Propel closed for test-rides - online and phone orders only

[Chris Nolte]

Hey All,

When I got back from Iraq, many people asked me what war was like. It’s a little like this. Little contact with others and loved ones, it can bring out the extreme best and worst in people. Overall it’s challenging, disorienting and scary. We can and will get through this

I’m fortunate to know many of you on this forum very well. I wanted to post this here to get some feedback from the wealth of experience which exsists here. I have learned so much from this community over the past 7 years I’ve been participating in these forums and I’m sure I will continue to do so.

I recently made the decision to close our store for test rides and we will only be open for online and phone orders until the foreseeable future. As many of you know we have two stores, one in Brooklyn NY and one in Long Beach CA. The cases in NY have been increasing dramatically and California isn’t too far behind. Both states have a form of lock down in place, but our businesses are considered essential so we are trying to act accordingly. We are well within our rights to keep the stores open for test rides, but given the lack of understanding, information and resources to deal with this situation I don’t think it’s a smart move. Sure there are methods to limit contact and the spread, but it seems that being open to online and phone sales only would be the best way to limit contact while still serving the community, keeping my employees employed and keep the business alive to see this through.

We will still support our customers with important service and repairs in a very cautious way. We will attempt to assist in directing our customers how to repair their own bikes and I plan to create and publish more resources on how to perform the many tasks which are common.

I think we all have a responsibility to do not just what we are asked to do, but to do what we can do to help the spread and help to others stay safe and sane. We have a long road ahead and we’re all going to have to prepare some major changes.

If any of you have any feedback on this I would be really grateful to have it, good or bad. As I said many times before, there are many very smart and wise people on this forum with more foresight and experience than me. I always appreciate hearing other perspectives.

Please stay safe and sane.

PS. If you’re freaking out or having challenges coping I have found it really helpful to think of others. Call a friend or family member and ask them about themselves. Caring for others is a good way to get out of feeling bad for ourselves and our situation. We all need to remain positive to get through this.

 

[J.R.]

I think you are making the wise move. Forums like this can be very helpful in making repairs and doing maintenance. The collective knowledge here will help people in need.

 

[Chris Nolte]

Thanks J.R. these forums are definitely a great resource. Court really built an amazing thing here.

 

[Chris Nolte]

One Swiss e-bike shop near me is continuing to service bikes. It’s only being done via appointment. Customers aren’t allowed in the shop. They deposit their bikes and talk to the mechanic outside. The service itself is handled by a single person. Incidentally, this shop also sells R&M bikes.

Great feedback. This is the way I plan to work with our local customers. This should only be for critical repairs though as I think we should push things off for now if we can.

 

[Alaskan]

Chris, I love your post scriptum. Great wisdom there for life in general. If there is anything good that will be left behind by Covid 19 it will be that we might emerge caring more for each other.

 

[Chris Nolte]

Chris, I love your post scriptum. Great wisdom there for life in general. If there is anything good that will be left behind by Covid 19 it will be that we might emerge caring more for each other.

Love this. I know when I was shipped off to Iraq I had to very quickly consider deeper ideas about what is really important in life. It felt like a young age (21 at the time) to be considering what I might not have done with my life yet. I think we all should have similar thoughts, but most don’t do that without serious circumstances.

 

[Alaskan]

Chris, I posted this on FB a few days ago. With your philosophical, big picture bent, I though you might appreciate it.


I strongly suspect this virus will cause a shift orders of magnitude greater than 911, more on a par with the great depression or World War II.

I think human consciousness is long overdue for a major paradigm shift. This new reality is forcing a deep inward look.

We have become anesthetized by our technology, lulled into a world of convenience, comfort, and complacency.

No one relishes having change thrust upon them and most try to avoid changing voluntarily. This is a forced change. It is also an opportunity.

Life, what we think about and what is important to us will not be the same going forward. This can be a good thing.

