K2 Bike T:Nine Alliance

Thinking outside the bike box – the K2 Bike T:Nine Alliance Team way

As one way of thanking our T:Nine Alliance Team for the passion, thought and time that they dedicate to improving our women’s bicycles, K2 Bike provides them with at least one new bicycle every year.

This year, we simply offered each team member their choice of any model from our 2006 K2 Bike catalog – T:Nine or not.  We asked them to choose a bike that would expand the riding experience for themselves and/or someone they care for.  As if we needed any more proof that our women are exceptional human beings in addition to being great cyclists, here are some of their stories.

• Ali Spain selected a new, top-of-the-line T:Nine Tempest.  However, she didn't replace either the Spire Road or T:Nine Ruby (with child seat) already in her garage, but gave the new bike to her favorite riding partner instead.  Now Teresa can share the fun of being part of the T:Nine Alliance with Ali on every ride they enjoy together.
• At 5’2” tall, Diane Faber represents the shortest member of our Alliance Team.  Therefore, we were shocked when she requested an Extra Large K2 Apache 6.0 full suspension mountain bike!  It turns out that her son’s mountain bike was stolen last year.  Since Diane already has K2 mountain, road and triathlon bikes of her own, she took the opportunity to not only remedy her son’s loss, but hook him up with the best men's mountain bike we make.  Moms rule!
• When we lent a testing sample of the new T:Nine Tempest to Heather Johnston, she wouldn’t give it back.  The improvements we made to our premier road bike for 2006 were so noticeable to her that she favorably compared it to her fully-custom, titanium Hampsten with Campagnolo Record components.  Heather was particularly impressed with the feather-weight American Classic wheels on her new Tempest, so she arranged with us to source another pair for a friend that was looking to shed some weight from her bike.  Our pleasure, Charlene.
• Courtney Coe still owns the basic Trek mountain bike that served as her introduction into the sport of cycling years ago.  Its lack of suspension, heavy weight and less-than-optimal unisex sizing have discouraged her from further exploring the local trails around Seattle and developing new off-road riding skills.  No more, as she will soon be enjoying a new T:Nine Summit, which will provide her with the efficiency of lighter weight, the comfort and control of dual suspension, and the women’s specific fit and function built into every T:Nine model.  Happy trails, Courtney!
• Last, but not least, what bike do you pick when you already own one of every imaginable type?  That’s the dilemma confronting Danielle Crandall, our resident racer and bike collector.  Due to racing team sponsorship obligations, she often needs to ride another brand of bike on weekends, although you’ll often find her logging weekday training miles in the greater Seattle area, riding her Spire Road.  While this story doesn’t yet have an ending, undoubtedly it will be a happy one, and we’ll update you about the details once she decides on her new ride.

I’m tall enough that I fit on many unisex and men’s bike designs pretty well. Why should I consider a T:Nine women’s bike?

The three keystones to every K2 T:Nine bicycle design are fit, performance and aesthetics that are we feel are more appropriate for women riders.  While many riders may find an acceptable fit on bikes not designed specifically for women, our T:Nine models offer a number of weight, comfort, ride quality and visual appeal advantages over traditional designs.  Here are a few examples why.

Weight

Unisex and men’s bikes are designed with more material to safely carry loads far greater than models designed specifically with lighter women riders in mind.  Why spend more effort carrying this extra weight up hills than you need to?

Comfort

In addition to excess strength, men’s and unisex frames are usually stiffer than a well-executed women’s design, to resist taller, more muscular average riders.  Extra, unwanted stiffness results in less control over rough surfaces and more rider fatigue over longer distances.

Ride Quality – Mountain Bikes

Proper tuning of the suspension is key to increased comfort, control and confidence when riding off-road.  A typical men’s or unisex bike is likely to use stiff springs designed to support male riders that are 20-40% heavier than women of similar heights.  Women riders rarely experience the same quality of suspension performance on men’s bikes, and almost never benefit from the full quantity of suspension available.

