Well, the #twotoneturnsfive party was a off the charts! Thank you to everyone that came out! In fact, thank you everyone for an amazing year at Twotone!
I wrote an appropriately sappy thank you note here. (+ a 4 min recap edit tucked in there too!) And shared more photos here & here. The whole photo album is on FB. We're already looking forward to the 6 year party, haha!
I've been tryin' to ship this issue all week and was hardly ready to present a thorough recap of the year. In 2019, we had the opportunity to attend some amazing events, lead some great campaigns and support many brands that we admire.
A quick top 10:
- 1. Launching the OBST&GEMÜSE + Elian Cycles Ultimate e-Cargo – we did all the photo, video and web work to launch this incredible collaboration.
- 2. Celebrating Pelago's 10 Year's! – we did miss their party in Helsinki but got to drink some Karhu at Kolektif in Berlin. Big news from Pelago coming next year!
- 3. The Limburg loop from @fixedgearcoffee led by @stehqq & organized by @pasnormalstudios in March – Steven Hendrikx is one of the nicest guys in cycling & this ride was one for the books! Looking forward to seeing you on (and off) the road next year, man!
- 4. Launching @pedaledjapan’s new Odyssey Collection 📷: @saltlake_lian – this range introduced a new benchmark for bike packing savvy kit.
- 5. The @flarebicyclefestival in Heidelberg was a blast – Nice to see so many familiar faces at this #gravel focused show’s first edition! We'll back in 2020 with SILCA!
- 6. Screening California Golde, a conceptually spun psychedelic yarn of analogue exploration and recreation in the digital age that ultimately disconnects from our hyped-up, phone-obsessed culture, at Workspace Six in June.
- 7. TWOTONE TEAM BOAT RIDE! – we had a wonderful evening out on the canals of Amsterdam with the extended #twotoneams team.
- 8. Feather Ten Year – we visited Feather Cycles in York in July and of the about 300 frames in the past decade that Ricky had built, about 40 owners came to town to celebrate!
- 9. Ampler's Amsterdam Shoot – we shot some lifestyle stills for our Estonian based ebike client, Ampler Bikes starring our colleague Guy & his partner Esther.
- 10. ALL the events! – spending time with people on two wheels has always been our passion and next to this newsletter its the main way we maintain visibility, credibility & stoke. Events we organised like Cannondale's launch in The Hague and rides like Grinduro Scotland, Further, the Votec Gravel Fondo and Bohemian Border Bash were all so special! (p.s. stoked on Grinduro Swissneyland next year!)
- 11. #twotoneturnsfive! – ok, had to add an 11th item to the list. The limited run of @yorit_kluitman designed classic jersey homage #twotoneams embroidered patches produced by @pedaleurdeflandres in Switzerland were a special addition to a mega event that I highlighted above. The whole party was a wonderful finale to an incredible and challenging year.
Thank you for reading! It is a great feeling to be at issue 181 and still be having fun!
As always, and especially today, thank you for reading!
with appreciation,
Jon
p.s.
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Cycling
Why Did Peloton’s Ad Flop So Hideously?
Dang this ad blew up in all the wrong ways. It meant an overnight loss of $1.5 Billion. Yep, that’s right, one and a half-billion dollars gone in less than 24 hours.
Earlier this month, there were more Peloton searches on Google than for the Trump impeachment. Whoa.
Obviously, "[...] the real problem with the Peloton ad. Women don’t need more messages about shrinking our bodies or taking up less space." - Cara Harbstreet
The ad is also a jarring reminder to all marketers out there desperately clinging to conventional ad styles but there is also a much deeper trend in online marketing;
that satire and self-deprecating humor are incredibly powerful tools. They’ve always been powerful marketing aids for the witty copywriter, but with the rising prominence of meme culture - Thomas Mitchelhill
So where Peloton failed with their ad, Thomas posits that by harnessing irony and humorful self-deprecation properly, the right brands can surge into the Millenial and i-Gen market whilst defending themselves from other attacks from competitors. His example? Ryan Reynolds' Aviation Gin ad "The Gift That Doesn't Give Back". What do you think?
Ampler at almost every show ever ; )
Interested in riding an Ampler in 2020? Here is where to catch them on the road throughout Europe!
Recall for Pelago Outback Handlebar
The response to this recall has been heartening and it is an honor to work with a a company that cares so much for those that ride their bikes. #servethepurpose
Startups, Sales & PR
Stuff They Don't Tell You: WePresent x Mailchimp
There are lots of ‘accidental business people’ - creative people who find themselves running a business.
