Archive for January, 2009

On profits and passion in the bike industry

Posted on 29. Jan, 2009 by Josh in Bike Racing, Bike industry | 1 Comment

On profits and passion in the bike industry

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If the industry valued efficient spending above all else, I think we’d see less money going to pro racing and more along the lines of commercialized versions the SRAM Cycling Fund. Presumably, greater efficiency would lead to greater profitability. But, one way or another, pretty much everyone from your local shop owner to the president of Specialized got in the game for the love of the bike, not the profits. So why do the relatively relaxed business practices in the industry bother some of us so much?

It is now ok to be a bike dork

Posted on 23. Jan, 2009 by Josh in Bike industry | No Comments

It is now ok to be a bike dork

… regardless of the policies and programs enacted by the new administration, I’m thinking that the Obama era will get more people on bikes through his image alone. President Bush liked his mountain biking, and people in the industry saw that as a good thing. It may have been, but it also perpetuated the idea that the bicycle is just a toy. Even if Obama doesn’t ride, his cerebral, worldly personality will create a new form of American self-image in which it’s acceptable to do what might have been considered too effete and intellectual – like putting on your helmet, strapping up your pant leg, and biking to work.

TechCrunch scares me.

Posted on 18. Jan, 2009 by Josh in New Media | 1 Comment

I haven’t spent too much time sifting through the mountain of tech blog speculation on Steve Jobs’ health, but I did notice this back-and-forth between TechCrunch impresario Michael Arrington and GigaOM founder Om Malik. Arrington started the mini-row with this comment on Malik’s posting of Walt Mossberg’s comments on the Jobs situation:
Walt is seriously undervaluing [...]

New www.kadisco.com in alpha

Posted on 15. Jan, 2009 by Josh in Personal | No Comments

New www.kadisco.com in alpha

This site has served me well, but it’s a very basic blog look and I’d like something more modern with room to highlight pages like my portfolio. Towards that end, I’ve looked at a million Wordpress themes over the last week and settled on The Morning After. With a few tweaks, the new www.kadisco.com will [...]

Redesigns: ESPN.com vs. Cyclingnews

Posted on 07. Jan, 2009 by Josh in Bike industry, Marketing, New Media | 3 Comments

Redesigns: ESPN.com vs. Cyclingnews

Within the last two days, the world’s #1 sports site and #1 cycling site both launched redesigns. ESPN.com’s was a complete rebuild with entirely new strategies for user experience and advertising options. Cyclingnews, on the other hand, accommodated a new ad display strategy with fairly small code tweak that significantly alters the user experience. A [...]

Tour de France team budgets, 1989-2008

Posted on 05. Jan, 2009 by Josh in Bike Racing, Client News, Sponsors, Sports Business | 1 Comment

The March 1989 issue of VeloNews – reproduced on page 18 of the January 2009 issue – estimated budgets for some of the era’s leading teams: Cafe de Colombia, PDM,  Panasonic, etc. In 2008 dollars, the average of the 9 teams on the list that contested the ‘89 Tour is $6.12 million. According to VeloNews’ [...]