February 12th, 2015 8:58pm
ABBEY BIKE TOOLS: TOOLS WITH THEIR OWN NAME.
It was in the middle of that great bicycle party the Sea Otter Classic amongst a large number of spectators eager for surprises, big companies and others more modest presenting their products and creations, where I met accidentally with the protagonist of these lines. Since the Sea Otter Classic is characterized for being a point of meeting for big consolidated multinationals as well as companies of minor size and more modest entrepreneurs. As I say, I was lucky to meet with the guys of Abbey Bike Tools. I don´t remember very well where I was going, Maybe I was looking for a good place to see the mtb race that was disputed and to which Jason Quate, Abbey Bike Tools's soul, was giving support as mechanic to a competition team. The deal is that the amusement I got when I saw his tools was such that I had to stop right then and there and see that in his table there was something different from the conventional material of any race mechanic. It was enough for me to throw only a glimpse to see that there were tools that were not the habitual ones in a briefcase of a professional mechanic. Who could have had the excellent idea of creating something so exclusive and practical for the professional field? I had to stop me to ask, to kill my curiosity, as precisely workshop tools aren´t very light for its transportation and this is one of the greatest handicaps has to endure a race mechanic. In the middle of so much fascination for me and the kindness that characterizes Jason Quate I could meet first hand a little better to this entrepreneur and their tools, all of them are developed to solve the most demanding of professionals.
Jason on the left.
After a rather brief first contact with Jason, because as I said they were working to providing mechanical support, I'm clear I had to return to contact him to deepen and learn more about "what and who" behind Abbey Bike Tools. So, as soon as it ended our brief meeting I had already started to speculate with the possibility of making a report about this brand and its creator. The next day I went through the stand that they had for the occasion, which they were withdrawing because it was the last day of the fair. After another brief talk, I told him the possibility of contact with him and give shape to an article about Abbey Bike Tools. What Jason said that it seemed to him that it was a good idea, I must note that he gave me his famous crombie tool, probably because he saw me with too much enthusiasm in everything what he showed, the thing is that I left the fair very happy with my new toy, as you can imagine.
Since my arrival in USA, I could see that the world of cycling is very small, so while I was taking shape this article in my head I got a message from my friend Will Bryan, mechanical in USA Cycling, who was at a rally in Italy and in which he said: Do you know with whom I'm working in Italy? Nothing more and less that he was with Jason Quate. And is that in addition to working to his company, Jason also works as a race mechanic. Being very demanded by his great professionalism and knowledge. Obviously my friend Will is also a user of some of his tools, as the majority of professional mechanics since I could have verified in different races.
The first thing that caught my attention of Abbey Bike Tools weren´t their tools, was the name of the company, because the name seems more appropriate for a brand of craft beer than to name a few tools. Which is normal this time, the manufacture of craft beer is one of the passions of Jason and I hope to check it out one of these days.
Jason is a peculiar man, which resembles those great technological visionaries that began its journey in a garage, because in their case at the same time that he was going at school he was working already in a bike shop, back in 1999 in the take off of the mtb. Since then follows the foot of the Canyon in the sector, evolved in a sector that seems more alive than ever.
Abbey Bike Tools's real germ arose when after being employed for several shops of bicycles at an occasion and after closing of the one that till then was his work Jason was without employment and almost without money. It was then and thanks to the clients that continued calling to him to do the mechanical work that intensified his desire to try to mount his own business, so without thinking too much and without better options to see, he didn´t hesitate to take the decision that would change his career completely. So with a new perspective on the horizon, he decided to give a new opportunity to be his own boss and to begin to repair bicycles in his garage. But as he confesses to us, he never thought that this adventure lasted beyond a year or two, while he tried to find a job in another company in the sector. And this was during the following three years he did nothing more than repair and travel to events as a race mechanic supporting customers and race teams.
Those early years were of constant evolution, with many changes in a matter of a short time, where soon became a name such as mechanical professional thanks to its good do.
He spent by the prestigious United Bicycle Institute (UBI) where he obtained certification as a professional mechanic. Although its passage through this Institute didn´t bring much more to the Jason curriculum as already by then already was a professional of recognized prestige and experience rather than proven, but in the United States have a certification helps you to open the doors in the world of professional mechanics.
Although it was back in 2009 when he started his own business as a professional independent, only approximately two years and half when Jason started to develop tools almost by accident. His friend Jeff told Jason that manufacture a custom tool to remove the cassette, this was the origin of his famous key crombie, a tool unique and different. It turned out to be a great idea, so he thought that he make a small issue of these tools.
Little by little the demand grew exponentially until today. And it is that the evolution of Abbey Bike Tools has been marked mainly to give answers to problems that nobody had resolved until then in the world of the race mechanics. Others are versions of homemade tools carried to the production. And others are only a response to new products introduced by the leading manufacturers in the market.
One word: Skill
Jason Quate in a few words:
- Why are you specialized as a racing mechanic?
