Brain vomit #28
Just in case you where wondering what this blog is all about.
All day went by haven’t had time to post. Busy busy busy.
Brain Vomit #27 What I see.
Sometimes when I meet people and tell them about my work they are usually intrigued and they have a lot of questions. Mostly because this is the first time they meet someone who makes a living making bikes or works with carbon fiber. I meet a lot of these people on bike rides or through mutual friends after a bike ride. I enjoy telling people what I do, they can see that I’m doing well. Someone who is struggling to pay bills won’t order a $5 croissant to go with their $5 cappuccino and feel generous enough to tip. I worked very hard to get to this level and now that I’m able to enjoy it, I will.
The repair part of my business is very simple to explain. I provide a solution that will save people money while also reducing waste. The custom bikes on the other hand are a bit hard to explain to someone who doesn’t ride bikes or is new at riding bikes. It’s hard for a lot of people to justify the value of something they don’t understand. And that is OK because that is not what they are into, it’s not their passion. I am not going to pay $20 on a collectible Pokemon card because I don’t collect Pokemons, I’m not going to pay $300 for a pair of Nike’s because I don’t collect them or see the benefit of owning a paint of $300 Nike shoes. People see the value in things they like. People collect art, buy expensive bottles of wine, buy $180k watches. Some people will justify these purchases as “Investments” but mostly they bought it because they like it and they like how it makes them feel to own a piece that is irreplaceable or in extremely low supply. Because If it was extrictly an investment there are much better things you can invest your money in with much larger returns.
When they ask me “why would I go through the trouble of ordering one of your bikes when I can just buy a Specialized?” I tell them that’s the wrong question and If that’s how you feel about my work then buy a Specialized. When you break it you can bring it over so I can fix it. My bikes are made in a small studio, they are one of a kind, they are made by the same hands that are typing this post and they are made specifically to the riders specifications so he (or she) can get the most out of their bike ride.
My bikes have more in common with a piece of art than with a bike made in a factory. Therefore these bikes are rolling art, I see them as such I treat them as such. But at the same time they have to be high performance machines. I’m not asking everyone to see what I see but if they can’t see it I’m not going to make them understand, they should buy something else.
bRAIN vOMIT #26
The whole day went by and I forgot to post something. Monday I'll keep my wanna-be writter/poet/story-teller/thinker posts. Right now I have a little announcement to make.
If you are around, If you are free and If you wanna hang out with me I will be teaching kids how to do basic maintanace on their bikes. For free. Just come hang out or help me teach kids how to patch their inner tubes.
Thanks! Enjoy your weekened.
Here's a flyer.
Brain Vomit #25 The Place in My Dreams
Pinamar is the town that i grew up in. It’s on the East coast of Argentina about 5 hours south of Buenos Aires. It is almost the opposite of Los Angeles. When I lived there the town had about 15000 people, LA currently has about 15000000 people in comparison. I think It’s the best place to raise a family, clean air, safe town, mostly nice weather (winters can get very cold). Lots of trees and nature. The towns main industry is tourism, lot’s of wealthy Argentines have their summer homes there and also retire there. So the town is a little bit more cultured and educated than the neighboring rural towns because we’d get a diverse group of people who think differently. But it’s important that the people who grow up there move out and see the world. It’s a very sheltered little town, the people who choose to live there year round all of their lives tend to have a very narrow view of the world, conservative values and underdeveloped minds. In many ways it can be like a small town in the United States minus the racism.
When we moved to the United States in 2001 I was 14. We didn’t want to live here. The plan was to stay in LA for 1 year. But the economy collapsed and if we went back we would have a very hard time rebuilding, also the United States is the most promising country in the world. If we are going to have to start from scratch at least we were in the best place to do so. Still I hated it. In my dreams I was riding my bike with my friends in the woods back in Pinamar. But then I’d wake up and have to take a very crowded bus to a school with half the population of my hometown.
Pinamar would later become a place in my head, it would live in memories and in my dreams. Like every dream It would be an idealized version of the place. Though I would recognize everything in my dream when I woke up I wasn’t sure if that place actually existed or if I made it up. Overtime Idealized memories and dreams would build on each other till it became a place completely made up in my head. After so many years of living in the US the only clear memories I had were in the United States, Argentina felt almost like a different life. Pinamar was not a place any more, just a fantasy.
