STUFF WE USE

Here at Dotbike it can be like working in a sweetshop.  Lots of shiny stuff passes under our noses, some tempting, some not so tempting.  We all ride bikes, we all use stuff and none of us are rich beyond the dreams of avarice.  Over the years we've noticed the things people buy and the things we rate and buy regularly differ.  Seven years ago when I came to work here the review recommendations of a certain cycling magazine really meant something, a five star review for a product we listed meant an instant increase in sales.  It had been ridden in the wild by cyclists and the reviews came from the heart of the reviewer.  I’m sure they still do, but the review items are bolted to review bikes ridden on strictly planned tests by that well known individual “We.” 

The collective group-speak that is "We" doesn't compare and contrast has no personal opinion or come from a position. To be fair magazines are expensive things to get on the street and are wholly dependent on advertising revenue. So, after a few years of raging against the man they realise that the mortgage needs paying, the kids need feeding and a little pragmatism is required.  As circulation grows, so does the amount of stuff coming through the door for review.  Suppliers demand an even playing field so a system is devised where a number of salient points are covered on each product by every reviewer so an average view can be ascertained.  So what you get is more accurately described as a comparison than a review.

“We” also has the problem that on the whole, kit just works.  Take half a dozen rear lights, chosen for their price points and brightness.  There won’t be a lot between them so you’re down to does the bracket work, is the switch a faff and is it reliable.  Our two best selling rear lights highlight the problem “We” has.  The Topeak Redlight Mega sold in huge numbers in the early part of the winter.  The Smart Lunar R1 is £10 cheaper, just as bright with variable modes, we have had a similar number of returns (less than 1%) on both yet the Topeak has sold seven times as many.  It’s dominance in the winter was only toppled when a drastic price change on the Smart R2 blew it off the top spot.  I thought the reviews of these would show the bare facts stripped of feeling, which for the Topeak, on the whole, is true.  However, the Smart R1 hasn’t been reviewed since 2010 and the R2 since 2011 both with excellent coverage.  There is a fair amount of talk on forums on the R2 and we all know what a nightmare asking for opinions on forums can be. You end up with as many contradictory comments and options as humanly possible. So a recent review does seem to shift numbers.

"Where is all this going?" you ask, presuming anyone got this far.  Well, magazine reviews/comparisons obviously get the brand name out there and readers get a rational comparison of like with like and appear to take notice of them. More traditional reviewers who get to put their name at the bottom give a point of view but do they get read.  Chris Juden in Cycle Magazine  has a wealth of experience both technical and cycling and in my experience has as many supporters as detractors.  When he name dropped us in a reply to a letter in the magazine, sales of a certain brake calliper and cable hanger went through the roof.  The difference is it’s a personal review with opinions and arguments not a comparison piece.  Personally I prefer a review where someone has put their name at the bottom, for me that gives it some credibility.  Over time the reviewers name and angle become obvious and you can take it as someone’s opinion not a committee piece. Like or loathe the writers opinions if they are fair and can back up their view then all well and good. 

What I thought I’d do is opine about some of the stuff we use and sell.  It will be a personal view and the stuff will have been in long term use.  Hopefully it will at least start a discussion, my head says only the spell-checker and I have read this far and will ever comment.  In the unlikely event of being given stuff to review, I will make it perfectly clear but it will still have been used as the rest of our kit is, unless otherwise stated we will have paid with our own cash.

Neil

On Elastic Timescales

For a while I have been trying to find a way to describe Italian timescales.  For those of you who have never dealt with Italian industry this has little to do with 1950s racial stereotyping. What it has to do with is a very different and nebulous problem. 

The usual stated delivery time from confirmed order to receipt is six to eight weeks.  In reality this can be much longer with no explained reason. Within the bike trade you soon stop stressing and file this under Italian timescales.  Work on the premise that a week is an elastic timescale and you kind of get the picture.  I make sure that I explain to customers that six to eight weeks doesn’t mean forty nine days after they put the phone down and that this estimate can extend as well as increase.

I thought it might be mildly entertaining to paste this retail annoyance onto some serious physics for the delectation and delight of the alleged readership of this article.  After typing, elasticity of time, into my search engine of choice I discovered two things.  Well, discovered one and reminded myself of another.

How does an inelastic demand lead to elastic delivery?  Despite the fact that customers like repairable items  over throw away items rational delivery of spares from manufacture seems almost impossible.  Maybe elastic time is nearer to the point. My limited foray into Einstien’s works led me to the realisation that no matter how you simplify it, it’s jolly complicated.  Realising that the physicists out there would tear my assertions to shreds I decided a less elevated explanation was required. At this point I remembered why I got an “E” in my physics “O” level. 