Ride Quality – Road Bikes

For road bikes, women can often switch to a shorter stem on a men’s bike and approach a good fit, but this inevitably compromises performance.  The shorter the stem, the twitchier the steering will feel, resulting in a less stable handling and increased rider fatigue over long distances.  T:Nine road bikes are designed with special forks that allow the frame to be designed for appropriate reach with a standard length stem, ensuring consistent, reliable steering.

Visual Appeal

Many men’s and unisex bicycles approach the looks of racing cars, with wildly contrasting colors, sharp transitions between hues and blatant, billboard-like graphics.  K2 T:Nine bicycles are styled to blend, not offend.  We use complimentary colors that fade across long transitions, with subtle graphics that disappear into the paint at the edges.

In some cases this subtlety may mean that it may be difficult to determine at a quick glance what brand of bike you’re riding, but that’s OK with us.  We’re confident that you’ll love the way your T:Nine bike weighs, feels, performs and looks so much that all of your friends will eventually hear about it.

It doesn’t seem like there’s a T:Nine bicycle that sells for more than $2,000. Why don’t you offer any high-end models for real cycling enthusiasts?

The accomplished cyclists that make up our T:Nine Alliance Team own many other brands of bikes, including Trek, Hampsten, Bianchi, Seven and many others.  While we do outfit them with K2 T:Nine bikes at reduced or no cost, we do not pay them to ride our bicycles, nor do we prevent them from riding other brands for any reason.

Despite the high-end hardware that graces their garages, our Alliance Team chooses their T:Nine bikes more often than not.  Why?

Even for serious cycling enthusiasts, not every ride is a race to be run at ten-tenths effort.  When you own a T:Nine road bike that’s noticeably more relaxing and rewarding to ride than a $5,000 race-day rocket, yet weighs only about 5% more, then you simply end up riding it more often than your other bikes.

Also, who says that cycling enthusiasts can’t enjoy less serious bicycles?  Have you ever come home with less than an hour left before dark and decided to skip today’s ride because it will take you too long to get dressed and geared up for a “serious” ride?  Why not just jump on a T:Nine Breeze that’s comfortable and convenient to ride in street clothes and explore your neighborhood?  Owning a more accessible bike helps even the most die-hard cycling enthusiast enjoy riding more often.

Does this mean that we will never offer a T:Nine bicycle model more expensive than $2,000?  Eventually we may.  However, we will only do so when our Alliance Team feels that we can offer unique and compelling T:Nine technology that provides distinctly higher performance specifically for women riders.  We won't simply specify more expensive parts on our existing frame designs to create a marginally higher performance, yet significantly more expensive model.

At K2 Bike, while we all love the feeling of speed on two wheels, we prefer to measure performance in smiles per hour.  We feel that in this regard, our T:Nine bikes are the highest performance women’s-specific models available at any price.

Nokia L'Amour Mobile Phone Collection

Hello, T:Nine Alliance!

My wife, Anya, is always on the lookout for new women's specific products that break the mold of traditional "pink it and shrink it" design, and more closely approach our core T:Nine design values.

On a recent trip home to Russia to visit her family, she discovered an interesting new series of mobile phones by Nokia.  Their L'Amour collection of phones is beautifully detailed, with subtle color accents, non-traditional textures and size/shape combinations unique to this series.

Some of the graphic elements on the phones are related in theme to those developed by our Alliance Team for our 2006 T:Nine bicycles.  The color scheme, with the exception of their added orange accent color, is strikingly similar to one we selected for the 2006 T:Nine Twister road bike.

In addition to offering these distinctly different phones (including an entry-level model not available in the USA) their matching web site design is equally flowing, organic and interesting in its own right.  Explore it on your own, and let us know what you think.

http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/fashion/lamour/1,8514,,00.html

Best Regards,

T.K. Malone

3-6-06

still in Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

Question authenticity! We do it every day when developing new T:Nine designs

Dictionaries define the word authentic as meaning true, genuine, valid, dependable, faithful and real.  Authentic products are often promised by brands in today’s world, but it’s all too common to see these promises broken in the relentless pursuit of profits.