The place in my dreams.
Brain Vomit #24 Stubborn vs Persistent
Stubborn or persistent? According to the dictionary Stubborn means: having or showing dogged determination not to change one's attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good arguments or reasons to do so. And Persistent means: continuing firmly or obstinately in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.
There is a difference, the main difference is in how we perceive the person described. We associate stubborn with bad and persistent with good. In a way a stubborn person and persistent person are the same at the beginning. Except that the persistent person managed to prove some in past accomplishments and is going for more. A stubborn person hasn’t been able to prove anything yet. If you can see it done, persevere at it. Even if all the odds are stacked against you.
Brain Vomit #23 A promise
The bicycle industry is a terrible way to make a living. It’s a labor of love and passion. It is not uncommon to see someone leave a good paying job in a prosperous industry to open up a bike shop, start a brand, do something with bikes. The bicycle industry is a very saturated market and in order to thrive you have to differentiate your brand from the rest. You have to reinvent something, think outside the box, like coming up with a new color.
When I started my second brand “Agaromba” I knew very well that the industry didn’t need another brand. Unless you are some sassy cheeky marketer who will lie to peoples faces about your ground-breaking revolutionary proprietary innovation that your product uses. You don’t have much to offer other than what the competition does. Trying to be the cheapest is not sustainable and will run you out of business. Luxury? Sure, but you have to deliver. The luxury market is small and not dumb. You might fool them once but if your product does not match the expectations you’ll probably won’t get them back for more. And somewhere in the middle is where all the brands are so what makes you think they’ll pick your brand? The world does not need another bike brand, but I started one.
The promise behind Agaromba is not one of elevated Status or an advantage in performance or direct savings. The promise behind Agaromba is a promise of labor. Bikes brake and we want you to use your bike for as long as possible so we will fix it. This makes Agaromba the only brand that offers carbon repairs on the frames. For free, one time the rest are at standard rate. Once we consider that your bike is not safe to ride any more, then we would offer you a crash replacement. We are not telling you to buy another bike just because we are cool. We are saying that if you are gonna buy a bike no matter what, we’d like you to consider ours. We can’t stop the destruction of our environment yet, but we can slow it down. Buy us time to find a solution.
I really hope this business model gets adopted throughout the cycling industry and every industry. Mindless consumerism is going to end Humanity.
brain vomit #22 hack vs craft
A hack project is supposed to get the thing you are trying to accomplish as cheaply or as fast as possible without really having to learn the craft. A quick solution. Maybe not the best solutuon, but it'll do. You can buy a kit and assemble your project and call it your DIY ___. In most cases it looks like garbage, it looks like you did it yourself. Once you make the decision that this one specific thing is the thing you want to improve on, get better at and own the skill. That's when you become a craftsman. We all start at zero, therefore your work will show your skill set, but with every reiteration you get better at it.
A DIYer/ a hack just wants to get it done, A craftsman wants to get it done as good as he can. More care, attention and experience is involved in the process.
Brain Vomit #21: Emo revival
Things go through cycles, what is old is new again and today's teenagers are bringing Emo back. The music I used to be made fun of and stuck to it when I was 17. And now at almost 35 I’m sticking to it harder than ever. I guess we all get nostalgic, we realize that time goes on and we leave more and more behind. Listening to music from that era reopens old wounds you thought have healed long ago, brings you back to a time when you were naive. We long for those first experiences, old friends, your first job, your first car, being independent at an early age, falling in love for the first time and heartbreaks. When you stop to think about it my life wasn’t better than, in comparison my life now is perfect. Yet we have idealized versions in our minds that make us long for times past.
No other band takes me back to being a naive 18 year old going through stages of our lives, losing innocence and becoming an adult like The Jealous Sound. It’s like the soundtrack to a movie formed with memories in my head. So cinematic and sad. A thousand tiny cuts to the heart. Painful and pleasant. Like being wrapped around in your comfiest warm blanket while you are wrapped around the toilet vomiting your food poisoning. Doesn’t get any emo than this. I guess why they didn’t become the biggest Emo band ever is because they didn’t follow the fashion part of that era, mostly because they were older than everyone else at the time. I really hope with this Emo revival The Jealous Sound gets the recognition they deserve and starts playing some shows. Maybe a new Album though I think in order to write such beautifully melancholic songs you have to be in a state of deep depression. I don't wish that on anyone, their current songs will do just fine. I just want more though. Like the impulse to keep vomiting when all the bad inside of you has come out, the rapture of purging your melancholic memories. No real emo revival is complete without The Jealous Sound.
