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Full Spectrum Cycling
Full Spectrum Cycling Podcast #20 – Interview With Vince from Chumba USA
Jul 12, 2019
Full Spectrum Cycling Podcast #20 – Interview With Vince from Chumba USA
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Transcript
0:00
[upbeat music] Hey, everybody.
0:18
Hi there. Welcome to the Full Spectrum Cycling Podcast, show number 20. 20. 20. One more year and we can drink. 20. And then I can drink. Yeah, legally. [laughs] When we get to show number 90, we can remember today.
0:33
[phone ringing] When it's 90 degrees out. When it's 90 degrees out. [laughs] It was 99 degrees and- Was it? 'Cause that's what my car said and I'm like, "No way." Phone's ringing. Wait. Who's calling? Donny.
0:45
May I help you, caller? No, I'm sorry, that's not gonna work. No, there are no robots here, thank you. [upbeat music] All right. What the hell is going on? [laughs] He didn't actually answer the call. Ah, gotcha.
1:03
I thought this was- I don't know what's going on... I thought this was part of the show. I did, too.
1:07
[laughs] I guess it's not, 'cause there was a- Oh, there's always a little surprise That was the, that was the shop line, folks. Yeah. Oh. Ah, fair enough. You know. Shop is closed. Shop is...
1:16
Well, yeah, it's always open. Mm. Right, online 24 hours a day, everydaycycle.com. [laughs] There you go, folks. And the other phone number that, not that one, was 717- 727 727-2453. That spells bike.
1:32
Hey, we're gonna use that to call out in a little bit to talk to- Right on... Vince from Chumba, USA. Chumba. Got some stuff to talk to Vince about. Give him a call in a few minutes.
1:41
Like why your tires on your Chumba are so sandy? Sandy. We went down and did a Zion ride. Yeah. [sighs] That's why they're sandy. It was nice. Oh, nice. Nice day, beautiful breeze. Going south it was really, really fast.
1:55
Going north it was not. [laughs] But that made it easier to clean up the beach on the way back, 'cause, you know, walking pace you can see a lot more. There you go. Cool. Was, uh, Greg River still in, uh, full effect?
2:08
[clears throat] Not that anybody should look at the GPS map, but we made it past that point because it was sandbarred in again. Oh, nice. Nice. It's questionable whether we should be going past there apparently. Eh. Eh.
2:22
Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] But I'll tell you this, it was a lot, the beach was a lot dirtier down there past that river than it was on the north side of it where most of the people go, so. Interesting.
2:33
Collected a whole Bob trailer bag full of trash, folks. Good for you. Nice work. Right? Way to go, Dave. I found, uh- Go mule, go. [laughs] I found some fishing gear. Oh, nice. We got a bobber and a- A butt plug... lure.
2:50
Bling Fest continues. You wanna use that for a butt plug? I do now wanna use that. [laughs] That is pretty funny. Wow. Yep, there was a little baby's arm, about three inches long. Uh. Plastic baby. Oh.
3:00
Not, not human baby. Yo. [laughs] Oh, I was worried for a second there. It had the, you know- [laughs]... the full on metal fingers going. Nice. It was sweet. I have to try and find a picture of that, 'cause- [laughs]
3:13
Uh, Ernesto's lady ended up taking that for her very own collection. Mm. Heather, I believe her name is. Heather. So, uh, Mike was out of town. Yes, indeed. Made it back just in time for the show. Yeah.
3:25
Folks, he flew in on the Learjet today just to be here with you folks. Yeah, the Concorde, the retired Concorde. After nearly being completely flooded out. Mm-hmm. Like- Yeah.
3:34
Oh, I have a, I have a- You got a month's worth of rain in one afternoon... yeah, on the way to the f- all airport. [laughs] I'm like, like, um, um, I think we're [laughs] we could be in trouble here. Yeah. Here?
3:49
Going to the MKE? No, uh, yeah- Or from Virginia to- Yeah... yeah. From Northern Virginia to, uh, DCA, uh, Reagan National, and it was... They have, like, a lot of valleys, and- They tend to fill up with water...
4:05
wa- wa- water, water collects. Yeah. And the... Yeah. Going slow enough so you couldn't hydroplane if you wanted to, but if you were, you would.
4:14
[laughs] Sometimes it's better to get some speed up and go across the top rather than sinking and having the water wash you away. Yeah. That's- Uh, yeah. Folks, don't drive in flooded areas. Yeah. That's just bad.
4:24
Bad idea. No, yeah, it... They... No, yeah, yeah, no, no, yeah. Unless you got a- Yeah. I'm bringing up a four-wheeled topic, but you know that today was the last Bug to roll off the production line in Mexico.
4:36
Oh, the original? No, the- Bug, or the new? The f- the new one The new one. Yeah. Okay. They're now done again for now. Again. With the, with the trunk in the- So they have an electric version...
4:46
with the trunk and the hood and- Right... and the engine in the trunk. Yeah. That's the only Beetle ever. I saw, I saw one on the freeway the other day- Ever...
4:53
one of the newest of the new that looks- Looks like a Porsche... sorta Porsche-like. Yeah Looks totally looks like a Porsche... very, very Porsche-like.
4:58
I was able to, I was able to talk my dad into letting me ride in the, the front trunk. [laughs] Like, for- No way. Yeah. But- My mom had a, had a Beetle- He hated you, didn't he? He hated you. Really?
5:09
No, he wa- I just talked him into like, just, like, just for a little while. I just wanted to see what it's like. [laughs] With it closed? Yeah. Nice. [laughs] That's crazy. That's just, that's just crazy. Yeah.
5:21
Well, but the- My, my brother-in-law played a practical joke on his- Origin stories... friend with a Bug, who...
5:25
They, he would top off the tank every night, and the guy just kept thought, kept thinking his fuel economy's getting better and better.
