:k

HISTORY OF THE FI’ZI:K BUM LOGO – Part 2

2009-05-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

2003: Shroeder Iron Pro Leads the Way with the Logo

The history of the fi’zi:k bum logo continues from a January blog entry.

Exact dates and the order of who did what first are mixed but such is to be expected given the numbers of bums that have served as a billboard for the fi’zi:k logo. When the idea of fi’zi:k bum logo was first created in our Italian offices, the suggestion was passed stateside. “Ask the teams,” Signor Fregonese encouraged, “the worst that can happen is that they say no.”

While fi’zi:k was no stranger to the pro peloton, having supporting the bums of the infamous GT-Lotto team, breaking in to the pack in both Europe and the US was no easy feat. Two of our main Italian competitors had long established themselves as the saddle brand of choice and fi’zi:k was the new kid on the block. When we first begin approaching US based pro road teams in 2001 for sponsorship talks, our product offerings were limited and established pro team-saddle relationships were likened to family. You don’t expunge the family. The most difficult part however, was convincing the team directors – most of them former pros who’d grown up on our competitor’s brands - to try something new. In the US at that time, it wasn’t so much about money, but it was about the product. “Why make my guys switch and what have you got to offer that’s better?" was the echoing sentiment.

The US first teams to ‘take a chance’ with fi’zi:k were Prime Alliance (2001- 2003), Navigators (2002-2006) and Shroeder Iron Pro (2002-2003). Each of these three teams hold a spot of significance in fi’zi:k history.

Prime Alliance was our first US pro road sponsorship and was the team that Jonathan Vaughters eventually joined in 2003 after leaving the European pro peloton. Vaughters was one of our forty secret Arione prototype testers long before the saddle went into production. Fi’zi:k’s relationship continues to this day with Vaughters and his Garmin-Slipstream team and in true full circle fashion, it was his rider, Dave Zabriskie, that was the first pro to test our new 2009 Ares team trial saddle. Prime Alliance along with Schroeder Iron Pro, was one of the first US teams to incorporate the fi’zi:k bum logo.

Navigators Insurance was our second US road sponsorship and was until recently, our longest running US sponsorship (Team Healthnet-Maxxis now Team OUCH currently ranks as fi’zi:k’s longest running professional US partnership).

Our partnership with Shroeder Iron Pro marked not only the first time our saddle sat under the bum of the US National Champion (Chann McCrae came over to Shroeder Iron Pro from US Postal after crossing the line as first American in 2002; fi’zi:k rider & Navigator;s Canadian Mark Walters won the US Pro Open that year) but also marked the first truly BIG US Pro bum logo!

These early sponsored teams were limited to the original Pave, the Poggio (a Gord Fraser favorite) and the Dolomite. Shroeder Iron Pro used the Dolomite almost exclusively. All three of these saddles, in their original form and design, are now out of production.

ToC - HOW DID WE RATE? DAILY :K #6

2009-02-23T19:36:00.001-08:00

The 2009 Tour of California has come to a close but Powered:By fi’zi:k is not quite finished with our tour behind the scenes. With an estimated 1.6 million fans and ToC participants, to say that we were proud to be there would be an understatement. Dirtied hands, unforeseen mishaps and speed bumps tossed into the mix, and fifteen hour days of labor and laughter, contributed to a remarkable experience for Powered:By fi’zi:k.

Come in she said I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”
-Bob Dylan

Of the seventeen participating teams at the Tour of California, fifteen enjoyed the luxury of having a home on wheels to shelter them from rainy stage starts and to provide them with a heated haven following four to five hours of bone chillin’ downpours. While visiting European teams reap certain unstated benefits of being an ‘invited’ pro tour team, not all US based teams have the required budget to pony up for a 33-foot chariot. For that reason (plus that other tidbit about the 1.6 million viewers) Powered:By fi’zi:k was pleased and proud to be able to step up to help out our newest sponsoree, Fly V Australia presented by Successful Living on two week’s notice!

It wasn’t our only team out there (eight teams riding fi’zi:k saddles) but ironically, it was the team most decimated by a nasty traveling inter-peloton virus. One by one, day after day, illness struck – and one by one they left. In the end, the 8-team member capacity team bus held two lone riders – Ben Day and Curtis Gunn*- there to weather the storm and finish what they’d started. (*Curtis Gunn started but did not finish the final stage due to a knee injury).

Curtis Gunn and Ben Day

TWO WEEKS NOTICE

Two weeks notice, an idea hatched over a cup of coffee with 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist Steve Hegg, and a wrap design created by Crank Brother’s Art Director extraordinaire Tim Van Gilder in the span of two hours, and Powered:By fi’zi:k was born. So…how did we rate when stacked up against the others?

Team OUCH presented by Maxxis

Team GARMIN-SLIPSTREAM

Team BMC

Team Quickstep

Cervelo Test Team

Team Jelly Belly

Team Rabobank

Team Liquigas

Team Astana

Team Saxo Bank

Team Columbia - High Road

Team Ag2r

Team Type 1

Powered:By fi'zi:k

How'd we do?

TOC – WE’VE COME A LONG WAY BABY - DAILY :K #5

2009-02-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

ROAD Magazine inquired this morning, “So what’s the full day entail for you?”

As the 2009 ToC Team Bus supplier to the Fly V Australia pb Successful Living team, the Powered:By fi’zi:k crew has been fortunate (and grateful) to have hotel accommodations at the Team Hotel each evening. Here, a Depart Addendum indicating a ‘luggage out by’ time and the vehicle departure time, is distributed. It is the responsibility of Powered:By fi’zi:k to ascertain the petrol and water tanks are full when we’re ready to roll. And even when all appears to be dialed – the occasional monkey wrench is tossed into the mix.

