Winning With Williams

Williams sponsored professional Team Mountain Khakis/SmartStop dominated the opening race of the USA Crits Championship Series. The six man squad came out swinging in the 80k elite race, and with 13 laps to go TMK/SS rider Ben Zawacki lapped the field with two others. Team Mountain Khakis immediately took the race by the horns and laid down a fiery 12 lap leadout that delivered Ben cleanly to the line for a big win. This strong team effort not only helped Ben take the "W", but also scored the boys enough points to secure the lead in the Team Competition. You can read the full race report at CyclingNews and VeloNews, and see race video here (go to 4:30).

Ben had great legs at Delray, but he was riding with the strength of six men. His win was the result of a strong team effort, and that kind of cohesion and team spirit is is going to carry this team to great things in 2012. We look forward to seeing more big results from the team, and if you're on the west coast you can go see the action in person. This coming weekend the squad will be split between round two of the USA Crits in Tuscon, AZ and the San Dimas Stage Race in California before heading off to more California races. We plan to be out at Redlands to cheer the team on, get feedback on our new components, and showcase the new gear. So if you're in the neighborhood be sure to check out the team and come say hi.

Back to the Future

We're getting ready to head to Taiwan (for the second time in six months) to attend the 2012 Taipei International Cycle Show. This is ground zero for innovation. It's the show where manufacturers display their latest and greatest products to showcase the new technologies that will later be adopted by the big brands. This stuff is so cutting edge that the products on display this year in Taipei will only make their way into the market in the 2014 product line. That is, unless you're Williams Cycling.

There are five floors of expo, and this is just one corner of one of them.

One of the best parts of being a smaller, more agile company is that we're not tied to the traditional product year cycle. We don't update our products every year just to say that we have. When we have a design that performs we stick by it until something better comes along. And when it does, we don't have to wait two years to introduce it. We have both the freedom and the resources to pounce on the best new technology as soon as it's proven.

So we're heading to Taipei with open minds and suitcases full of excitement. We have some ambitious goals for the future of this company, and we already have big new projects under way, but you never know what wild new tech is out there that might push our products to a whole new level.

We'll do our best to post some highlights from the show, so stay tuned and be sure to check out our facebook, and youtube.

UCI Professional Team Mountain Khakis/SmartStop to Ride Williams Components

We're proud to announce that UCI Continental Team Mountain Khakis/SmartStop has chosen to ride Williams components for the 2012 season. Team Mountain Khakis/SmartStop is one of the most successful teams on the North American criterium circuit having claimed three individual Championships in the USA Crits Series as well as taking the team title every year from 2008 to 2011. This year in addition to the USA Crits Series Team MK/SS will set its sights on the new National Criterium Calendar, a collection of the biggest, fastest bike races in the country.

Travis Livermon of Team MK/SS takes the win on Williams ACS Components

Mountain Khakis/SmartStop has chosen to race on the Maxim ACS handlebars and Legions ACS stems, because of their stiffness, durability, and light weight construction. The boys have been busy getting their new rigs specced out with Williams components, and they finally got a chance to break out the new toys this past weekend at the 9th Street Derby Criterium in Durham, NC. We're thrilled to report that Travis Livermon had the honor of taking the first win on the new Williams ACS bar/stem combo. Travis and teammate Neil Bezdek initiated a three man breakaway and stayed clear of the field to top the podium with a 1-2 finish (full report here). We know that this win is just a small taste of results to come and we're excited to see all the great things this team accomplishes in 2012.

We're proud to be working with such a strong professional program. We look forward to providing Team Moutain Khakis/SmartStop with the components they need to win, and using their input to help improve and refine our designs so we can continue to offer the best products in cycling.

Understanding Sponsorship in Professional Cycling

Williams Cycling will no longer be the wheel sponsor for Team Exergy in 2012. “But wait!” you’re saying, “don’t you totally love those guys? Don’t they love you? Didn’t they love your wheels?” The answer to all those questions is yes. We think Team Exergy is awesome. The whole program, riders and management included, are some of the most talented and most professional in the cycling world, and on top of that they’re all great guys. And not to toot our own horn, but they were pretty happy with us too. We had a great sponsor relationship with them, and we like to think we made a whole bunch of new Idaho friends.

