Join Kryptonite on Facebook!

I love Facebook. I never thought I'd say that. I was invited a couple of times and thought, "I don't have time for something else." Heck, I couldn't keep up with my own blog how could I keep up with something else?

Then a good friend, an Air Force pilot, who was stationed in Korea sent me an invite. I couldn't pass it up - after all, he stinks at email and I'd like to know what's going on in his world. When I joined, I thought I'd just have a static page just to keep up with him periodically. But, then I found another friend and thought, "ok, I'll add her" and before I knew it, I was hooked. Completely hooked. I love it!

I've kept it away from work, it's just for my closest friends (not that you all aren't, but you know...) and my young cousins - seriously, it's the only way they communicate, I think.

Anyway, since I'm hooked, and since there are a lot of bicycle lovers on Facebook, I thought I'd start a Kryptonite group. I wanted it to be all fancy-schmancy like some of the other companies in there, but if I wait for that, it will be next year or something. Why wait?! Today seemed like a very good day.

So...go to your Facebook account and search for "Kryptonite Locks". We should come right up in the groups. JOIN US!!! Leave a message on the wall. Post a photo of your Kryptonite lock.

There will be changes to the group - I'm planning on adding some fancy-schmancy things there - cool graphics and contests. So visit it often!

See you there!

Kryptonite Bike Racks

When we started our brand relaunch planning back just about a year ago we had a plan...and then we modified that plan...and then modified again. Sometimes a plan doesn't come together for whatever reason. So, not everything we originally planned for happened. Ah well...that's life.

One thing that was always on the plan was to provide some great cycling cities with permanent bike racks. We wanted to give cyclists in these cities and towns more places to secure their bikes when they were off exploring the city - or just doing daily errands.

It was a long process, longer than any of us expected, but in the end 4 cycling cities and towns will have bike racks installed - or already do. Portland, Oregon was the first city to see the bike racks. The first group was installed at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and seem to be full just about all the time.

Thanks to Rachael Allen for the photos of the Portland racks!

The school actually took away some car parking spots to put in a bigger bike rack area. How cool is that?! Now, to be fair and tell both sides, some people in Portland aren't happy that the racks have a company name on them, but most people seem to think more bike racks are a good thing and will use them. As you can see by the photos, dozens of people don't mind the little logo on the bottom of the racks. They just care about having a safe place to lock while in school or around the area. Photos like this just make us smile!

All full in Portland!

Then it was off to Blue Island, Illinois, which is just outside of Chicago. They are a city that is trying to get back to more of its roots of being a walking and cycling city. The racks were just installed there a couple of weeks ago and Roby went out to meet with some people in town, including Mayor Peloquin, to christen the racks.

Julie Sklom a resident of Blue Island and member of MainStreet,

their Open Space Committee, rides over to meet Roby)

Mayor Peloquin and his office were gracious hosts to Roby when he was in town and were happy to have these racks provided (read the mayor's thoughts here). All of the cities and towns we've partnered with have been so great to work with during this project. But the local advocacy groups have been fantastic, too. Chicagoland Bicycle Federation really helped out with getting racks placed in their area and have been very supportive of this initiative. They even came out to the christening in Blue Island (thanks guys!).

(l-r)--Keith Holt (Chicagoland Bicycle Federation), Roby, Julie Sklom,

Mayor Donald Peloquin, Nicholas Crite (Land Planning Manager)

There will be more racks installed soon in one other Portland location as well as in Austin, Texas and Palos Heights, Illinois. In all, over 75 racks will be around the country for cyclists to use when they are out and about.

As soon as the rest of the racks are in place, we'll let you know...and get some more pictures up.

Portland, San Fran & Del Sol

Last week we had photos of our new billboards in Austin. This week we have photos of some new placements in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. This is pretty exciting stuff to us because we've never done anything like this before.

Here are some shots from Portland, Oregon..

My favorite is the penguin one. I just love them. They are too cute.

Here's a shot in San Francisco...

Why the crazy, "out there" places to secure a bike? Part of that is to catch your eye as you are going by the photos. Part is to really convey that we know there are fascinating adventures to be had off the bike - Go. Do. Explore. We've got your back; no matter where you properly lock your bike.

