See New York City For Free!

Sound too good to be true? Yeah, I thought so, as well, until finding something very cool on the Wend Magzine blog about a FREE bike rental program being offered by the Downtown Alliance in an effort to get more people on the city streets out of cars and onto bikes. Check out the full article here. http://www.wendmag.com/blog/2009/05/19/new-york-city-offers-free-bike-rentals/

¡LOS MARCOS MADNESS!

HI KRIPTONITE! THIS IS EL MARCO BUENO FROM WORLDS GREATAST POLO TEAM LOS MARCOS POLOS. ¡VIVA LOS MARCOS! SO HEY, THANKS YOU FOR SPONSOR OUR TORNAMENT WE HAVE IN NEW YORK CITY. IS SECOND YEAR NOW FOR TOURNAMENT AND WE MAKE IT TWICE AS BIG. MORE PRIZE! MORE MADNESS! MORE CHANCE FOR YOU FOR BRIBE US WITH WHAT LOS MARCOS LIKE BEST: BOOZE, WOMEN, AND FOUL PLAY. TWO DAY ONLY! OKTOBARE THREE AND 4. THEN GO HOEM AND CRY BECAUSE LOS MARCOS TOOK ALL PRIZE. YOU TRY BETTER NEXT TIME! HAHAHAHAH! HAHA IS JUST KIDDING. LOS MARCOS NO NEED MORE THINGS. WE HAS AVARYTHING WE WANT IN LOS MARCOSTAN. BUT MAYBE WE TAKE YOU WOMEN BACK AYNWAY. YOU NO SHOULD MISS LOS MARCOS MADNESS BECAUSE YOU REGREAT IT. BIKE POLO IT IS TRADITIONING SPORT OF LOS MARCOSTAN BECAUSE IT WAS INFENTED THERE, JUST LIKE OL KERNEL MARCOS INVANT BIKE FROM HALUSSINOGENIC FLAMSE OF MOUNT MARCOSTAN. NOW IT SO POPULAR EVRYWARE IT GO IN NEW YROK TIME ONCE AN WALL ST JERNEL WE THINK. IT SPORT OF FUTURE, JUST LIKE KICKPOXING. ¡VIVA!

And, now for a translation from our friend Ken Stanek, who has been a close observer of the Los Marcos Madness phenomena.... First of all, there's Bike Polo. If you've never heard of it, it's probably exactly what you think it is. It's got roots in the back lots of Seattle courier companies and 19th century Irish fields.

Then there's Los Marcos Polos. There's no rational explanation for them. They claim to have dominated the sport for somewhere between two years and two centuries. They appear infrequently, and sometimes only in rare footage captured by unknowing, camera weilding tourists. The only thing anyone knows for certain is that they throw the most ridiculous "tournament" anyone could imagine each October in New York City. Catch them and teams from as far away as Chicago, Ottawa, Richmond, East Vancouver, and Seattle this coming weekend at
Los Marcos Madness. For more information, visit http://www.losmarcospolos.com/

Kryptonite in SoHo on TMZ

Check out this TMZ tidbit. Forget Gerard Butler. Forget the girl. Check out what's keeping the bicycle safe...that's right, a Kryptonite Evolution Mini. We wouldn't expect anything less in NYC!

Top 10 SHOCKER!

Every year we put out our “Top 10 Worst Cities for Bike Theft List” at the beginning of the summer riding season. Each of the years that I’ve done it, New York City has been at the top of this US list. Every year. A couple of years before I was here, Chicago snuck into the top spot, but then New York returned to its spot and must have felt comfy there because it never flinched…in something like 9 years.

We love New York. We love the bike riding folks there – messengers, commuters and students. And, unfortunately, we have to respect the thieves there. They are resourceful and keep us on our toes. Heck, our premier line is the “New York” line because we know, in the US, that’s the bike theft capital….but, now I’m wondering if we need to change the name of our products….

You see, there is a new city on top of our list. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I think it’s great for NYC, but maybe not so good for bike riders in this city a little to NYC’s south.