As to our wheels, well, you can ask them. Exergy riders were over the moon about the performance of our wheels, and their durability was pretty much unmatched in the pro peloton. Out of 72 wheels that Team Exergy raced and trained on there were only two that needed to be rebuilt, both as the result of crashes, including the infamous cattle guard crash from the USPRO Cycling Challenge. Freddie Rodriguez, who has raced on a few wheels in his time, said they were the most durable wheels he has ever raced. Booyah.

So why, given all that, did Williams and Exergy decide to go separate ways in 2012? To answer that we’ll have to take you deep inside the inner workings of the bike industry and sponsor relations.

Now Williams has been, until very recently, strictly a wheel company. We’re branching out into some very cool components, but we don’t and won’t offer a groupset (the shifters, derailleurs, etc.) In fact, there are only a handful of massive companies that control that business, such as Shimano, SRAM, and FSA. Now it just so happens that those companies also make wheels. No big deal for Williams. We make incredible wheels and our direct to consumer model allows us to sell them at great prices. We like a little healthy competition with the big boys, and it’s fun to be a nimble aggressive player in the industry, it’s fun to play out the little David vs Goliath scenario.

But issues arise when these big companies go out to sponsor teams. You see, when they sponsor a team they don’t want to just supply one product, like shifters, they want to do the complete package. It’s a better marketing story for them if they have all their products on a team bike. That way they can say “this team has chosen to ride not only our groupset, but also our bars, stems, seatposts, and wheels.” The problem is that it’s not always a “choice”. Because these few large companies are the only sources for components they can say, if you want our groupset you have to ride all our other products as well.

Now Team Exergy is a powerhouse team with big ambition. They’ve had a stellar debut season and they want to continue to grow. That means more riders, more races and a split schedule, which means they need a ton of equipment, possibly as much as 60 complete bicycles. Because of this growth, and plans for even more growth in the future, Team Exergy needed to cultivate a relationship with a groupset manufacturer, and every one that they talked to insisted that if Exergy was going to ride their components, they’d need to ride their wheels as well.  

So that’s that. Team Exergy had to make a tough choice in order to help grow their team and Williams got squeezed out. But there’s no bad blood here. Quite the opposite, in fact. We got to spend a year working with a great team, road testing our wheels, getting feedback from professionals, and showcasing our products in world class races, and Team Exergy got to ride and race on some of the best wheels in the world. We parted on great terms and we wish them all the best in the future. Who knows, maybe we’ll get a chance to work together again somewhere down the road.

Have You Heard of a Little Thing Called Triathlon?

Here at Williams cycling we've had the blinders on. We've been so focused on road racing, because of our great success at the professional level with Team Exergy and because of our own backgrounds in the sport, that we've neglected an entire community of talented and passionate cyclists: triathletes. 

Triathlon is an impressive sport for a number of reasons not least of which is its incredible popularity. It is one of the fastest growing sports in America, and hundreds of thousands of people compete in US triathlons every year. The participants themselves are special too. They vary in age from children to people 80+ years old, and while some use triathlon simply to stay healthy, the top triathletes are some of the most impressive athletes in the world.

Top triathletes train with laser focus and unmatched dedication, so that when they compete they can endure outrageous suffering and push themselves to the limits of human ability in their pursuit of success. It's crazy.

At their highest levels road racing and triathlon require similar sacrifices: the dedication, the willingness to suffer, the incredible physical and mental demands. But beyond this, road racers and triathletes share a need that is greatly important to us here at Williams, both demand dependable, high performance bicycle components. 

One of our big goals here at Williams for 2012 is to make a big push into triathlon. We want to encourage all triathletes, from the beginner, to the age grouper, to the professional, to learn about how our products can improve their performance, and we want to learn from them about how we can design future products to better suit the tri community.

Part of our strategy for this is to work directly with professional triathletes. These elite athletes will be our ambassadors to the sport, and will work closely with us as we refine our designs and continue to innovate so that Williams can offer the best possible products. With that, I'm excited to announce our first signing to what will be a solid list of professional triathletes, Kyle Leto. 

