Tuesday, December 30, 2008

What a day... again...

Today was one helluva day. It's Tuesday and I'm already tired.

We received our copies of Road Bike Action yesterday, and I found this on page 22;

*They did get one thing wrong though, I'm the Brand Manager and not the Product Manager. The Product Manager working with me to create the Masi line is Wayne Doran. They also called the Randonneur the Raconteur... but I am not complaining at all.

When they sent me the questions for this piece, I had no idea they were gonna run all of it verbatim and that I was the only one who would be mentioned. I woulda tried to sound, you know... smart. Regardless, I'm really tickled by this and hope you'll go out and buy a copy of the magazine and support my friends there.

If you saw the Masi website or the Masi Facebook group, you would've seen that I also received and shipped out all of the team frames for the Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy team. I'm so thrilled to be still working with these guys as they step up to UCI Professional status this year. I really can't say enough how proud I am of the team and how happy I am for my friend Chad Thompson who runs/ owns the team. He has done SO much for this program in a very short period of time. It's been an honor to work with him and I am very happy to see his efforts pay off with this next step in the team's evolution. It's exciting to say the least.

Another really cool thing today was that I had an article published on one of the preeminent online marketing publications in the US- the Marketing Profs Daily Fix blog. I've been one of the contributors to the site for a couple years now, but as things here at Masi have really picked up and my marketing work for the brand has increased (along with the travel), I have had less and less time and ability to contribute. It is no exaggeration to say that writing for the Profs is one of the greatest of my professional highlights. Many thanks to the editor (and my friend), Ann Handley, for keeping me on the list of contributors as I've floated in and out. If you have such an inclination, go give the article a read... just be warned that it's my marketing persona and not my bike persona.

Now that it is nearly 11:00PM, I think I'm going to finally haul my carcass to bed.

Good night my fiends,

Tim

Saturday, December 27, 2008

The Del




Tim
-- Post From My iPhone

Dollars




Tim

-- Post From My iPhone

SoCal winter




Tim
-- Post From My iPhone

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Masiguy!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or just having the day off (hopefully you have the day off), I sincerely hope that you have a fantastic day with your friends, family and/ or loved ones.


Christmas, like most holidays in the US (especially), has become largely a way to stimulate the economy with massive consumerism. But, the true meaning of the day is built around the idea of love, compassion and caring for others. In that spirit, I wish all of you a fantastic day.

Days like today should remind us of our blessings- no matter how small they may seem. I am blessed to be able to share this day with my loved ones. My crash in April put me a lot closer to not being able to enjoy this day than I ever care to get again. The fact that I am well enough to be able to complain about not being able to ride as often as I would like is a blessing that I do not take for granted. I am also blessed to have the friends in my life that I do- and that includes you.

Enjoy the day and remember the little things that build into the blessings in your life. They are there, even if they seem hard to find. I promise.

Thank you,

Tim

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Tis the season...

All the family Christmas festivities have begun...

... hope you are enjoying yours too.

Tim

Saturday, December 20, 2008

My eyes are burning...

Gary Coffrin, of the Coffrin Group, sent me a link to some of the most painful "innovations" in the history of the industry. What's really sad is that I can vividly remember many of these. It makes my eyes burn!

So enjoy the unenjoyable.

Tim
(I'm expecting James from Bicycle Design to get a little nauseous from these...)

Friday, December 19, 2008

Friday News

It's Friday! Woo-freakin-Hoo! Not that I have a crappy job, it's just nice to get to the weekend!

So, I made the announcement first a few minutes ago over on the new Masi Friends, Fans and Owners page on Facebook, but I am in the early stages of finally developing new Masi clothing. Yes, you read that right- there WILL be new Masi clothing before the start of the next century. Once artwork is completed and approved, I will post it here and elsewhere for all to see. I am hoping... HOPING... to have the artwork done by the end of January so that we can hopefully see delivery of the clothing around the April time frame.

