Ten Years – part 7.

The year 2008 was full good things and one big not-so-good thing.

I think the biggest thing as far as this business goes was that the JK Special was officially offered for sale. I had no idea what to expect when it was introduced but it’s turned out very well. Over time more and more of my work has become a version of the JKS and again, over time, there have been more versions of the JKS introduced. One thing they all share in common is that they are all made to measure race bikes that are built with the best materials regardless of where they come from or what they cost. I think that at this point 70% of what goes out the door has the JK Special wrench logo on it.

It was the year of my second visit to NAHBS — this time in Portland Oregon. Being in Portland made the whole thing a bit crazy and it was truly ‘standing room only’ much of the time and the fire marshal closed the room to limit the number of folks trying to work their way through the isles. In fact at times the only way in to the hall was to wait in line and when someone left they would then let someone else in. Oddly, looking back, I think the Portland show was one of the least successful for many builders including myself. Many of us took orders (a good thing) but with it being so crowded the folks that were there with money in their pockets ready to buy got frustrated at not being able to talk to the builders and left with their money still firmly in their pockets. I recall many builders feeling as I did — that it was tough talking with one person while 4-5 were waiting to talk with you. Most got tired of waiting and walked away. Some came back when it was slower but many didn’t. Overall the NAHBS-Portland was a mixed experience due to the huge crowds. A bit ironic I think.

One good thing for me at this NAHBS was the fact that I won my first award. I won the ‘best fillet brazed award’ for a frameset that was painted a wonderful and classic white with bright green panels. At this time in the show’s history I think the awards were determined by the votes of the fellow exhibitors so it was a high honor for me.

On the home front – after 5 years of designing and drawing each bike full size on paper by hand I switched to Bike-Cad. I’d gotten so quick at doing it on paper that I was slow to change over but in time I saw the real value of it for me — record keeping. Instead of digging through endless cardboard tubes with full-size drawings in them I could suddenly find the design in just a few clicks. Doing a lot of repeat business as I do this was a real time saver. I also liked that I could attach a dimensioned image of the design to send to the customer so that we could be on the same page and so that they could see the proportions of the design.

Late in the year I introduced a cyclocross version of the JK Special. I’d been riding and testing one for months and making tweaks and it was ready to go in December of 2008. The same tubes used in the JKS road bike, with the exception of slightly beefier fork blades, make for a very nice cross race bike.

Now all of the above is very good but there was one thing that happened in 2008 that I didn’t even recognize until we were into 2009 — the economy collapsed. We didn’t know what was happening while it was happening but we knew it wasn’t good. It hit home for me when I started having people put their orders on hold. I’d call or write the client excited that the wait was over and that we could now dive into their design and build and they would ask that I pass them by and put them at the back of the line. Previous to the crash this was very rare but it now seemed that it was happening all too often. In a few cases the client never called back and I’ve never heard from them again. Things were getting tough all over and only in retrospect could we see it for what it was. I’ll never forget getting a customer on the phone and telling him his time had come and he asked me to pass him by……….he sounded very upset. I asked him what was up and he told me — “Look, I just lost my effing job, my effing house and my effing wife……..the last thing I need is an effing bike!”. Point taken. It seemed like everyday I heard that a framebuilder, who just months earlier was the new ‘hot guy’, had packed it in and was out of business. It seemed that the entire handbuilt scene in Portland (a real hotbed of new builders) had shrank by some huge percentage.

Frankly it was a scary time and the path forward wasn’t clear. In the end I did the only thing that felt right — I kept on building and working to make the customer as happy and comfortable as possible. I set up the ‘Delayed Delivery Program’ to make it as easy as possible for folks to stay in the queue or get into the queue with a fresh order. In the end I think it worked out OK for established builders like myself. It’s hard to say for sure but it felt like there was still business out there and that when times are tough the folks still wanting to buy were more discriminating and went with an established and proven builder and business. This of course meant that many newer less proven guys went under and I feel their pain. In the end the pie was smaller than in years previous but the pie was now being cut into fewer pieces. Not the best thing to happen but it could have been much worse for me……..I consider myself fortunate.

Like I said — it was tough all over. I definitely want to thank those people who were in a position to stick with me during this tough time and invite those who put their orders on perma-hold to get back in touch with me when your situation improves and you’d like to pick up your order again. I’ll work with you the best I can to get things rolling.

Thanks as always for reading and of course for your interest and support.

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