Eugene Twilight Crit Races

By Darren Ohl, Service Manager-Hutch’s Eugene

It’s no secret I’m nerds about movies. It’s also no secret I’m big on making my own little films. It was an intense hobby for me when I lived in Florida. That sort of thing took a back seat when I moved out here to Oregon. Mostly to help put Krystan through school (making even the cheapest little short movies can cost a bit of money). I was talking with a customer of ours about that hobby and it turns out he’s got the same passion as I do.

He sent me over this cool little youtube video he made of the Tuesday night crits at Greenhill Industrial Park here in Eugene. We’ve been having a blast yelling at our cat 4 employee team and also urging on our totally rad Hutch’s sponsored team. Nick Skenzick swept the first part of the series, finishing off the series on a borrowed bike! Tonight, July 7th is the start of the second part of the series where they run the course in reverse. We’ll all be out there shouting obnoxiously and generally putting on a show of bicycle hooliganry and you can even bring the kids and hang out or race the kiddy kilo! Either way it’s a nice fun time to watch some local legends and blow off some summer time steam!

On other news. I’ve finished the basic design for the box car. Rob English from Bike Friday came out to look at the design and had a ton of advice and words of encouragement. It took a little longer than I thought. I’m not sure that I’ll be able to finish in time for the Portland Adult Soap Box Car Race but I’m not going to let that slow me down.

Keep an eye on the site in the next month or so for some of that creative video work we talked about in the last blog as well. I hope you are all having a great summer so far!

The Bike Shop is on Fire!

By Darren Ohl, Service Manager-Hutch’s Eugene

The bike shop isn’t litterally on fire. But sometimes it feels like a fire sale, that’s for sure. We’ve had more customers in our store than ever. The foot traffic is

"The obligation to produce alienates the passion to create."

crazy busy and the amount of new customers we’ve come to know has been astounding. Hutch’s is heading into 2009 strong as ever. An economy that has certainly put the pinch on us all has only fed a fever for local business here at Hutch’s. Each of us that works here knows that you might pay more to shop here at our store. But also know that when you pay a little more at our store that you also pay an employee a little more wage. That wage goes directly back into your local community as we strongly encourage our employees and staff to shop locally. You also pay a Hutch’s employee full insurance so that when we do get hurt it’s not your tax dollars covering some big box stores lack of insurance coverage. So in a very busy time we wanted to say thank you.

 

I know it’s been a while since I wrote anything for the blog. So let me catch you up a little about what’s been going on:

BEST OF THE WEST–WHAT’S THE DEAL

COLLINS CYCLE SHOP: Sign up for a 3D fit and recieve $50 off and a pair of footbeds for free ($95 value).

CHRIS KING: Portland’s favorite component manufacturer introduces a new bottom bracket with a full five year warranty.

Chris King Bottom Bracket--$149.95 Suggested Retail

Available in all the usual cool colors– a perfect compliment to your King headset.For the Best of the West sale, all Chris King components will be 20% off on March 6, 2009. Check out their website for the full range of King products available for your purchase.

CASTELLI CLOTHING: Portland’s favorite clothing to wear while buying your Chris King headset.

Castelli Superleggera 70g. Jersey--$135.00

With over a hundred and thirty year old history, Castelli makes the most innovating and technologically advanced clothing in cycling. Come check out their new 70 gram Superleggera jersey, a product that has roots dating back to the 1950’s and Fausto Coppi. All Castelli products will be at least 20% off during our March 6th. Best of the West sale.

BURLEY DESIGN: The quintessential Eugene company has just celebrated their 30th year in business. Known for their

Burley Tail Wagon--$400.00

innovation and quality, Burley has a trailering product for your kids, critters or gear. Check out the full range of Burley products and take 20% off at the Best of the West sale.

CO-MOTION CYCLES: These are the people that make your cycling dreams come true. Established in 1988 to make their

Co-Motion Periscope--$4000.00

own dreams come true, Co-Motion hit pay dirt on their very first try when their dream tandem ended up on the coveted cover of Winning Bicycle Racing Illustrated. Regarded worldwide as the finest tandem and touring manufacturer , they can also bring to life any road, cross or time trial bike you can think up. During the Best of the West sale, all Co-Motion products will be 15% off their suggested retail prices–custom bikes included.

BIKE FRIDAY: These are the people that will make you feel like a kid getting your very first bike. Often thought of as

Bike Friday Tikit--from $999.00

a folding bike company, we like to think of them as great bikes that happen to fold. Whether you need a road, touring, commuter or tandem, Bike Friday makes the most innovative bikes on the market and they all will fit into a Samsonite suitcase. All Bike Friday products will be 15% off during our Best of the West sale.

ROLF PRIMA: The one wheel company that all cyclist can agree on. Hand-built in Eugene, Rolf wheels are known

Rolf Vigor: Best all around Wheel--$999.00

worldwide for their unique paired-spoke design that can be used in mud slinging, everyday riding aluminum cross wheels or for the most exoctic aerodynamic carbon TT wheels (which also can be run in the mud)! All Rolf Products will be 20% off during the best of the west sale. Maybe Rolf will bring down his personal eight-spoked (that’s four pairs) front wheel to show us.