Brain Vomit #20: Keep up
Keeping up with the times doesn’t mean forget everything you already know. Keeping up with the times doesn’t really mean sharpening your skills either. In my optionion keeping up with the times means learning what’s happening so you can evolve with the times. So you don’t become obsolete. Before COVID i went to CAMX, a big composites manufacturing expo, there I saw all the latest equipment and new technologies for the trade. There’s a lot of new machines that will replace ½ of your staff, also new ways of working with composites that can’t be automated and will require clever workers to come up with ingenious ways to solve new problems. A better way of working exists. And those who kept up with the times will have the biggest advantage.
Brain Vomit #19 The Best
Who makes the best bikes? Best according to what standard? A $20k bike is not the best bike for a college student racing a cat 4 race. A weight weenie bike is not the best bike option for someone who is overweight and a Time Trial bike is a terrible commuter. As far as a technical standpoint some bikes are better than others as far as how they are made, materials used, research and development. Obviously a $400 Ebay Replica frame is not as good as the $7000 Original. For many reasons other than where it was made. The original frame went through all the steps of designing and promoting the bike, every design element serves a purpose. The imitation all they did was copy it without knowing the real meaning of the designs used in the bike. Now when I get someone with a fake Pinarello trying to justify their purchase and why it was the best option for him. I instantly know where to end the conversation, a sign that tells me to not take this guy's opinions seriously. This is probably a person who wants others to perceive him as someone successful when he’s not at that level yet. it’s only just a cheap trick. While at the same time this increases the perception of someone who can actually afford these luxuries. Why did that guy buy the super expensive set of Lightweights when we know a set of Enve’s will work better? Because the guy on the cheap replicas can’t or won't. That guy is different and his higher status is envied. Same Logic about those Custom Titanium frames you can order from Asia. You are not fooling anyone. A Titanium frame from Bikes Direct would ride the same. Just want to say that you bought a custom bike at a discount. Luxuries are not discounted. And by trying to devalue a framebuilder, a designer, an engineer, a problem solver, a visionary’s work by justifying your purchase. You are devaluing yourself, how others perceive you. Mindless selfish consumerism where his gains come at someone elses loss. The convenient choice, basic consumer behaviour.
My bikes are not as Aerodynamic as Pinarellos, or as light as the newest Specialized. I don’t have a team of athletes winning races on my bikes. I don’t even have a Sprinter van wrapped with my logo or stock bikes you can buy and build. What I do have is a decade of watching all these bikes break and fixing their problems; a decade of learning from their mistakes and coming up with my own solutions; a decade of learning, reinventing myself, staying updated and pulling splinters out of my fingers and killing my lungs for the love of the craft. My bikes may not be the lightest or most aerodynamic but they are built to last. These bikes represent my vision of what the perfect bike should be. Comfortable, Light, durable and timeless. It’s the perfect bike for my clients. The people who see the value in my work and appreciate them like works of art. People with taste.
I don’t expect you to see what I see or agree with me. The bikes that I make may not be the best fit for you. You can always just buy a Specialized or a Canyon. Or better yet, get your old bike repaired. Good for your wallet and the environment, A selfish yet selfless action. A real win/win. The best.
Brain Vomit #18 Machines
God bless the 3d printer.
God bless CNC mills.
God bless human ingenuity.
These machines are made to make our lives easier.
These machines are made so we can work better.
These machines are made to solve problems.
Machines need people to serve its purpose.
People don’t need machines to serve their purpose.
But if You don’t know what your purpose is
Be ready to be replaced by a machine.
I guess I write poems now too.