People passionate about their beliefs know true authenticity when they see it.  To these folks, no amount of marketing can substitute for trust that's been earned through offering reliable products that remain consistent with their core values over time.  K2 Bike’s organization and our Alliance Team are such passionate people, dedicated to improving the cycling experience for women through our actions.

While other bike brands had produced women’s-specific models before us, our development group and Alliance Team agreed that we could provide a uniquely different, completely separate and naturally authentic women’s line that embodies the following key concepts:

• Select unique names for our distinctive women’s bicycles, not just recycle traditional names from men’s or unisex models and call them women’s-specific
• Choose new, vibrant colors which women felt strongly about, not fall back on hues that had traditionally sold well on step-through framed versions of existing bikes marketed as ladies' designs
• Design stand-alone aesthetics with gradual color transitions and subtle graphic elements that break the bike industry clichés of hard-edged, high-contrast, blocky, billboard style colors and graphics
• Offer a wide range of bicycles that suit many womens’ budgets, riding styles, abilities and ambitions, not just a few models at high price points for elite riders
• Develop new, exceptional frame designs that offer high-performance features appropriate to women instead of accepting design elements from existing men's or unisex models
• Design proprietary women's fit-related dimensions according to a library of data from custom fitting sessions with a group of cyclists of many ages, heights and riding styles
• Pick specific components in coordination with the frame design process to properly suit lighter, smaller riders, not just add "women's" parts arbitrarily after the fact
• Make conscious choices to ensure that our bikes are more fun to choose, ride and own, and that safety and convenience are not compromised to achieve these goals
• Reserve the T:Nine brand name exclusively for bicycles that fulfill all of the closely held values of the Alliance, including every one of the above concepts

We want our Alliance to grow into a diverse community of women cyclists that fosters spirited discussions, sponsors incredible events and creates inspiring products that both enhance the cycling experience and make it accessible to more women around the world.

In order to succeed in this goal, it’s important that you understand what we feel is appropriate for women’s bicycles, and can trust that we’ll always act consistently with these beliefs.  That’s what authenticity means to us, and why we’re so serious about your fun!

Where did the K2 Bike T:Nine Alliance concept come from?

Five years ago, the K2 Ski group gave birth to an idea that has changed the way that women’s sporting goods are developed.  Right from the start, K2 T:Nine products delivered on the promise of outdoor sporting goods that are:

• Designed specifically to fit women, engendering a better sense of confidence and control
• Tuned to provide more performance and comfort for female athletes, helping them build skills and progress in their sport
• Styled to excite the senses with distinctly different shapes, colors, textures and evocative names

How did they manage to achieve these goals from the start, build upon their successes in every year since, and continue to stay true to the T:Nine concept's core values even today?

They carefully selected a K2 Ski Alliance Team – five unique female personalities from a wide variety of ages, sizes, backgrounds, abilities and interests with two key traits in common: they were all women who truly love the sport of skiing.  These women both drive the product development process and help communicate the T:Nine story to the public.

In the years since, the K2 T:Nine ski collection has grown into the best-selling line of women's products in the fastest growing market segment in their industry.  Skiing enthusiasts around the world now enjoy the benefits of T:Nine skis, bindings, poles, goggles and helmets that are faithfully developed by women, for women.

Inspired by their achievements, in 2004 K2 Bike started our own T:Nine initiative to develop a completely separate line of bicycles for women outdoor enthusiasts.  We brought together our own Alliance Team to help us foster the growth of this new venture, and got right to work.

Later that year, we introduced the very first T:Nine bicycle collection, a complete and separate line of women's K2 bicycles for 2005 that honored the high standards established before us by our skiing sisters.

What does T:Nine stand for, anyway?

