Peacock Groove Cycles

[liberacefanboy]

Oh....thanks .But, this took a lot of work and I am still not done. You really find out how many "friends" you have when you need to paint, move, work, mop or whatever.
But when you have a welder or a Bridgeport, then everyone wants to be your friend....
I hope it serves me well too!!
thanks,
erik

[edoz]

You really find out how many "friends" you have when you need to paint, move, work, mop or whatever.
But when you have a welder or a Bridgeport, then everyone wants to be your friend....

SO true.

[Curt Goodrich]

A dose of awesomeness-
http://www.bikejerksmpls.blogspot.com/

Groove.jpg

[Gregory Townsend]

Happy you're back Erik,
Sounds like things are back on track, Hopefully we'll get a chance to talk again soon,
Cheers,

[Wordbiker]

Erik, my namesake, I hope to see you in Austin. I shall be accompanied by a somewhat familiar white-haired accomplice.

[liberacefanboy]

Erik and Greg,
two people whom I really like, and yet rarely converse with.
The world can be cruel, no?
I have been absent from this great forum and thread for too long, and I thought it was more than time for a little update and whatnot.
NAHBS was a blast, and I really believe it gets better every year. I know I may be late to the party on the topic, but I think I can throw out my, MY opinion?
Now I know I am latwee to the party of the cost issue, but come on. Of course it costs money. Shit, if you think NAHBS is expensive, what about INTERBIKE?
What I mean is that before NAHBS , the only shows were INTERBIKE and CABDA. And that one twenty years ago in NYC. So, how much would it be for interbike? Way too much, and I dislike the crazy party atmosphere there, and it seems like all the shop dudes want to do is go to the strip bar and get drunk and be stupid. I went there a couple times when I worked for the big wholesale distributor, and most of the people that went there from there, acted like jerks on the companies dollar. I am glad that that is not the vibe at NAHBS, and that is why I will go to it every year. Cause of all the cool people on here, meeting them and having a beer with them, and hearing their story....
When I got back from the show this year, it was a pretty hard time. Had a couple of family members pass, and the time and work in the funerals took a toll. I was gone a lot, and the world seemed to be ending at times. When you see someone you love being put in the ground, you really don't give a shit about that tube you need to weld. When hope is lost, it must be refound.This is the time I would saddle up and just go ride into the country and wait for the beauty of nature to come back to me, where I can see and understand the cycle of life, and I usually ride back to the shop and weld that fuckin' tube!
Whenever I go fishing, things just seem to start to fit again for me. I think Garro knows what I be typing about.
Now, onto some little shop and whatnot updates:
I am getting a new website. Now while I may have been saying this for a while, we ARE working on it. I have a great couple of guys helping out with it, and it will be awesome. In todays internet driven society , we need a web presence . Word of mouth is good, but google search might be better.
We got interviewed by POPULAR MECHANICS!! They had interviewed me about a year ago for an article they were kicking around about made in America stuff, and they had somehow heard about my slightly stringent views on manufacturing in the US, jobs, and the whole blue collar thing.
Well, about a year later I get a call from some guy named Allen St. John, and he left a message on my phone. I called him back, thinking this was some kind of joke by one of my jack assy friends, and for the first few minutes I was not believing him, until something clicked with me:
I asked:" oh wait...you wrote that book, about Clapton's guitar , right?" I stammerd out, in an per apologetic whimper of a voice.
He replied:" Yeah that was me. Did you read it?"
"No" I replied with a hint of shameful stupidity in my voice.
"But could we go back and start over? From the moment you picked up the phone?"
"Sure, but why ?" He asked.
"because I thought you were one of my jack assy friends trying to play a joke on me. I just never thought PM would want to interview me."
"Oh well we do. Shall we start?" he questioned.
He laughed and we talked for like 2 hours. It was pretty good, and we got mentioned and had a little photo of my shop in the May issue of Popular Mechanics!!
How cool is that? And, my dad reads it, and I did not tell him about it, which is hard for me to do, and he was just reading it one day and came across it and he read it and was pretty happy about it. I was happy too.
Now we have also been invited back to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for their Bike Night. This is a huge deal, it runs for one night, and there are bike movies, bike art, and a slew of events outside under tents and such. This year we have been invited back and we are going to get our own big tent! And by we I mean all the Mpls local builder guys....Goodrich, Brown, domingeuz, Kvale, Capricorn, Speedhound... and I will also try and get Appleman, f-bom, Handsome and a couple new up and comers. I think a lot of the work we have done up here is starting to pay off. Damn, I just love the midwest.
The new space is working and I am getting a big ole Peacock made for a sign, got a big cnc lathe in now too. Things are getting caught up and bikes are going out the door, and I am working hard to get the mainstream people to get what we do, and why we do it. At least why I do it.
Keep your eyes peeled, I got a couple more cards up my sleveless shirt. Maybe check out The Riddle Of Steel or the facebook......thanks!!

Hope all is well for all salonistas!

[e-RICHIE]

Hope all is well for all salonistas!

mad props erik atmo.

[Eddie]

And, my dad reads it, and I did not tell him about it, which is hard for me to do, and he was just reading it one day and came across it and he read it and was pretty happy about it. I was happy too.

20 years of peanut butter and jelly.

That dude rocks.