A MONKEY WRENCH:
Part of the Fly V Australia pb Successful Living management crew, as well as fi’zi:k marketing, departed for the Stage 6 Solvang Time Trial at 6 am to join Road Bike Action for a 60-strong industry ride. In the meantime back in Paso Robles, the Powered:By fi’zi:k home-on-wheels was turning over a whole bunch of nothing - its battery life having been sucked dry. To the rescue was Fly V Austrlia’s veteran cyclist Curtis Gunn – no stranger to finding his way around a motor home. After a few failed attemps, moments of panic were tempered with a trusty pair of jumper cables and off went the Fly V Australia caravan consisting that morning of two team vehicles, a team bus (Powered:By fi’zi:k) and the two remaining Fly V Australia pb Successful Living pro cyclists: Ben Day and Curtis Gunn.

VIRUS’s – ANOTHER OCCASIONAL MONKEY WRENCH

Down to three riders before the start of Friday’s Time Trial - five having already succumbed to an evil energy sapping virus - Bernard Sulzberger was hit so hard that he fell asleep in the bathtub. That left Curtis Gunn and Ben Day to represent the team at the Time Trial. While other teams it appears, have also been hit by the virus, none have been it quite as hard as the Fly V Australia squad.

Fly V Australia Director Sportif Henk Vogels

“It’s really a shame,” commented Director Sportif Henk Vogels. “Our business managers Chris White and Brett Roland worked really hard for the invite and to be down to two guys…one might get the impression that we didn’t deserve the invite. But we do deserve to be here. There’s nothing that can be done about it - if you’re sick – you’re sick.”

Outside of managing the occasional monkey wrench, a typical day usually involves a morning transfer to the race start - ranging anywhere from about four to one hundred miles. The guys load into the Powered:By fi’zi:k team bus where they lounge, stretch, tune-out or integrate their preferred pre-race rituals. The Powered:By crew makes a quick exit off the bus upon arrival at the race start to give the guys their space, gather dotdotk.blogspot.com story ideas and images, check in with fi’zi:k sponsored teams and to stock up on Jelly Belly’s.

About ten minutes before the gun goes off, the team bus sides are retracted, the vehicle leveled, and the engine is purring. As soon as an exit path is cleared, the team busses roll out in their own organized assembly, following course deviation directions for the non-peloton sect. Required travel time from stage start to stage finish is generally an hour or two and thus the writing of a dotdotk.blogpost post begins.

In the finishing town the team busses jockey for position in the Team Parking areas. Orange cones are set out demarking parking spots for respective team cars and vans. Once settled, team bus sides extended and the vehicle tidied, it’s over to the Expo Festival to restock Mini BlackBook2 catalogs, straighten displays and check in with Scott USA’s Marketing Director Adrian Montgomery and Jim Pheil from Edge Sports who have been transporting and managing our displays.

If there’s one consistent comment from both Adrian and Jim it’s that orange is hot and fi’zi:k, if doubt were there, is truly a recognized saddle brand. Trivial though it may sound, it was not so long ago that 1. consumers were unable to correctly pronounce fi’zi:k 2. our sponsored pros were also often unable to correctly pronounce fi’zi:k and 3. the most common response was are these saddles comfortable?

Today’s most common response however is not ARE these saddles comfortable? but I have a fi’zi:k and it is sooo comfortable! Yes…we’ve come a long way baby.

*Many thanks to Scott USA’s Adrian Montgomery and his marketing team, and to Jim Pheil and his crew at the Fly V Australia expo booth featuring Edge Wheels, Parlee Bicycles, Sock Guy, and fi’zi:k.

TOC – POWERED:BY FI’ZI:K - FROM INSIDE – DAILY :K #4, PART 2

2009-02-21T10:05:00.000-08:00

Inside Team Car OUCH
THE DAY’s OBJECTIVES: The object of the day could be to win the stage, move up on GC, or move closer to securing a particular jersey (KOM, Best Young Rider, Most Courageous).

The secondary but ongoing objective is to get a rider in the break. There’s always a break in a road race. Sometimes the riders are caught and sometimes they’re not. If the hosting team car (team OUCH in this case) gets a rider in the break, OUCH car #2 will, at some point, leap frog up to the break to talk to, feed and potentially, clothe the rider. That’s another action or photo opportunity. Team OUCH, however, was not in the day’s break. That left us further, to our own devices for entertainment.

Other traces of action might come in the form of others misfortune. There’s always a healthy of dose friendly jousting happening in the caravan. One’s misfortune is another man’s laughter. Most of the caravan was wondering where Jelly Belly Director Sportif, Danny Van Haute’s rear window had gone. Apparently something had lodged itself inbetween the trunk closure and when the mechanic slammed it shut during race action (likely changing a flat or assisting a downed rider), the rear window simply shattered. But that was only half of it. Jelly Belly’s Team Car #2 was missing a rear driver’s side window. What? Not a good day for the one of the most popular teams on the circuit (free Jelly Belly’s to anyone, just for the asking).

Then there’s the random rider spew after a crash or close call:

Doesn’t the ^*&(%!! guy know he’s supposed to put his *^&%(!! jacket in his team car, not in his *&($%!! spokes? (heard following the Sevilla, Landis, Kirchen crash – resulting in a broken collar bone for Kirchen).