Kyle is a bright young star in the sport of Triathlon. Kyle was the USAT Rookie of the Year in 2009 and he's only gotten better since then. 2011 was a breakout year for Kyle, which saw him finish the season with an impressive 10 top ten finishes. Included among those was a stunning 5th place at Vineman 70.3 where Kyle bested many of the stars of the sport including Matty Reed, Chris and Matt Lieto and former World Champion Tim O'Donnell. 

For 2012 Kyle has put the day job on hold and will focus 100% on triathlon. We believe that this new, extra time to train combined with Kyle's existing determination and natural talent will launch him into the highest levels of the sport. We're proud to have Kyle as a sponsored athlete, and we look forward to helping him achieve true greatness in triathlon.

Come on, be Social!

It's fun to have a cycling company. Everyone who works here at Williams loves to ride, and if we're not in the office making the magic happen we're out riding, racing or slashing up trails. It's cool that our passion is our work, and it's fun to have sweet gear and the time to ride it. But the best part of working at a cycling company is that we make products that people ride on, race on, and win on.

It's a fun and challenging process to design and create products that we believe in, but it's you, the rider, that really makes them special. A wheelset is just so much engineered carbon until it makes its way to you, and that's when the magic happens. When you pull a set of our wheels out of the box for the first time, put them on your bike, and go for a ride those wheels go from being a part on a bike to being a part of a story: your story.

Whether you use our wheels to hammer on the local group ride, explore new scenic routes, or compete in an NRC stage race we're part of your adventure, and we want to hear about it. Nothing makes us happier than seeing our products put to good use, so we want to encourage you to head on over to our Facebook page to post photos and videos and tell us about how our products are playing a part in your riding and racing.

And, in case you needed a little extra motivation, if you like our Facebook page by Friday Nov. 4th you'll be entered to win a set of Williams Cyclocross wheels. Pretty sweet, huh?

But while you're over there liking our page to win wheels, why not post a picture or two? It doesn't matter if it's a photo of your victory salute at an NRC crit, a great vista at the summit of a climb or just how slick our wheels look on your rig, we love it all. So come on, be social, and let us know how we're part of your story.

Back in the Saddle

Our product manager, Ryan, spent the last year racing on the road professionally in Europe. After a long off-season and a big transition into the working world he finally kitted up and pinned on a number again. Ryan took the Williamsmobile up to the Wednesday night Folsom Rodeo Cross and he has this report:

Oh baby! I've been off the bike for almost two months now enjoying life's finer pleasures. It's the little things like having the arm strength to go surfing, training my legs with dance marathons instead of riding, and powering through bacon themed meals. Yes, life has been good, but I can't fight it, I'm addicted to the bike. And it's time to relapse.

So even though I've only done one real ride since I got back from England I decided to kit up and tackle one of the famed Folsom Rodeo Cross races. Alas, I was woefully unprepared. I hadn't touched my rig since I raced in Portland last December and it was rusted and crusted so badly it was almost impossible to tell that it was a bicycle. But one of the perks of working for a cycling company is that we have a professional mechanic in house. Booyah!

Dr. J. stripped down my bike so far it would make an exotic dancer blush, cleaned and lubed it top to bottom and then returned it to it's original, shimmering glory. Plus, my Banshee got a set of brand new Williams Cyclocross Tubulars with some sweet new tires to complete the look.

So we packed up the rig and headed north through the Central Valley, picking up cycling misfits along the way. First stop was to collect Bobby T., the 14 year old prodigy that Josh is mentoring. The only thing faster than his riding is his mouth. Robert is roughly half my size and every bit as fast, so if you crunch the numbers that makes him twice as cool as I am. Curses.

Stop number two was to nab Chris "The Staz" Stastny, aka the "Czech Dream". Chris is a total crusher who races for the famed Cal Giant squad, and I don't want to give away the ending, but he used his Tour of China fitness to humiliate the Men's Asfield. 

The true question of the night was not who would win the Men's A race, but who would triumph in the Bobby T./Parnes battle royale. We both had the benefit of a professional pit crew (love ya, Joshy), and we were both rocking Williams Cyclocross wheels. But while Bobby T. is faster and more technically adept, he has to take about 8 steps in between barriers where I only need one, graceful leap. It would prove to be a tight race.