Without further ado……here’s our 2007 list…

Kryptonite’s Top 10 Worst Cities for Bike Theft

1. Philadelphia, PA
2. Chicago, IL
3. New York City, NY
4. San Francisco, CA
5. Tucson, AZ (tie)
Portland, OR (tie)
7. Denver, CO
8. New Haven, CT
9. Cambridge, MA
10. Austin, TX

Yup, I’m shocked, but that’s what the data tells us. This list is compiled by our proprietary data….input from our regional managers, hundreds of shop visits, input from colleges and universities we talk with, our customer service interactions (both over the phone/email and at events) and data from police in various cities. When we did the compilation, there wasn’t even a city close to Philly. Not even close.

There are a few other things here that are interesting….New Haven is a first timer on the list. Cambridge replaces the city across the river, Boston. No Washington, DC for the first time in a long time.

This tells me that more people are riding now in these “new” cities. Probably due to the rising, rising, rising gas prices. More bikes means more theft.

Why do this list? To make fun of cities? NO WAY! We know each and every one of these cities fights bike theft every day. No, it’s to kick off the summer biking season with a little awareness. Just because your city isn’t on this list, doesn’t mean theft doesn’t happen there – or even in your “sleepy little town”.

Theft won’t happen to you….until it does. Get a lock that is appropriate for your area….I’d suggest that it be a Kryptonite, but you know what? Get what you are comfortable with….get something your local bike dealer recommends (they know what you’ll need) and lock your bike properly each and every time. Even at home. And start teaching the kids early about locking their bikes, too.

Go to our main website, in the Tech Lab section and look at our “how to lock your stuff” info. This will give you good locking tips. We’ll also be posting photos and locking tips here in the next few weeks.

NYC Locking Locks

by Eric Anastasia, Eastern Regional Manager

You know when you are visiting shops in New York City when their Kryptonite Locks are locked with Kryptonite Locks.

This is what I saw at NYC VELO when I was traveling NYC with Danny the Action Bicycle rep.
Thought some of you would get a kick out of this. There is no messing around in the Big Apple.

Kryptonite City

I love getting emails like this. David Bowman of Outdoor Gear Canada, our fabulous distributor in Canada, sent me an email with the subject line, "Kryptonite City".

When I opened it, he told me to look at the attached photos that his nephew, Nicholas Mirotchnick took in New York City recently. Seems Nicholas is a student in the city and this bike rack caught his eye.

How cool is that? And, before you ask...no, it wasn't staged at all. He just saw this walking by and thought he should snap it and get it to his uncle. After all - this shows just about 99.9% bike security ownership by Kryptonite on this New York City street. THAT is pretty darn COOL!

Look at all of those New York Chains! Guess we named that product appropriately, eh?

Thanks Nicholas, and David, for making our day!

Kryptonite on Law & Order!

So....one of the TV watchers here tells me that our New York Disc Lock was seen in the opening shots of Law & Order last night. The episode ran at 10pm EST and was titled "Quit Chain".

Apparently, the camera panned up a rack of bikes locked with a chain and a New York Disc Lock. How cool is that? Ok, I think it's cool - and in this office, I'm not the only one.

Talk about set dressing that is authentic! Good job to that prop department!

Did anyone else see it?

It's All About the Ads

I don't even have to go to the office this morning to know that there will be some sad faces. I don't think you can live anywhere on the planet and not know that the New York Giants won the Superbowl. And I mean that, I was on an Australian news site last night after the game and it was the lead story (that's kind of scary, actually).

Anyway, we love New York, in general, here at Kryptonite. After all, our flagship lock is the New York Lock, right? And our premiere line is the New York Series. So...from all of us to all of our friends in New York. Congrats. Enjoy the win.

For me, football isn't the be all and end all. I'm just glad the constant hype is over - seriously, did anything else happen in the world these last two weeks? Because we didn't get any other news on television than the Pats.

For me, last night was more about the commercials. I eagerly check the USAToday Ad Meter the morning after each Superbowl. They pretty much nailed it this year. The Bud dog and horse won by a pretty good margin. The Fed Ex pigeons were next, though. I'm not sure I would have put them that high. We really liked the Etrade talking baby ads, which didn't make the top 10. But Bridgestone had some great ads and the meter ranks them in the third spot. Followed by the Doritos commercial with the large mouse, which was hilarious. I think that was one of their customer generated ads (bravo!). Rounding out the top 5 was the fire breathing man for Bud.

