Super Rat Machine Works » NEWS

jan. 20. 2009

Phil — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:41:50 +0000

eric crowder sent over this little video he made of swarner park here in k.c. i’ve missed the last couple of warm day sessions, this makes me want spring time weather more than ever.

Swarner Park 06′ from Eric Crowder on Vimeo.

another piece of the puzzle…

Phil — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:52:32 +0000

found this on the dock the other day, seemed symbolic… but what isn’t these days. after not posting for awhile it always feels like there is a need to have a good excuse and a comeback statement but i’ve got neither (not that i’m not working on one…) i’ve got some pics of the goings on lately though. we’ve been setting things in motion for a few changes, more on that later.
fredonia dave came up over the weekend to help hammer out some details and drink a few cans of old style. it was almost warm on saturday, then cold today. i guess it is winter.

this is justin, he’s a one time model, jump builder, timer operator at the dew tour among other things. and this his holiday shopping bag that he modeled for is hanging above a workbench here at the shop. it’s good to have some company.

he’s been running the pedals since last spring. i like how they look after almost a years worth of use, the raw aluminum gets a bit of a patina ( not sure if that term can be used in conjunction with aluminum?). and the edges get worn in nicely. we took them apart and gave them an inspection, all seemed well. fresh grease, new cork cap and whaaa la, fresh pedals. his bike is a trip. 2-tone brown and blue with a vintage blue primo wall tire in the rear.

down with opp?

Phil — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:14:46 +0000

i often wonder about the source of graffiti inspiration.
this dumpster showed up a few days ago, and the graffiti was not far behind. everytime i come into the shop for the last week and a half i get this song stuck in my head. there could be worse things i suppose…

thus says wiki…
The title is an acronym for “other people’s property”, and when the song asks the listener if they’re “Down with O.P.P.”, it is asking the listener if he/she is willing to have sexual relations with a person who is known to already have a significant other (”O.P.P”)…

nov 17.

Phil — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:46:44 +0000

i did some horse trading today with an old buddy, i swapped him a new bottle opener for this vintage version that i made for my wedding last year. he’s had it in his pocket since the wedding on his keys, as he’s been opening bottles all over the country as a roadie/merch guy for some rock-n-roll bands…

seemed to weather well.

anyway, he’s on his way out of town for the warmer climes of austin texas, on the hunt for a fresh start of sorts, with a new bottle opener.

i mentioned that dave is doing some construction on the ramps at his house, adding bowl builder to his lengthy resume. this is a shot of the re-vamped mini.

nov.14

Phil — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:25:11 +0000

trying to come up with blog titles is tough for some reason? so for now i’ll just go with the date… i’m in the process of trying to get organized, which could be an eternal task but more specifically organized as a business. we’re a small operation, so that means i do a little bit of everything. sometimes it’s good sometimes it’s bad… but either way it’s paramount in order to move forward and grow slightly to get certain aspects of doing business under control. and as we move toward doing more of our own designs and parts a huge glitch in the system has appeared. customer service! frankly, our customer service has sucked, i’m trying to get better. this would be part of the impetus for keeping the pedals on hold. not only are we working to get a few other items finished as well we’re working on setting up a process that helps keep the people that are buying bike parts satisfied with their experience. i know, this seems so cheesy and obvious but i have yet to find a book outlining how to operate a machine shop that caters to bicycle enthusiasts… so we do the best that we can and try to improve as we go.

so as parts are running i’m constructing a “cubicle” down in the shop. it’ll be the official assembly/shipping/inspection area. i have scavenged enough materials over the last however many months to mostly build this thing, so once it’s finished up it should smooth over some of the customer service bumps we’ve experienced in the not so distant past.