Wher’s the valet?
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
I’ve been waiting here for 4 hours now!
(sent via mobile)
Archive for March, 2008
Price Increase
Thursday, March 27th, 2008From Masiguy:
Over the past few months, the bike industry has seen the “perfect storm” of circumstances hit it (like much of the rest of the economy); a slumping US and global economy, a massive increase in manufacturing costs, a dramatic jump in labor costs in both Taiwan and China, a sharp drop in the value of the US dollar and an increase in value of nearly every other global currency. The Taiwanese dollar, the NT, has gone from a little over $34NT/ $1US to just barely over $30NT/ $1US in just over 3 years. That may not seem like much, but it adds up quickly and doesn’t even take into consideration any of the cost increases- that is just a loss in currency value. When you add in the cost increases for the actual products, it can become significant very quickly.
By some estimates, the cost of steel alone is going up as much as 65%!…Carbon is going up. Anything petroleum-based is going up- like the materials used to make handlebar tapes and saddles. These costs are increasing leadtimes significantly as well, since many vendors are now unwilling or unable to spend the money to stock vast quantities of materials. This means that they need to order more often to meet their demands, but at least they don’t have their capital resources tied up in raw materials.
In China, recent laws there are forcing a much needed increase in wages being paid to factory workers- as well as limiting the amount of overtime a worker can work. These are good changes, but they mean an increase in costs just the same. In Taiwan, there is a massive shortage of qualified skilled labor. The bike industry was once one of the best paying in Taiwan, but the rise in power of the tech industries there has drawn in a lot of the once strong work force in the bike industry. So now wages have gone up to compete for and retain good labor. It’s a good time to be a factory worker in both China and Taiwan… or at least a better time.
The overwhelming majority of my companies products are manufactured in western Europe. We are dealing with an already expensive labor force plus the added cost of working with high price materials like composites and titanium. Add to that the collapse of the dollar versus the euro:
and the end result is that we are looking at price increases of up to 15% within the next few weeks.
One advantage that my company has is that we have been focusing on the high end of the retail bicycle market for many years and, typically, that aspect of the market does not tend to compress as much as the rest of the market does during an economic downturn. Generally the rich keep spending their money while the rest may cut back.
It will be interesting, and more than a little nerve wracking, to see if the same scenario plays out once we make our price increases.
If I ask you for a job next year I guess you will know how things went for me.
3k in 3:17.523
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
Taylor Phinney sets the unofficial world record. His first ever bike race was in 2006
NYT just did an article on his family and it’s easy to see where Taylor gets both his talent and his inspiration.
QOTD
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008Does my profile picture make me look fat?
Maybe it’s because I am fat.
There is no climbing in track racing, so who cares…fat track dudes don’t get pushed around by thin track waifs…like (dis).
(sent via mobile)
Apples to Apples
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008The Gateway Pundit posts the following chart with this comment:
The US military lost more soldiers in the first 5 years of the Clinton Presidency than the US military lost in the first 5 years in Iraq.
The point being made is that the War in Iraq, and the overall effect on the US military, is no more deadly that your average Democratic presidential administration.
I am going to have to go ahead and call “bullshit” on that one.
Let’s look at a real comparison:
The numbers above were taken from the same Congressional Research Service report quoted by Gateway Pundit. The only exception was for the years 2007 and 2008 since they were not included on the report. I included the Iraq War US military fatalities from the Iraq and Afghanistan Casualty Counts and then made an estimate for non-Iraq War deaths for 2007 based upon the average non-combat deaths for the 6 years of the Bush administration included in the CRS report.
The red column represents US military deaths under the Bush administration as of yesterday. The orange column represents estimated US military deaths by the end of the Bush administration.
It’s clear that the Iraq War, and it’s real effect on our military, is not as innocuous as some would have you believe. Gateway Pundit’s goal is to minimize the sacrifice that our troops have made over the past 5 years in order to make the War in Iraq look less like the catastrophe that it truly is.
Keep in mind that the chart above does not include the 29,000 members of the military that have been wounded in Iraq. This chart does not detail the damage that has been done to the military in terms of retention and recruitment. It does not detail the enormous expense of this conflict. It does not show that the War in Iraq has actually made the world a much more dangerous place and put our country at further risk.
Don’t kid yourself, this war is a very big deal and most people in this country do not yet understand the sacrifice in blood, treasure and security that has been and continues to be made. We are going to be living with the effects of this conflict for years to come.
There is no end in sight and John McCain just wants more of the same.
dahhhh crap…
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008All the value in exclusivity for these things just went out the window.
Just forget the whole thing then.
Retard Sprinters
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008Hey, I did not come up with that reference.
Sprinters get to use cool training devices.
Given the choice, would you want to be a pure sprinter type?
I suppose if you were a track sprinter you would have lots of opportunity to bask in the glory of your coming speediness as you slowly circle the track during a match sprint contest.
But really, how many match sprints take place at the local level? The only chance at regular glory for track sprinters is a victory in the 10 lap “Who Gives a Crap?” race that kicks off the Thursday night series each week. And a keirin here and a there. Seems like slim pickins to me.
And what about road sprinters? I suppose it’s one thing to be a paid professional with a cadre of lead out riders who will escort you to within 200 meters of glory and all you have to do is light up the after burners, spray down the podium chicks with bubbly and pick up the check.
But road sprinting at the local amateur level? Who the hell wants to ride around a 60 minute criterium or a 75 mile road race just to wait for the final 200 meters? I would get so bored that I would probably crash myself just to liven things up.
I suppose if I was good at sprinting I would see the appeal. But I have found much more enjoyment in being an opportunist trying to get off the front of the race instead of waiting for the inevitable rush for the line.
I wonder what aspect of racing I will find myself good at this year? It’s really hard to tell so far since I just started training for the 2008 season last Saturday. Maybe I’ll find my special talent next week.
But it ain’t going to be sprinting.
I don’t have one of those hooptie devices.