5:33
He would come into work, he's like, "I got, like, 62 miles to the gallon," and all his friends would be, like, laughing.
5:38
And finally, after, like- [laughs] After, like, three months, they told him that they had been filling his tank when he was in the parking lot. [laughs] Nice. That's funny. That's good. Well done. Yeah. Well done.
5:47
Well done. So today's beer was brought to us by a customer. Huh. Lent him a 190 quick release skewer that he needed for his fancy build, and, uh, he brought us some Black Husky. Nice. Not A Hazy. Yes.
6:02
6.4%, uh- Some sort of IPA, I believe Alkahoozie? Yes. And bottle- But it is not a hazy... canned on July 1st And also very- American... very, very runny. Yeah. I was gonna say, you're the... [laughs] Magic marker, man.
6:14
This is a very Sharpie- That was a Sharpie, that's a Sharpie beer... magic marker on the can- Yeah... with the Alkahoozie content written right on it. Let's see it once. Pa- Tony was telling us how this works.
6:24
They, they, they don't have their own canning operation yet, so they contract out to a, a big rig that comes in with a cannery in a trailer. That sounds so cool.
6:34
That's such a m- m- What does it cost to get into one of those? I wanna... I want one of those. I looked into it. It's not cheap. No, I imagine not, but- Yeah... what do you charge a can?
6:44
Not a lot, but you make it up in volume, of course. Right. Yeah. It's for price of introduction. And of course, if we were doing it, there'd also be, like, the first case is ours. Right.
6:53
[laughs] So there's that, you know. So on Friday there's a Riverwest food truck something called a Gathering Place. Mm-hmm. Nice. That might be interesting.
7:04
That'd be Food Truck Friday, I believe, is what they're calling it. Food Truck Friday, is that what they're calling it? Yeah, it sounds like- There'll be four breweries there. That's- What time does that run?
7:12
5:00 to 9:00 PM. Oh, n- 'cause I know they, they do over by, uh, on Holton behind the Family, uh, the Vibe and Family Dollar. Oh, really? They do one over there, too? Yeah, on Fridays. Oh, cool.
7:25
But I think it's, like, 11:00 to 1:00 or 3:00. In the afternoon? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No. Lunch type thing. Morning. No, in the morning. Yeah. [laughs] That neighbor- [laughs] Hold on a second.
7:35
[laughs] Speaking, speaking of the guy with the 190 skewer, he can come in the door. Dude, it's open. It's open. I'll, I'll go get him. You guys chat. Let's chat. I don't know.
7:42
Talk about, talk about whatever you wanna talk about. Let's talk about hats. What, uh, what did you- I didn't wear a hat today because it's already hot...
7:49
what did you, uh, rent for a bicycle while you were on your travels? I did not. No bikes at all? I did- well, I did- Zero? I didn't rent bikes. My cousins had bikes. Oh, okay. So one was kind of a beach cruiser,
8:04
you know, single speed, coaster brake- Right on... type deal. Yeah, yeah. Simplicity. Yeah. You got the keys? What? That. Huh? Huh? He brought you back your skewer? My skewer back. Oh. Yeah. My skewer back.
8:18
Chat amongst yourselves. I shall return. Oh. Oh. You know what? I need you... Go take a picture. I thought... Yeah. Take a picture of his bike. Exactly. He's got a, he's got a- I thought we were making s'mores.
8:27
We got a skewer... he's got a big fat dummy with a r- 197 roll off on it, or 190 quick release roll off on it, folks. This is a, this is a long tail.
8:36
Eh, I'll show you a picture of this thing on the old, uh, show notes there. Otherwise, uh, Tour de France started this week. Oh, it did? And, this weekend. I think today was stage five.
8:47
It was a somewhat hilly stage, although it looks like the Peloton stayed together and it was a sprint finish again. I like when they get into the high mountains and there's one lone man on the top of the mountain.
9:00
King of the mountain. Oh, went a little Dio on it. [laughs] Um- Not King Diamond of the mountain. Right. [laughs] I, I crossed the streams. Yeah. The, um... No, I'm just so used to being,
9:15
like, it, it always feels like it's, like, one week earlier. The Tour? Tour. Yeah. It usually starts right around the Fourth of July.
9:23
Yeah, that's what- Like, the weekend before the Fourth, I think, is maybe- I- that's where my head was at... tradition probably says something about that.
9:30
We do have, uh, all five to seven hours of coverage on in the shop here, there, folks. If you wanna stop by the shop and watch the Tour, uh, come on by. It's gonna be 73 degrees tomorrow, so- Yes...
9:42
it'll be nice in here. Amen. [laughs] A-fricking-men. Try, try- And I could not even figure out frigging air conditioning in my house, so I gave up. [laughs] I just found a damn fan.
9:54
[laughs] Just shove it in my face, like, ugh. If the air's moving. It wasn't actually super humid, it was just hot. Yep, yep, yep. Like Las Vegas hot. No, I, I came from the swamp when I was on the East Coast.
10:08
Oh, right, yeah. That's all swampy as- Ugh... as hell, you know? I mean, thankfully part of it I was actually on the ocean, but one day in DC, ugh. [laughs] Did you do any bicycle riding? You sent a picture on the bike.
10:21
Yeah, did a lot of riding on the, uh, in the beach area, which was nice and relaxed and groovy. You know, it's like a three-mile burn, uh, one end of the area to the next. Copy that.
10:34
Well, well, okay, there's one bar, [laughs] Baja Sandbridge on the south end, and the Sandbridge island is three and a half miles, uh, up the other way, so you know. You have to keep these priorities straight.
10:49
And the one on the north face has $2 Pabst tall boys- Oh, they've turned into-... all the time... the hipsters out there. Nope, they just always have had them, and $2 Tecates. Come on, now. Not bad.