[Gregory Townsend]

Hey Erik,
Hopefully the difficult times are behind and you can use the impetus from the PM article for good use. I would have loved to see your father's face when he read it!
Cheers,
Greg

[caleb]

.
We got interviewed by POPULAR MECHANICS!!

Congrats, Eric. That's pretty cool.

By the way, when I rode by this morning about 9:30 the big roll door to the shop was open. I know you're busy, but do you ever take visitors?

[liberacefanboy]

OMG ! Caleb!
I took this long to respond because I wanted to make everybody wait for some grand respnse.
Well,
keep waiting this one is not so grand. But, I just wanted to tell ya Caleb, if the doors are open, stop in. Sometimes I tell people to go away, but consider this a personal invite. Oh!
And now a link to a video project that a couple of guys I know put together. So, if you are in the Mpls/ St.Paul area this coming Monday, please stop by . This is going to be a cool little film and I am really looking forward to see what they made.
Yep, I have not even seen it yet!!
But, here is the teaser, enjoy :

[Tyler Evans]

Hey Erik, Love the teaser! Lookin' good!

[liberacefanboy]

Thanks Tyler.
You guys are doing stuff that makes me pretty envious. And I like that. Your blog and website are top self shit yo. And the bikes? Shit, you guys are killing it. Just killing it.
Now I hope to see you and all the others at the NAHBS!
later,
noren

[liberacefanboy]

Well the premiere was last night at the awesome Jungle Theater in Minneapolis . It was a real awesome event, and to see me and my work on the big screen, was , well strange and humbling.
I am so grateful for those that have helped me along the way of this crazy career, and , well here is the film.
thank you for viewing.
erik

[e-RICHIE]

i drank with erik noren atmo.

[edoz]

Nice video, and I envy all your shop space.

[Craig Ryan]

I really enjoyed watching that one Erik! Those guys did a cool job, especially the credits.

[liberacefanboy]

Ahhhh thanks fellas.
@richie, we will drink again. DUH.
@edoz, thanks. i worked fucking incredible hours to just secure that space. And it is awesome. And, I get to tease Matt Appleman a lot every day too.
@craig, thank you very much, I just sat there and let them tape. I forgot they were there too sometimes. The credits are pretty cool too. The guys all did a bang up job.
Gotta run , supermodels are already at the door.***
noren




*** It was just Don Walker in drag.

[e-RICHIE]

so erik - now that the film has entered the public domain, is life different for you? and, do you look at any part of it and say, "i wish i could have said that differently" or some similar thought? films are unlike blog posts and texts (which are edit-able) in that once you put them out there, you live with the final cut. thoughts on this?

hey - have a nice day.

Well the premiere was last night at the awesome Jungle Theater in Minneapolis . It was a real awesome event, and to see me and my work on the big screen, was , well strange and humbling.
I am so grateful for those that have helped me along the way of this crazy career, and , well here is the film.
thank you for viewing.
erik

[liberacefanboy]

Yo thanks e-RITCHIE.
And to answer your queries:
Well,
to be fair, someone who saw the film saw me and a couple of other builders at lunch, and she bought us lunch because she said she enjoyed the movie so much. That was a 43 dollar tab!! This was awesome!! I think that is super awesome.
Other than that, life is the same. I have been the same guy with the same values since forever.
I don't look at it and think about what I would do differently, as this was the vision of the ROYAL ANTLER guys. I did not even get to see it till the premiere night. It was a pretty cool event, one I have never scene here in the bike community.
Since it was the ROYAL ANTLER guys' deal, they did edit it and I was told that a few swears were taken out, but that over all they just asked questions, and I answered them, as I always do. i just tell the truth, and my opinion is in there too. Sometimes I tell the truth and people don't like it. life can be tough that way. I would not have answered things differently. It was spur of the moment, and I like those type of interviews. Weather you like the answers or not, people generally say whats on their mind right then, no pausing for the "right" answer. Ya dig?
My thoughts on this are just like this:
I can type an e-mail and hit send, then say :" oH SHIT." ....I wish I did not type that, if this were a conversation I could say:" Hold on. I din't relly mean that, I meant more of this...." and explain it. I think one on one conversations are the best. The best example of this is many times people have come up to me at the NAHBS show and said: " Hey I read something you said, is it true?" And my usual reply is :" No. They left out a lot of context. let me explain, or do you have a question?"
I think what was being questioned in one particular instance was someone said that I said a great website doesnt mean you can build bikes. When what I said was" Just because it is a good website does not mean they are a good builder. There are way more good website builders than bicycle frame builders out there. And, I would rather be known as a good builder than having a good website." Chris Kvale is one perfect example: he builds some of the most beautiful bikes I have seen, but for a long time he had no site. He has been build for like 34 years!! He just was not familiar with the web. He can build a hell of a bike, and not having a website just didn't let people know about him in that medium. It may not be fair, but that is just the way it is.
I have had more than one person, and company tell me that they would build me a site for a bike and 4 to 6 grand.
Fuck that. But, I am glad to say that some guys are helping me with the site now, and it should be up soon.
So, I guess my thoughts on it are really summed up as this : I guess I like small group conversations because they seem more real, and less scripted. I just see too many of the " don't offend anyone anywhere anytime " answers. Life can be tough, wear a helmet.
erik