I can almost tag it to a use of the Julian calendar but even the removal of ten days and the addition of intercalary months didn’t really nail it.  So there I am stumped on a witty time based allegory to illuminate your weekend (7)

Have a good weekend and if you have a witty explanation based on relativity I’ll happily publish the best here amidst the Snargs in the dark unswept corner of the tinterweb

Neil

The 2014 Grande Depart

Cecil Rhodes may have thought being born an Englishman was like winning the lottery, but the residents of Yorkshire will now be feeling as if ERNIE has finally coughed up gold.  The Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour de France is to be held in Leeds so, despite HarryEnfield’s 1980’s jibe, it would be fair to say that Leeds is now sophisticated.  The city is sold to students as a party town, a place where you can go out every night and shop in exclusive boutiques every day. The message is Leeds is a city for the image conscious and a place to be seen in. 

For the visitor and this includes those from as far away as Matlock, the north of England can be a confusing place.  So here are a few small tips on enjoying your stay in “God’s Own County”

Do your Homework:
Forget everything you’ve seen on TV about the north of England.

Language:
The Yorkshire dialect can be a little dense even to those used to it, so get yourself a phrase book and on no account sound like a southerner

      
Food:
As previously, forget all you've heard, you can eat in t’north and if you’re savvy enough to avoid the global chains you can eat damn well for not much at all if you choose.  Hot chocolate and pastries may well sort you while you wait for elevenses a long way south but a proper breakfast will stand you well during your windswept wait on the moors for the Tour to come by.  Life is too short to not have a proper English breakfast once in your life and all that protein and fat is there for a reason.  
      

If you choose to miss proper fish & chips while in Yorkshire you are selling yourself short.  In a life partaking of allegedly unhealthy food on a pretty regular basis I have only had better fish & chips than that available in Whitby only once.  That particular chippie had been recently voted best Chip shop in the country so fair play.  There are many reasons for a trip to Whitby don’t miss it. 

Drink tea eat cake it’s Harrogate’s raison detre

     
Beer:
Beer is brown, served at room temperature in 1 pint measures, that is all.  There’ll be plenty of chance for wine, fruit based drinks and fizzy pop as Le Tour heads back to the continent.

Weather:
Unless you’re very, lucky you will not experience classic Tour de France weather. We are a windswept island in the North Atlantic; comparisons with southern Europe end with sun dried tomatoes and reasonable Primitivo being sold in some supermarkets.  A pashmina will not keep you warm on the moors you will probably need a proper raincoat, jumpers and a hat.  In the unlikely event that it is a cloudless, windless, hot day then use them as a cushion while you note the date in your diary.

Clichés:
Ignore them, I have placed a few here because I’m a southerner and it’s the law.  For the purposes of travel, you will be made very welcome in this most hospitable of counties.  If you’re from outside the UK don’t join in the north/south banter, it’s our game hands off!   Enjoy the hospitality, if you get good weather enjoy Yorkshires stark rolling beauty to the full.
  
 Accommodation:
Book early.  A good B&B or a proper hotel is worth the outlay.  There are motel type affairs and bland corporate vacuums but you could be anywhere on the planet.  Come and experience Yorkshire and the UK at ground level give yourself a few extra days.  Enjoy your stay.





Neil is a southerner with no ties familial or professional to the north of England.   Although not above accepting a beer if anyone tells their host they booked because they read this. (As if)

Wen's Stolen Bike

OK so the foul world of bike theft has hit at Dotbike Towers.  Wen's Kinesis Maxlite has been stolen from Chez Fairs in Wantage, Oxfordshire sometime over the Christmas week.

Details:
Easton Maxlite XC 42cm frame Diamond Black
SRAM mixed group with FSA Gamma drive triple chainset
Avid BB7 discs
Avid Full metal jacket cabling
Mavic Crossmax wheels
Selle Italia Gel Flow Lady saddle
Ergon Grips
Marzocchi MX Comp Air Fork
Oval M200 Bars
Oval M400 stem
Oval M200 seatpost
TA Sierra Cages
Topeak beam rack.

If you see this, or hear of someone tying to sell said bike please report it to Thames Valley Police.  We would all really appreciate it if you share, promulgate and generally shout this from the rooftops.

Thanks for your efforts.  Time for a security review :(

Getting Gifts for Big Occasions On Time

This week one of our customers ordered his children’s bikes for Christmas.  What a breath of fresh air.  I can guarantee that about 3pm on Friday 21 December I will receive a call asking if I can get an item no one has ever bought, to a rural address, on Christmas Eve.  Here’s the answer, “Probably not.”  I sometimes get the same requests on Friday mornings expecting stuff to arrive before tomorrow’s 8am club ride.  If you are one of those lovely people who plan and order early, this is not for you.

