Hello friends. Chris here with a few April updates for you all.
Consumables and Supplies!
First and foremost, as promised, supplies are hitting the Firsthand shop shelves. I’ve been busy the past few weeks setting up suppliers and placing orders, and the pallets of framebuilding-goodness have started to arrive.
First up are some basic consumables. We’ve got welding rod from Weld Mold, and brazing flux & filler from Gasflux. This week I’m receiving a big ole’ shipment of fine-tooth hole saws from Wilpu, as well as a couple pallets worth of files, abrasives, burrs, and other unique goodies from Pferd.
I’m attempting to be as thoughtful as possible when adding items to our store—cutting out unnecessary middlemen, offering only the best-in-class within every category of tool, and investing heavily in the actual amount of inventory we plan on carrying. If we’re going to sell the best bicycle frame tubing in the industry, it only makes sense to stock our shelves with complimentary supplies.
(And hey, if we’re going to offer it, we’re absolutely 100% going to physically stock it. As a rule, if it’s in our shop, it’s ready to be shipped. I hope this practice is interpreted as an investment in framebuilding as a whole, and in you and your endeavors.)
More about the brands we're carrying, here.
853 MADE Show Promotion
As a reminder, we still have our 853 30th Anniversary MADE Show Promotion going on. Several builders have taken me up on the offer (complimentary tubesets!), and I’ve heard from many others that are interested. I’d love to see 15+ 853 frames at this year’s MADE show. We’re going to pepper that old shipping yard with Reynolds! Reach out if you’d like to participate.
Speaking of MADE...
Check out this mid-90’s, 26” Sycip hardtail. Blast from the past! (I was ten years old when the Sycip brothers built this bike up in San Francisco, and just getting into mountain biking. In 1995, ten-year-old-me would’ve traded either of his siblings for this thing.)
I came across this bike a bit ago on eBay and snatched it up. I also pinged Jeremy about building a modern equivalent for MADE, and he was all about it. So, at the show, we’ll have these two bikes side-by-side (along with several other fun things). Can’t wait for summer.
And Finally…
In addition to sending you this newsletter, I’m launching a longer-form blog post series this month, Firsthand LOOK. LOOK is going to dive into our business practices here in the shop. Being new (ie. naive) to retail and e-commerce, I’ve found several common practices... odd... as I’ve gotten this part of our venture up and running. In an effort to do things as honestly and transparently as possible, I wanted to outline–more completely than I can here–our goals and principles here at Firsthand. We’re attempting to do something a little different in this niche industry. That post will be up momentarily; I hope you find our approach refreshing.
That’s it! Off to unpack more boxes and take more photos. As always, if there’s anything we can do for you or your clients, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Happy building!
-Chris
PS. Yes, that “Hello friends” was a timely Jim Nance slip-in. If you know, you know. Happy spring.