11:03
I can't get a $2 Pabst in Milwaukee, for God's sakes. Right? It's two for five. At least 2.50. I mean- Two for five 16-ouncers. Yeah. So two for five. And what's that bad? You know, 2.50. Yeah, yeah.
11:12
But $2 D- Can't you get three for five down at, uh, Swinging Door? Yes, you can. There you go. That's under two bucks a can. I hate math.
11:21
[laughs] Hey, folks, speaking of special guests, uh, we're gonna give Vince here a call in just a minute. Um,
11:28
next show, 20, number 21, two weeks from, uh, two weeks from now is gonna be our buddy Dave Schlabowski's gonna be back on the show. He just did a 380-some mile ride.
11:40
He calls it the Waterfall Tour, I believe- Oh, sure... up in northern Wisconsin- Yeah, yeah, yeah... where he routes it past all the waterfalls he can find, which seems pretty cool to me. Hell yeah.
11:48
I mean, it sound- plus he's now the former executive director of the Wisconsin Bike Fed. Well, yeah, I was waiting for the other shoe, going like, "And he's r- newly reinstated as-" Right. Last- [laughs]
11:59
That last show he- I am, I'm not, and I am again. [laughs] Don't wanna do it, gotta do it, don't wanna. Gonna do it, gotta save it again, folks. [laughs] Thanks, Dave, for all you did for the Bike Fed.
12:09
Yeah, for real, man. And we'll talk to you next week. All right, uh, Michael, you entertain the crowd while I figure out how to make a call to our friend Vince. All right. I have to push some buttons.
12:19
It's been a while since we did this So while I was on vacation, I had a very vivid dream, and thankfully it, I had a notepad next to me.
12:34
[laughs] And it all involved biking around Appleton and then losing my bike, and somehow there were two Star Wars bars in Appleton. Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da.
12:46
And then, and then I was going along, and it looked like the cliffs of Santorini, but it was Appleton, Wisconsin. My gosh. They have some cliffs there. Yeah, but not like Santorini.
12:58
And, um, so I had a mechanical, and- In the dream? In the dream. Copy. And I was just getting pissed off, and I'm like, "Ugh." So I got an Uber, and it was John Legend and Chrissy Teigen. Okay.
13:15
And they were the drivers, and so I was, like, in a fricking talk show- [laughs]... just to get to a Star Wars bar. Do you always keep a notebook by your bedside? Not, not a lot of times.
13:27
You might want to because- Yeah... it's, that's pretty good. Yeah. Yeah, and, uh, oh, man, it was... Uh, yeah. There was... Yeah, and then they knew where my, uh, my uncle lived because it was Appleton.
13:42
Because you knew where your uncle lived. Yes, 'cause it was Appleton. These are all things running around inside your brain. Oh, yeah, yeah. [laughs] And then, and then, uh, yeah, it was just, it was fun.
13:52
It was a fun thing. Tony's still out talking to our buddy, but I'm gonna push the button here now, folks. All right then. Pushing the button, see how this works. Calling the guest. Doop. Hello? Hello, Vince. Hello. Hey.
14:10
Hey. It's, it's- How's it going, Greg? Good, good. Yeah, g- you got, you got Greg and, and JK right now.
14:15
Uh, Tony's out looking at a big fat dummy with a 190 Rolloff on it out in front of the store just 'cause it's, like, big and cool looking. [laughs] [laughs] He may have encountered a dog as well.
14:27
Yeah, there might've been a dog out there for him to pet too, possibly. [laughs] Hey, folks, uh- Yeah, it sounds like fun. We gotta put one of you guys on the back. [laughs] Yeah, yeah.
14:36
Yeah, it's a, it's a massive vehicle. Um, we have another long tail that Tom Teasdale built for me many years ago that's a, a fat bike long tail, but that pales in comparison to this, this super fat- [laughs]...
14:50
fat bike. [laughs] Um, so folks, we, we just called... This is Vince Colvin from Chumba USA we've got on the horn here. Uh, welcome to the program. Yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate the invite. Yeah.
15:03
Well, I mean, you know, we've, we actually talked to you on the Weekly Dose of Fat many years ago. Um, but, uh- Yeah, it's been a minute. [laughs] It's been, yeah, right?
15:11
You're, you've always been the mouthpiece for Chumba. Uh, what... Tell folks a little bit about yourself and your, your kinda your cycling experiences and, uh, what led to Chumba. Oh, sure. Um,
15:24
well, I mean, our, our company's been around since the '90s. Uh, about five years ago, I got brought on to, uh, basically do a rebrand under a new ownership. Um, and I've been working with the company since.
15:38
So the version of Chumba that you're seeing now, uh, is all part of what I've been trying to work on alongside of my now partners, uh, who is, uh, our, our family and our, our frame builder, Mark, um, and our respective families, uh, partnered up, and we actually purchased Chumba about a year and a half ago.
16:00
And so now, uh, we're entirely employee-owned, which is pretty awesome. Yeah, yeah. For sure. Um, we're 50% fem- female-owned as well, which is also really cool. Uh-huh. Um,
16:11
but, uh, we basically kinda all had, like, long different paths to get to, to get to be here.
16:17
So, uh, myself, I've been kind of in and out of the industry working in bike shops forever, and I've been riding bikes since, like, 2000, 2001.
16:29
Uh, got into mountain bikes really early, but started off actually with, like, single speed, uh, bikes just commuting around town, building my own bikes and trying to do all the work myself. And, um,
16:42
my wife actually took me on a trip to go visit family in We- West Virginia, and we were, like, maybe sophomores in college or freshmen in college, and, uh, she took me out and we rented bikes,
16:56
and I loved mountain biking so much from the first moment that I did it that I went back to the store and bought a bike that minute, and I had, like, no money. [laughs] Uh, so I bought, like, whatever I could get.
