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unrealcycles.com calls it quits

mandown

Poopdeck Repost
Jun 1, 2004
20,284
7,815
Transylvania 90210
looks like ben at unrealcycles.com is packing it in to go back to school. what a shame. he is a heck of a guy with a ton of HT knowledge.

check 'em at http://unrealcycles.com and notice the 10% discount on anything in stock.

ben, you will be missed. :ouch:
 

in the trees

Turbo Monkey
May 19, 2003
1,210
1
NH
I got an e-mail from him last week announcing his departure the the world of on-line HTs. I always liked ordering from him. I wish Ben luck!

toby
 

scurban

Turbo Monkey
Jul 11, 2004
1,052
0
SC
I wonder why he didn't try to sell the business?

You'd think someone would love to take over for him.
 

mandown

Poopdeck Repost
Jun 1, 2004
20,284
7,815
Transylvania 90210
there is nothing that says he did not try. he may just not have had the right offer, or any offer at all. he probably has limited physical merch in stock, so the majority of the sale would be the intangible goodwill of the brand name. maybe other shops did not want what he was selling at the price he was selling it for.

keep in mind that he is going back to school and will need money again. if ben needs some cash, it will be easier for him to get back in the bike biz if he does not sell the name. a nice thing to fall back on.
 

mandown

Poopdeck Repost
Jun 1, 2004
20,284
7,815
Transylvania 90210
i tried to find his shop when i was in seattle. i got lost on the way. i ened up having a nice pedal around town on my bb7. not an ideal touring rig, but i got to see some nice parts of the city.

i always felt bad that i didn't end up buying a thing from the guy. i tried a few times, but the products were not being made any more (on-one gimp saddle), or there was always some other stumbling block. ben - if you are listening - i wanted to give you my money, and i tried several times.
 

dw

Wiffle Ball ninja
Sep 10, 2001
2,943
0
MV
Cheers to one of the online bicycle vanguards. He helped to pave the way for a lot of guys trying to start their own shops.

Good luck Ben and a big thanks from the Evil and e.thirteen family for all of the support and good times over the years. You will be missed.

Dave
 

Unreal

Chimp
Sep 26, 2001
57
0
Seattle, WA
Hey guys,
Yup, I'm calling it a day. Well, a half decade to be specific, but still.

Not really sure what I'm going to go to school for. I got a bunch of community college credits already in random crap. I'm kinda interested in urban development, alternative transportation, college chicks... not sure what I'm going to major in though.

As for selling the shop... I'm really undecided about it. It's a one man shop, I'm that one man. If people called and got someone else, would it still be Unreal Cycles? Would that even be fair to my customers? Ideally a new owner would get up when his alarm clock goes off and actually be a decent rider :-)

The shop is full of stuff, it just never seems to be full of the *right* stuff. I wouldn't mind selling the shop to someone, in fact it would work out great if I still got to manage the website but didn't have the daily responsibilities of running a shop. Even the selling price wouldn't be a huge issue to me, less then $10K plus merchandise I'm sure. My main requirements would be:

1. Midwest or east coast location. Really, most my business was along the right coast. The east coast needs someone, ANYONE to step up and take right proper care of them!

2. Someone with the time/money to do it right. It can't be a side gig. You couldn't realistically run the shop while going to school or still employed 9-5 elsewhere.

3. I refuse to sell the name as a front to some faceless warehouse operation.

4. You gota have a passion for the lifestyle, be self motivated and have a solid service-based work ethic and have no disillusions about getting rich anytime soon.

That about covers it. It would probably be a great way for a small LBS to get into the online world, maybe a small garage operation looking to step up to the next level, a disenfranchised shop employ with a little credit and a lot of dreams, etc. I'd be happy to share all my wisdom and crap if you're interested.

Otherwise, keep checking the site. As it gets closer to June the discounts on my remaining in-stock goods will just keep going up.

DON'T EVER LET THE WORLD KEEP YOU FROM YOUR BIKE!!!
 

DHS

Friendly Neighborhood Pool Boy
Apr 23, 2002
5,094
0
Sand, CA
agreed one of the best places i've done business with. i'd love to be able to take over your gig or start my own. but it does entale a lot. i've tried for the past couple years.
 

marlopez

Monkey
Jan 25, 2003
441
0
West LA
Unreal said:
Not really sure what I'm going to go to school for. I got a bunch of community college credits already in random crap. I'm kinda interested in urban development, alternative transportation, college chicks... not sure what I'm going to major in though.
check out Cal Poly SLO http://www.caed.calpoly.edu/crp.html i'm in the program and it's right up your alley. and the girls are pretty good here too
 

-BB-

I broke all the rules, but somehow still became mo
Sep 6, 2001
4,254
28
Livin it up in the O.C.
Unreal said:
Hey guys,
Yup, I'm calling it a day. Well, a half decade to be specific, but still.

Not really sure what I'm going to go to school for. I got a bunch of community college credits already in random crap. I'm kinda interested in urban development, alternative transportation, college chicks... not sure what I'm going to major in though.

As for selling the shop... I'm really undecided about it. It's a one man shop, I'm that one man. If people called and got someone else, would it still be Unreal Cycles? Would that even be fair to my customers? Ideally a new owner would get up when his alarm clock goes off and actually be a decent rider :-)

The shop is full of stuff, it just never seems to be full of the *right* stuff. I wouldn't mind selling the shop to someone, in fact it would work out great if I still got to manage the website but didn't have the daily responsibilities of running a shop. Even the selling price wouldn't be a huge issue to me, less then $10K plus merchandise I'm sure. My main requirements would be:

1. Midwest or east coast location. Really, most my business was along the right coast. The east coast needs someone, ANYONE to step up and take right proper care of them!

2. Someone with the time/money to do it right. It can't be a side gig. You couldn't realistically run the shop while going to school or still employed 9-5 elsewhere.

3. I refuse to sell the name as a front to some faceless warehouse operation.

4. You gota have a passion for the lifestyle, be self motivated and have a solid service-based work ethic and have no disillusions about getting rich anytime soon.

That about covers it. It would probably be a great way for a small LBS to get into the online world, maybe a small garage operation looking to step up to the next level, a disenfranchised shop employ with a little credit and a lot of dreams, etc. I'd be happy to share all my wisdom and crap if you're interested.

Otherwise, keep checking the site. As it gets closer to June the discounts on my remaining in-stock goods will just keep going up.

DON'T EVER LET THE WORLD KEEP YOU FROM YOUR BIKE!!!
What about Cameron? He's got to be out of school by now.
 

Unreal

Chimp
Sep 26, 2001
57
0
Seattle, WA
-BB- said:
What about Cameron? He's got to be out of school by now.
You mean Cameron from the BikeDogz days? Oh man... that was a long while ago. He was never a part of Unreal Cycles. When I saw how BikeDogz was being handled I knew I could do better. That's when I split and started Unreal Cycles.

BikeDogz sure had the bitchin logo though!
 
Jun 18, 2004
945
0
I think I got to be Bens last customer up here in Ballard... I ran into him last week at Safeway, after riding the marginal dh... I liked the fact that out of the 3 bike shops here in Ballard he was the closest to me...