In 1972, the United States Congress passed Title IX legislation that mandated equal funding for women’s athletics at this country’s colleges and universities.

Inspired by the eventual Title Nine law's spirit of “equal, but different” support for female athletes, K2 Sports introduced its first T:Nine alpine ski line in 2002.  Since then, this empowering women’s outdoor sports initiative has grown to also include telemark skis, ski poles, ski helmets, ski goggles, in-line skates, and bicycles.

Across the many products offered under the K2 brand, T:Nine more specifically stands for authentic sporting goods that meet the unique needs and desires of women.  This authenticity is ensured in each category by an Alliance Team of women that not only directly guides the development of the product line, but also actively participates in bringing their message to the public.

An interesting note: the K2 Snowboarding group also relies on an Alliance Team to guide their women's product development process, but chooses not to use the T:Nine name.  Many snowboarders apparently feel that Title IX’s connection with organized team athletics runs counter to the individual spirit of their sport.

To learn more about the wide variety of K2 products built to help women better enjoy their outdoor experiences, visit the K2 Women website using the following link.

http://www.k2women.com/default.asp

Welcome to the K2 Bike T:Nine Alliance!

Since we planted the seeds for our T:Nine women’s cycling initiative over two years ago, its growth has been nothing short of amazing.  We were open to hearing all of our Alliance Team’s ideas of what women wanted in their new bikes, and trusted them enough to follow through on the unique concepts they inspired.

Now, we’re ready to begin an exciting new chapter in the life of our Alliance, and we’d like to invite you to come along and enjoy the ride.  Within our expanded T:Nine Alliance community, we’ll continue to honor the spirit of openness and trust that has been the source of our group’s successes to date.  How, you might ask?

• Openness – Until now, the development of our T:Nine program has been rather exclusive, centered around K2 Bike’s development group and our five member T:Nine Alliance Team.  We now realize that in order to more completely achieve our goals and better reflect the desires of all women cyclists, we need to listen to everyone who feels passionately about women's cycling.  So, whether you own a K2 bicycle, one from another brand, have a collection of two-wheelers that has chased the cars out of your garage, or are simply interested in making sure that your first bike is the right one for you, you’re welcome to join our Alliance.
• Trust – In my very first message to you, I confess that I am a man, not a woman.  Whew, there, I said it!
• Openness – However, I suspect that the members of our T:Nine Alliance Team would tell you that I am passionately dedicated to improving the cycling experience for women, and that I really do listen to how they feel we can accomplish that goal.  I wouldn’t be asking for your help if I didn’t intend to treat you the same way.
• Trust – We highly respect your privacy.  You can trust that we will always keep any personal information you share personal – just between us – unless we have your express permission to share it with the greater Alliance group or other trusted partners.
• Openness – We are sincerely interested in listening to and learning from our Alliance members.  Not only will we not censor or delete discussion and possible recommendation of products that compete with ours, we will consider it an opportunity for us to learn how we can improve our bikes and the entire T:Nine initiative.
• Trust – Everyone and every organization makes mistakes.  We recognize that we’re not perfect, but we are committed to making good on every promise that we make.  If you feel that we aren’t living up to what we've said, I want to hear about it from you.
• Openness – If you feel strongly enough about any issue related to our T:Nine bicycles to make time within your busy life to write me an e-mail, I will personally read it.  I can't promise a reply to every email, but your feedback will be considered as we’re charting the future course of the K2 Bike T:Nine women's cycling initiative.  My work e-mail address is tkatworldwidecyclesupplydotcom.  Just substitute the appropriate “@” and “.” characters, and as a member of our Alliance, you’ll have the direct connection you need to effect positive change.

So, consider our little place on the Internet officially open.  We trust you’ll find the information shared within our group both educational and entertaining.  Join our Alliance today, and make yourself at home!

Thank you,

T.K. Malone

3-6-06

currently in Taipei, Taiwan ROC