Although he was already an active community member, I began my friendship with Dan Richter in early 2012 after he reached out to me regarding some wheels he wanted us to take along on Keepers Tour: Cobbled Classics 2012. At the time, he was an amateur wheel builder making some money on the side selling his wheels on eBay. Like many of us in this community, his heart tends toward the classics and the roughest roads around, and the wheels he was focussed on were largely classic wheels designed for rough riding.
Having read that I had built myself some wheels (three times, before I got it right) for the trip, and he wanted to see if his wheels would be able to withstand the torture of the cobbles of Northern Europe. We chatted about it, but the project never came to life as the wheels were damaged in an accident just before he was due to ship them off to me; with no time left to rebuild them, I left for France without a set of his wheels in my luggage.
But we kept up our communication and by the time I got back from the trip, he’s made up his mind to open a bicycle studio in Cochrane, Alberta, named Café Roubaix Bicycle Studio in homage to the greatest and toughest race in the world, Paris-Roubaix. I love seeing friends take a chance on starting a business, not to mention one built around Cycling; I was overjoyed at hearing the news and immediately offered any assistance we might be able to provide via our humble little community.
Fast forward a few months to November 2012 and delivery to my house of a set of Richter-branded carbon tubular wheels laced in a 3x pattern with bladed spokes; quite simply the most stunning wheels I’d ever laid eyes on, and shockingly light. With their lacing pattern, they were designed for Cyclocross but had an obvious use as wheels for the cobbles as well. I raced them the rest of the season before having an issue with one of the hubs. Dan quickly crossed that supplier of his list and sent me a replacement pair of wheels, this time co-branded with Velominati. These wheels were bullet-proof and carried me down the trench of Arenberg and every other cobbled road we hit during our 9-day trip.
In the meantime, I’d also commissioned a prototype climbing wheelset from him for my third attempt at not sucking on Haleakala. I still sucked, but I sucked a little less because the wheels were so insanely light and stiff; Dan immediately dubbed them the Haleakalas and offered them for sale as a standard wheelset through his studio.
But there was a nagging bit of feedback I kept getting from people who saw me out on the wheels, “Hey, how do you like those Ritchey wheels?” They’re not Ritcheys, they are Ricthers; read, you dumbass. (As I’ve said before, my natural charm has made me a good sprinter.) I brought the feedback that there might be some brand confusion to Dan over coffee one afternoon when he happened to pass through Seattle; after some brainstorming he decided to brand them after his shop’s fantastic name.
Every man needs a partner, a tailor, a wheelbuider and I’m proud Dan has been my official wheelbuilder for a few years now; his wheels are the best I’ve ever ridden and I’m grumpy any time I have to ride other wheels. It was only natural, then, that this past summer, we started working on an exciting project to co-brand a premium bespoke wheelset which would be available for sale to the public. KRX-10, Velominati’s trusty Graphic Designer, produced the most stunning design imaginable, before all our plans evaporated when Specialized sent the cease and desist letter. Velominati offered to publicize the matter, but Dan – the good guy that he is – decided to keep quiet and work it out between his lawyer and Specialized while laying plans to rebuild his brand from the ground up. It broke my heart to see his dream fall in shambles around him, but he always seemed to keep a good attitude and had confidence he would get back on his feet. He set about enlisting friends to brainstorm new names, and before long he was on his way to a fresh start.
Dan never asked for the outpouring from the Cycling community; he just gave an interview to a reporter who stopped by his shop and figured that was that. But within hours of its publication, the Cycling world went mad, launching into the biggest social media campaign I’ve ever seen around Cycling and one which Velominati were very proud to play some small part in. With the outpouring came the dropping of the lawsuit and, thanks to all of you in the community – not just here but in the Cycling world at large – Dan now has permission to continue using “Roubaix” in his shop name (although I’m not sure he can still use it on the wheels, we’ll have to ask him now how that works out legally.)
These past days, I have been more proud than ever to call myself a Cyclist, and I was just a bystander on the periphery of this amazing event – I can’t imagine how Dan feels. On behalf of all of us, we can not express our happiness and relief that this has worked out for a fellow Velominatus.
Vive La Vie Velominatus was ever thus.
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@brett
Absolutely mad - just put Epic Clothing into your browser and see what comes up. I guess they will just go after the ones that have an association with cycling. They were done for me before this anyway but it looks like MS needs to set about a wholesale overhaul of his business approach.
@RoubaixInTwoYears hey, they'll be after you next to drop your V-moniker!
Roubaix belongs to no-one - it belongs in the centre of what is the very essence of cycling - the pinnacle of suffering
As a S- Roubaix owner and rider, I was very disappointed to see S do this, it smacks of a terrible arrogance - we all are a piece of Roubaix, and pieces of us are strewn around all Roubaix - it is the most inspiring word I think I know off - no other word makes me jangle when I whisper it to myself - I am proud to have been thrashed nearly to death by it and will probably never try it again, a humbled disciple
Well done DanR - when I read the article in CN this morning, I hot tailed it over here, as I knew it would be centre stage, and that all of us who share with you, would be hopping mad
Good man DanR for releasing that mighty name back to all of us, again - we are all Roubaix
Strange how they're not going after Mini (owned by BMW) and their S Works Mini Cooper. I wonder why.....
@unversio
Not really, but the red wine was nice!
@sthilzy
No offence sthilzy, that's a fine effort but maybe Cyclops can work some of his photoshop magic and make it look real that MS is wearing a Cafe Roubaix t-shirt. I mean, if he can make it look like Frank is beating Spartacus at Flanders, he can do this. What say you, Cyclops?
@wiscot
I'm not sure that's necessary. From Dan's twitter feed...
Defending a lawsuit from a major corporate: $160,000
Social media defence: $Nil
Using the subsequent apology as marketing collateral: $Classy as Fuck
@Dr C
Well said. Dan's response to all of this revealed an immense amount of class. If there are V points up for grabs, he's got em.
@Chris
Brilliant Chris! And Bravo Dan_R!!!
@Buck Rogers
Indeed! Who needs photoshop when you have the real deal?
Dan: "well thanks for coming up Mike, I appreciate it."
MS "You're welcome, I hope we can put this behind us and move on."
Dan "Agreed, but you owe me $30 for the shirt, by the way. A man's got to make a living you know"
@Chris Class having The Prophet in the background too. You can almost hear "Comin' through...."
@wiscot Shame Dan didn't stock Epix Gear clothing and he could have picked up one of those too!