So much good stuff in these articles! Attending the WeTransfer 10 year party was awesome too! Thanks Sjors!
When you should go with your gut instead of logic
How often—and when—should you listen to your intuition?
No by Anne Boyer
History is full of people who just didn’t. They said no thank you, turned away, ran away to the desert, stood on the streets in rags, lived in barrels,…
Friends
Atlas Mountain Race looking for volunteers
Calling all Volunteers for Atlas Mountain Race 2020!
If you've not heard about it yet, the Atlas Mountain Race is the SRMR's sister race that will be taking place from the 15th to the 22nd of February 2020 in Morocco. They're reaching out to let everyone know that they're looking for volunteers to help put on the first edition of the race!
There are a number of possibilities for people who'd like to get involved, from dot watching to physically coming out to Morocco to helping on the ground. The different volunteering options are outlined below. If you are interested in joining, send an email to race at atlasmountainrace dot cc with the role you would like to help with and they'll send you the relevant information on how to get involved!
Dot Watching
This is one of the key areas where we're going to need help. We're looking for a team of motivated individuals to help us keep a close eye on riders and make sure everything is going well for them as they head into the Moroccan Atlas. This is also the most accessible way of helping out. It's something you can do from wherever you are based with the help of your laptop and an internet connection. We'll be looking for serious dot watchers who are ready to spend more time glued to the race map as well as casual dot watchers who can help provide an extra set of eyes from time to time.
Checkpoint Volunteers in Morocco
We already have a few people on board to come out with us to Morocco but we will need some more intrepid individuals to come out and lend a hand at registration, our three checkpoints and the finish line. It's a great way to experience the race first hand. The minimum time commitment is one full shift on a checkpoint. That equates to around 2-4 days in one of our remote and rather stunning checkpoint locations. We will cover transport costs within Morocco to and from the checkpoint as well as accommodation and food during your stay at the checkpoint.
Ira Ryan and Tony Pereira: Modern Day Pioneers Building Bikes (and a Business) With Their Bare Hands
For cycling aficionados, or believers in the “bicycle-as-art” school of thought, it’s likely that you’ve heard of Ira Ryan and Tony Pereira. For everyone else, they are the two-man team behind Breadwinner Cycles, a Portland-based business with a fervent international fan base for their award-wining handcrafted frames.
I've known Tony & Ira for about 10 years now and remember Breadwinner coming together after the run of bikes they made for Rapha. Cool to see them getting some well deserved attention from Levi's!
52 things I learned in 2019
Tom Whitwell, the author of this article isn't a friend of mine (yet?) but this list will benefit my friends that read it! :D
Some highlights:
- Asking ‘What questions do you have for me?’ can be dramatically more effective than ‘Any questions?’ at the end of a talk.
- People hate asking sensitive questions. However, it turns out that people don’t hate being asked sensitive questions. So talking around difficult questions in research interviews is a waste of time and money.
- Placebos are so effective that placebo placebos work: A pain cream with no active ingredients worked even when not used by the patient. Just owning the cream was enough to reduce pain.
Radness
Best Of 2019 by J. Bannon, a playlist by Deathwish Inc. on Spotify
Here is a playlist of music that made an impact on Jacob Bannon in 2019. ⠀
- Cave In "Final Transmission"⠀
- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds "Ghosteen"⠀
- Chromatics "Closer to Grey"⠀
- Chromatics "The Sound of Silence"⠀
- Swans "Leaving Meaning"⠀
- Kate Tempest "The Book of Traps and Lessons"⠀
- Lana Del Ray "Norman Fucking Rockwell!"⠀
- Blood Incantation "Hidden History of the Human Race"⠀
- Darkthrone "Old Star"⠀
- Chelsea Wolfe "Birth of Violence"⠀
- Purple Mountains "Self Titled"⠀
- Greet Death "New Hell"⠀
- Blut Aus Nord "Hallucinogen"⠀
- Black Mountain "Destroyer"⠀
- Candlemass "The Door to Doom"⠀
- Idle Hands "Mana"⠀
- Spirit Adrift "Divided By Darkness"⠀
- Dead To A Dying World "Elegy"⠀
- Mizmor "Cairn"⠀
- Waste of Space Orchestra "Syntheosis"⠀
- Sanguisugabogg "Pornographic Seizures" ⠀
- Better Oblivion Community Center "Self Titled"⠀
- False "Portent"⠀
- Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze "Offerings of Flesh and Gold"⠀
- Frozen Soul "Encased In Ice"⠀
- Leviathan "Verrater" Reissue⠀
- Angel Witch "Angel of Light"⠀
--
Bold ones I have spent some time with and really like!