Our Latest Custom Cap: The Black and White

The Black and White...

Red Dots Cycling

We are proud to show off our latest custom cap...

Our customer wanted a custom black cap with a bold white stripe. We suggested the stripe going right to the brim and boy it turned out very nicely!

We decided to start a custom cycling cap post, to show you all the fun designs and to interest you that we love to make custom caps. If you have a design for yourself or one for your riding group. Just email us with your questions.

info@reddotscycling.ca

maillot à pois rouges: Cadel Evans

Tour 2011; two stage wearer of the KOMs jersey was Cadel Evans who eventually won the race,

became the oldest post-war winner (34 years).

Canada Day Craft Fair at Waterfront Park

We're getting ready for this Sunday's Canada Day Craft Fair at Waterfront Park, North Vancouver.

We will have our NEW products and some old favorites celebrating Canada's 145 year old birthday!

If you missed us at the MECBikefest, then come on over and check out our cool cycling caps and nifty recycled inner tube accessories!


SEE YOU SUNDAY!

CANADA DAY CRAFT FAIR BY

NORTH VANCOUVER COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL

WATERFRONT PARK, N. VANCOUVER

JULY 1ST  NOON - 4PM.

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Sunny Day with New Products for the MECBikefest

Bird standing guard over the MECBikefest.

Photos: Richard

The weather for Saturday's MECBikefest called for thundershowers...

Remembering last years show, I told Carolle to bundle up (with peacoat/blundstones) to get ready for a rainy day. I had on my winter hoodie and vest avec blunnies. Thankfully, it never happened, no rain but welcoming sunny skies and warm temperatures. Of course, I overdressed and curse not wearing my 3/4 shorts.

Ahoy Me Hearties!

Perhaps, that's why we notice a lack of folks attending the event compare to last year.

The excitement of starting our first show of the season snapped us into frenzy mode as we eagerly set up our table with new products. Now, I can finally mention our new rubber inner tube products; the reversible belt, lite rider id wallet, telefono wallet & multi-use rubber key chain. As of now, they are only available during the craft shows, but, we plan to sell them online very soon.

Huge Thanks go the MECBikefest crew for putting on a good show and to the sponsors for providing bananas and chocolate!

Look ...no rain but new products!

MECBikefest: Last Minute Prep

Our lead up to tomorrow's MECBikefest has been anything but restful. It seems we're busy right up to the day with last minute preparation of printing labels, signage and finishing another new recycled rubber inner tube product. The craft shows are a good launching point for new products, so I can't divulge what our new products are. Here's a hint: a brand new cycling cap will be avaliable!

We'll have fun, practical new products on hand. And, I'm always checking online what the weather gods  have in store for us tomorrow. So far, it will be cloudy with a hint of rain. That may sound depressing but the good news is, MEC organizers always make the day sunny with plenty of fun in store.

If you can make it, we hope to see you tomorrow,

So bring it on... it's going to be fun!

MECBikefestVancouver @MECBikefestVanc Come join the fun this Saturday from 10-3 with@momentum @WeAreHub @whoanelliebikes@StromerCanada @reddotscycling at MEC Bikefest... 04:13 PM - 21 Jun 12 via web

maillot à pois rouges: Richard Virenque

Take that! 

Boyish fun with teammate Luc Leblanc, 1994 TdF.

via pedalare!pedalare!

Richard Virenque won the stage to Luz-Ardiden effectively winning the mountains competition of the 1994 Tour. This is the start of his record breaking seven KOMs victories. He was a French favorite because of his boyish personality and long, lone attacks.

Riding Towards the MEC Bikefest!

This Saturday is our first show of the season....

We're very excited to be back at the MEC Bikefest! It's an important event for us, we've worked with rubber inner tubes in new ways and we have many new products to show. The products are so new they're not offer on our website. We'll have our regular products available and... you'll just have to come over to see what else we have!

This fun MEC Bikefest is all about the celebration of the bicycle in Vancouver and we'll be part of the Bikefest Marketplace. Located in the plaza in Athlete's Village beside the Creekside Community Centre a block off the Ontario Bikeway from 10:00am - 3:00pm.


See you there!

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Espress O & Classic Racer Cycling Caps: Now in Two Sizes!

Espress O and riding goes so well together!

 All pics: © Red Dots Cycling

We've been busy like beavers bringing back three very popular cycling caps.


