Framebuilding and economics

I've fielded several calls and emails lately from folks wanting to get into framebuilding as a business (ie, not just building a frame or two, but actually hanging out a shingle and selling bikes). I know I've opined on this topic before, but this post will be a little bit of a different twist on that same subject.

In short, people are always surprised when I interrupt their questions about welder settings or hole saws and say "forget about metalworking for a while. It's not important right now." But this is absolutely true - small businesses rarely fail because the proprietor (in the bike industry or any other) sucked at making bikes, or bread, or painting houses, or whatever. In fact, the starry-eyed lad or lass often is a real stud at their chosen field - which is why all their friends urged them to go into business. So why do something like 90% of all small businesses fail in their first year or two?

Here's a clue: go read this article about a bakery that's closing in Longmont.

Notice that the owners blame "the bad economy", but then later they mention that they "ran the numbers" during a holiday season when sales were RISING, and determined that they weren't making enough money to pay themselves! In fact, one would have to conclude that they probably NEVER made any money.

That's the first thing to worry about when considering starting a framebuilding business - you need to figure out what your costs (all of them!) are going to be, and then add a few bucks to be on the safe side, and then decide how much you want to pay yourself. THEN figure out what you need to charge, how many bikes you need to sell, etc.

I guess my main point is this: math is actually useful in real life. For a lot of people, even college-educated ones, it seems that the whole idea of using even basic math (I mean, you don't even really even need to be able to do more than add/subtract/multiply/divide in this case) is totally alien. I'm not sure what to think of this - but I guess there's a lot of the same math illiteracy in all the current mortgage/housing disaster stories. Pretty sad.

So don't be one of those people. Get out Excel, or a calculator, or just a pencil and paper, and use those elementary school math skills. You'll be glad you did.

What the heck are these?

Anyone know? They're on a bike belonging to a friend who stopped by to use my headset press, and she doesn't know either. There's no writing on the crank or the spider, and the rings are old Shimano 8 speed.

One or another of you huge geeks must know...

I live in a classy town. Also, recipe.

First, check out this awesome story about meth, 3-ways, and stabbing people to _break up_ a fight!

And yes, I live about 5 miles from Niwot. Nice. My favorite made-up headline from the Daily Camera comments section: "Double stabbing leads to double stabbing". Hilarious!

Second, a great (and unusual) salad dressing recipe, modified somewhat by me because I ran out of hoisin sauce:

1/2c ketsup
1/4c maple syrup
1/4c olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/8 tsp black pepper

Mix 'em all up, dump on your salad! Add some red pepper flakes for spiciness if you're into that sort of thing, too. Or smoke some meth, but leave the door open in case your baby starts crying...

I think I just threw up a little bit in the back of my mouth

So, I often ruthlessly mock the fixie fad. Not as cleverly as Bike Snob, of course, but I'm right in there with him on the anti-bandwagon bandwagon.

But I built a fixie for my pal Scott. Glittery blue sparkle fixie, no less.

But then he sent me a picture of his handlebars, and it became clear that Waltworks has jumped the shark. Where's the Obama spoke card?

Worst short track ever?

Well, neither Sarah or I got hurt, but we got 2 dnf's for our efforts, Sarah's due to a crash and subsequent demoralization (she wasn't hurt) and mine due to a slashed rear tire.

In more sobering news, one of the women's A racers had a *horrible* crash and what looked like a pretty serious spinal injury. The folks at the race came together fast to get her comfortable and direct the ambulance in - worst crash I've ever seen at a bike race, and I've seen a lot. I don't know the woman's name, but she's a pro road racer for Webcor - all the best to her, I hope she'll come race again soon and have better luck. Long story short, it was a very disconcerting start to the night of racing and really kind of ruined the mood for a lot of folks.

I'll say no more about that. On to good news:

Little Isaac boardman rode his 16" wheel BMX to a fine finish in the kids race, and Redcoat threw down for 5th in an exciting sprint in the Men's A's. Then he lent me a tube and pump to get home! Nice work RC!

I'm hoping Boardman sends me some pictures of Isaac. It's pretty freakin' rad. The kid loves to descend!

Random stuff for sale

The bins are getting full of random things. Make an offer that's reasonable, and I'll consider it.

-Raceface Ride XC Singlespeed Crankset. 175mm, external BB included, 32t chainring and bashguard. Brand new. $100 shipped.

-XTR post-mount front brake. Brand new, no rotor, postmount M975 brake. $150 shipped.

-SRAM Rival front derailleur. Brand new, 31.8mm clamp, $30 shipped.

-Vittoria Open Corsa Evo-CX tubular tires. 700x23. Brand new. Somehow I ended up with 4 of these damn things. $50 each or $180 for the whole lot.

-Shimano M520 mountain bike pedals. Brand new. $40 shipped.

-Shimano A520 touring/road pedals. Brand new. $50 shipped.

Random construction pictures, not many words.

Not much to report today - I dumped a few photos from the chip on the camera from the last week or so. Yes, Guy's frame does really have a kickstand mount. No joke.

Also, as an FYI, we finally got our VT tickets - I'll be gone from July 15th-23rd in Vermont (and then off to Crested Butte from July 27th-August 6th). So it's big vacation time - I will be finishing up a couple more frames, then things will be on hiatus until early August. You've been warned!

Retroactive weekend recipe!

Martin dumped this stuff on Portabello mushrooms last night, and it was awesome. I'd eat it with a spoon by itself if I could. But I'd probably sweat to death.

Martin's BBQ Sauce:

1 cup ketsup
1/4c H20
1/4c vinegar
1/4c brown sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp chili powder
10 cloves garlic, smooshed
1 tsp cayenne

Instructions:

Simmer it all for 15 minutes until it gets thick.

Pretty easy, pretty damn good. I think some jalepenos might go well, or some liquid smoke stuff...

Bike post tomorrow.

Awesome, not good.

My good friend Feldman, once upon a time, whilst attempting to explain Transformers (the relatively recent movie of a few years ago, not the animated one from the 80s or the new sequel) described it as "Awesome. But not good. Just awesome."

As an aside, this would be a good summary of the hilarious review of the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at IO9.

I eventually watched Transformers, and I'm inclined to agree. It's awesome in that it's exciting and action packed and so loud it makes your ears bleed, and after you watch it, once you've recovered a little, you wonder what the heck was going on, and why the plot made no sense. And you start to understand what having ADD must feel like on a daily basis.

Anyway, I found another movie that's not quite as awesome, but definitely also high on the awesome/good ratio. It's called Dead Snow. It has coeds, and zombies, and nazis, and chainsaws. It's great. And by great, I mean awesome. But not good. Sarah and I loved it. Go watch it, or rent it, or probably download it with cruddy homemade subtitles like we did. And let the awesomeness wash over you.