17:05
And she was like, "How are you gonna afford this?" And I was like, "I'll never take it to a shop. I'll, I'll just do all the work myself."
17:11
And, uh, I stuck true to that and kinda taught myself quite a lot, learned a lot from some really good mentors and friends and, uh, then started working in shops.
17:20
And, uh, alongside all that, uh, I was also pursuing, uh, two degrees in, uh, in art. So I've got two, uh, degrees in painting and printmaking actually. Um, so
17:35
I'm really involved and interested in really the details, uh, of, of how our bikes are put together, uh, the way that they look, uh, as well as the way that they're designed and how they perform.
17:47
So, um, basically it's been a long pathway to figure out how to, to merge, like, my creative side with my business side, with my design side, and, uh, it's led me to be here, and I'm super stoked to be here and have the team that I'm working with now is just amazing.
18:05
Like, our resources are great, and we have some really smart pe- people to work with. Sweet. Sounds like you have a right brain/left brain thing going on there with the business side and the artistic side.
18:17
And how, how do your, how do both halves- Yeah, it's weird... of your brain actually get along? That's, that's weird. Mine don't often get along. [laughs] I, I don't know. [laughs]Yeah, it's weird.
18:26
It's like, uh, I, I find, like, I have to feed both sides of it, or if, if I don't, like, I... One never kinda rules out over the other.
18:34
Like, if I'm only working on, like, the front end of the business and not working on something creatively, uh, I start to kinda go nuts.
18:42
And if I'm only working creatively and not working on, uh, things to, to improve, uh, you know, structure or, uh, planning of the business, like, that, that bothers me too.
18:54
So I, I really thrive on kinda splitting, splitting up the, the, the different tasks and, and, uh, they... It's kinda interesting, 'cause the, each kind of process fuels, fuels the other, is what I've found.
19:07
So there's a lot of creative solutions to be found in all these things. To- Tony's back now. [coughs] To- Tony put on his headset now. Chumba. Chumba. So we have Vince on the phone, Tony. Hey, Vince. Hey.
19:18
Just to let you know what was going on while you were outside. I was looking at a- Oh, yeah... a bike I had seen in parts once prior. [laughs] It's good to see it on the road finally.
19:27
And this has been, like, a six-month project for that guy. Yes, it has. Yeah. Poor guy. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. But a bike made for fun, but not for wheelies. Mm. Yeah. [laughs] I, although I saw Thor- Yeah...
19:37
from Surly wheeling- That's right... an electric Big Easy, so a, a long tail can be wheelied if it has a- Oh, yeah... a motor, apparently. [laughs] That's pretty legit. Yeah, right on. [laughs] So cool.
19:49
Well, thanks for the, uh, kind of the, the, the backstory, so to speak. Um, folks, I, I don't know if... Uh, you probably know this already. We are a Chumba dealer here, so full disclosure, um, we love Chumba's bikes.
20:01
Oh, yeah. [laughs] And, um, we, we've actually- Yeah, we love you guys too... we've actually got, um, a, a few of the Ti, uh, fat bikes you guys did a while back, uh, left in, in the inventory here. Yeah.
20:14
Uh, so folks, if you need a titanium fat bike that's the coolest design I've seen on a fat bike, personally. You mean, like, the- Uh, not just 'cause I'm selling them, but 'cause I think it's a great bike.
20:23
You mean like that asshole neighbor of mine who- Yeah... up, up showed me by riding one? Oh, yeah. Tony's neighbor bought one. [laughs] And now his 15-year-old son steals it all the time and- All the time [laughs]...
20:34
rides it all over the place. Oh, man. 16 now. Oh, 16 now. He just turned 16. Oh, he's, like, what is he, 6'6" or something, the kid? The kid, yeah, he's, he's, he's big kid. Just a massive kid for 16.
20:43
Uh, so that's where one of the XLs went. It's totally built for his use. Okay. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Absolutely.
20:48
Um, I, so you guys, I mean, I'm not saying, uh, I'm not putting you on the spot here, but since this will be on fatbike.com- [laughs]... just, um, uh, kind of- Yeah, for sure... sort of, uh, give us a, a clue what...
21:00
You did a bunch of great fat bikes, and then you kinda decided, "That's not really our main focus," so, um, you're not doing fat bikes anymore, correct? Correct.
21:09
It's, it's been a difficult decision that has taken us about two and a half years to kind of wrap our heads around, because we, we put a lot, and I mean a lot, of effort into that bike.
21:22
Like, a lot of care, a lot of thought went into the design of that bike, a lot of prototyping, team testing, like, proving it.
21:29
I mean, we had riders racing it in snow races and endurance races, like GP Faper Suit, and doing well.
21:35
We had riders bike packing, like, you know, thousands of kilometers in Africa, across Thailand, across Israel, like, all kinds of stuff. So I mean, we've put extensive thought and time into that bike.
21:49
And to- Well, it, it certainly shows, because [laughs]... make the decision not, not to continue with it is, was a tough one.
21:56
Um, but what it boils down to is that we really wanna focus on making the very best products possible.
22:05
And what we found is that for us to produce the fat bike that we wanna produce for the majority of consumers, it was outside of the price point that they were interested in looking for.
22:17
Um, so what we found is that the bike did really well when it was on sale, and not as well when it was full price, um, which was frustrating, because we had put so much thought into it.
22:28
And what we found is that the, it's just a challenging segment to win. Um, and ultimately, c- looking at it harder, they're also extremely difficult to build.
22:41
Um, building a fat bike, you know, we build our bikes in house, uh, and in the USA with our Ti bikes.