Here's the plan;
  • There will be one "Team Masi" kit of jersey and bib short. This will have a retro-themed race look to it.
  • There will be one full-retro jersey. This will have a totally retro/ vintage look and feel to it.
  • There might be a matching "Team Masi" vest or jacket/ wind shell- if there is enough demand for it. (Look for poll here soon.)
  • Soon after the riding apparel is developed, we will also have a couple of t-shirt designs ready for you.
  • We're also looking at possibly doing a cycling cap, with very retro designing.
  • After much demand, we're also working on getting a few stickers done as well. Possibly a simplified version of the large dealer window decals we have done for years and then possibly just some simple "Masi" lettering stickers and small head badge artwork stickers.
It's been a long, long time in the making, but now that there is a break in the development process, there is finally the time to actually jump on these projects. As soon as I have more to share- I certainly will.

Have a wonderful weekend! And stay tuned for many more details in coming weeks.

Tim

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Random bits...

My brain is scrambled, so I'm making this short;

1) The Spokesmen Holiday Gift Guide is now up for your listening pleasure!
Go give it a listen. It's cool!

2) I have created a new Masi Friends, Fans and Owners group in Facebook. (For the record, I am ripping off Jill Hamilton the Brand Manager of Haro Bicycles and her Haro group.)
Join, share and enjoy!

Tim

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Almost there!




Tim
-- Post From My iPhone

Monday, December 15, 2008

More pics from the NeverStop ride

Check this link for many cool photos from the 2008 NeverStop YangJin P Highway Challenge. The pics were all taken by Hsiao-long Chen. And get this; he rode the entire event on a folding Dahon bike, while carrying all his camera gear and snapped all the pictures along the way.

I am so lame by comparison...

And yes, the really fat guy at the bottom of the page in the Masi jersey is me. Usually the camera adds 10 pounds, but I think he was using one of those weird wide-angle, fisheye, fatass lenses.

Tim

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Masiguy Podcast?

Well, it's been 7 months to the day since I recorded a podcast. It'd be swell to lie and tell you I spent the last 7 months working on perfecting the technique and production quality... but that would be a lie. Instead, I just recorded #9. It's a podcast. I talk a lot. I ramble as usual. But hey... it's free.

Tim

Friday, December 12, 2008

Thursday, December 11, 2008

ATTENTION BIKE INDUSTRY

Here's a little something I wrote as I am fighting off the jetlag and trying to get myself to fall asleep. It's aimed at the bike industry itself and I hope that all of my brothers and sisters will respond and offer their thoughts as well as get involved.

Thank you... and good night!

Tim

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Home again, home again...

Got back into San Diego this afternoon after a series of flights from Taipei to Tokyo to Los Angeles to San Diego. There were no problems with any of the flights, even the last leg from LA to SD where I had to nearly run from the Customs and Immigration security to my gate. I boarded the plane just 5 minutes before taking off, but I made it!

The three of us- Wayne Doran (my Product Manager), Pat Crosby (Haro MTB/ Adult Product Manager) and myself- managed to all make it back home safe and sound. After being away for 15 days, it will be nice to sleep in my own bed and see my daughter- though I do already miss my girlfriend.

As always, my camera was with me all the time and I have tons of great pictures to share. The first week of my two week stay in Taiwan was for a bit of a vacation with my girlfriend and going to a wedding for her best friend. Getting a chance to see more of Taiwan than just bike factories in Taichung and Taipei was long overdue and much enjoyed. I'll share some of those pictures as well as all of the usual bike-related ones too.

Yes I know- she's much better looking than me.

The second week of my stay was devoted to working with Wayne to see key vendors before finalizing the spec of the bikes you will get to see (and fall in love with) in 2010. We're working on some really incredible bikes and I am so proud of how the Masi line is growing and shaping up. We visited with many different vendor partners- either at their factories/ offices, or in ours- and are much closer to having all of our homework done to deliver some incredible products to you.