At this point I have to say a few words about Folsom Rodeo Cyclocross. These guys do an amazing job of putting on a fun, low key event that is laid back enough that anyone can come try a race, but well organized enough to attract serious racers. Plus, the course was probably the coolest I've ever raced. It combined gravel pits, pitch black barriers and the sweetest, technical singletrack chaos you've ever seen, all twisting through a forest. At night. Awesome! Toss in some costumed superheroes and a raucous crowd and you have the perfect evening of cyclocross.

 In the end I managed to eek one out over Bobby T., mostly because some huge guy crashed him out hard, to the accompanying shouts of "DUDE! You just crashed out a junior!!" Plus, I may be out of shape, but switching over to those Cyclocross Tubulars made a HUGE difference in my technical skills. I'm usually your typical roady when I race cross: foot down going about 4MPH through the turns. Not last night. I felt like I was glued to the ground, so even though I was so cracked I could barely pedal I could hold every ounce of my paltry speed through the corners.

Chris won, I fauxdiumed, Bobby T. hung tough with guys twice his age and size, and Dr. J got free beer and handed up the entire contents of my wallet to excited racers. Top that off with a burrito stop on the way home and you have darn near the best night ever.

I know where I'll be next Wednesday night, and if you live within two hours of Folsom you should be there too. And with any luck we'll drag the boss out there next week and then we'll really have some good material for this blog!

Time to Get Dirty

I hope you enjoyed your one week off-season, because cyclocross season has arrived. Okay, technically the season kicked off two weeks ago at CrossVegas, and lots of people around the country and the world have been ripping the CX for quite some time already. But we thought it would be unfair to start the new 'cross season before we'd officially crowned Rand Miller the king of the crits. Now that that's out of the way we can prepare for one of our favorite parts of the year: cyclocross season!

But let's back up. Some of you might be wondering what all this cyclocross nonsense is about. I've heard all sorts of questions from people who aren't yet acquainted with the sport: "Isn't that like road racing on an obstacle course, but with fatter tires? Don't people crash, like all the time? Do you have to drink beer to participate?" Well, the answers are yes, yes, and no (though it's recommended). Think of cyclocross as the love child of road racing and mountain biking. You ride a basically unmodified road bike, except it has cantilever brakes to allow for wider knobbier tires (see video below). You then take aforementioned bike and do your best to navigate a course combining grass, dirt, mud, sand and any combination of low barriers and steep "run-ups" that require you to dismount and carry your bike. It's about the most fun you can have on two wheels.

Williams Cycling President Keith "K$" Williams gettin' after it!

Part of the beauty of 'cross is the scene that surrounds it. While there is a well developed pro circuit featuring gifted athletes competing all over the world, cyclocross still has a decidedly underground feel here in the US. People seem way more concerned with having a good time than with winning, and most races are accompanied by a festival atmosphere. Spectators bring picnics or snack on vendor food. They down brews and shout encouragement or dish out good-natured heckling, and you see racers in costumes ranging from pink tutus to full Batman outfits. The beauty of 'cross is that it's such a fun scene for everyone involved, and that goes just as much for the spectators as it does for the racers.

Ryan and Phil reppin the "W"

Cyclocross has been blowing up around the country over the last few years and it doesn't look like that growth is slowing. We've gone from having a couple of regional series to a massive structure with the national USGP at the top, a number of strong regional series and countless local series and races sprouting like weeds all over the country. This virtually guarantees there's a good race near you sometime soon, and you owe it to yourself to go check it out. 

As for us over here at Williams Cycling we could not be more stoked. We're within easy distance of both the Sacramento Cyclocross Series and the Bay Area Super Prestige series, which should provide us with ample opportunities to slip, slide and crash our way around a race and consume our weight in frites and beer. We're keyed up, and you should be to. And if you're looking for a set of bomb-proof cross specific wheels you should listen to what our president Keith has to say about our redesigned 2011 Alloy Cyclocross Tubulars:

There is Justice in the Universe

Take a moment and drink this in...

Rand Miller

2011 California State Criterium Champion

© Eye Times Photography, Étienne Fontan

Anyone who's ever been to a bike race in NorCal (and a lot of people who haven't) know Rand from his, shall I say, effusive cheering, his ridiculous blog, and his no-holds-barred racing style. Rand attacks so much that we've considered asking Webcor to get him a custom red jersey, because the odds are no matter what race he's at he'll be the most combative rider. Rand is not satisfied until a race has been blown to peices, and no NorCal breakaway is complete without him. 