DETOURS: If anybody is in the right place at the right time it would be Hood River’s Detours. Not only does Detours make

Detours Toocan Juicy--$75.00

a product that all cyclists need, but they also make products that enable you to become a cyclist. With fuel prices on the upswing and the economy on the downswing, many of us are turning to cycling as our means of transportation. Check out how Guntram and Sam are turning garbage into jobs–a real stimulus program. All Detours bags will be 20% off Friday night March 6th.

SHOWERS PASS: It hardly seems fair that other rain jacket manufacturers aren’t rooted in Portland and the coast of

Showers Pass Double Century--$120.00

Northern California. How are you going to know if your rain jacket will work if you live in a place that is always sunny and in the midst of a five year drought. Showers Pass has a performance jacket for any of your needs, whether it is a trip to the market or a four hour training ride in November. Check out their website for all your options and take 20% off your purchase at the Best of the West sale.

REDLINE: Our oldest friend and the title sponsor of the Best of the West. Making bicycles since 1976, Redline has gone

Redline 9 2 5--$580.00

from making one BMX fork at a time, to outfitting Olympic athletes from four different countries in Beijing. Already famous for their BMX bicycles, Redline is now taking on such new niches of 29′ers, cross and fixies. Oh, if you need a flatbar road bike they have that too. All Redline bicycles will be 15% off during the Best of the West sale. Also look for special pricing on SRAM Red and new Dura-Ace 7900 grouppos courtesy of Seattle Bike Supply–home of Redline Bicycles.

We’ll see you Friday March 6, 2009 @ 5:30 to 9:00 P.M.

Tell two friends!

More Best Of The Northwest.

By Eric Taylor, Sales, Radness Manager-Hutch’s Eugene, Collin’s Cycle Shop

Hey! I got a quick update with a list of companies that will be attending this rad party!

Eugene based companies:

Burley

Bike Firday

Co-Motion

Rolf

Eugene Running Company

Oregon Adventures

Portland Based

Castelli Clothing

Chris King Group

Detours Bags

Washington Based

Seattle Bicycles Supply

Showers Pass

Race Mate – maker of the Computrainer

Yakima

Bicycle Focused Organizations

Lee Shoemaker, City of Eugene

G.E.A.R.S.

United Bicycle Institute

Guest Speaker

Kitty Piercy

Wineries

Secret House

This should be one heck of a party and a chance to get to know your fellow cyclist. We are super stoked about the party, and we can’t wait to see you there!

A New Year.

By Darren Ohl, Service Manager-Hutch’s Eugene

It’s a new year in Eugene. The temperature is dropping, and the bills are rising but we aren’t letting that slow us down. Times are hard for sure. Everyone is feeling this financial crunch. I’ve sent more money to my parents these past few months than I have in a long time and I’m sure I’m not alone.

At Hutch’s we’ve decided to make the best of these times. Just this last week, Luke over at Collin’s put on a fixed gear rally. We all had a great time watching kids race from spot to spot downtown. Wet streets didn’t slow anybody down, certainly not our friend Sean Watters who won the race and our own Seqoya Hill who won the trick contest with a 360 tire tap!!

"This one time, this one time you can ask me about my business..."

We’ve also been having a blast playing Rock Band and watching the Godfather.

All this fun is great but what Hutch’s and Collin’s have been talking the most about is how to get the customers involved even more in all of this.

Sure we could just have a sale and attract a few extra people to get them to spend money. But we would like to think the bike shop is more than just a place to sell you things. More like a place to help people get the most fun out of life. Hutch’s and Collin’s hire people, form business relationships and facilitate long term community involvement with this value in mind.

So we’ve decided to throw a party. We’ve gathered together the finest bicycle related businesses and local organizations in the North West.

It’s called The Best of the North-West.
We’re going to have the party right here at Hutch’s (960 Charnelton st.)
Friday March 6th at 5:30 and we’ll rap it up at about 9 p.m.

It’s obviously free. Yes, we are going to have big sale prices on bicycles and accessories, but we’re also going to have door prizes, live music from the legendary Skip Jones and Mayor Kitty Piercy will be on hand as a key speaker.

Stay tuned to the blog, we will be posting sales prices as the date for the event gets closer. This is the first time we’ve ever done anything like this, we certainly all have high hopes for our event. But those hopes are a little bigger than creating a little business for Hutch’s and the other vendors. It’s a little more about getting everyone together under one roof, both customers and sellers alike and maybe just blowing off some steam, maybe share some ideas, but most of all, have fun together.

Cleaning Time!

By Darren Ohl, Service Manager-Hutch’s Eugene

It’s cleaning time at Hutch’s. We’ve been working our butts off trying freshen the store up and in the process we’ve been finding tons of stuff that we just plain need to get rid of.

Dave's Cleaning out our drawers!

Our hard work is your reward.

