Bikers, Brands

One of the things that I treasure about Pedal is that we ride bikes. We love bikes. We’d love to help you solve your biking conundrum. Such text has been used elsewhere on this site.  Other places in the interworld say “We’re bikers!” and I wonder if that lovely slogan translates to the average dudette looking for a bike.

At Pedal, it means that we ride every bike we can get our hands on. We try to ride a few miles. We try to have fun. We talk about bikes a lot. We *know* that the same ride is better on a better bike. For you, beloved consumer, it means that we don’t want to sell you Some Thing; we want to sell you The Thing we think will make you happy, The Thing that represents a quality answer to the question you pose. “We ride bikes” = “We would like to share our experience with you.”

Although we’re not officially open yet (heck, we don’t have an assembled bike yet), people ask, “What brand of bikes do you sell? What clothes do you sell? What nutrition do you sell?” The following might be TMI, but transparency is a driving force.

Pedal could not be more pleased to be a Jamis dealer. Why? American company. Good history. Not wrapped up in the whole “spending a bazillion dollars to sponsor a pro tour team” mentality. Awesome value. Fairly unknown in the greater Kalamazoo area. Great bikes. Bikes as good as any other bike. Excellent triathlon geometry. Right now, on the cusp of 2011, Jamis is Pedal’s one and only bike brand because Pedal loves Jamis and thinks you will too. Will Pedal offer other brands? Yes. Pedal is looking for an American-made brand.  Pedal is considering a zooty race brand. But Pedal believes that those are niche markets (as if bicycles in general don’t represent a niche market) for enthusiasts.  Jamis makes a bike that’ll make you happy, and your happiness is our overarching goal.

Clothing is tough. Pedal loves Craft. And Skirt Sports. And Twin Six. And DeSoto. And others.  Like bikes, lots of great companies make great products, but we have very nice stuff that we think you’ll love. Will we carry other brands?  For sure, but we’re exceptionally pleased with the brands we carry.

Nutrition is more of the same.

What do all of these words mean?  They mean that we’ve taken great pains to become associated with brands that we love.  We’ve done tons of research that would bore you to tears and a little bit of research that would make you envious. However, it could be that you’re looking for something else.  If that’s the case, please drop by and talk to us.  We want to know what our customers — current and potential — desire.  As we lack supernatural powers, your feedback is the very best way for us to determine what stuff we should stock.