Tag Archives: redwood city

“That’s not us. Really. Different company 5,000 miles away.”

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ChainReactionCycles is not the same company as Chain Reaction Bicycles in Northern California! Chain Reaction Cycles is an on-line operation in Northern Ireland.Chain Reaction Bicycles began in February, 1980. We were the first with that name, but didn’t go the effort of protecting it, other than making sure it was clear that we were in fact the first, and that we were also the first to use it in interstate commerce. This became important a couple decades ago, when someone in North Carolina actually sent legal paperwork to us demanding that we cease & desist using the name and give up our website to them. I learned a lot about trademark law in a very short period of time and showed them the error of their ways.

Flash-forward a dozen years or so, with the ‘net a strongly international presence, and traditional barriers to shipping product across national borders rapidly being ignored or removed. A very large on-line mail-order operation in Northern Ireland took up almost the same name as us, ChainReactionCycles (instead of ChainReactionBicycles or just ChainReaction, the two names we “own” on the ‘net). They have a marketing budget that’s larger than the total sales of most bicycle shops, spending so much money on Google paid advertising that people looking for us often find them. And think they’re us, because you really have to dig to discover they’re not in the US, and everything on their site displays in US dollars.

As a result, we get weekly, sometimes daily, once in a while a couple times daily phone calls asking “Where is my order” and we have to go to some degree of trouble to make sure it isn’t actually us (we don’t ship anything but we do take orders through our own website). “Does the website have a Black & Orange background, or Blue & White? Ours is Black & Orange. Doesn’t matter, we still get quite a few insisting that it’s our shop, and where the #$^#&(@ is their order???

If you order from www.ChainReaction.com or www.ChainReactionBicycles.com, that’s us. Anything else is not. Of course, the people who need to know this aren’t reading it, because they’re on the wrong website. 🙂 –Mike–

Reality Distortion Field hits Chain Reaction!

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You’re looking at a work-in-progress; our Redwood City remodel project began with ambitious plans & goals almost exactly a year ago, with little bits & pieces falling into place… until now. It’s wholesale destruction and reconstruction, and through it all, we’re attempting to remain open & functional.

The process is both lengthy and fast at the same time. It’s amazing, given the scope of the project, that it will all be done by the end of next week. That’s roughly a week longer than the initial timetable (two weeks of the “heavy” stuff will actually become three) but faster than any estimate I’d come up with on my own. Yes, little glitches here and there (like our vault door… what to do with it? The flooring won’t fit underneath, and it weighs more than a big truck so it’s not like we can lift it out!), but progress is sure and steady. That’s from my perspective. I’m sure Tim, the guy from Trek Retail Services division who’s in charge of things, sees things differently. He probably gets to spend far too much time focusing on things that aren’t going according to plan and doesn’t think about stepping back for a second and saying wow, this is pretty awesome. As a business owner, I can relate to that!

So for now, Tim, James & Brian, kick us out of the way when you need room, grab us when you need help, and thank you for lending your talents to a shop desperately in need of them! –Mike Jacoubowsky, Partner, Chain Reaction Bicycles