At this point I’m focusing on being a tool maker. Working as a race mechanic is still very important to the tool business though. I get a lot of ideas when on the road doing events and hear of the problems other mechanics are coming across with their mix of product. I like to think of it as research and development (R&D)
-When did you see that there was room for more professional tools focused on the competition mechanic? I.e., When did you see the opportunity for creating your own tools and which may have acceptance?
When I made the first Crombie tools people kept telling me how much they loved it but they also told me how well made it was. When they started asking me what other tools I made I realized how much room there was in the market.
-How did you start to make your own line of tools? Did you only do the design work at the beginning and arrange for an outside company to manufacture the product? Or on the contrary, did you invest money in machinery and start the entire process from scratch?
I’ve tried to run away from the bike industry a couple of times. My most successful attempt was doing fabrication work. I learned a lot about making stuff, although only some of it was directly applicable to tool making. I have the ability to make most of our prototypes in house and we do the fabrication for all production tools as well. What we don’t do is the production CNC machining. That’s done by one of a couple of regional vendors.
-How is Abbey Bike Tools growing? Are you maintaining constant production numbers or are you experiencing a growth in the demand of your tools? How many people started this adventure with you and how many people are currently employed in your company?
Growth is steady, almost scary at times. Managing production is definitely a challenge with this growth. We do a pretty good job of keeping SKU’s on the shelf but we run out from time to time. Due to 100% American manufacturing our lead times are much shorter than if we sourced products from Asia. We can make most of our products start to finish in the amount of time they would spend on the boat.
-How well have your tools been received? It seems that Media and users are increasingly interested in them so. Did you expect such success
I’ve been a bit surprised how many tool junkies are out there. It’s easy to get people excited about them weather they are mechanics or not. The media attention has been great over the last two years. I especially like the random shots of them in the tool boxes in the field.
-I suppose that the best test cases are those from your own experience when using your tools in competition. Have you discarded or discontinued certain tools because, after testing, they did not provide the degree of satisfaction that you really wanted?
In some cases I think it’s easier to keep customers happy than it is myself. Abbey is sitting on top of the tool market but we can’t just camp out there. Most of the tools have received running changes in their life cycle. Most of them aren’t things that people would notice but I do. I start with a prototype for myself, then make beta versions for some key customers and United Health Care pro cycling, our only sponsored team. Then we do a small production run for the general public and then scale up from there. Sometimes we can go from an idea to production pretty quickly like with the Gieszler, other times it takes a year plus.
-When you are thinking about making a new tool, do you think of your own needs as a racing mechanic or do you take into consideration the opinions of other mechanics and customers before putting new tools on the market?
Customer feedback is very important to us and we take every request for new tools seriously. Some of them I don’t want to make because it results in cutting a corner that needs to be there. We are currently working on a couple of tools that I honestly don’t think I’ll use personally very often. But due to customer demand we feel there’s a need for them. We try to accommodate race mechanics as much as possible, but they are only part of the market albeit a very important part.
I have seen that there are workshop mechanics who use your tools for daily work not just during races. Do you plan to make a specific line of tools focused on the workshop where it isn't necessary that the tools are very light but it is necessary that they have a high degree of quality?
Anything a race mechanic can use, a shop mechanic can use as well. They are our most demanding customers and if we can make them happy the transition to a work shop tool is pretty simple. The Crombie tool for example has a solid handle that the shop mechanics often prefer and a hollow one for the racing crew. They use the same machined splined ends though so durability isn’t any different between the two.
-As an entrepreneur, when launching a new product, what are the most important steps to guarantee success?
The most important thing to me is the product itself, if it’s dialed and high quality the rest tends to fall into place. That’s the way I see it as a manufacturing company and not a marketing one.
-How do you see Abbey BikeTools growing within a few years?
A lot. I try not to think about it anymore than I halve to though. We’ve got our benchmarks we’re shooting for and that’s about as far ahead as I think about growth.
-What are your goals for the cycling tool sector?
To become the go to choice for professional quality bicycle tools.
-Seeing the success of Abbey Bike Tools, do you think that companies producing shop tools will create a specific line of tools for competition,? Or are these business models too different?
As far as I know we are the only company that’s ever truly catered to that niche in the US. Since Abbey is small it’s easy for use to adapt to the needs of both sides of the market. I think our bigger competitors want to make one tool for everybody and that leaves the race techs wanting.
-What advice would you give to future entrepreneurs who are thinking about their first entrepreneurial adventure?
Ask me in another 5 years.
-How do you see the current situation of the sector?
Bicycles have changed a lot in the last decade. Parts have gotten ever more complicated and precise. It’s a great time to be a rider that’s for sure. But the tools we have at our disposal haven’t grown at the same rate as the rest of the industry. Modern bikes deserve and in some cases require high quality tools. This is the part of the market Abbey is going after, whether it’s a home mechanic with that just wants quality tools to work in his high end bike or the head mechanic for a top World Tour team.
http://www.abbeybiketools.com/
Credit to Angel Garcia
Original Spanish source :
Location: News >> Abbey Bike Tools With Their Own Name
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