Brain Vomit #17 Haters Gonna Hate
When I started on my own I made a carbon bike with mostly hand tools. Aside from a drill, a couple sanders and a vacuum pump, all my tools were simple hand tools. I had a lot of time then, I was bored too, so I decided to put what I knew in theory into practice. I went to the Art Supply Store and bought a few blocks of foam. Cut them up and started shaping tubes. It took a very long time to make and it made a huge mess in the process. When I finished it most people couldn’t tell I made it. They would assume that I was lying, that I just put my logo on someone else’s bike, until I pointed out my mistakes. Their reaction would go from “You didn’t make that” to “Oh yeah, this thing is all messed up”. Either reaction was intended to make me feel bad about my work. The funniest part to me is that when I encounter those who didn’t support me then, those who didn’t want me to keep going are now my biggest fans as long as I give them the friend discount. No. I forgive but I don’t forget. Some people suck, and oftentimes those who are closest to you when you start are your biggest haters. How dare you accomplish what you said you were gonna do? They are insecure and they want to keep you insecure just so they feel superior to you. Though their opinions might be right at first, with practice you’ll only get better. Slowly you will find those who appreciate your work.
Brain Vomit #16 Financial Suicide
Being a frame builder is a terrible way to make a living. It requires a long list of skills and problem-solving intuition that if you were to apply it to any other trade/skill/job You would have a bett er chance at making a living at it. I mean “Frame builder” as the business owner and operator. You can work for someone making bikes but then your Job title would be a fabricator. You have to be a designer, fabricator, customer service person, bookkeeper, photographer, marketer, etc. Ideally, you want to focus on design and fabrication but until you make it you gotta do everything. Sure, there are software and apps that can help you do these jobs more efficiently but you still have to do everything. Hopefully, if you succeed, you’ll start hiring people to replace you in the tasks you don’t want to do. In the beginning, you are a terrible craftsman but with practice, you get better. You have to build up your reputation, build trust, create demand for your craft. It will take a long time to get there. You have to find something that will differentiate your work from everyone else's and be able to charge enough so you can keep doing it. Making it only means being able to make a sustainable living with your craft. You'll likely won't be able to become financially wealthy but you'll probably have a fulfilling life. And thats cool with me.
Brain Vomit #15 Disruption
You bought a bike, you are stoked! It’s super fast, it’s light, you love it. You paid a lot of money for this bike. You better get your money’s worth. You ride this bike all the time, at least all of your free time and you can’t wait to ride it again once you rest. One day you have an accident on the bike, something dumb, something minor. You find out your bike frame is damaged. Since you bought this thing new you expect the warranty to cover it. You contact the bike shop, the bike shop contacts the manufacturer and they say something like “This was caused by an accident, this is not a warranty issue. However, we can sell you a crash replacement at a discount”. You decide to buy the crash replacement. The shop takes your old bike they cut it in half and dump it in the trash so it doesn't end up on the road again. This is wasteful and it drives me insane. For now, carbon fiber is not recyclable. But it can be repaired and reused many times. Carbon repair is sometimes brought up as an option but a lot of these shops that are now owned by the brand they sale, are incentivized to sell as many bikes as they can. Profits come before customers. A lot of these bikes get discarded with minor damage. This system is working for the big brands because there isn’t a better option. I see this as a problem and I’m doing something about it. Waste and overconsumption are killing this planet. I believe there is a better option where we can have our cake and eat it too. We can enjoy the things we love without polluting our environment. The Bicycle industry doesn’t have to be a part of the system that benefits from overconsumption but a leader in the quest for a better world.
Brain Vomit #14 Bike Racing Boom 2022
I predict a racing boom in 2022. All those cross fitters, gym rats and people who got into cycling in 2020 will continue cycling. I believe there are cyclists and those who haven’t tried cycling yet. You never meet anyone who bought a bike and went like “this was the worst purchase I ever made”. A lot of them bought very expensive bikes just because that was the only thing that was available at the time and they had to ride it to justify their purchase. Now they are hooked! The next phase is bike racing and though many of them are not ready yet or waiting till the pandemic is fully over, by 2022 they will be signing up to race.
So If you are planning to race, make sure you start now. Upgrade categories the soonest you can. Because soon enough all the Cat 5 and 4 Races will get filled up soon. It will be carnage. A bunch of super fit and competitive people racing to win with nearly zero experience in racing in a group. It won’t be all of them, just a couple and it only takes one to take you out of the race.
Get your upgrade points now.
