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.

Kryptonite Outlet is Open

Have you been looking for a Justice League Padlock? An M-18? A Chopper Chain? Can't find 'em anywhere? Well, look no further! We've just opened the Kryptonite Outlet! C'mon in and be one of our first customers.

What will you find there? Overstocks and discontinued items. Maybe an additional treat or two as we go along. But, there are limited quantities so if there is something there you want, I'd snatch it up now. Because when some of them are gone...they are gone for good. Also, the inventory there will change frequently so check back often...you never know what you might find there.

C'mon in...we're always open!

Website Update

When our new website launched in April, I thought we'd be changing it all the time. That was my intention, but sometimes things get in the way and it isn't always easy. For example, I thought we'd change the stories on the front page every six weeks - it's been since April and we've only had 2 sets (I'm working on the third now). Not that Tim and Roland and the rest of the gang aren't great greeters, but I want to see this more fresh and new more often. Guess that's something to put on my New Year wish list, right?

Anyway, we have made a little change to the site this week, which is fun. We've added some more photos to our promo section from the events we've been a part of this year. You'll even see some Team Kryptonite members in there and a cute doggie. Check it out.

We do have some more things planned for the website shortly after the new year comes so stay tuned. You'll hear about it here first, of course.

Check out the new faces on Kryptonitelock.com

So, we made a pretty significant change to the Kryptonite website this week. We changed the home page to show 4 different people and hear, in their words, why they are bonded to their lifestyle. We’d like to thank Tim Masiguy Jackson for being the official greeter to the site for so long as well as Jody Perewitz, Kate Cross and Rob Zuraski for being the illustrious first group on the site. But, when we debuted the site it was with the understanding that the group on the front would be ever changing every 6-8 weeks or so. Ok, so it’s more than 6 weeks since April, but hey, we finally got there.

We’re pumped to have this next group of folks on our site. They represent Kryptonite through either their employment here or their great partnership with us. Not to mention they are darn cool people. Here’s a little more on each of them.


The Bike Tab
Roland Burns is the co-founder/owner of R.E.Load Bags in Philly. Have you seen the exquisite custom bags that come out of there? No? Go look. Right now. I’ll wait…..Did you check out the custom stock? No? Seriously, these are some kick *ss bags. Go back…I’ll wait….

Roland with his custom Bilenky and one of his custom bags

Not only does Roland create art, he’s also a blogger. Check it out – he puts up some photos of the total custom bags there. Sweet!

Out and about in Philly

Ro organizes messenger races in Philly, too, and he couldn’t be nicer to work with- The Rocky races, North American Championships and a bunch others I’m sure I don’t know about. He’s a man on the move – all the time. But, he did slow down long enough to come visit the booth at Interbike where he and his friends got a sneak peek at his new page. I think it’s great that he’ll be the welcoming face to Kryptonite for the next couple of months.

The Motorcycle Tab
Jeff Clark’s from North Carolina and is the co-founder/owner of The Cycle Xchange (TCX), a custom motorcycle shop. They both build and service all kinds of custom bikes – one of which you see on the front of our website. Jeff is also the driver of the TCX/Budweiser Burnout Bike. It’s a TCX built bike that has a NASCAR back tire that they do burnouts with…and then the crew changes the tire and Jeff goes at it again. It’s kinda fun to watch. Check it out.

Jeff at TCX in January when I had a chance to hang out with him for a bit.

Not only does he put in more than a full week at The Cycle Xchange, but he’s a pretty busy guy on the weekends, too. He’s a proud dad of very active kids who are off at one sporting event or another and then on Sundays it’s all about racing. Not in front of the TV or in the stands like you and me….he’s a member of Dale Earnhardt Junior’s pit crew! He’s the guy that keeps Dale Junior fueled up during the race. You can see Jeff, Dale Junior and Brandon Bernstein together in this new video from Sturgis this year.

The TCX showroom. To see more, hit their MySpace page

The Ski/Snowboard Tab
Chances are that if you have visited Perewitz Cycle Fab you’ve met Kory Souza. If you’ve brought your motorcycle in for service, he’s worked on it and ‘made it all better’, I’m sure. He’s the behind the scenes guy that gets it done. He works hard on all the motorcycles that come in, he loads and unloads the haulers going to the shows and he’s part of the road crew that makes sure all those gorgeous bikes get where they are going safely.

Kory racin' to the max

When he’s not in the shop, you can find Kory racing around on one of his “50s”, mini bike. I’ve seen the impromptu races in the parking lot on a slow day, which are too fun. Last year he organized an inside 50s bike race inside at a local go-kart track. All the proceeds went to the National MS Society. Kory has a heart of gold for sure.

Getting ready to ride

With all this powersports action, why the ski/snowboard tab? Easy….it's hard to keep any action sports person quiet for too long. When there’s too much snow on the ground to ride motorcycles, Kory heads for New Hampshire to snowboard, of course. He's equally as passionate about that.

Specialty Tab
Eric Anastasia is truly a member of Team Kryptonite. He’s our Eastern Regional Manager and resident hiking and climbing nut. All of that gear that you see in the photo isn’t staged or borrowed; it’s all his. The guy has toys – something tells me that this isn’t all the gear either. It’s just a feeling I have. And, I’m not talking about the motorcycle either (yup, he’s got one of those, too).

Eric hanging out in the mountains of New Hampshire

Eric started in the marketing department here, but recently "defected" to sales. We tease him about that all the time, but it’s been a great move for him and he’s good at what he does. I think he likes traveling around the East Coast to find more places to hike and camp…just a theory.

If you are on the East Coast and own a bicycle or powersports shop or frequent one, chances are you'll meet Eric.

Thanks to all of these guys for participating in the fun. Now, if you haven't been over to the site, go check it out and read, in their own words, why they have an unbreakable bond to these sports.

New Products Debut on Kryptonite Website

It's been a process, but the new products are finally up on the new website for everyone to view. All the U-locks, cable locks, chains and even the disc locks. All there for you to see and read about.

Now you know why I didn't post earlier....I was a little busy proof reading. And, I know I missed something...always do. But, it's Friday, and it's after 5pm so it's time to stop worrying about it, right?

Psssttt...if you see any spelling mistakes, let me know. Thanks! :)

Happy Weekend, all!

The Journey Continues

By now most of you are aware of our revamped Kryptonite website. The Kryptonite team is very excited about presenting a fresh face to our customers and partners. This is another step in our journey to deliver the best Action Sports security products on the planet. We look forward to your help and support in getting there.

I encourage you all to visit us online, take a tour and give us your comments. Again this is a journey and one we hope to take together with you. Keep an eye out for more developments as our marketing team is definitely not done.

Look forward to hearing from you

Dwight

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.