This is a chance to make our own choices, change where we place our emphasis, which values matter most and make meaningful life choices about things we thought were settled.
What matters? What in our lives that we thought so essential can we do without? What or who have we been neglecting that we need to take more care about and act on?

This is scary. We have no frame of reference for this. Keep in mind that humans have endured far worse.

Let's take some of this time that social distancing gives us to contemplate our uncertain future. We can emerge smarter, kinder, more forgiving, focused and stronger.

 

[PDXzap]

@Chris Nolte thank you for your service... to this country and to the biking community.
I hope the business decision you've made doesn't hurt too much.

 

[Chris Nolte]

Love this @Alaskan! So good. I completely agree with you. We need to look at the positive especially with all the forces trying to get us to look at the negative. Thanks for spreading hope and positivity.

 

[Chris Nolte]

@chr1st thank you for your service... to this country and to the biking community.
I hope the business decision you've made doesn't hurt too much.

Thank you! I appreciate your support. I’m confident that we will be okay. This actually reminds me of a quote I use often and I’m not sure where it came from “you don’t need more money, you need a better strategy” business is all about strategy and these times definitely call for a change of strategy.

 

[Marci jo]

Chris,
That's a tough decision and I wish you and your employees well.

I'm in the upper Midwest so right now we don't have the same situation as other areas---yet!

My cycling friend was in Morocco last week and thankfully made it home have after many challenges. And I have family members who may be stranded in New Zealand (although they may not mind it very much).
And my summer cycling trip in Europe is cancelled. A little disappointed but only for a couple hours.

These are minor, minor challenges when I think of others and I pray everyone stays healthy.

 

[dblhelix]

Hey All,

When I got back from Iraq, many people asked me what war was like. It’s a little like this. Little contact with others and loved ones, it can bring out the extreme best and worst in people. Overall it’s challenging, disorienting and scary. We can and will get through this

I’m fortunate to know many of you on this forum very well. I wanted to post this here to get some feedback from the wealth of experience which exsists here. I have learned so much from this community over the past 7 years I’ve been participating in these forums and I’m sure I will continue to do so.

I recently made the decision to close our store for test rides and we will only be open for online and phone orders until the foreseeable future. As many of you know we have two stores, one in Brooklyn NY and one in Long Beach CA. The cases in NY have been increasing dramatically and California isn’t too far behind. Both states have a form of lock down in place, but our businesses are considered essential so we are trying to act accordingly. We are well within our rights to keep the stores open for test rides, but given the lack of understanding, information and resources to deal with this situation I don’t think it’s a smart move. Sure there are methods to limit contact and the spread, but it seems that being open to online and phone sales only would be the best way to limit contact while still serving the community, keeping my employees employed and keep the business alive to see this through.

We will still support our customers with important service and repairs in a very cautious way. We will attempt to assist in directing our customers how to repair their own bikes and I plan to create and publish more resources on how to perform the many tasks which are common.

I think we all have a responsibility to do not just what we are asked to do, but to do what we can do to help the spread and help to others stay safe and sane. We have a long road ahead and we’re all going to have to prepare some major changes.

If any of you have any feedback on this I would be really grateful to have it, good or bad. As I said many times before, there are many very smart and wise people on this forum with more foresight and experience than me. I always appreciate hearing other perspectives.

Please stay safe and sane.

PS. If you’re freaking out or having challenges coping I have found it really helpful to think of others. Call a friend or family member and ask them about themselves. Caring for others is a good way to get out of feeling bad for ourselves and our situation. We all need to remain positive to get through this.

The numbers look terrible for NYS, but at least part of it is due to higher rates of testing. Reasonable minds may differ, but on the East Coast, I think governors Cuomo (NY) and Hogan (MD) deserve props. Things could be worse.

I am cautiously optimistic that this will inspire a generation to pursue medical/scientific research as a calling beyond high-income specialties. A student said to me “This really sucks, but it’s also exciting to live through and witness this.”