At number 6, though, they have a Coca Cola spot that used the huge Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. I was partial to that because of Charlie Brown. I have loved the Snoopy cartoon since I was a little, little kid. It was something special I shared with my grandfather, so it pulled at my heart strings a little bit. I don't think it was meant to do that, but it did for me. I'm glad to see it did so well.

Interestingly, this year USAToday is also showing what is the most watched commercial online since you can view them everywhere. The Audi ad ranks number 1 so far. I'm sorry, I really didn't like that one. I thought the car was cool, but the ad did nothing for me. The Bud dog and horse came in second and the talking baby rounds out the top three.

Now, I was surprised that the silent Pepsi ad didn't rate higher. But, maybe that was pre-show? I thought it was an excellent commercial. I also found that a Ronald McDonald House commercial right around 6pm EST was fantastic. Those are the best buys because I don't think they cost the $3million, but you know everyone tunes in by 6pm for goodness sake.

Sometimes the ad isn't great, but you go "no way" to a tidbit of information you learn. Anyone else fascinated that the quickly growing brand Under Armour is launching a shoe line?! Woa...that will be interesting!

So...what did y'all think of the commercials? What was your favorite. Do tell....

Brad Pitt and Kryptonite

That's the subject line of an email I woke up to this morning from Fritz. I was curious because we don't have any kind of deal with Brad (I wish...) or anything in the works. I didn't think Fritz would be pulling my leg about this one, though....

Seems like Mr. Pitt has a new movie scheduled for release later this year called, "Burn After Reading". Big surprise, he's starring opposite George Clooney. Anyway, I'd seen this picture somewhere before of Brad on a Bianchi but didn't pay too much attention to it, although I should have...if you look closely there is something that should have popped out at me. But, I was a slacker that day, apparently, and it didn't.


However, the photo Fritz sent me is amazing...check it out:

Do you see what I see? Yes, people, that's a big honkin' Kryptonite chain that Brad Pitt is rockin' on that bike. I don't know much about the Coen brothers movie, but they were filming in New York so at least this part of the set dressing is authentic.

Is there any doubt what movie I'll be first in line for as soon as it comes out? I'm going to have to remember that I'm in a theatre, though, so I don't start jumping up and down while wildly clapping when this shot (or something similar) comes on the screen. I'll work on that...but no promises.

Thanks, Fritz!!!!

Random Photos

I love taking photos, it's a hobby of mine. But, I also like to get photos to check out sometimes - breaks up the day and usually, the photos that are sent to me are interesting.

Here are some photos I've collected over the last couple of months. They are completely random, but I hope you find one or two interesting.

John K. sent me this photo taken this Fall in Washington state. Isn't that gorgeous?

Kryptonite in NYC!

Squid's been messengering in NYC for 15 years. Check out the lock that keeps his bike safe.

John B. sent us this photo of how he found his cable lock after returning from work one night. But, his bike was at the train station waiting for him (lock was opened by the owner, not the would-be thief)

Our friend Tim Jackson shows us all alternative uses for our products. Bling!

This is Sprocket. Sprocket belongs to Team Kryptonite member Nicole Hoffman and she did the whole "dress the doggie" for Halloween deal. Makes me giggle every time I look at it. I understand the dress the doggie bit because I used to dress up my Rottie...yes, I did....yea, she didn't think it was a good idea either, but she was very good about it. Sprocket looks ready to fly off that bed and tear into the costume. HA!

Cool Video & Photos

The talented Amy Bolger did a photo shoot recently that will be part of a project benefiting the New York Bicycle Messenger Foundation and a couple of other messenger groups around the country. What is it? Here's the scoop from CycleHawk:
"A deck of cards, featuring messengers from four cities. Each city will take a suit, thirteen messengers per city"

Pretty cool concept, but that's not why I'm sharing it. Amy created a video of the photo shoot the other day. It kicks some serious butt! Check it out! You'll be glad you did!

I'm sure there will be info on the card decks when they are complete over on Cycle Hawk, too.

Hello New York City!

Anyone in New York City seeing a little more Kryptonite these days? We know the folks in the Five Boros Bike Tour may have...looks like they had a great day for the ride!

Let us know if you are seeing a little more Kryptonite in your urban area. Post a comment. Send an email with a photo - we can't wait to see them. donna_tocci at irco.com