Floyd Landis having a chat with Team OUCH car following a slam to the pavement

Thus, while one truly never hopes for flats, mechanicals or crashes (that’s just bad form),during a long day in the car – with the group mainly in tact – such misfortune can be the extent of the action from inside.

TOC – POWERED:BY FI’ZI:K - FROM INSIDE – DAILY :K #4, PART 1

2009-02-19T21:20:00.000-08:00

From Inside the Team OUCH Car...

Team OUCH - fi’zi:k’s longest running US pro sponsorship partner - invited fi’zi:k into the team car for Stage Four’s 115 mile tour from Merced to Clovis.

There are a couple of things to know before jumping into a team car:

1. If female, limit coffee intake prior to getting in a team car – stopping for a female-appropriate relief break is rare (we’ve got this one down).
2. Be ready to settle in for what could potentially be a long, sleepy day.
3. No hanging out of the Team Car to take photos (our good friend Adrian Montgomery at Scott USA learned this one a few years back at the Tour of Georgia).
4. If a semi-hang out attempt is made for the rare photo opp (ie. of Lance) you may get the stink eye (experienced several years back at the Tour of Georgia). Thus, get ego in check.

Riding in a team car looks glamorous from the outside and can in fact, be absurdly exciting. Other than being a pro in the bunch, it’s tough to get much closer to the action. For the most part, the best view point will always be from the living room couch. Days can be brutally long in the team car - there’s no getting out to stretch or to stop for coffee - and if the hosting team car is ranked anything below Team Car #4 or #5 (the cars are numbered from 1-17 based on the General Classification), you are all but removed from the action. So, while exciting at times, the view from the tube is a great vantage point to watch a pro cycling race.

[Of special note, should the opportunity arise to jump in a team car, sharing the same language with driver and mechanic is a must. Otherwise, there is literally no one with whom to speak for approximately four to six hours. Chatting on the phone is a bad behavior.]

HOW IT WORKS:
Each team car (two cars per team at the ToC), has a Technical Guide that outlines the details of the day’s stage: left and right turns, railroad crossings, King of the Mountain Sprints, and the Feed Zone. The race usually starts with a few ‘neutral laps’ in each hosting start town – to put on a show for the locals – and after a designated distance, the race is officially on.

After a designated amount of distance (usually 20 miles or so), the race is then ‘open to feeding’. At this point, the riders can drop back to their team cars to grab bottles, snacks, or to drop off or pick up clothing. There’s an organized system to ‘feeding’ that goes like this (we’ll refer to Team OUCH since they were the hosting car). Team OUCH rider drops back to the rear of the main pack and raises his hand (as if to ask a question). The race radio announcer in Commissaire Car #2 spies the rider’s hand, and then announces over the team race radio, “Team OUCH for feeding.” In the meantime, Team OUCH rider has already radio’d his Director (driving the car) that he’s coming back for bottles – and Team Director (Mike Tamayo) has thus already made his way up through the caravan (Team OUCH was car #11 during this stage) toward the back of the pack by the time Team OUCH car has been called up.

Tim Johnson grabbing bottles.

Cam Evans doing domestique duties.

Photo time.

Another potential action photo opportunity occurs during flat tires and crashes. We usually refrain from snapping during crashes. FIRST THE FLATS…

While flats are a fairly common occurrence during race action, requiring the team car to find their rider and swap out their front or rear wheel (a technique mastered by mechanics taking less than ten seconds) – they can make or break the cyclists overall GC standing. This can depend on the terrain and what’s happening in the race when the flat occurs.

When a rider flats, the rest of the group doesn’t just ‘wait up’. The amount of effort required to catch back on has been known to crack many a cyclist – causing them to throw in the proverbial towel on the entire race. For example, if a flat occurs just as the speed picks up (fast rollers or descents), that rider can be severely off the back in the mere seconds it takes for the team car to find the rider on the right side of the road (they always pull to the right), swap the wheel, give him a push and then attempt to pace him back to the main group.

It can take 30 miles to get your rider back to the main group, riding at a full effort.

Even George Hincapie needs to be paced.

Such was the luck of Karl ‘Ten Men’ Menzies and Bradley White (Most Courageous Rider, Stage 3) early on during the stage. They eventually caught up with the main group but it was after a heroic effort – one that Mike Tamayo labeled – the best catch back on I’ve ever seen. It was an effort that completely destroyed Team OUCH’s John Murphy who sacrificed himself for his teammates to help them re-join the main field and make the day’s time cut.

THE CRASHES: When a rider goes down in front or near the team car, the risks involved with this ‘job’ become real. We’ve seen a few ugly crushes over the years; it’s an odd - sickly spectacular - but uncomfortable site. Inside the team car, the desire is high to stop to help – but the peloton doesn’t stop and the team car screams on (unless, of course, the fallen rider is one of yours). The hard reality in bike racing is that you never really know how or where your day is going to end. For BMC’s Scott Nydam and Team Columbia Highroad’s Kim Kirchen, the day started in Merced under sunny skies and ended at the Fresno hospital.

POWERED:BY FI’ZI:K - FROM INSIDE
MORE TO COME.

TOC POWERED:BY FI’ZI:K, DAILY :K #3

2009-02-18T22:12:00.000-08:00

Cervelo Test Team's Carlos Sastre carrying bottles.

FROM THE BACK – INSIDE THE PACK

We often wonder if pro cyclists ‘notice’ the kits, logos, components and bike frames of other teams while they’re riding in the pack. There is no shortage of long slow stages with miles to cover and time to while away. As cyclists - pro, enthusiasts or recreational - we spend a significant amount of time staring at the backs of the rider in front of us.