Brain Vomit #13 Fernandito y yo
Fernandito is a guy who always tried to see the good in everything. Even though he would have lots of problems to be upset about, he would brush it off and keep on going with his life with a smile on his face. His car would get vandalized, he would get fired from his job, get beat up for making an inappropriate joke, his wife would leave him, his business would go under, I can go on and on. This guy has every excuse to be upset, depressed and maybe even suicidal. But no! He would live his life undoubtedly hopeful and optimistic, This is the best life that he could live and would not let anything or anyone put him down. So optimistic and hopeful in fact that those who surrounded him would wonder if there’s anything wrong with him. Is he mentally handicapped? Something can’t be right. Turns out that Fernandito is ona medicine called Agaromba. A very powerful antidepressant that made all his problems seem meaningless and made him focus on the challenges ahead. Also, this is all a made up story, not by me but by Argentine TV. I grew up watching Fernandito on “Videomatch”. His catch phrase would be “Me tomo un Agaromba y todo me chupa un huevo!” It translates to something vulgar, yet so funny. The overall message was that after you take this pill all your problems lose their meaning and in the process their importance. This is how I feel about cycling, though not as extreme as Fernandito. I will get upset if something bad happens to me. But a good bike ride will help me reflect and think clearly. Sometimes I would need multiple doses, get so tired that I don't have the energy to be upset.
I believe that most of the problems a person could encounter can be solved by a good bike ride. Make it to the top of a mountain, take a deep breath and enjoy the view the best is yet to come. But unfortunately most people want to take the easy route, get the reward with none of the effort. Just give me a pill that will solve all my problems. My second brand is called Agaromba for this reason. It’s mostly targeted to an entry level market, i guess you can call it entry level to High end bikes. It’s targeted at that guy who lived 50+ years of bad habits and now the doctor tells him that unless he makes some serious changes in his life he won’t make it much longer. That person who just went through a nasty divorce and has a ton of anger and negative energy to focus on something positive or negative.
There are people with real depression and anxiety that has to be prescribed. I also believe that there are people who don’t need pills to solve their problems, and I believe that is the case for most people. It’s just hard to take responsibility for your own health. Mental and physical. It’s just too easy to take a pill, smoke some weed, take a drink and sweep your problems under the rug till the medicine loses its effect. The drugs are not the problem, but abuse is. Now you need them to function.
Fernandito was a junky. It would only be a matter of time till all his problems caught up to him because his body would build a tolerance to his pills. If he picked up cycling instead his body would adapt as well but the side effects would be positive. His problems would take a bit longer to go away but he would be coping with them with a clear mind instead of hopeful optimism. Problems are real and it’s best to tackle them head on. They will suck at first but once you reach the goal, it’s all downhill from there.
Brain Vomit #12 Push it real good
I started this blog because one day i would like to write a book. I am a terrible writer as you may have noticed already, but with practice i will get better. Similar to getting fitter or getting better at anything. Practice, practice, practice. This is my practice writing. I post it in case anyone is interested in what i have to say or to prove that i did in fact practice. Think of it like posting your ride on strava, like your boring training routine. No one cares. But that’s not the point.
Today I am feeling uninspired, honestly most days I feel uninspired but i push myself to do it anyway. I wish I pushed myself to ride more. But it is so much easier not to. I don’t have to put a kit on, don’t have to think how far or long i have to go. Becoming a great cyclist requires a lot of self discipline and when you have too much on your plate, other responsibilities, you can justify not doing it. Work is different, my clients are paying me to do my thing whether i feel like it or not. I made a promise and I will keep it. Riding and working are similar in that aspect that you don’t want to let people down. Skip enough rides, do a few bad jobs and these people will stop counting on you. You don’t want to be that guy. Now Writing, writing is a promise i made to myself. So i’ll push myself to write even when i don’t feel like it.