Speaking of bikes....I'd like to thank Del Sol for jumping right in and providing the bikes for our new campaign. They were so eager to help and got a bike right to us for photography; they made the whole process an easy one. The bike is perfect for the photos. I hope they are happy with the results, too. Thanks, Jill!

So, look around when you are riding or walking in Portland and San Fran....I'll bet you'll see some of these placements. Let us know what you think. And, if you see one while you are out and about, let us know!

Hellllooooo Austin!

As part of our brand relaunch this year we've done some 'out of home' advertising. Check out these billboards in Austin, Texas.

There are more than two in Austin. Let us know if you spy one. Send a photo, we'd love to see it.

We aren't stopping there either, Austin. There is more to come...something very different - on ground level. Stay tuned!

My "Clean" Office

You all saw the before photos the other day of what my office looked like as I was preparing to ship out products to support grassroots events and initiatives. Here is the after shots from Friday afternoon.

Where did it all go? Oregon, California, Pennsylvania, Utah, Florida, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New York to name just a few that I can remember off the top of my head right now (not being in the office - it's Sunday, after all). We'll get a full list of the supported events up on our website later this week.

Here's the UPS pile from just Friday - similar piles greeted our UPS driver on Wednesday and Thursday, too.

My Messy Office

So...why didn't I post this morning, or at least by early afternoon? Take a look at my office...I'm hoping this explains things a little bit. Time to support some events! Here's the before...the 'after' will be on Friday sometime....I hope. At least that is the plan.

What a mess, huh??

We support about 100 events each year and most of that product is sent out by one person...me! As you can see, I'm not neat about it. But, as with any cleaning project - it must get worse before it gets better, right? By Friday I should be able to see my floor, at least most of it, and a lot of events will be happy come next week. All kinds of events - alley cats, Bike Nights, kids bike rodeos, charity auctions and the list goes on and on. We support a lot of action sports related charity events - it's one of the things I really love about my job. :) Bikes for Kids Utah and Trips for Kids - lots of stuff coming your way!

MyicedCoffee.com and Riding?

We've added a new link in the 'Fun Things' section. It goes to the brand new Dunkin Donuts interactive site that just launched this morning. What does that have to do with anything related to Action Sports? Maybe nothing....except Dunkin Donuts is a staple here at Kryptonite. I'm thinking some people here may consider their coffee/iced coffee a food group. I'm not kidding. We also know that a lot of other action sports enthusiasts love their coffee, too.

The new site has sweepstakes, prizes and such, but the thing that caught our eye is the "Get More Out of Your Summer" piece. What is it? A trip planner with Dunkin' locations along the route. I think a few people here may frequent this site more than any other on the web now....again, I'm not kidding....this is a great tool! Ok, it has a few kinks that they need to work out, but check it out. It's kind of fun.

They also will tell you, by state, some 'Suggested Summer Outings" and give viewers the ability to add their own recommended place for all to see in the "Hit the Road Your Way" feature. They really want it to be an interactive site. Good for them. And good for all of us that are regulars.

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

Passionate. Fanatical. Driven. Free?

As we’ve mentioned, we are a passionate bunch. We are passionate about lots of things – cycling, motocross, custom motorcycles, skiing, rally, F1, hockey and, of course, our common bond is our passion for security. We wouldn’t all be in this building if we didn’t care how secure your stuff is. Just so you know, we all use our products, too, so they need to be tough. Seriously, do you think our engineers want to see me in tears some day because my bicycle was stolen? I don’t think so. We are a little nuts on security. Fanatical even. Driven, definitely.

So where does ‘free’ come in? We want you to be free to do everything you like to do – no matter what it is, without worry. In the next few months we are going to be relaunching our brand. We’ll have a completely different look and feel, starting with our website next week (!). But also our promotions and the way we do things will change, too (hello, blog!). We’re taking some risks, but we’re excited. We hope you like the direction we are going in. Other than the website, New Yorkers, you’ll be seeing some of this first – I’ll let you know when.

Don’t get me wrong. We are still passionate about being tough, being the best, frustrating thieves, but you know that already. We want all that we do to be more about YOU, not us.

After all, YOU are Time Magazine’s person of the year.