We found a ton of these totally rad tires in the back, I called the boss man up and asked what he wanted to do. I thought he might put em on sale for tenbucks each and we’d be done with it. But no, he says sell ‘em for 3.99 each!!!

Inventory, Warranty; Pile it up...

The best deal on tires you’ll find. The Burough is normally a $40.00 tire, now you can have for 3.99 each. They only come in 700×40 size though. So they aren’t going to fit everyone’s bike. They’re perfect for that twenty-niner mountain bike you commute around town on though.

One Fast Tire.

Or these Tacx Satori trainers. We’re selling this for 374.99! You can pick one of these up and head on over to the Collin’s Trainer nights!!

Keep look at our site to see if we dig up any other cool stuff and keep a look out on this blog and on the Collin’s blog for some exciting stuff coming up in the next few months!!

Presents!!

By Darren Ohl, Service Manager-Hutch’s Eugene

My grandpa carved this for me. Some how it survived the mail trip from Iowa.

People have been coming in and braving all this crappy weather to buy their loved one’s last minute presents and window shopping.

Grandpa loves woodworking.

We’ve all been trying to keep busy. Eric, one our sales guys who broke his shoulder last summer was recently cleared to ride his bike again… If only the weather.

That doesn’t keep him off the trainer to keep in shape for the summer! You should too. Imagine how cool it would be to find a Satori Trainer underneath the tree. It might be a good New Years resolution to start working on right now. More miles and more riding this summer!

Come on in and check out the wood  carving and maybe take home a rad trainer too!

We hope everyone has a great holiday and a great new year!

Tom and the Electric Bike…

By Darren Ohl, Service Manager-Hutch’s Eugene

Electric bikes: What are they for? Do they work and how much do they cost?

A steam powered bike?

Well the first question is easy enough. They’re for riding. They are for that person who has trouble making up to their house at the top of Chambers. Or maybe for your mother who remembers the long bike rides in Willamette Valley, but she has trouble keeping up with you on your weekend ride. Maybe they are for people who perhaps thought they could no longer go for a bike ride at all.

 

Tom walked in…

 

I recently met Tom (named changed for privacy) at Hutch’s who had come in looking for an electric bike.

He suffered some medical complications that had taken away his ability to ride a normal bike and wanted to see if the electric bike Hutch’s carried would work for him.

Hutch’s carries Giant’s current version of an electric bike, called the Twist Freedom DX.

It’s a heck of a name.

The Holiday Cheer

By Darren Ohl, Service Manager-Hutch’s Eugene

I met Mark D[last name withheld for privacy] shortly after I came to work at Hutch’s Bicycles. Mark is a decidedly independent man with some other wise quite impeding disabilities that make something as simple as living on his own quite difficult. In spite of these challenges Mark not only succeeds where others might expect him to fail, he lives a life that I believe to be an excellent example for us all to follow. His only mode of transportation is by bicycle because of his disabilities. Instead of looking at this as a limitation; he has embraced it and developed quite a passion for bicycles. Currently his favorite (and only) mode of transportation is a Blue Cannondale F7. Recently he upgraded some of his components on his bikes and now he’s happier than ever. The most astounding thing is how much Mark understands the tiniest details in these intricate parts that makeup a somewhat complicated mountain bike.
As a show of appreciation for his years of supporting Hutch’s we chose to help Mark a little bit and donate some additional upgrades which included changing out his 8 speed components for nine speed. Now he’s shifting as smooth and quick as ever!

Why? Well in this business we feel that appreciation can sometimes come in small doses and a good lesson from Bill Hutchinson himself was that when you are interested in your customers, they will be interested in you; so when you appreciate your customers, they to will appreciate you.

Turkey Consumption?

By Darren Ohl, Service Manager-Hutch’s Eugene

My girlfriend is a vegan. I am not. However I respect her choices (obviously) so this Thanksgiving I am

Thanksbicycling

showing that I am thankful for my girlfriend by cooking her (and our two roommates) an all vegan Thanksgiving meal.

All the stuffing and mashed potatoes and corn and green beans and tofu you could eat. And with probably just a little too much food in our stomaches and perhaps a little bit more free time than we’ve been used to lately we all sat around the kitchen table and talked and laughed.

I grew up on welfare in the Middle-West, so when I have days like Thursday I really feel like I’ve gotten somewhere, like I’ve done something. As I look forward to Christmas (this year my girlfriend and I have said we’ll save our money instead of buying presents) I think about the coming year and I get excited. There are going to be so many great things coming our way in 2009. The first African-American president will be sworn in to office. My first winter in 6 years could mean some snow fall (whether I have to drive to the mountains to see it or not!) and of course the upcoming year at Hutch’s as the shop manager.

The greatest anticipation for the simplest pleasures...

So what are you looking forward to this year? Have any totally rad plans? A cool trip coming up? Let us know, send us an email or simply reply to this blog and let us know.

Keep an eye out for a contest regarding those questions sometime in December.

Happy Holidays from the Hutch’s bike nerds!