So, we've just launched almost the full range of current Downtube models! Very exciting. We don't currently have the No Suspension, since Downtube are very short of those, but the Front and Full suspension models have joined the Mini, in both 9 speed derailleur and 8 speed hub gear versions.
These bikes will be drop-shipped direct from the USA - the warehousing of bikes in Britain caused Downtube many problems, and a great deal of cost. The good news is, they should arrive within 3-4 days of order date, and all the tax will be paid, so what you pay is what you pay, the bike arrives, and it's yours! Prices have of course risen significantly - anyone who didn't believe the prices we had really represented a sale, and was holding out to get the new model year bikes at the same price will be severely disappointed. In reality, the current prices reflect what it actually costs to get these bikes to you. It's the US price, plus the cost of air-courier, and the tax.
We could of course ship them to the UK en masse by boat, and that would make the courier charges much lower, but then we'd have higher warehousing costs, plus we'd get hit with a gigantic anti-dumping duty, and the price would be very similar. By doing it this way, we can make sure that the European market is offered exactly what the US market has, rather than the situation we've had where there's a warehouse full of old stock needing to be sold. And we're still cheaper, and better, than Dahon! Hurrah!
Friday, 10 October 2008
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Bargain Price IXFS Sold out!
We've finally sold the last of the UK based stock of the Downtube IXFS. The bad news is, that means no more super-bargain bikes. The good news is, we'll soon be able to offer the entire range of Downtube bikes. These will ship from the USA, but we're working on 3-4 day airmail shipping, with all duty paid in advance, so it's just as quick as a UK based bike, and there are no extra charges - everything is included in the upfront price. I hope these bikes will be on the site in the next 2 weeks, so keep your eyes open!
Monday, 22 September 2008
Lockblocks FINALLY in stock!
Being a small new bike business is not easy. The big distributors don't want to deal with you, and the small ones are run by enthusiasts with problems of their own.
We've had some great lights, with enormous output for the money, sitting on the shelf for several months, but couldn't sell them because we didn't have suitable bike mounts. Twofish make the fantastic LockBlocks system, which we wanted, but they almost went out of business because their manufacturing partner decided to take 4 months to deliver, instead of 7 days. Thankfully, they came through in the end, and now we have the mounts too. Shortly, the new lights will be added to the site, as will LockBlocks, and of course, we'll offer a special price if you buy the two together.
We also nearly got mudguard mounts, but a small issue there has blocked us. Expect them soon. Finally, we plan to try again for Nutcase helmets soon. They're not easy to get hold of, but they're so cool, and we feel like you deserve them.....
We've had some great lights, with enormous output for the money, sitting on the shelf for several months, but couldn't sell them because we didn't have suitable bike mounts. Twofish make the fantastic LockBlocks system, which we wanted, but they almost went out of business because their manufacturing partner decided to take 4 months to deliver, instead of 7 days. Thankfully, they came through in the end, and now we have the mounts too. Shortly, the new lights will be added to the site, as will LockBlocks, and of course, we'll offer a special price if you buy the two together.
We also nearly got mudguard mounts, but a small issue there has blocked us. Expect them soon. Finally, we plan to try again for Nutcase helmets soon. They're not easy to get hold of, but they're so cool, and we feel like you deserve them.....
Friday, 20 June 2008
Downtube Mini now available
As of yesterday, the Downtube Mini is available to purchase from Velo Chocolate. It's priced at £350 including shipping. We've put it that way because, as it's in America, if we gave the price ex-shipping, it would seem very low, and then the shipping cost would come as a nasty surprise. The shipping is, in real terms, about £100, but even with the shipping included it beats its main rivals on price. Bromptons seem to start at about £500 for the 3 speed, and the Dahon Curve is £350 for the 3 speed version before shipping. Factor in the 8 speed Sturmey Archer hub, and the Mini looks like the best deal on the block!