One moment of false concentration can spell disaster if the rider in front of you makes a quick move or over-correction in effort to avoid unforeseen road hazards. While the fi'zi:k back can me mezmorizing and hypnotizing, the extended trance can also lead to unintentionally crossed wheels with little time to undue the damage (as was the case yesterday when Levi crossed wheels w/ Lance and in effort to avoid taking him down, took down nearly the entire Garmin-Slipstream squad).

So…do they notice, we wondered - the fi’zi:k logos on the back of other teams?

Curtis Gunn from the Fly V Australia pb Successful Living team said, “I definitely notice what’s on the backs of other riders because that’s how I pick out where my guys are or where other riders and teams are positioned. That’s how I can identify them quickly.” He continued, “I don’t notice that much when I’m out on a group ride but I definitely notice when I’m in the pack – in a race situation.”

“That’s quite a billboard you’ve got there on the Columbia - Highroad Team,” Team OUCH’s Tim Johnson remarked. “Much bigger than ours, eh?”

“Is there anyone out there not riding your saddles?” Team OUCH’s Mike Tamayo asked. (When you’re staring at the back of rider’s butts all day, five teams with fi’zi:k logos equals 40 cyclists….and that’s a whole lot of bum look at).

And from the peloton during Stage 4 when the Team OUCH car pulled up next to Team BMC Manager Gavin Chilcott’s team car for a chat, “You’ve got the biggest logo in the caravan!”

“What do you mean? The one on Team Columbia - High Road?” we asked?

“Uh…no,” he said, “That 20 foot fi’zi:k logo spread across your team bus!”

Oh….that one.

TOC POWERED:BY FI'ZI:K, DAILY :K #2: THE VIRGIN DUMP

2009-02-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

IT’S JUST GOES WITH THE TERRORITY….
When you’re in this deep…there are certain responsibilities that come with managing a team bus for a professional road team. For the last two days, Powered:By fi’zi:k personnel have been toying with and perhaps subconsciously procrastinating the inevitable: the purging of the septic tank.

Cruising the winding and twisty Highway 17 en route to the Santa Cruz stage finish, we spied the Rabobank Team Bus at highway pull out, with large black industrial sized hose extended in what could only be described as the DUMP position….as far as we could tell anyway. Hmmmm…what an odd place for a ‘dump’ we thought. Should we join them? Too late to slam on the brakes on the 33-foot beast, we motored on.

Upon arrival at the TEAM PARKING lot of the finishing stage, we digested the fact that it was better to deal with the Black Box (that’s RV lingo for septic tank) sooner rather than later. A full Black Box makes for an unpleasant morning transfer for the riders. And thus the VIRGIN DUMP process began.

The alleged story goes that if you telephone the organizing race porta-john company (United Porta Johns in this case), talk real nice, pool some team buses who could all use a dump (about $20 each), they (United) might come to you to collect your poo. The survey began. All told, we tallied five teams - Powered:By fi’zi:k, Team Type 1, Team Jelly Belly, Astana, and Team Liquigas - all in need of a good dump. Fast forward to three hours later when the organizing D.U.M.P. committee (Powered:By fi’zi:k) finally received a call-back from United Porta Johns. The cost? $200 per Team Bus! $200 to collect our professional poo? Who was he kidding? We could probably sell this stuff on EBay!

Stage 3 DUMP: Mission Aborted.

Stage 4 DUMP: Mission On.
Rolling along Interstate 280 this morning on the wheel of the Team OUCH Bus, our thoughts were completely preoccupied with the ensuing morning DUMP.

"Hey, uh, Dan (Team OUCH bus driver), have you got a good lead on a DUMP station around here?" we asked, phoning a couple hundred of feet in front of us.

"Yep, there’s one right off 99. There’s a gas station there as well. Follow me. I’ll take you there," he said.

"Wow, John, we’ve got ourselves a DUMP escort – follow him," fi’zi:k's Marketing Manager suggested.

In the parking lot, Dan escorted us around the sides of one of those 'corporate' trucker/RV stops - the type where you feel out of place if you're driving anything short of 18 wheels or Class A vehicles. In pursuit of his overzealousness to find the DUMP hole Dan, in the Team OUCH bus, dropped us.

"Dude, you dropped us," we phoned. "Where'd you go?" (Yes, the place was this big.)

"We’re back in the front; we found the hole. Come around. Look for something like looks like a garbage can. There’s a hole on the ground next to it; that’s the dumper," Dan said

"Oh…the thing that says RV DUMP, you mean?"

These exclusive Powered:By fi'zi:k images illustrate what happened next but suffice it to say that this was perhaps the smoothest virgin DUMP to ever occur in the pro peloton support caravan.

John readies with blue gloves, courtesy of Dan the Man

Never imagining it could be this much fun

Many thanks to Dan the Man, Team OUCH Bus Driver and to John Cordoba for this stellar display of teamwork and their ‘hand’ in the task.

Dan the Man shows us how its done. Hang on real tight he instructs.

**Blue gloves and Moto-Home Anti-Stink chemicals courtesy of Dan the Man – ToC expenses reduced by $12.99.

Black Box clear….for the next three days.