Part of that second week was spent at RideOn/ Taichung Bike Week. It's a mini-"tradeshow" for the OEM market only. It's a valuable chance for us manufacturers to meet with our various suppliers and vendors to finalize our spec and see anything that might get a last second add to one of our bikes. It has grown very organically over the past 4 years or so and is now something that is actually quite important to the industry. It has become important to the city and county of Taichung as well. On Monday, many of us who attended the RideOn/ Taichung Bike Week had a private meeting with the Mayor of Taichung and some of his representatives. Several of us sat in a "round table" discussion panel to talk about the pros and cons of the current event and listen to the city explain how they want to help facilitate what we are already doing. Honestly, it was very exciting for me personally to sit in a room of my peers and industry kin and talk about how we can all work together to make the little un-tradeshow work for us all. It was also very exciting to see how much the city of Taichung wants to help us do our jobs. After all, much of the Taiwan bike industry is centered in the city and county of Taichung and is a major economic force in the Taiwan economy. But, sincerely, the best part was the feeling of being a part of something that was about the greater good of the industry itself. Those who cared to attend clearly represent those brands and people who actually care about the health of the cycling industry and not just the bottom line of their respective brands. To me, that's the best part of the industry I care so much about- the people in it who also care.

The Mayor of Taichung and his liaison to the bike industry, Anna Wang.

Last Sunday I also took part in a 75km "race" in the mountains surrounding the city of Taipei. I say "race" because it wasn't an officially sanctioned event, per se, and was more like many of the "fun rides" we have here in the US. The riders ranged from the elite to the novice... and everywhere in between and on every conceivable type of bike you can imagine. Of the 75km, 50km were uphill... some parts of the climbs were steep enough that scooters were being pushed up the hills! Needless to say, with the total lack of fitness I have, it was beyond painful. I am not too proud to admit that in the last 5km, I had to walk my bike up the climbs 3 or 4 times. I was blown to pieces by the end, but considering that I have ridden 3-4 times over the past 2.5 months... I'm happy to have even finished at all. I am also happy to report that the bike I shipped over for the event rode flawlessly- aside from not making me not have to pedal uphill. The new Scandium frame I have been testing rode perfectly- it accelerates like a dream and corners flawlessly. The road feel is everything Scandium is supposed to be and has very stiff power transfer to the pedals. The updated SRAM Rival group worked perfectly but I was totally over-geared and needed a compact crank for the amount of steep climbing we did, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Also, the new Shimano RS80 wheelset rode awesome! These new carbon/ alloy clincher wheels are sweet and I can't wait to get the bike back from Taiwan so I can start putting more miles on it.

It's time for me to try and get some sleep, even though my internal clock is all out of whack. I'll have more to report soon and will have plenty more cool pictures now that I have reliable internet able to handle the images.

Tim

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

On the plane

Heading home...



Tim
-- Post From My iPhone

Friday, December 05, 2008

Friday

It's Friday night! Woooooooooo!!!!!!!


Tim

-- Post From My iPhone

Thank God it's Friday (in Taiwan)





Tim
-- Post From My iPhone

Thursday, December 04, 2008

I'm not dead yet...

I know I have been missing in action for the past few days, but I'm back in the real world and no longer on vacation. Things have been very busy since arriving here in Taichung. We've had numerous visits with vendors and have had plenty of factory trips as well. It's been very busy indeed. But I'm not dead yet and many photos have been taken that I will post soon. Until then, thanks for your patience... see you soon!



Tim

Cool art

Small version of art by famous Taiwanese artist: his usual sculptures are usually around 10' tall... This is a cool smaller version.




Tim
-- Post From My iPhone

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Taroko Gorge

Amazing beauty...



Tim
-- Post From My iPhone

Even more beautiful

Thought I posted this before...



Tim
-- Post From My iPhone

Thai hot pot dinner

So yummy!



Tim
-- Post From My iPhone

More beauty




Tim

-- Post From My iPhone

Monday, December 01, 2008

Beauty




Tim

-- Post From My iPhone