Given that the bike is shipping from the States, you should be prepared for a potential tax bill following it into the country. This sometimes doesn't happen, for reasons we can't fathom, but often it does. This will be for VAT against the purchase price ex-shipping, and given the amount of the actual price you pay is made up of shipping and assembly and tune-up in the US, it's not too high.
Given that the bike is shipping from the States, you should be prepared for a potential tax bill following it into the country. This sometimes doesn't happen, for reasons we can't fathom, but often it does. This will be for VAT against the purchase price ex-shipping, and given the amount of the actual price you pay is made up of shipping and assembly and tune-up in the US, it's not too high.
Friday, 13 June 2008
Downtubes on World Naked Bike Ride
Sometimes an opportunity comes up that's just too cool to turn down, and World Naked Bike Ride was one of those! It's not so much a protest, more an awareness raising event, pointing out the problems of the dominance of oil in our economy, and by way of nakedness, illustrating the fragility of a cyclist in traffic. It also happened to look like a lot of fun! So, I recruited a female friend, packed up the Downtubes, and headed for the Southampton ride. We hung some Velo Chocolate adverts on the racks, and headed for the Common, with a little trepidation. Poor Jo, now known as Lady Downtubediva in the cycling community, was more than a little nervous, but after we'd shed our clothes, it didn't seem such a big deal, and the combination of that and the signs attracted quite a bit of interest!
The ride itself was huge fun (Jo said she'd never had so much fun in her life), going right through the centre of Southampton, and attracting 156 riders. We were cheered and applauded all the way round, and saw nothing but smiles and support. Judging by the rise in the number of hits on Velo Chocolate since the weekend, there's nothing quite like getting a naked girl to ride your bike through town to attract a bit of commercial interest! Below are photos which are hopefully "safe for work" enough. I think the second one captures the joy of the event rather well!
The ride itself was huge fun (Jo said she'd never had so much fun in her life), going right through the centre of Southampton, and attracting 156 riders. We were cheered and applauded all the way round, and saw nothing but smiles and support. Judging by the rise in the number of hits on Velo Chocolate since the weekend, there's nothing quite like getting a naked girl to ride your bike through town to attract a bit of commercial interest! Below are photos which are hopefully "safe for work" enough. I think the second one captures the joy of the event rather well!
The Tea Tricycle - a tale of frustration
Velo Chocolate has a sister business, at least theoretically; the Tea Tricycle. This is my wife's brave venture; a mobile tea service selling 32 varieties of organic and fair trade tea from a cargo trike. The plan was that people strolling through Southampton town centre wouldn't be limited to very expensive coffee, but could also buy a lovely hot cup of tea. The trouble is that Southampton City Council, in their infinite competence, gave us wrong information about licensing, and are now insisting that no license is available, and that all the street traders are being prosecuted in Southampton. Now, apart from being fundamentally illiberal, this is a royal pain in the backside, since we've invested the money in the trike, the stock, and kitting it out. The new plan is to run market stalls selling boxes of the tea, with the trike at the end selling hot cuppas, and maybe to do festivals and events as well. Since Velo Chocolate is responsible for the maintenance of the Tea Tricycle, I thought you might like to see it (and no, that's not my wife, it's her business partner). The trike now has a lid, too......
The Downtube Mini Arrives
Not very long ago, Velo Chocolate received a Downtube Mini, for test purposes, and assuming we decided it fit the bill, to use as a bike for the press to test out. Well, having tested it fairly thoroughly (my 11 year old son decided he should test it by going over the handlebars at least once), we've decided it's a bike we really want to offer.