There's only a week left before our first show of the season, the MEC BikeFest June 23rd, and we're topping off our cycling cap stock.

What is old ... is new again!

Re-introducing: Espress O (with a hint of Orange) and Classic Racer cycling caps, because our customers wanted two different size choice! Both handmade caps now available in two sizes... Small/Medium (21" - 22 1/2") & Medium/Large (22 1/2" - 24").

We hope to see you at the MEC BikeFest, where you can purchase these cool cycling caps or if you can't make it ...visit our shop!

Classy Classic Racer w/Stripe or...

...Classic Racer as is!

maillot à pois rouges: Patrocinio Jimenez

Jimenez was splendid where it counted in the high mountains

wearing the polka dot jersey for five days finishing

second in the KOMs classification!

The 1983 Tour de France invited the Colombian amateurs and Patrocinio Jimenez was the first Colombian rider to wear the maillot à pois rouges!

Update: First Time Sewing

I'm giving my first time sewing, a whirl!

Our week with the blue monster sewing machine, I coin this phrase out of respect, is nearing the end.

Carolle and I rented this Sailrite sewing machine from Mason Sewing Machines in Vancouver, and preceded to make enough inner tube stock for the upcoming craft shows. Our first show is June 23 at the MEC BikeFest.

As I write this post, Carolle is finishing up on a new design we started at 3:30pm. Now, it's 6:41pm and we're almost done. We've tabulated the time spent and we figure seven days at 10 hours = average time spent with the blue monster: 70 hours. Not bad, good (exhausting) time spent.

While Carolle was grappling with the blue monster I was directed, for the first time, on her sewing machine. I've never used a sewing machine until now. I discovered fun and frustration trying to grasp threading, learning zig-zag & straight stitch, filling countless empty bobbins, screaming with broken thread, and re-gaining my composure. Really, the bottom line it's fun, the steep learning curve aside. I learned how much fun her machine is, it's forty-four years old. I guess it's liken to an old Italian steel bike, hint: my Marinoni. She takes very good almost god-like care with it; cleaning, oiling it basically pampering it with the knowledge that it will return the favor. And, it does. Something about an mechanical machine devoid of plastic it's all metal and built tank tough.

She experienced, for the first time, the uncanny displacement of hearing her sewing machine without working with it. Carolle still finds it weird.

I had my turn at the blue monster and I can tell you it's big, clunky, non-ergonomic, noisy (no complaints from our neighbours, yet) a sloth due to it's slow speed. But, it sure works well a good domestique in the line up of sewing machines. It will work with pretty much anything, as long as you feed it.

We've made incredible leaps at filling our rubber inner tube stocks including a some new products.

I'm feeling good putting out a full week's run with both machines going at the same time... and having fun with both!

Richard

A rare sight...

The Sailrite (aka blue monster) at rest.

Growing with Etsy

It didn't take long...

We have a very good long relationship with Etsy, the online handmade marketplace. In 2008, Carolle first started to sell her knitted goods under the Galstudio name. As Etsy grew we changed 360 degrees. We had no idea we would be using Etsy to be part of our business. It's quite the metamorphosis, we grew along with them and we are proud of the business we've built into Red Dots Cycling, today.

Congratulations to our 1000th Etsy Sale, we will include something special in their order! Thank you!

Approaching 1000 Etsy Sales

We're approaching 1000 Etsy sales...

Help us to celebrate this milestone and for becoming our 1000th customer, Carolle and I have decided to include a surprise gift!

Thank You for supporting Red Dots Cycling!

Blue Monster

Sailrite Ultrafeed ZigZag blue monster!

It's super busy around here with heavy rubber inner tube production in our work studio.

We are busy getting ready for our first show, The MEC Bikefest June 23rd here in Vancouver. The sewing machine we rented is good for our needs, in fact, we are glad that we can rent to own. This Sailrite is made specifically for heavy fabric (ie. sail fabric). And, it can sew through rubber inner tube quite efficiently. We can now design new products we couldn't dream to do before. It's slow but it can go through pretty much anything (rubber that is) without a blink.

It's heavy around 60 pounds all metal, almost indestructible just don't forget to oil it when it needs it. It's a workhorse.

The only pet peeve is that it's not meant for intricate work, some of our designs are intricate... detail oriented. That means, we have to modify some of the designs keeping it simple as possible.

We have this blue monster until next Monday... and then we'll decide!