Minding Our P's and Q's

...and those would be:

Performance

Passion

Pride

Partnerships

Quality


Here at Bespoke we've chosen the brands we sell very carefully. We are offered dealerships from other brands on an almost weekly basis. This is not to say that all brands are inferior or that other bikes are "bad". Someone we knew used the phrase "there's no such thing as a bad bike". We wholeheartedly believe that. Are some bikes better than others, clearly the answer is yes. The best bike in the world is the one you're riding.

The reasons we stick with the brands we have and the reasons we don't pack in the store with more brands are many. We do have some very basic, although strict and demanding, criteria for choosing to work with a bike company though. One way to think about it is to break it down into simple terms.

Performance is one such criteria. Performance refers to drivetrain response, handling and comfort. This is somewhat subjective depending on the type of rider you are but that's part of the point. We are lucky to work with companies that don't subscribe to a singular thought process when it comes to creating ride character. Each company has has the ability to tune the ride of their frames based on the client's needs and wants. One thing that is true however, is that a Seven will always ride like a Seven and a Serotta will always ride like a Serotta and so on. We also sell a few stock bikes that are not tunable. We know how those bikes ride and when appropriate, we recommend them. The bottom line is your bike should perform the way YOU want, not the way website or magazine or pro tells you you want. Whether you are into racing, randonneuring, centuries or anything in between, you should get what suits YOUR needs. We offer bikes that cover all the bases and we can help you understand what type of performance works best for you.

Passion is something we hear used a lot. To say that a company has no passion would be wrong. Where their passion is focused may be another story though. We look at a companies true mission statement and how they perceive the industry we're in, how they focus their business, even how they treat their employees. For us, a company should have a passion for building the best possible bike, they should love to ride their bikes and they should be part of the cycling community. It is true that bicycles are a commodity, a product and there is a component of this that is all business but that is not what gets us on our bikes. Yes, in order to make great products, a business has to be successful. We should look at how companies do this. Is this company successful because they were able to make a product for the least amount of money and sell it for the most mark up or is this company successful because they compromised nothing to build the best product they can every single time and people noticed. I'll buy from the later thank you.

Pride. We are able to go home every day and be proud of the fact that every bike we sell is among the best of the best. We can be proud that we've never, ever sold someone a bike that was inappropriate for what they need it for. We sleep easy. The companies we work with share in this. They can look at every bike going out the factory door and be proud of the fact that they those bikes are the finest made. Craftsmen are proud of their craft. That goes into every frame. I've visited these factories, ridden with the owners and you can see it in everyone's eyes, it's the real deal and they are proud of it.

Partnerships are a huge part of this. What we wish to deliver, a great experience long term, relies on the accountability and commitment of our builders. The companies we work with understand that. They actually do care what happens once the bike leaves the factory. They care about the health of their dealers too. How many of you remember when the first round of "Trecialized" concept stores appeared? They pitched an unhealthy business model, undercut existing dealers and the majority of those shops went under in a year. It was awful and it served as a shining example of how not to treat your dealers. We trust the people behind the companies we work with and they trust us. That's the way it has to be. We get pitched other brands and we're promised the world every time. We pass, knowing all too well that our business is not a concern to those companies. Sometimes it's outright shady.

Quality is crucial. It comes right down to the fact that we don't want to sell anything we wouldn't pay our hard earned money for and ride ourselves. It's that simple, we want the best and we want to sell the best because we know that we can create the best possible experience for people that way. A bike should be as safe as possible, have an amazing ride and look awesome. The materials used to build these bikes have to be quantifiably the best. Personally, I get worried when other brands don't want to tell you who actually makes their bikes. The never show you the actual factory, there's a reason for that. Our companies will arrange for factory tours as well, you can go see for yourself and meet the builders. These guys don't design a bike and then figure out how to mass produce it in the cheapest possible way. Every single one is the best possible. That is our focus.

We like bikes, pretty much any bike. There are bikes here that we sell that are made in Asia along with plenty of other products. It's not about whether a welder in America is a better person or a better welder than than a welder in China. It has nothing to do with that. It's about how the company treats the welder, whether the welder cares about the product, that changes the product. If a company decides that this is all important, the quality of their product, they quality of life for their employees, the well being of their dealers and the experience that the end user has, then we look at them more closely. There are bikes made in Asia that are very nice indeed. There are plenty that are quite honestly scary though. In choosing a brand, we want to know everything we can, full disclosure if you will. At the end of the day, we know that we're all better off for it and we're all going to end up on a better bike.