                I realise there is the desperation order, where you finally find that obscure widget but that doesn’t mean companies can change the world.  Heaven knows we’ll try but there is the reality of logistics and if I haven’t got an item on the shelf it’s not going to ship in the next hour.  Most mail order companies operate a JITsystem.  This means we can list obscure non popular items and give you a dispatch forecast for them.  It doesn’t mean I have the world’s most obscure shoe adapter plate on the shelf, it means I can procure them.  When I say, “Sorry, it’s not going to make it” it’s because I can’t get it to you in time, not because I’m knocking off early to go to the pub.

                Christmas week distributors may close so they can do stock takes in peace or just have a well deserved holiday.  They will not be sending one £5 item to a retailer’s customer out of the goodness of their hearts that’s why retailers exist.  Christmas is the single busiest point in Royal Mails year, last year they estimated shipping 700 million cards and 40 million parcels.  Yes they take on extra staff but with the best will in the world they are not going to be as slick as the regular staff.

                This may seem like a whine, it’s not, a small outburst of frustration maybe.  I want you to have your stuff before the big day but you need to give yourself a break.  For the busiest time in the retail year order a little early.  We’ll work just as hard to get it out on time and we’ll all have time to re-plan in the rare occasions where the wheel falls off.  Honest it’ll make your life less stressful when you know the present is wrapped, hidden in a carrier bag, in the cupboard with the washing powder where your teenager will never find it.

                So a few pointers to help avoid stress and or disappointment with mail order at Christmas:

1.       Order early to avoid disappointment

2.       Too big for your letterbox? Send it to work (if possible)

3.       Review your order carefully.  Read twice, post once.

4.       Check your address.

5.       Dispatch and Delivery mean different things

6.       First Class isn’t always next day

7.       Choosing “Special Delivery” doesn’t bring the dispatch date forward

8.       If in doubt ask. It’s why we give phone numbersand email addresses

9.       Check your junk for emails, we can’t change your safe list settings

Dear Mr and Mrs Oz,

It has come to the notice of the Headmistress that your offspring have, of late not been turning up for games lessons and the end of term sports meet. The school is sure that there is a simple explanation for this but no correspondence has been received by the school explaining why your children have not been present.

The ex-alumni, Master Phelps has been seen flirting outrageously within his current work experience role within the BBC, leaving certain ladies visibly, emotionally distressed. Ms Meares despite a fine personal performance had no thought for the feelings of her hosts, shattering their dreams in a perfectly selfish manner. Young Master Evans has been unable to repeat his previous triumphs mainly as the boys of Greenedge house refuse to support him.

The school board realises that in previous years your input to cricket, rugby and occasionally cycling was overwhelming but the school will only be seen to improve if your previous efforts are continued in the quarto-annual sports event. Here's hoping you will not be out drunk/performed (again) in Edinburgh in two years time

Yours

GB Sports. (For Bettie Windsor)

Head of Kicking(Arse)

London 2012

Google and Middle Age

    So what happened to Google?  I suppose I should say Google Search now that Google(insert nouns here) also exists.  Remember when you used to find not just what you wanted but something a little different and heaven forfend something interesting?  That appears to have stopped. The job here often has me scraping the web for some obscure old part or the specific spec' of a customers bike.  It used to be that in these searches I found little goldmines of info or beauty.  Over the last few months it's just become like the 1970's, dull, grey and ultimately pointless.  It would appear, so people who know tell me, that Google has radically changed how it searches and nobody knows how.  There is a huge industry based around SEO and I realise that search engines have to change the game to bury the huge corporations that would swamp the small guys off the field and hopefully level the cliché field.
    We noticed our listings had fallen off the edge of the world and that Amazon was becoming the greater part of our business.  We realise that a lot of this is due to large companies who refuse to put the now mandatory for product listing EAN codes on their products but the game has also changed radically.
    I had noticed that apart from the focused results based around my regular searches if I wanted something a little different, let's say left field, you'd think I was searching for manners in the Mother of Parliaments.(Scroll to 10:00).  So today, hunting for something a little different for our Facebook, Twitter and yes Google+ feed I plonked Cycling Left Field into Google.  So apart from the bike shop with an appropriate name I got a list mainly of the same two very middle of the road cycling blogs, some route PDF's with left turns in them and the selection of a US BMX rider named Leftfield.  Nothing left field at all, a year ago I'd have had a smattering of unicorns on tandems or the UCI talking sense
    Has Google turned into my Dad in 1974?  Grey suited, trying to make ends meet on an NHS salary and fairly disillusioned?
    If you see anything interesting, entertaining, linked to bikes and riding in some way, point it in my direction. Hell even start a conversation on our social networks. It's why we started them to try to get to know you.
    Now kittens on a unicyle........