Back from Nowhere

Where have I been? Here. I just haven't taken a few minutes to write. Nothing especially exciting has been going on. The Seattle Bike Expo was last weekend. Nothing much new there. It was good to see so many of my friends. In the last few years that seems to be my biggest motivation for going, aside from work requirements. I skipped the Swap entirely. First time in 10 years I've missed it. From what I heard, I didn't miss a whole lot. I'm sure there were some deals to be had and discoveries made. I guess I've gotten to the enviable point where I don't really need much stuff. Just the things that need replacing once in a while. I truly feel Ebay has wrecked the Swap. Just like it wrecked Recycled Cycles. So that's where I usually look for rare stuff anymore. Things I'm interested in show up pretty regularly. Ahh, the Global Marketplace! I still get out-bid most of the time. So, back to the show.... We at TiCycles try hard to have products you don't see in every bike shop in town. For example, we had the Independent Fabrication XS on display in our booth. Retail value approximately $10,000. The bike belongs to the CFO of IF. Really nice of him to loan it to us. We also had some interesting parts. There is a company called PowerCordz out of the Salt Lake City area. They make shift and brake cables that are amazingly light. One steel brake cable weighs as much as all four cables from PowerCordz. I know this smacks of weight weenieism but, it's the cumulative effect that we're shooting for here. Cost is around $160.00, yowza! We also had a set of Lightweight wheels. Yes, the name is Lightweight. Incredibly light, the rear was 900 grams! Incredibly expensive as well, at $5500.00 per set. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight when it comes to performance applications for carbon fiber. A pretty high wow factor for sure. So, consumerism seems to be alive and well here in Seattle Bicycle Land. You can see it at the shop. People coming in looking for their new bike or getting their old one tuned up. Today was quite busy. I'm glad we had 3 guys on. I'm also glad Spring is almost here. Winter is getting to be a real drag. Our recent cold and damp weather makes my back hurt. An Arizona vacation sounds nice to me. Maybe next year.