Back from Interbike, and VO Imports.com V2.0.

VO Imports just got back from Interbike. There were plenty of not quite bizarre bikes with more utility, a flood of fixies, and a few really cool things to gawk at. Showers Pass jackets too.
Singletrack world found the Bruce Gordon booth and could not stop taking photos either.

VO Imports eschewed a booth this year, for our money would be better spent developing new product for our dealers. Instead, we walked the aisles, scheduling appointments with vendors and shops. Once again, hourly appointments were the mode for Tom! We definitely will be displaying for 2009 though. Some of you have seen the new products for the first time, like our square taper bottom brackets, Randonneur racks, Gran Cru bottle cages, and leather bar wrap. Keeping VO Imports on the DL is not exactly the best marketing campaign. That will change- we will be much more visible next year at Interbike, among other things.

We are also making some changes to our website. After launching www.voimports.com
(V 1.0) in july 2008, we almost immediately outgrew it; the dealer side was adequate and functional, but the back end has been challenging to say the least. I have no real ability to manually add to your orders or create new orders from scratch. The cc payment process is completely manual on my end and unnecessarily complex on your end. The uploading of photos is painfully time consuming, as are the menus with dozens of tabs to input product info. And forget about setting up different BB lengths or handlebar colors. It's great for certain business models, but a wholesale business draws out it's weaknesses.

These are the reasons we are migrating to another intergated shopping cart over the next couple of months. It's addressed all the back end issues that cause my hair to fall out, and the front end is at least as good, if not better in terms of navigation, payment process, cart visibility, etc. The V 2.0 website will have a different look too, from a web designer that has done work with Nike, Moet/Chandon, Diesel, etc. Hopefully you'll like it.

Iin other news, Chris at Velo Orange posted photos of a canvas handlebar bag that fits on any bike with our decaluers. We really want it to be here in time for christmas, but realistically it will land in Annapolis in January. We will have new Crossaint and Baguette bags available in time for the holidays though, and pricing will include dealers.
There's work on 700c and 650b rims, doublewall, silver finish, possibly with eyelets, in 36 and 32 hole versions.
We talked to Sugino, MKS, Pletscher and others with good results.

Expect more from VO Imports in the next few months!