Morning everyone. Here we are on what promises to be a sunny and warm Tuesday. Hopefully plenty of you will have the chance to get out for a ride, if you feel like one.
It's been a busy but not hugely 'Insta-worthy' week. But what does that even really matter? We've come to the realisation that a lot of framebuilding accounts treat social media like a job. Are framebuilders the new...influencers? Should every picture be a fanfare of filtered perfection? Every backdrop carefully compiled? We'd love to have the time, energy and motivation to get our pictures looking really pro but honestly guys? We spend our days in a workshop with dirty hands, wearing ripped dungarees and the result is what you see in our gallery. Honestly, we get super envious of some of the beautiful studio pictures some builders get. But alas, Mrs A has no interest in training to be a photographer, so basic it is for us!
Right. This week was productive as hell. Maybe fuelled by the introduction of birthday cupcakes for my better half. We got not one but two stems finalised and built for our fantastic customer David. He was the dream to deal with. He knew exactly what he was after, the dimensions he needed and the only pause was as he mulled whether or not to buy two at the same time. We don't do hard sell tactics, so we left him to make his own decision and the next day, there it was. An order for two beautiful raw stems, which are destined to be painted by a local painter.
One we think, is going polka dot (very on-brand for us!) to match his Speedvagen ride and the other, we assume might be black, to go on his stealthy Rock Lobster CX bike. A serious stable you've got there David! One of the stems has our Chris King headset cover and the other has internal routing for a front canti brake.
We can't speak for anyone else but the best part of this industry, for us, is getting pictures of the things we've made, being used. Mark didn't disappoint this week when he clogged our inboxes (joking Mark, we love a big file. Ooh er!) with some lovely snaps of his maiden voyage. In the interests of full transparency, we had a snafu during build-up, due to some ineffective masking for powdercoat, but once we got the seat tube re-reamed the whole thing came together like a blue delight.
When lockdown is lifted properly and riding together can be a more sociable event than it currently is, Mark and I have plans to get out for a razz. Can't come soon enough!
We rounded the week off by sneaking in a worthy #tampertuesday entry too. When someone emails to ask about a Chris King hubshell tamper, that's what you whip up.
Finally, just a reminder to actually practice good mental health and not just talk about it in the pub garden over the latest craft ale. If you've got a feeling that someone isn't doing so well, check in. Radio silence can mean a lot of things but the majority of them aren't great, so please reach out to those that normally message you more frequently than they are right now.
We're going to talk about our stem racks next week, as well as being featured on The Path Less Pedaled and the double-sided element to citing inspiration, other builders and transparency. Lots to say about all that but that's for next week because we need to finish up making our rack totally universal so we can show you how it will work with all your stems!
Rad Peeps of the Week:
The Path Less Pedaled for reaching out and producing objective reporting.
Everyone that bought us a coffee this week, as always. We literally do buy coffee!
Our friends who are struggling right now. We love you. All of you.
Our daughter for absolutely ripping around the local BMX pump track.
See you next time!
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