The Mini has a very similar frame to the bigger Downtube bikes, and is similarly stiff and robust, but is smaller, with 16" wheels rather than 20. This means it folds really compact, almost as small as a Brompton, and fits in even very small cars, is practical for the tube, in fact anywhere that the folded size is really important. We see it as a direct competitor for the Brompton, and it has some distinct advantages. For one, it seems likely to be better at accommodating bigger riders, for another, it has an 8 speed Sturmey Archer hub gear, which gives a wider gear range than the Brompton, thirdly, with a seatpost rack fitted, it carries luggage much better than any Brompton I've seen, and finally, it's going to be cheaper than even the 3 speed version. The Brommie definitely folds a bit smaller and neater, but for us, the price differential is too much to overlook. The final price here has yet to be decided, since we need to find a price point that makes Downtube enough money to justify the extra hassle of shipping them to customers over here (they'll ship direct from the States), but which represents the usual great value for money that you expect from a Downtube.
Our bike has been going through it's paces, carrying me on several London commutes, and carrying a friend on a very special ride (more of that later). At 6'3, it doesn't quite have the seatpost height for me, but I only need an inch or so, and I'm looking at a device called, unprepossessingly, the Butt Buddy which would move my seat up by another 2 inches. With the Axiom quick release seatpost rack on, it carries my Ortlieb Office Bag 2 beautifully, and has plenty of ground clearance for panniers too. I've added a Brooks B66 in an attempt to get the extra saddle height I needed, but it turned out not to be any higher. The bike has acquitted itself well on the Embankment Grand Prix (my lack of full leg extension not withstanding), and it folded up tiny to be out of the way on a crowded train, and also in a clients office. I'm loving it, and I can't see me wanting to do without it! I'll have to, however, since once we agree the price with Downtube, I'll be working hard to get it out to the press, ideally the mainstream press rather than cycle mags. One publicity stunt we pulled has already attracted a lot of people to this site, but I'll say no more of that for now. The pictures below are not really presentation quality, I simply snapped them with my camera and Blackberry at different times - expect better on the site. Looking at the second image, I can see that I have been blasting around London with the cardboard badge still attached to the rack. What a class act!
The Mini has a very similar frame to the bigger Downtube bikes, and is similarly stiff and robust, but is smaller, with 16" wheels rather than 20. This means it folds really compact, almost as small as a Brompton, and fits in even very small cars, is practical for the tube, in fact anywhere that the folded size is really important. We see it as a direct competitor for the Brompton, and it has some distinct advantages. For one, it seems likely to be better at accommodating bigger riders, for another, it has an 8 speed Sturmey Archer hub gear, which gives a wider gear range than the Brompton, thirdly, with a seatpost rack fitted, it carries luggage much better than any Brompton I've seen, and finally, it's going to be cheaper than even the 3 speed version. The Brommie definitely folds a bit smaller and neater, but for us, the price differential is too much to overlook. The final price here has yet to be decided, since we need to find a price point that makes Downtube enough money to justify the extra hassle of shipping them to customers over here (they'll ship direct from the States), but which represents the usual great value for money that you expect from a Downtube.
Our bike has been going through it's paces, carrying me on several London commutes, and carrying a friend on a very special ride (more of that later). At 6'3, it doesn't quite have the seatpost height for me, but I only need an inch or so, and I'm looking at a device called, unprepossessingly, the Butt Buddy which would move my seat up by another 2 inches. With the Axiom quick release seatpost rack on, it carries my Ortlieb Office Bag 2 beautifully, and has plenty of ground clearance for panniers too. I've added a Brooks B66 in an attempt to get the extra saddle height I needed, but it turned out not to be any higher. The bike has acquitted itself well on the Embankment Grand Prix (my lack of full leg extension not withstanding), and it folded up tiny to be out of the way on a crowded train, and also in a clients office. I'm loving it, and I can't see me wanting to do without it! I'll have to, however, since once we agree the price with Downtube, I'll be working hard to get it out to the press, ideally the mainstream press rather than cycle mags. One publicity stunt we pulled has already attracted a lot of people to this site, but I'll say no more of that for now. The pictures below are not really presentation quality, I simply snapped them with my camera and Blackberry at different times - expect better on the site. Looking at the second image, I can see that I have been blasting around London with the cardboard badge still attached to the rack. What a class act!
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