Bicycle Blog

We just saw that the guys at Fix It Sticks have posted another Kickstarter project to launch their second generation Fix It Sticks Replaceable Edition and their new Fix It Sticks T-Way Wrench .  As a company we think Kickstarter is a great way to launch a new company or product but we're a little afraid to try it out ourselves.  The reason we're so afraid is that it appears to be as addictive as crack because everyone that uses Kickstarter seems to keep going back for more hits....

We've been meaning to get a few more images of our leather six pack caddy stocked full of some of our favorite beers and yesterday, Mauricio here at Fyxation went out to Groppis in Bay View to snap a few pics. Groppis is a great local market that has everything from paninis to produce and has been a Milwaukee fixture for a long time.  In fact, our parents grew up in Bay View and have stories about hanging out at Groppi's when they were kids...

Although we made the trip to Frostbike for work, another plan was hatched weeks earlier by a small group of us to take advantage of our latitude and head even further north to Bayfield Wisconsin, home of the Apostle Islands ice caves and the ice road to Madeline island. For those of you unfamiliar with this region, the Apostle islands are a national park extending into Lake Superior's crystal blue waters. 

We were recently featured in February issue of the Wisconsin Bike Fed Magazine for the work we've done with our new Tannery Collection.  The article was written and photographed by the talented Dave Schlabowske who is the Deputy Director at the Bike Fed.  Dave reached out to us because he's been watching our Tannery Collection come together and wanted to write an article about how this product got off the ground but also on our thoughts on manufacturing here in Wiscsonsin. With companies like Trek, HB Performance and Waterford Precision based here in Wisconsin there is already a very established bicycle industry in the state and an existing manufacturing footprint. For the article, Dave spoke with our lead engineer and Fyxation co-founder, Nick Ginster...

To say the market for aluminum track frames has gotten crowded recently is a major understatement.  The popularity of aero track frames has surged the last few years and because of that a lot of companies are hopping on the bandwagon. Whether it's because the original fixie rider has matured a bit and is looking for his next fix, or simply because people like the look of the over sized and sometimes hydro-formed tubing, aluminum fixed gear frames have really taken off....

Ever since we launched our handlebar line up a few years ago I've had tons of conversations with people about the differences between our Rodeo Pursuit bullhorn bars and our Comet Track drop bars.  You'd be amazed at how passionate people get about their choice of handlebars and there are very few people that are actually cool with riding both. You're either into drop bars or bullhorn bars.  End of story.

Nothing says "fixie" quite a bike with some super bright parts.  While as a company we offer a broad range of products from commuter tires to our Quiver 1x10, we also do have a broad offering of colorful fixed gear parts.  One of the product categories we've been testing for the last few months has been our new "soon to be named" fixed gear wheelsets...

There's nothing quite like seeing a product or marketing message go from 0 to 60 in no time due to the power of the Internet and especially social media like Facebook and Twitter.  It's the dream of all marketers to create content that goes viral but unfortunately it's much easier said than done.  

We've been in business for about 5 years and make a ton of great urban cycling parts/accessories, frames and bikes but up until now, we've never had a product that has truly taken off on social media quite like our new Tannery Collection has. We like to think it's because the Tannery Collection is made by hand in Milwaukee and offers the perfect blend of thoughtful design and practically.  Then again, it could just be that a lot of cyclists are big drinkers as well....