22:47
Um, you, if you do a fat bike compared to a mountain bike or to a gravel bike or to a road bike, you're, you're adding at least one and a half times the time, if not longer, to build it, just to try and keep those, uh, those massive bendy stays that we're hand bending ourselves, um,
23:07
to try to keep all that in phase and looking sharp, and not getting ripples, and controlling all that, and making sure the miters are good and everything's even, it, it takes a lot of effort.
23:17
And so you have a product that is really cool, and people really like it, and the people who own it are like, "Wow, this is great. I'm so stoked on it."
23:28
Um, but then you have, uh, majority of the customers coming at us going like, "Well, I think I'll wait till it goes on sale." Hmm.
23:36
Uh, which is difficult to, to do when you see your production costs, 'cause, uh, t- the time is going up and up to produce them, so. Absolutely. Uh- Yeah, for sure... so yeah.
23:47
It, it just, it just, it was a tough call, 'cause I mean, we put so much into it. So, um, you know, the, the design, like, extremely confident in. Like, it is definitely a really fun bike to ride.
24:00
And, you know, it's just, it just boils down to, like, if we're gonna continue to do them, we'd have to charge a lot more, and we felt like that wasn't fair to ask people to do. Gotcha. So. Yeah.
24:11
Yeah, I, I can see what you're talking about, for sure, on the price thing, because it, I mean, it's not just your bikes.
24:17
There's, there's other stuff in this, in this cycling segment here that, uh, eh, people are a lot more willing to buy certain things on sale than they are, you know-
24:26
Oh, I, I wanna wait till- Well, and you have to remember that we're, we're really up against the majority of our competitors in the fat bike market are not making their bikes in the US. Oh, absolutely.
24:36
Like, how many, how many fat bikes are made here that are production bikes? I mean, so we're, we're going up against bikes that everybody's trying to compare the price point, and it's, like, half the cost. Yeah.
24:48
Um, so that was a real challenge.
24:51
So basically, like, consumers and riders who were, like, really looking for a long-term bike that, you know, they were gonna be confident in the performance and the durability of, like, they got it, and they were like, "Cool," like, "I understand why it is what it is, because I'm paying for the quality."
25:11
Um, but if you're just dabbling in fat bikes, it's probably not the, the best bike for you to get your, for your first one. Right on.
25:19
So, uh, when you, uh, when you decided that that's not where your focus is, your resources went into some new bikes, I noticed. I mean, I even have one on order right now. Uh, let us know about the- Yeah...
25:31
the, the new, the Sendero, and, uh, you've got the new road bike and, and then your other li- your line has been kind of focusing more over the last couple of years, it looks like.
25:43
Yeah, we've been trying to kinda hone it down to having a variety of bikes, like, that are in, in kinda all the right segments.
25:52
Um, which isn't to say that fat bikes aren't the right segments, it's just, uh, a difficult one when you're making a USA-made product, is what we've found.
26:00
So these other bikes, um, I think there's, there's more competition in the market, in the US-made market, uh, in these kinda areas, like mountain bikes and trail bikes, road bikes, and gravel bikes, so people are used to seeing those price points.
26:17
Um, but as far as what we're doing lately, uh, we've been trying to expand the line to kinda offer some more aggressive offerings, both on the road side, but predominantly on the mountain side.
26:29
Uh, so we have a new bike called the Sendero, uh, which is a really fun bike, uh, compared to our Stella.
26:36
Our Stella's like a, a rigid to 120 travel bike that's kind of built around the 100 millimeter travel platform, and the Sendero is, uh, is really like a 110 to 130 travel bike that's, uh, really built around a 120 platform.
26:52
Um, but aside from that, the geometry's completely differently focused, so, uh, it's a much more, uh, very modern, uh, you could label it more like a down country design.
27:05
Um, but even within that realm, it's kind of, it's a little bit different spec than most of the other bikes that are out there.
27:11
So short chainstays, a little bit higher bottom bracket than most of its, uh, comparative bikes, uh, much longer top tube, um, with a steeper seat tube angle and slacker head tube angle.
27:24
So basically an all around ripper, but- Yeah, yeah... uh, not meant to be sluggish is the goal. So I can't, I can't wait for mine. Uh, so our, we do, used to have the Rastro. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man, it's gonna be...
27:36
I think you're gonna really enjoy it. [laughs] Like, we, we learned a lot from, from the Rastro and riding that for a long time compared to our Stella.
27:44
So Rastro was our 27.5, and then later our 27 plus bike that was built around, like, a 140, 130 travel. And it was a really fun bike, but it really only came alive, like, when you're pointing it downhill.
27:57
The rest of the time, you know, you're kinda going along and you're having a good time, but that bike really opens up and gets really fun when you're pointed downhill.
28:06
And, uh, with the Sendero, we wanted to maintain that downhill fun factor, but we wanted it to be, uh, more like a Stella, you know?
28:16
Fun to ride in the flats, and be climbable, and go through rock gardens and all that kinda stuff, and just be a more versatile bike than the Rastro was, uh, to have a- Why, why did you name it the Rastro?...
28:26
have more fun basically in all conditions. Why, why did you name it the Rastro? Oh, man. Well, yeah, that was a, that was a weird one, man, 'cause, uh, naming a bike is really, really hard, as it turns out.
28:37
Um, like, I've got notebooks and notebooks of name ideas. [laughs] And, I mean, all of the ones that we've had have been like...
28:44
[laughs] You know, we, we all vote on it, and it's like, you know, we, we, we go through, like, 10 names before we land on the name. And, uh, some of it was a learning curve.
28:53
Um, Rastro literally from the translation that I found back in the day, uh, was, uh, was Spanish for trail. But turns out it's also Spanish for slaughterhouse, so. Oh. [laughs] Wow. Yeah.