TOC POWERED:BY FI'ZI:K DAILY :K #1 - Extra Grip is Extra Hip in the Pro Peloton

2009-02-16T19:52:00.000-08:00

Admittedly and perhaps somewhat shamefully…we’ve been overlooking the popularity of the fi’zi:k Extra Grip with the pros. We’re discovering here at the 2009 Tour of California that it is 1. semi-coveted but, yet 2. still a fairly well-kept secret.
Biggest fan of fi’zi:k Extra Grip in the Tour of California peloton?
The award goes to Garmin-Slipstream.
Nearly half of the Garmin-Slipstream Pro Cycling Team is using fi’zi:k Extra Grip either on their TT bikes, or as noticed today, during sloppy, long road stages.

Extra Daily :k Feeding
1: In the middle of Saturday’s short Prologue, head mechanic for the Cervelo Test Team - Alejandro – scurried up to the fi’zi:k bus in search of an extra Aliante for one of the riders while also inquiring, Can I have that thing Garmin-Slipstream has that keeps them from slipping forward on their TT bikes?

That thing, it turns out, was the Extra Grip. And as for the Aliante? Since the fi’zi:k bus was stocked only with the new Antares, fi’zi:k’s John Cordoba was kind enough to loan Alejandro his personal Aliante, right off his bike. Turns out that loaner was for none other than Brett Lancaster, multi-time Team Pursuit World Title winner as well as the 2005 Giro d’Italia Prologue winner (and thus, wearer of the maglia rosa). Perhaps there will be magic in that saddle when it is finally returned to Cordoba.

Team fi’zi:k, Day 2 – ToC - The View from Inside

2009-02-16T06:37:00.000-08:00

Cold, wet and windy are three adjectives heard throughout most of the day’s brutal romp from Davis to Santa Rosa. Yet still, the fans were out in record numbers, patiently awaiting the arrival of that famous 7-time yellow jersey winner. Herewith – is our view from inside the Team fi’zi:k bus.

Needless to say, the Fly V Australia pb Successful Living squad have honored us with much gratitude, sheltered from the storm at the Stage starts and finishes.
It’s rough duty out there without a ‘home away from home’ – their affectionate reference, and unfortunately, today’s weather forecast calls for more of the same.
Of special note: cycling fans were treated to a special Antares ridin’ Dave Zabriskie moment at the morning sign in, when he grabbed the mike from Dave Towle and began belting out Creedance Clearwater Revival’s “Who’ll Stop the Rain”. Not a terribly bad rendition but he is probably still fortunate to have a day job.

14 Feb, 2009 - Tour of California: Rollin’ into the Prologue

2009-02-15T19:55:00.000-08:00

What an interesting way to start the Tour of California…right here in the middle of the ghetto. John Cordoba, fi’zi:k Sponsorship Program Coordinator and Team Bus Driver Extraordinaire

Arrival at start: 8:30 am; start time 1:30
Team Fly V Australia presented by Successful Living’s powered by fi’zi:k rolled into windy downtown Sacramento at 8:30 am on the dot. The standard quiet of the State’s Capitol whose heart beats only on a government schedule: Monday through Friday, was already pulsing at double beats per second.

The U.S. pro cycling scene has never seen the likes of such fanfare with an estimated 70,000 people in attendance - not during His first Tour de France win, nor his His second, third, fourth, five, sixth or seventh. And regardless of ones opinion about The Man that many came out to see – Lance Armstrong – the fruits of his labor are ripe for the picking for all involved.

The fi’zi:k RV was barely parked, saddles barely suctioned to the sides when passers-by stopped to ask: Is that the new Antares?
Can I take a picture of those?
A few laps around the expo just an hour after its official opening at 11 am and all Mini BlackBook2’s stationed in the Scott USA/Columbia and the Fly V Australia pb Successful Living booths had been snapped up.

Four hours until the first rider leaves the gate and there’s plenty to be done: Park it – assuring enough room curbside to set up the trainers; level her and expand the sides; set up the EZ-up’s up and hog tie ‘em to the city lights signs and RV rearview mirrors, displays set-up in two expo booths, catalogs stocked; cold weather beanies delivered to all pros; VIP media gift pa:ks delivered to Team OUCH and VIP dealer gift pa:ks delivered to Team Liquigas and Cannondale. All systems: Go!

Yes, 70,000 strong. What a spectacle! They called The Man the Comeback Kid! The thirty-seven year old Comeback Kid. Is this really happening? The Floyd fans. The Basso fans. The cycling fans for the simple love of cycling. And even the fi’zi:k fans. All in attendance. What a perfectly grand spectacle in the ‘ghetto’ of Sacramento.

ROLLING ALONG WITH FLY V AUSTRALIA P/B SUCCESSFUL LIVING

2009-02-13T00:17:00.000-08:00

Fi’zi:k will be in the thick of it at the 2009 Tour of California. It’s live animation of passion, spontaneity, and high performance presence on the world’s premiere high performance saddles…and we want to see you out there!

THE SCOOP
Several weeks ago while fi’zi:k was making its annual Team Camp tour, we happened upon a meeting with the 1984 Olympic 4000m Individual Pursuit Gold Track Medalist, Steve Hegg. Hegg has been a long time fi’zi:k friend and has been directing and managing the Successful Living US Continental cycling team for the last four years. Each year Hegg approached fi’zi:k to sponsor, but each year we were inclined to decline simply due to bike sponsorship partnership criteria.

Late last year Hegg teamed up with an Australian group to form the Fly V Australia presented by Successful Living Professional Cycling Team. In so doing, they acquired a new bike sponsor, Parlee Bicycles. Parlee, while ultimately a manufacturer and distributor of framesets only, has always been a supporter of fi’zi:k saddles. You will always see fi’zi:k atop their complete bikes, in catalogs, at Interbike and most recently on their entire line of triathlon bikes at the 2008 Ford Ironman Kona World Championships. This time, we couldn’t refuse.

