Clay Street

We made it! After several months of negotiating and working our tails off, we are officially moved into our new home on Clay Street. When we announced the move, some of you kind folks were excited and some were sad to see us leave Noe Valley. Noe Valley was good to us and we are very grateful to have met so many people there. Our new neighborhood has been more than kind to us. Our immediate neighbors have been more welcoming and supportive than we could have hoped. Anywhere that throws you a neighborhood welcoming party is a great place to call home! Parking seems to be considerably better while keeping in mind that it is still San Francisco (eat or be eaten), it's much better, trust me. At the end of the day, we're still in the best damn city there is. We're closer to the bridge too and we plan on taking full advantage of that with more frequent group rides. At the end of the day, what this move means for you is that we are more capable of taking care of our clients. We have more space and we have new fitting and mechanical equipment rolling in every week. Our new fit area has two sections, one for physical evaluations and VO2 testing and the other for our standard fitting services. The area is far more comfortable for our clients and allows for more a more efficient process. The service are is twice the size and will allow us to handle a bit more volume and incorporate new tools and equipment there as well.

We would like to thank most sincerely the following people without whom, we would not have made it through this transition:.

Leonel Quinteros of AQ Painting. This guy is a real pro. Outside of having done an outstanding job, he finished on time as expected. Sounds simple right? How many painters or contractors have you ever heard of finishing on time within budget?...exactly. Need paint, see Leonel!

Earl Gonzalez of EVG Design. Earl built pretty much every piece of furniture you see at Bespoke and built Noe too. Earl has a knack for anticipating the needs of his clients and has a remarkable sense of design. He also had Stef and I busting our tails in the wood shop for a few days too which was hard work but really quite enjoyable. His site is linked on this blog. We are very dedicated to supporting local craftsmen and Earl is one of the best. Buy local!

Kyle McEwen saved us with some last minute electrical needs and lighting advice. Another professional, Kyle does great work and takes very good care of his clients. He's damn good and takes great pride in his work.

Tom Anawalt came through with some floor repair at a moment's notice on a weekend. Again, nothing but a pro. Tom has also been one of the most fun clients we've worked with.

Chris Marcoux. Chris is an old coworker of ours from the old City Cycle days. Chris has helped cover us when we had to be out and about and he worked like a dog to help get us open. He is one smart cookie and if we could convince him to stay in the bike industry, he would be here full time...but like I said, he is one smart cookie.

Frank Revi. Frank is our friend and IT guardian angel. Frank set both spaces up for us and has created a fool proof network for us along with helping guide us as to how to plan for the future when it comes to our computer needs. He is absolutely meticulous when it comes to setting this stuff up, wiring a 3000 sq ft space cleanly isn't easy. It's also nice to be able to trust someone in setting up such a crucial part of a business when you may not know left from right when it comes to the world of IT.

Chris from Little Chihuahua. Seriously, it's the little things. Chris showed up with a big bag of burritos the night before we opened. Chris knows very well what it takes to open a retail business and he came through with something you would never expect to appreciate so much. It's the simple gestures from people that you seem to remember.

James Patock of Arc Metal Works. James is another local craftsman that we worked with. He made our big metal sign. James came through in the nick of time. James does some really beautiful metal work and has built a few bike frames as well. We're hoping he'll get to more of that as time goes on. Another local craftsman we should all be supporting.

Family is not to be even remotely overlooked here. Meagan, my sister, came out and worked all day loading stuff into cars and driving and moving and driving and moving....Thanks Sis! Andrea loaded stuff, helped clean, brought food, beer and at the end, single malt scotch, top notch!

Ari and Stef, business partners extraordinaire. We've all worked together for a long time, going on about 11 years I think. We all work hard for many many hours when we are just handling regular day to day stuff. This was on another level. 16 hour days with no days off for weeks and weeks. This was one of the toughest experiences I've had personally and watching these guys bury themselves in this project made me proud to be in business with them. Handling the day to day and moving an operating business held challenges you can't completely anticipate until you're in it. in a word...dang!

Our clients. Anyone who has sent business our way, bought a bike, a tube, or anything...thank you! Without you, we wouldn't be where we are today. Cheers to you all!

Serotta, Parlee, Seven, Guru...thanks for making such amazing bikes and helping us in providing the complete package here at Bespoke. It's easy to sell something you truly believe in. Best of the best!

There were many others and I certainly don't mean to exclude anyone if I have.

More to come, like a party or two, rides, bikes, clothing, food, fun, keep an eye on the blog!