a little advance notice I can bring a trailer or trailer bike for you to ride for the ride. If you don't have a bike, you can rent a hybrid for $5 for the morning. (please note that these are special rate for this ride only, weekly or long term rental rates are available)

Yes the Rumors are true.. Goose Creek Cycle has reopened in La Grange

After a year hiatus I have moved back to Oldham county and have reopened the bike shop. A big thanks to those of you who have welcomed me back and helped me move all my stuff back in. It is taking me longer than expected to sift through all the inventory and get it back on the shelf, but we are getting there and shipments of new inventory are coming through the door as fast as I can handle them. The shop is open for service and repair, and the inventory is back up to a level that I am pretty confident we have most everything you might need. Until I get me family settled and everything in the shop organized the way we like them we are doing short hours. That Look like this... M,T,W,T,F: 10a-2p Odd numbered Saturdays 10-4 Even Numbered Saturdays Closed We will have late weekday hours soon. Also the old phone number has been turned off, so all phone calls can be directed to my cell phone 502-938-0004

Review of Echowell U9 cycle computer

With a little more time on our hands here we are reinstating our product "Thrash Test". The idea of a Thrash Test is to use a product to the end of its natural life and let you know how far they made it as well as quality and use ratings along the way. We also combine with this customer feedback, so by looking at how many we have sold and how many came back to us with complaints, we can get an idea of general quality and durability, beyond the few we Thrash Test. So here we go with the Echo U9 computer review.  (Review will periodically be updated as we get further into the Thrash test) Background: This product in one that we brought into the shop along with its big brother the U12 as a way to replace the Sigma computers which we were have a lot of problems with and complaints about.  The Echo computers were offered as a value item and compared to the CatEye computers which tended to have similar features, at a higher price.

We very quickly realized that most customers were not interested in the U12 version because the added features were not really worth the extra money,  so we sold off the rest of our U12 computers at the U9 price and thereafter only stock the U9.  After selling in the neighborhood of 50 or these with no complaints coming back from customers,  we decided that it might be time to pull one off the shelf and Thrash Test it. 

Features:
the 9 in U9 stands for 9 functions.
Current Speed
Average Speed
Maximum Speed
Trip Distance
Odometer
Riding Time
Speed Pacer
12/24 Hours Clock
CO2 Saving

Most people really only care about the first six.  The slightly less expensive u6 doesn't include max speed which most people like to know.  The more expensive U12 includes total CO2 saving, auto scan and total ride time which people generally don't care about,  so the U9 really is the sweet spot of the U series computers.

For those of you wondering what the CO2 saving thing is,  the computer figures that the average car produces 0.17g of CO2 emissions per Kilometer. It uses this number to tell you how much CO2 you would have produced if you had driven instead of ridden.    Because the computer has no way to input the actual emissions of your car this number is a neat idea, but wildly inaccurate and largely useless. 

Setup and Installation:
This is a wired computer and sets up relatively easily.  In other words, we did not notice anything that was either more difficult or especially time saving in the installation of this computer compared to others we have done.  The U9 does get points for using rubber band mounts rather than zip ties which allow the mount to be moved around if needed without having to waste or find new zip ties. 

Setting the computer was relatively easy,  most common tire sizes are listed in the instructions,  so there was no measuring needed.   All and all by following the instructions it took less than 20 minutes the install and set the computer.  If you have never installed a computer before you may wish to allow 45 min to an hour.  Usually the trickiest part is wrapping the wire around the brake cable so that you use enough wire so there is not slack,  but there is enough slack so that the sensor can reach the spoke magnet.

Ease of use:
Once the computer is installed.  There is only one button to push.  Pushing this button will scroll you through the different bits of data, like distance, max speed etc.  Current speed will always be displayed,  and the other information is displayed in smaller numbers below.

Overall First Impression:   After installing one of these on a commuter and putting about 50 miles on it,  we are happy with how it works.  It is easy to see, and does what it says it will do.  As of yet there are no real surprises for the good or the bad.


Pricing:
 MSRP for the U9 is $25 but pricing will vary dramatically especially online.   The variation is due to a relatively lax pricing policy.   Other brands like Cat Eye and Sigma are very strict with pricing control which means you will find most retail stores and online stores have them priced about the same.  The companies do this so that shops can compete with online retailers.  It has always been our opinion that you can expect to pay a premium at a shop because you will have a shop guy to help you pick out and install your computer.   If you are shopping online, doing the research yourself, and installing it yourself,  you should be able to save a little cash, and with Echowell,  you can.  Remember,  higher price doesn't necessarily mean better quality,  sometimes it is just price control and hype. 

Recommendation?

So far we like this computer and our customers seem to feel the same way.  It is a great value and does all the basic things that most people want out of a cycle computer.   We will put a couple thousand miles on it and see how it fares,  but so far it is a good choice,  especially if you are the type of person who likes to buy parts online and save yourself some cash by doing it yourself. 

Appologies across the board.

Hello all,   those of you who pay attention have noticed some changes at Goose Creek.   And what was  supposed to be a seamless transition has become somewhat of a cluster as the actual implementation took place.   But for those of  you who don't know,  here is what has been going on.

Goose Creek Cycle really has two sides,  the retail sales and service,  and the internet side.   Our local customers are familiar with the retail side and are probably vaguely aware that there is usually someone in the back grabbing things off the shelves putting them in boxes and swearing at the computer.    The reality is that the internet side is more than just the guy putting stuff in boxes,  and for quite some time the lions share of the work has been going on laptops and cell phones in places other than the store. 

Based on both personal necessity and as an attempt to get some of the clutter out of the shop we have decided to pull the internet operations completely out of the store.   This will free up space for the retail side,   and streamline the internet side.   It will also mean that we will have 2 separate inventories.   

As of this week the online side has been moved into a temporary location,  with a partial inventory.   We are hoping that this temporary location will be replaced by a new retail location that is large enough to handle both a larger retail store and a separate shipping facility either in the same building or adjacent to it.    All this is sort of getting ahead of ourselves though.  

The main point here was that we had a lot more problems with the move than expected.   Now almost a week into the transition we are just getting computers back up online.   (primary computer was crushed in the move and it took longer to get internet in than expected)   That being said we are so behind we cant think,  so we are actually going to pull the internet store down for about a week to catch up and separate online and retail inventory.   Those of you with pending orders we apologize for shipping delays,  we are going as fast as we can, and may products are having to be transferred over from the shop.  Bear with us,  we will be back in a week.