Brain Vomit #11: Earth day
Earth day Today is earth day. If you open Instagram, every other post will remind you that today is in fact Earth day. Used by many brands to show how environmentally friendly their product is or to tell you that a fraction of their proceeds will go to a charity or a cause. Which is great, I prefer they give something back rather than just take and take. But the intentions are rooted in the fact that they want you to buy more from them. Successful corporations grow, maybe the founder had a vision or ideology. Their intention was to be the best at what they make. Create the best value, a product that would change people’s lives for the better. And for a while it works great. You get more sales, which means you have to make more products, which means more employees, maybe you have to get a loan to reinvest in the company, which carries interest, so you have to create more sales, make more products, hire more people, expand into a bigger factory. This loop keeps repeating itself. It’s an infinite loop, but the resources and space are limited. Then everyone has the product, so the company has to innovate to make the old product obsolete or worse build obsolescence into the product. Or maybe a competitor has the same product for less. So you have to sell for less. So the method of manufacturing gets cheaper either by labor or by material cost. All to keep the corporation, that is now an angry and hungry monster, alive. This is unsustainable. We vote with our dollars, not our Instagram stories or whatever we use as a tool of how we want the world to see us. And sometimes holding on to those dollars is the best thing we can do for our planet. Slow down the consumerism. I don’t think Capitalism is killing our planet. Greed is killing our planet. Instant gratification over the health of the whole is killing our planet. Selfishness is killing our planet. The easiest thing would be to demand more responsibility from producers. But remember that we vote with our dollars not our words. So unless we change our consumer habbits, producers will keep up with the demands of the consumer. Shifting the flow of our dollars will force producers to adapt or die.
Of Course I want everyone to be happy, but buying the latest gadget, the latest fashion, etc. Are quick fixes to a life without substance. Buying the latest commodity to impress others is irresponsible. Is your money burning a hole in your pocket? Great! Support your local artist, buy that $7 Vegan muffin, buy a custom made suit, get that handmade bike, support your local craftsperson. Support those who chose their own path to make a living. After all the economy needs to keep moving right?
I believe that in the future all the waste we created will turn into a resource, but until we figure that out we must slow down the destruction of this planet. That's up to us. Get your phone repaired, wear those all clothes till they disintegrate on you, get your bike repaired. And when you can’t get any more patches on those jeans or it is too damaged to fix, when all other options are eliminated, then buy that new thing. But buy the nicer one, the one that won’t break, the one that the company will fix if you damage it or has issues, the quality one. Buy the new thing that wont fall apart prematurely. They say things used to be made to last. They still are, most people just choose to buy cheap things. Cheap things are costing us too much. We live in a poluted world and then we wonder why we have so many allergies, respiratory problems, obesity, mental health problems, anxiety. We live in a world of excess, we lost the ability to live it. It's time to regain that ability.
One day our grandkids are going to ask us why we didn’t do anything while we still had time. And boomers are not going to be there to take the blame.
brain Vomit #10 Machine problemS
I bought a new machine and it’s a pain in the ass. In my constant pursuit of learning and becoming 100% independent of 3rd party parts I bought a small CNC. I already have 3 3D Printers. A CNC should be pretty much the same. Wrong! Maybe because I approached it extremely confident, I didn’t think I would be this frustrated on this machine. It’s part of the learning process and like a steep climb, It’s going to suck till i conquer it. Leaving it alone would be a waste of time and money. I wouldn’t consider it a sunk cost though. It’s just part of the process of learning, adapting and using new tools. I have a lot of ideas and they need revisions. Sending it all out would cost me more money, more time and I wouldn’t learn anything about the process. I know I am a dumb person, but staying dumb is not an option i choose to live with. We are all dumb, or were dumb at some point. I’m just trying to be a little less dumb everyday. Just a little smarter than yesterday.
Maybe tomorrow or the next day I’ll figure out these trouble shooting problems.
Brain Vomit #9: Bikes with Soul
I’ve heard many times people say “Carbon bikes don’t have souls, Steel is real”. What do they mean by soul? That a person made it? Carbon bikes are made by people too. I think what these people are saying is that this bike has a story. A story different from a corporation hiring designers to draw a bike that will be produced in a factory likely overseas to make a commodity at a low cost. A product made for the sole purpose to make a profit and keep the corporation running. That’s a product without a soul. And that’s the process associated with most carbon fiber bikes. It’s the process for pretty much any mass produced good. Then a custom made bike has a soul right? Not always. You could place an order for a custom made bike at a factory overseas, they will make a great product at a fantastic price. But if I am being honest, that is not the same as getting your bike made from a builder. It is a more personalized product but It is not the same. The builder gives the bike soul, it’s not the material. It’s the builders vision, process, habits, their story. Not a standardized process. Machines have no souls, people have souls. And when a framebuilder makes you a bike, you are taking the fruits of their soul.