FAST FORWARD
“What do you think about the idea of assisting us with a motor home for the Tour of California” Steve asked.

With laughter, guffaws, and cynicism covered first, we started to calculate the numbers: number of impressions –vs- numbers of dollars and within two short weeks, the Team V Australia presented by Successful Living Powered by fi’zi:k Team RV was born.

FEBRUARY 12, 2009
The fi’zi:k RV is well on its way to Sacramento where we will meet up with Team V Australia presented by Successful Living to provide shelter and VIP treatment to the team for the next nine days. During that time, we’ll be displaying our new road Antares currently ridden by Ivan Basso, Dave Zabriskie, Carlos Sastre, Kim Kirchen, Michael Rogers, Trent Lowe and Ben Day, among others. You can also find us in the Scott USA/Columbia Sportswear booth as well as the Team V Australia booth.

Come grab a pair of :k cycling socks and (b)log in for stories behind the scenes, off the front and in the pack with the dot dot k.

Team OUCH pb Maxxis: R&D with fi'zi:k

2009-02-12T23:05:00.000-08:00

The following is the story of the former Team OUCH pb Maxxis (Team Healthnet pb Maxxis) and their integral research & developement relationship with fi'zi:k. Documented in 2008.

While fi’zi:k has been long been supplying European and US professional cycling teams with saddles, Team Health Net presented by Maxxis is counted as fi’zi:k’s longest running saddle sponsorship in the US pro peloton. Now in their fifth year with the team as a saddle, handlebar tape supplier and contributing sponsor, it’s not just what fi’zi:k provides to the team that sets this partnership apart from most others, but equally important, what the team gives back to fi’zi:k.

“Fi’zi:k has always been involved in professional sponsorship for very specific reasons,” explains their US Marketing Manager Suzette Ayotte, “and this is why our sponsorship deal with HN pb Maxxis is really more of a partnership. I suppose when we first started sponsoring US pro road teams in 2000, it was more about getting our product out there in the peloton. Shortly thereafter, however, we stepped up our game ten-fold terms of product development and we really needed to be able to work with a team and management staff that could provide us with the necessary feedback to continually improve our product line.”

A case in point can be illustrated in early 2004 when fi’zi:k was still in the initial development phase of their microtex handlebar tape and bar:gel. With the agreement that the HN pb Maxxis team would act as guinea pigs to afford fi’zi:k the opportunity to make a differentiated and better product, fi’zi:k sealed its first ever handle bar tape sponsorship deal with a professional cycling team.

The team was first supplied with standard cork handlebar tape emblazoned with fi’zi:k logos, and the gel was served up to the team on plastic sheets that literally had to be cut out from the sheet and peeled off in what proved to be a rather tedious process. “The logos disappeared from the cork tape after about one ride,” Ayotte remembers, “and coupled with the all too thick gel, the bars become these fat cushiony pillows.” But the team used the sample cork tape throughout most of 2004 season while fi’zi:k continued with development. The purple tape came next.

The infamous purple tape eventually evolved into what is now one of the best handlebar tape brands in the US market. “Purple just happened to be the only color that our tape manufacturer was able to sample us with using the unique buffed surface,” explained Ayotte. “Suffice it to say, the purple coupled with the orange Maxxis scheme made quite a stunning ensemble so we sent that off with some of the riders in the back training roads of Tucson and Iowa to try to keep the team’s classy reputation in tact. The purple tape, product-wise, was closer but feedback indicated that the tape was so thin it was curling all along the edges. “

“We were looking for the perfect medium so that the tape would be comfortable with or without the gel,” Ayotte explained. “Microtex is a completely different material than cork and doesn’t necessarily have that natural springy-ness to it. But we wanted to use microtex because it’s stronger than cork, it has a longer life, looks better over time, and is the same material we use for our saddles. Matching tape and saddles still held a small void in the marketplace and was thus, an opportunity ready to be seized.”

Eventually the ‘final’ product made its way to the team but not without additional problems. One would think, tape is tape is tape is tape. But when it comes to service and mechanics, and the time involved with replacing tape, nothing short of perfect really works. “We thought we were finished but the tape was too sticky and when the mechanics tried to replace the tape, it stuck to the gel and to the bars like super glue. Sounds fairly trivial but spending fifteen minutes picking tape off the bars throws a real monkey wrench into the mechanics time-management program.”

By the time 2005 rolled around, fi’zi:k had officially entered the aftermarket tape category, and is now in its fifth year of supplying handle bar tape and bar:gel to Team HN pb Maxxis as well as to all of their other US and European teams. “The point is, whether they fully realize it or not, Team Health Net was perhaps the most integral player throughout the entire development process for what has become our best selling product of all time.”

The opportunity to work this closely with professional teams is perhaps fi’zi:k’s number one reason for sponsorship involvement. “The easy answers are visibility and affiliation but the reality is, sponsors pay for that,” continued Ayotte. “Being able to work as intimately as we have with Team Health Net pb Maxxis is not necessarily a ‘right’ but a privilege. It’s not easy for the staff to ask or expect the riders to always be 100% motivated to act as product testers. Some will be into it and some will not. Training and racing is a job and there’s pressure on those guys to achieve decent race results. Anyone that logs a lot of miles knows that training is both physically and mentally exhausting. Add wives and children to that mix and you just don’t feel like thinking about anything else, especially not something as indiscernible as whether or not you’ve noticed a 20 gram difference in a saddle on a six hour ride. We get that. And that’s why it’s a privilege.”