29:08
That was just equally, equally cool. I was just thinking The Jetsons. Yeah. That's exactly what I was thinking, was The Jetsons. [laughs] Like, "Rastro!" Yeah. Rastro. Yeah, I know. Yeah.
29:18
[laughs] But, uh, but yeah, it was, that was a fun, heavy-hitting bike and, I mean, we were trying to show people that, you know, we didn't wanna just only have bikes that could be seen as, like, endurance cross-country or, uh, bikes that were just fun to bike pack with.
29:34
Like, we wanted to show people that we could make a bike that still shredded downhill and was a lot of fun to ride.
29:39
And I think it's kinda helped us, even in the design of, like, the fat bike, I mean, we, we put a lot into that.
29:45
Just was, um, a unique take on the bottom bracket height compared to a lot of other bikes on the market to, to make the bike more fun to ride on the trail, which we kinda saw, like, uh, everything that we were doing that made the bike more fun to ride on the trail also helped it ride better in the snow, so.
30:01
Nice. That was kinda interesting. We're benefiting from that still. I love my Chumbucker- Yeah, I hope so... major titanium fat bike.
30:09
[laughs] So speaking of Rastro, um, we, we talked on the phone the other day about, um, one of your team riders, uh, Alex, Alexandra. Yeah.
30:19
[laughs] She, and her, I think her website still has Rastro in the name 'cause sh- she originally had one. Totally.
30:26
But, um, tell, tell us a little bit about, uh, Alex and her and sh- 'cause she just finished the Tour Divide And, uh- Yeah... what's this? She's, she's amazing. Um,
30:37
you know, she, she's an incredible athlete, uh, and just a really amazing person to get to know.
30:43
And it's been a real pleasure getting to, getting to know her and to be part of her story at some level, and to get to sponsor her has just been a blast. So she's like...
30:53
Y- you couldn't find a more authentic person, uh, I would say.
30:56
You know, she's got really the right motivations for what she's doing, which is super fun to watch her succeed at stuff when she also has those great motivations. Um, but she's doing some pretty cool stuff.
31:10
I mean, uh, last year she won the Tour Divide on a Rastro, which was like, what? [laughs] How did she do that? That is crazy. 'Cause that bike is, was made to, you know, not to cover that kind of distance. Uh-huh.
31:25
Um, but she kinda came out of the, out of, out of the blue and approached us, and she was like, "Hey, I've- I really like your bikes, and I'm interested in, in something that I can depend on.
31:35
Like, I have, you know, not a large budget. Can you work with me on something?" She told us her story, and we were like, "Yeah, we can totally work on this with you."
31:44
And she said she was gonna do Tour Divide, so we're like, "Oh, we're gonna make a bike that's Tour Divide ready for her."
31:49
And, you know, we, we, you know, we got something together for her, and then she did the Tour Divide and just like...
31:56
You know, I, I, I, I called her mid, mid-trip, or texted her mid-trip and was like, "I- we had no idea how amazing you were." Like- [laughs] "How are, how are you... You're blowing, you're blowing us away.
32:07
This is incredible." I, I think some, you know, just- It was so much fun to watch. So it's very humble.
32:12
Um, [laughs] Yeah, I like the, you know, she- And that was- She, she, she doesn't ride in a full kit like a lot of racers. She rides in cutoff jeans and chukka boots, and still, you know, manages- Yeah, totally, man.
32:24
And she did the, she did it single speed this year, right? Oh, Jesus Christ. She did it single speed this year. And, and you know, I mean, typical, uh, yeah, I mean, typical Alex trying to make it harder on herself.
32:37
[laughs] Um, [laughs] but yeah, she did it single speed this year. Um, we built up a Stella Tie for her, which is our more Tour Divide ready focused bike.
32:47
Uh, definitely our endurance race bike out of the bunch of options that we have. And, uh, she rode it down from, uh, somewhere in Iowa down to Kansas for the, the DKXL, which is a 350-mile race.
33:02
And we were up there at that expo, and got to hang out with her some there and watch her, you know, start and finish that, which was amazing.
33:10
And then we came back to Austin with her and got some time to hang and get to know her more and more, uh, which was great, 'cause she lives up your neck of the woods most of the time. Mm-hmm. Um, and then, uh,
33:23
and then she went to go start Tour Divide, and it was just amazing watching her.
33:27
I mean, she's, uh, she spent, like, almost the first entire half of the race I think all the way till, uh, Fresh Mountain Lodge, she was the first place single speeder overall.
33:38
Um, I think she's the only female singer s- single speeder that I'm aware of, uh, on, during, during the race. And then, uh, then she completed it in 19 days. The, uh, the year before she did it in, like, 23. So- Geez...
33:53
uh, that alone to me is, like, a massive accomplishment, just like how that's a, such a huge gain, like, like personal gain to, to knock four or five days off your ride time is amazing. On a single speed. Um- Uh-huh...
34:07
but yeah. An average of- On a single speed, right... 143 miles a day. [laughs] Jesus Christ. Yeah, totally. A- across that route. Yeah, and, and once she- Amazing... yeah, it's amazing, man. So, [laughs] yeah.
34:20
So she, she's just extremely strong, uh, extremely tenacious, and very persistent, and, uh, a really good example of, uh, the type of people that are on our team in general.
34:31
Um, you know, we, we don't typically go after, like, the most, uh, orthodox, uh, you know, cross-country racer. Right on.
34:41
Um, we're looking for, you know, really interesting people with interesting stories with different types of motivations for what they're doing that kinda are
34:52
looking to better their communities or be peers in their communities or mentors, get more people on bikes and, uh- Asses on saddles... those kind of people are really fun to represent. So yeah. [laughs] Cool. Very cool.
35:05
I, uh, I had, uh, SSUSA on my notes. Must be for Single Speed USA. Is that, is that coming to Austin? Yeah, man. It's coming to Austin, right? It, it is, man. Yeah. We're so stoked about that.