Sometimes his unbridled aggression on the bike can shout down his more strategic inclinations, and while most would be thrilled to have raged their way onto the podium on dozens of occasions, Rand only has eyes for the top step. This past Sunday he ascended to it.

Battling a stacked field that included former Criterium National Champion Rahsaan Bahati, the Cuban Missile Ivan Dominguez, and dozens of other pros, mercenaries and hitmen, Rand blasted out of the field with 8 laps to go and never looked back. There is no feeling more satisfying in cycling than crossing the line with arms aloft in victory, and to have the field battling for second behind you in soft focus is icing on the cake. 

Rand Miller has been a Williams Sponsored Athlete for years now, and we're proud to support such a bright and talented rider, and all around great guy. We're pleased as punch over here at Williams Cycling that our wheels rolled across that line first, but we may have had an even larger impact on Rand's race. 

It turns out our very own Josh Geiszler was over at the race doing neutral support and he had the magic touch.

Rand didn't have anything wrong with his bike, so in lieu of any repairs Josh lovingly caressed it for a few minutes and then sent Rand on his way. Needless to say Josh called it, and Rand snatched the crowd prime on the way to launching his winning attack. To me this feat of bike magic is almost as impressive as the win itself, and we're considering hiring Josh out to pet contender's bikes before championship events. 

But even if you can't afford to hire Josh for your next race think about tossing on some Williams wheels. I mean, hey, they're the wheel of choice for Rand Miller, PhD Chemist, blogger extraordinaire and the 2011 State Criterium Champion. Congrats Rand!

It's On!

Operation Interbike was a resounding success. We spent three full days (no sleeping allowed in Vegas) learning about the newest technology, meeting with suppliers, brainstorming super secret new projects and high fiving cycling celebrities. We managed to finely hone our plans for the future and we had a darn good time doing it.

For those of you who have never been to Interbike, imagine going to a cycling decathlon that had events for road, tri, TT, mountain bike, commuters and every other two wheeled contraption. Now picture that event being held in a football stadium and everybody from the stands storming the field. That is Interbike. It is a crazy hodgepodge of everything bike related from the biggest brands to the smallest garage inventors with thousands and thousands of gawkers thrown in the mix. When I say you can find anything, I mean it. Josh even found the future of helmet technology:

Now, we did a ton of work while we were in Vegas. We perused all kinds of cutting edge technology, had long meetings, and spent hours and hours focusing our plans for a record breaking 2012 season. But who wants to see photos of meetings? Not me. So instead I thought I'd post a few pics of the in between times, those wonderful interludes between business deals that make Interbike so cool.

First up: Crossvegas. This is the kickoff event to the world cyclocross calendar, and as such it draws some amazing talent from all over the globe. It's a treat to watch the best riders in the world smash each other up under the lights, and the atmosphere is electric!

We even had time to enjoy an adult beverage during the race. There's an industry race before the main event and you're likely to see these three gents wobbling around it next year.

You would not believe who we ran into in front of the hotel! The King himself, Mr. Elvis Presley. That guy is pretty frisky for 76.

 We saw some great racing, cool new products and famous celebs, but the highlight of the trip had to be the Team Exergy 2012 Launch Party, hosted at the lush Marquee Nightclub in the brand new Cosmopolitan Hotel. Ryan did his best to eat his weight in Kobe beef sliders, and we all availed ourselves of the open bar, but the only person truly prepared to get the most out of the evening was Josh "Dr. J" Geiszler. Baby blue shirt, euro boots, stunna shades and cosmo in hand this man did the company proud by absolutely lighting the dance floor on fire. Not even highly conditioned pro athletes could keep up.

It was fun to celebrate a successful season and a good partnership with Team Exergy. They've proven Williams wheels can perform at the highest levels of cycling and carry riders to victory along the way. 

We're back in Stockton now, with our noses to the grindstone and our eyes on the prize. We have plans to take Williams Cycling to the next level and the new tech we drop on you over the next few months is going to blow you away. So stay tuned...