In 2008, many of the Team Health Net pb Maxxis riders will be using fi’zi:k’s new Arione CX, the newest member of the number one selling high-performance saddle on the market, the Arione. The saddle boasts a 70 gram lighter-than-the-original-Arione difference by using newly formulated high density foam padding. Just after its 2007 Interbike aftermarket introduction while the saddle was just making its way to the production line, and when fi’zi:k needed to truly understand if the newer Arione CX could measure up to the comfort standards of the original Arione, Team Health Net pb Maxxis again stepped up to the plate.

“D.S. Mike Tamayo literally took the hand-off and one of our few only available show samples and sent it out to Rory Sutherland the next day. He’s been logging miles ever since,” explained Ayotte. The end result? According to Ayotte, the last email received from Sutherland went something like this:
As long as I am able to ride that prototype saddle that I am testing out now, for next season, then I’m happy :-)

Rory is still riding it.

Team OUCH presented by Maxxis Team Camp

2009-02-12T22:43:00.000-08:00

Fi’zi:k is gearing up for an omni-presence of a different nature at the 2009 Tour of California. While that leaves us short for time and words – it would be ill be befitting to go forward herewith without applauding Team OUCH presented by Maxxis.

Team OUCH pb Maxxis is fi’zi:k’s longest running US Continental sponsorship partnership. The partnership is not just a contract – they have been invaluable research and development partners and the most loyal of all of our iconic fi’zi:k logo bum partners, perhaps, since the beginning of fi’zi:k’s existence.

As the former incarnation as Team Healthnet pb Maxxis, the team was the fi’zi:k’s numero uno guinea pig group to use and test fi’zi:k bar gel and tape from the very beginning of the development process. That story will be posted separately. Suffice it to say, the tape that you see in the aftermarket today was very much a direct result of team testing and feedback from this partnership. As we have always said, one of key reasons for sponsoring cycling teams is for the purpose of authentic and in-field product development and testing. If it doesn’t work for the pros, it will never work for the consumer.

Fi’zi:k is honored to be a part of the all-new Team OUCH presented by Maxxis for the 2009 pro race season. The WINNINGEST team in North America stunned all with NRC Championship titles in 2008 when they were clearly labeled the all-new underdog after winning the NRC team titles for the last few seasons. Joining ’08 teammates Karl Menzies, Tim Johnson, John Murphy, Roman Kilan and Rory Sutherland (#1 in the 08 NRC standings) is 2006 Tour de France victor, Floyd Landis (yes, we said that). Unbeknownst to most, Floyd has been riding the Arione Carbon Twin Flex Wing Flex for the better part of the last two years. He’ll take the start line for the Prologue in Sacramento at the Tour of California on the new :k Ares TT saddle and will transition the next day back to his favored Arione Carbon for Stage 1.

Many thanks to Team OUCH pb Maxxis for their excellence in marketing and promotions. Many thanks to OUCH and to Maxxis for supporting this team and this shared dream alive.

New 2009 Jelly Belly Team Flavors

2009-02-05T12:12:00.001-08:00

It’s true that nary a year passes without the introduction of new Jelly Belly flavors. In the same fat free vein, nary a year passes without the addition of new Jelly Belly Team Members.

Fi’zi:k was in San Marcos, California recently at Team Jelly Belly’s training camp to greet the old and meet the new, provide some company history, and give them the lowdown on our new Antares road saddle.

Most Pros will tell you that the fatigue that occurs naturally throughout a day or two of non-stop sponsorship presentations can be greater than that of any race, be it a crit, stage or circuit. Team Jelly Belly appears however, to be cut from a different batch as their interest level was high and the questions many. This is a sign of a group that is actually listening.

The charismatic and colorful candy spotted squad is currently the longest running US pro road team, now celebrating its Silver Anniversary. While Team Jelly Belly may not ever have been the number one team in NRC rankings, they have always been number one with the general public. Most would call this a very positive ROI (Return on Investment). The Jelly Belly logo’d land submarine (aka team bus) often attracts as much attention as the one that transports the famous Lance. What Team Jelly Belly has that Lance doesn’t – is Jelly Bellys!

Every year we are approached by a large number of UCI registered Pro, Pro Continental, Continental, regional, state and grassroot teams and athletes seeking sponsorship support. Every year, we wish we could say yes to all and every year we can select only a few. Thus, we create criteria. Without delving too deeply into the fi’zi:k business criteria that makes it easier to ‘say yes’ suffice it to say that we were truly pleased when Team Jelly Belly finally met that criteria in 2008 with the advent of their GT (road bikes) sponsorship.

The longest running US squad directed by the most affable director on the circuit - Danny Van Haute - is undoubtedly one of the most professional and hardest working squads out there. Fi’zi:k is pleased to be the official saddle and bar tape supplier for Jeremy Powers, Brad Huff, Bernard Van Ulden and the entire 2009 Jelly Belly Team.

HISTORY OF THE fi’zi:k BUM LOGO – PART 1

2009-01-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

It all started here: 2003. It was the brainchild of former fi’zi:k Marketing Director, Massimo Fregonese. He deserves accolades as the idea blossomed into what represents the :k today: it IS a key component of fi’zi:k branding. Today, we prefer our logo be there or no where at all.