35:18
So yeah, we've got, uh, a local crew here, a bunch of my buddies, uh, and, uh, the Austin Single Speeders, uh, you know, naturally the acronym. You'll... I don't know if I can say it on here.
35:30
You can- But, uh- Yeah, this is a- Go ahead, Alex... fucking, we're, we're explicit- Yeah... on Apple iTunes, so- [laughs]... whatever you wanna say. [laughs] Yeah. The, okay, the group is called ASS. I'll just say it.
35:42
[laughs] Austin Single Speeders. Anyways, uh, Austin Single Speeders. [laughs] Uh, but it's actually a group of really nice people, by the way. Um, but, uh, we're pretty stoked that, uh, that they're hosting it. So,
35:56
uh, the, the group that's putting it on, like, kinda reached out to them to my knowledge and got them involved, and they're, they're doing a lot of planning now and really kinda getting to run with it and create some cool stuff.
36:07
So, uh, there's gonna be, like, multiple days of fun festivities planned for it for sure. November 1st through 3rd, folks. So the race itself will be... Yeah, it's coming up, and it's gonna be a lot of fun.
36:19
We're, we're excited to be a part of it too.
36:21
So the race itself will be just east of us out in, uh, Smithville at the Rocky Hill Ranch, which is kind of like a, a major local race, uh, spot that has- All kinds of potential for different, different types of trail variations that could be out there.
36:39
So, I'm kinda excited to see what kinda course everybody picks- How many miles out from-... 'cause, uh, there's a lot of options out there to play with How many, uh, miles out from, uh, C- Uh, from, from Austin?
36:48
Yeah, like from, like city center-ish, I mean. Oh, well, I mean, so- Relatively speaking... there's a bunch of, like, events and, uh, and rides happening in Austin proper. Yeah.
37:00
Uh, we've got, uh, team riders and people from Austin SingleSpeeds that'll be doing, uh, group rides all through the area in Austin, like the days before.
37:09
W- we're gonna do an open house, I think, on the Friday before at our, uh, factory, which will be cool, and then, uh, the race on Saturday, and then the hangout on Sunday, I think is how it's going.
37:21
I, I'm, uh, I'm not the one putting it on, but [laughs]- Oh, fair enough. [laughs] No, no, no, no, no. Not the [laughs] - But, uh, so, yeah... I was just trying to get a relative idea. But, but the, uh...
37:29
Yeah, the race itself is probably, like, uh, geez, I guess maybe like an hour or 45 minutes east of us. Fair enough. Fair enough. Um, but, um, but yeah, I mean, you...
37:39
It's difficult because you're, you're trying to find a place that you can have, like, a good time that a bunch of SingleSpeeds wanna go to. Uh-huh. Uh, meaning it's gotta be a little rowdy. [laughs] Yeah. Hell yeah.
37:51
Um, and, um- Oh, yeah. [laughs]... it's difficult to do that on, uh, public, public property in Texas, so, um, they opted to go to, uh, Rocky Hill, 'cause it's a private ranch.
38:01
So it's a little, little more open-ended- Understood, yeah... on, uh, what the rules are, so. [laughs] Oh, yeah.
38:08
[laughs] Yeah, we've, we've got a- I was, I was kinda- We've got a few favorite friends on the old SingleSpeed tour Yeah, I was kinda diagnosing. I'm like, "Well, it's November. That's... I, I got nothing."
38:16
That's a good time to be out on the trail. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah, I got, I got enough lead time on this one. Okay, how far [laughs] We could drive there. [laughs] It's not that hard to drive. Yeah. [laughs] I dunno.
38:25
Well, I, I'm sure- Throw some bikes in a minivan and- I'm sure we can hop a ride with Chewy or Spinner- Well-... any of those guys... no, I'm not riding cross country with Chewy. Oh, yeah. Oh. Chewy.
38:35
[laughs] It's very furry, this Chewy fella. [laughs] You'll, you'll meet those m- those fellas if you haven't already met 'em, 'cause they're staples of the old SingleSpeed scene. Oh, machines. Nice. Cool. That's great.
38:48
Well, um, hmm- Yeah... what else do I have on my list? Nothing. So, uh, what do you, what- [laughs] You got anything you wanna talk about, Vince, while you got us on the horn here? Um- Or anything more... I dunno, man.
39:01
I mean- Kinda like we haven't talked about stuff... how, how's your new shop? How's the new shop going, man? I mean, it- Hot Yeah, it's warm... it seems pretty awesome. Like- It's very warm.
39:07
[laughs] I can- All three of us are very moist... I can tell people- [laughs] I can tell people why, why we chose to work with you. Sure. Go ahead, yeah. 'Cause, uh, yeah, I mean, we're...
39:18
and which is kind of a plug to find other dealers too, by the way. Yeah. Find more dealers, yeah. We are, we're looking... Yeah, I mean, we're looking for shops that are just like yours.
39:27
I mean, we're, we're looking for shops that are focused on making bikes that are custom, handmade in the USA as much as possible- Amen... and preferably out of metal. [laughs] [laughs] And I really dug that- Cheers...
39:43
that was a... Yeah, man, and we just dug that that was a big part of the, the focus of what you guys are doing there, and, um, it's cool to get to be a part of that.
39:53
So think you guys are, are gonna do really well up there. We're giving it a go. It's, um, it's a lot of service this time of year. I mean, we only have 800 square feet here, so it's not like- Yeah...
40:03
uh, we have a, you know, a bi- a big warehouse full of bikes. So we try to do one-on-one with people and get people on bikes that they're gonna love for a long time.