The identity of the bum in the Saeco-Cannondale – fi’zi:k bum logo photo is unknown but is one of several Saeco team members who participated in the 2003 San Francisco Gran Prix. That race now sadly defunct, is among the peloton’s favorite race venues not only for the course and the fans but for the opportunity to hang in what is considered by many to be the most beautiful and most-European city in America. The bum is not Gilberto Simoni’s. He’s sitting next to Damiano Cunego (left of Cunego, you can see his leg). The photo was taken at Café Roma in San Francisco; Saturday morning, pre-race day. The guys agreed to stop in for an espresso prior to a jaunt across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was tradition. Mario Cipollini had made this a regular stop when he raced in the SF GP. He’d drop in unannounced, jump behind the counter, and pour a few espressos for whoever happened to be in line for a morning jolt.

The participating 2003 Team Saeco SF Gran Prix roster included Simoni and Cunego. Simoni had been victorious a few months earlier at the Giro d’Italia while riding fi’zi:k’s new and not yet introduced Arione, the saddle that ultimately changed the landscape of global saddle sales among all brands. Some lost, some gained. Simoni will forever be credited with a significant portion of fi’zi:k gains.

Perhaps most interesting about this day and unbeknownst to most, occured later that Saturday, post-ride. The guys were due for an appearance at Big Swingin’ Cycles, the City’s top Cannondale dealer. I met the guys at the hotel and guided them over (w/ Leonardo Bertagnolli in the passenger seat). We drove the course route as most of the team had not yet seen the famed Taylor and Fillmore St. climbs despite our earlier ride. These are climbs that decimated the peloton from about 150 starters to 25 finishers on the final bell lap of the first SF Gran Prix in 2002. Subsequent years, many opted for a triple or a compact, but at minimum a 53-25. Otherwise, you were a DNF merely measuring success by laps completed.

The scene was Big Swingin’ Cycles at their former Lombardi St. location. Gibo was the star and inside, Cannondale’s The Quest (documenting Simoni’s 2003 Giro victory) played on a continuous loop. Outside on the sidewalk, I sat with Cunego and Bertagnolli, sucking in the September sunshine while working through communicative language barriers. Current Saeco DS, Claudio Corti, exited the shop, meeting us on the sidewalk exclamating Vai, vai! Autografe! or something to that effect (come on guys, time for autographs). When Corti departed, Cunego said, “Dai…they don’t care about us, it’s about Gibo.”

No one could have predicted what would happen later in 2004. That was the year that our logo grew exponentially – emblazoned on the upper panel of the shorts where you see it today. It was also the year that Cunego won the Giro - the year that was, in all likelihood, Gibo’s last realistic opportunity to win the coveted Italian race. And…the year the media were forever blessed with yet another mano-a-mano-one-for-the-history-books team in-fighting Grande Tour episode perfectly punctuated with Simoni’s infamous “Il Bastardo!” comment following Cunego's crucial Stage 18 victory (not his first of that Giro), cementing his impending overall victory.

We were there. We were on the bums when Simoni and Cunego were teammates with an understanding. We were on the bums when facades were in order and leadership was in question on Lampre. We were on the bums when they segregated and separated with Simoni off to Saunier-Duval, each as leaders and competitors with similar goals. We are still under their bums, often unmarked and incognito, but we are there.

KIDS ROCK the :k

2009-01-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

Over the next few weeks we’ll explore the history of the fi’zi:k logo on its iconic bum spot and track its growth to the current. But first, :k wishes to honor kids who rock the :k! If you have kids, and would like them to rock a :k too, drop us a comment and we’ll try to help out…while supplies last!

Double Dotting the Ares k

2009-01-06T17:17:00.000-08:00

Alas, that time of year when dung smacks head on, straight into the fan, splattering back at us in a fountain of delusional grandeur. The dung is that throng of pressurized emails from team managers inquiring, "Where for art thou is our product?" It happened yesterday. It happened today. It happened last week. It happened the week prior. And it will continue to happen until all seven of our Pro Tour road teams, our Pro Continental and Continental road teams, our World Cup and National XC & DH teams (not to mention our global triathletes) receive all the necessary product required for team training camps, preventing them from starting such training, riding their seat poles (yes, we know it’s a post, but it’s truly a pole; we’re a multi-lingual group and tis how it’s coolly stated in the ghetto).

The delusional grandeur is l’enfant terrible aka team manager with the loudest stomp. Though they say the squeaky wheel gets the grease, a reminder that the product had a requested delivery date of the 5th when today is the 6th will make that product move no faster. In Italy, a holiday by any other name would still be a holiday and would still carry with it what could be called to those outside the Euro-sect, ramifications. As long as there has been a bike industry, there has been a populous that has had to learn to plan and compromise around those Italian holidays. Kick, scream, dramatize, traumatize, tantrumize, do the double stomp…and send a pig’s trough of emails; the holiday song remains the same.

Here’s a nice one from Team Ouch/Maxxis:

Hope you had a good holiday. TIME TO GET BACK TO WORK NOW!!! Put the
xmas cookies away.
Just checking in on status of saddle and delivery time?
Mike Tamayo

And one from Jelly Belly:

I was just wondering if you received my team order for seats. If so, do you think they will be here before camp.

Take Care

Danny Van Haute

And today’s beauty:

I'm sorry. What does "deliver in time" mean? You communicated to Eric and I that January 5th we would have the saddles?

Regards,
Matt

And so it goes…
Come February 14th, when the boys roll off the TT ramp in Sacramento for the start of the Tour of California, let’s hope all cartwheels were flipped in a timely fashion, and what you see in the dust of DZ's Nuts will be a fully concentrated effort, supported not by a ghetto pole but by the proper platform – the baited breath of wait – the new :k Ares.