40:12
And, you know, most people that we work with have several bikes in their stable already, or they've had many, many bikes in their lives, and they kinda know what they want. And
40:22
we like to try and get 'em on the thing that's the best for them at the time, and what you guys offer, right up our alley, for sure. Absolutely. Yeah.
40:31
That's a lot of what we're looking for with our customers too and how we do it, so it really syncs up well. Sweet. Well, uh- That's cool, man. Thanks very much- Yeah... for being on the show. You know what?
40:42
Appreciate you guys having me on. If we're... If we don't make it down to SingleSpeed USA, I think we should probably- Make it to Austin regardless... get out of the bike business totally.
40:50
Well, I'm just looking at- [laughs] You had me at Austin. Yeah. And then, and then- You know, yeah...
40:56
I was like, "Da, da, da, da, da, da" You guys definitely have to come, and we'll, we'll show you a good time if you make it down here. It'll be fun. Oh, I think we can probably- So let's say if we had-...
41:05
work that in somehow... too many people in our vehicles, could we ride Jumbos? [laughs] Uh, maybe. It just depends what I have access to, so- [laughs] We don't have, like, a huge demo fleet. A Jumbo demo fleet.
41:18
We, we, we have a whole bunch of nice bikes that we send out on review all the time [laughs] instead, so. [laughs] The definite maybe is coming through. We will bring bikes.
41:26
[laughs] If I'm traveling cross country, we're bringing a bike, or 10. Yeah, 'cause that, that wouldn't be our- Oh, yeah... I wouldn't make a stop. It'll be my, uh, yeah, the N+1. 10.
41:35
There's a, there's a place in- There's so much awesome riding down here to do. There's a, there's a place in- So you would, uh, you'd be, you'd be extremely surprised.
41:42
God, God said, God said, "Just have one, one bike," so I bought two, so five it is. [laughs] Yep. Right on, Vince. Well, thanks for taking time to talk to us today on the old Full Spectrum Cycling Podcast. Yeah.
41:59
We'll- Good chatting with you guys... we'll catch up with you again maybe after SingleSpeed USA and, uh, see how that went for you guys and just sort of check in with what's going on at the factory there and
42:10
kinda keep in touch. Yeah. If you guys make it down to that, we should do a, a factory tour and have you guys over for beers. Hell yeah. Absolutely. Today we're drinking Black Husky Brewing- [laughs]...
42:21
Not a Hazy IPA, so. We'll bring some with us. That's, uh, right, it's kitty-corner from the shop here- Right... right across the street, basically.
42:29
And in the pinstripe Terrible, terrible having a, a, a brewery- A brewery... right across the street [laughs] Directly across the street It's absolutely awful. A killer brewery at that. Don't ever come to this brewery.
42:37
Yeah. It's the worst. With all this. Yeah. And by the way, they have the worst- With all the angels and the- Tour... yeah, they have the worst tour in, of any brewery in Milwaukee. Yes.
42:43
It's right on- It, it says it right on their website. Yep, for sure. The worst tour. Worst tour, best beer. [laughs] All right, Vince. Thanks for calling in, Vince. Thanks again. Well, guys. Thanks for calling you.
42:52
Toodles. Yeah, have a good one. You too, man. See you guys. [laughs] Bye. Right on. Folks, Vince from Chumba USA down there in Austin, Texas, where we're gonna go, I guess. We gotta go there now. Geez.
43:05
I think we kinda do. Don't know if it's gonna be for Singles Speed USA or for- Can we podcast from there? Hell yeah. [laughs] Look at this thing. It's not that big. We should podcast from there.
43:13
We're gonna take our stuff with us and go on the road. Full Spectrum Cycling Podcast- We got a budget-... on the road... nobody's business, this budget we got Right, like gas money. Yeah. And beer. Right on.
43:23
Beer money, gas money. Pretzels. Oh, yes. Yes. Yep. Slim Jims. Sounding like a really good idea. Slim Jims. Always gotta have the Slim Jims. Yeah, thanks for bringing the Slim Jims. I was kinda hungry. Step in.
43:32
I didn't make it over to Scardina's today for my- I, uh, I was a little-... traditional Wednesday lunch, so. Is that the ham wrap? I didn't think I really wanted a pastrami or something today, as hot as it was.
43:42
It's gonna be hot, yeah. I know, or chorizo. It's like, oh- Now you, now you're wishing you had it, didn't you? No, I'm wishing that I had more, uh, um- Slim Jims? We can always get jerky down the street.
43:50
[laughs] Can do that too. All right, folks. Well, um, thanks to Vince. We wasted a good portion of your day today. Yes.
43:57
So thank you, Vince, very much for making our show more interesting than- I hope you all enjoyed it... we might otherwise have done. And, um- I think we'll talk to everyone on the, on the dawn of River West 24.
44:10
River West 24. The dawn. Which, that's the Wednesday before the River West 24, which means the Thursday is the underwear ride, and then Friday's the race. Wait, what? Thursday night- Wait, what?...
44:20
is the pre-River West 24 underpants ride. Oh, right on. Underpants off, pants on. You might as well just go all out- [laughs]... and just make it a whole week of riding spectacular. And we'll have, uh- Fabulous race...
44:32
Dave Slabowski is penciled in for the next show, so. Oh? Nice. We should have him here in the studio to talk about- Is he bringing venison? No, no. You better be bringing venison. Not sure.
44:42
Dave, if you listen to this show, bring more venison. Right on. [laughs] Well, thank you everybody. Bye. Did you hear my I never did that before. That was cool.
44:52
It was a little, little whistle through the teeth, like Dave Letterman might be able to do. [laughs] Oh. Hawk air horns. 717-727-2453. That spells bike.
45:02
Uh, even though we called Vince this time, you can call us at that number. Yeah, do it. Do it. Do it. Do it now. [upbeat music] Right now.
45:13
[upbeat music]
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