I wonder if we have the broadband capacity and infrastructure for this transition to online learning and telecommuting (plus bored Netflix users). Would love to hear from anyone with competence in this area.

 

[Chris Nolte]

Chris,
That's a tough decision and I wish you and your employees well.

I'm in the upper Midwest so right now we don't have the same situation as other areas---yet!

My cycling friend was in Morocco last week and thankfully made it home have after many challenges. And I have family members who may be stranded in New Zealand (although they may not mind it very much).
And my summer cycling trip in Europe is cancelled. A little disappointed but only for a couple hours.

These are minor, minor challenges when I think of others and I pray everyone stays healthy.

Thanks! I agree. In the grand scheme of things most of us are just minorly inconvenienced. We really need to think of those who are severely impacted and those who might be in the coming weeks or months.

I’m happy that you were able to easily brush off your challenges when looking at things from your perspective.

 

[Chris Nolte]

The numbers look terrible for NYS, but at least part of it is due to higher rates of testing. Reasonable minds may differ, but on the East Coast, I think governors Cuomo (NY) and Hogan (MD) deserve props. Things could be worse.

I am cautiously optimistic that this will inspire a generation to pursue medical/scientific research as a calling beyond high-income specialties. A student said to me “This really sucks, but it’s also exciting to live through and witness this.”

I wonder if we have the broadband capacity and infrastructure for this transition to online learning and telecommuting (plus bored Netflix users). Would love to hear from anyone with competence in this area.

I agree that much of these numbers aren’t very real, but I’m happy that we are starting to see more testing. I think Governor Coumo is doing a great job and he has been particularly good at approaching things in a calm and collected way. He’s clearly comfortable dealing with challenging situations and I’m grateful that we have someone like that in charge of NY at the moment.

It will be interesting to watch the cultural and societal changes as a result of this. Hopefully many of them will be for the better. I know my challenges in my 20’s definitely inspired me to be and do better.

Good point about broadband capacity. I wonder if this will be used to push 5g along quicker.

 

[Oberst]

Hey All,

When I got back from Iraq, many people asked me what war was like. It’s a little like this. Little contact with others and loved ones, it can bring out the extreme best and worst in people. Overall it’s challenging, disorienting and scary. We can and will get through this

I’m fortunate to know many of you on this forum very well. I wanted to post this here to get some feedback from the wealth of experience which exsists here. I have learned so much from this community over the past 7 years I’ve been participating in these forums and I’m sure I will continue to do so.

I recently made the decision to close our store for test rides and we will only be open for online and phone orders until the foreseeable future. As many of you know we have two stores, one in Brooklyn NY and one in Long Beach CA. The cases in NY have been increasing dramatically and California isn’t too far behind. Both states have a form of lock down in place, but our businesses are considered essential so we are trying to act accordingly. We are well within our rights to keep the stores open for test rides, but given the lack of understanding, information and resources to deal with this situation I don’t think it’s a smart move. Sure there are methods to limit contact and the spread, but it seems that being open to online and phone sales only would be the best way to limit contact while still serving the community, keeping my employees employed and keep the business alive to see this through.

We will still support our customers with important service and repairs in a very cautious way. We will attempt to assist in directing our customers how to repair their own bikes and I plan to create and publish more resources on how to perform the many tasks which are common.

I think we all have a responsibility to do not just what we are asked to do, but to do what we can do to help the spread and help to others stay safe and sane. We have a long road ahead and we’re all going to have to prepare some major changes.

If any of you have any feedback on this I would be really grateful to have it, good or bad. As I said many times before, there are many very smart and wise people on this forum with more foresight and experience than me. I always appreciate hearing other perspectives.

Please stay safe and sane.

PS. If you’re freaking out or having challenges coping I have found it really helpful to think of others. Call a friend or family member and ask them about themselves. Caring for others is a good way to get out of feeling bad for ourselves and our situation. We all need to remain positive to get through this.

I find combat veterans typically have a very pragmatic way of dealing with difficulty that comes with perspective. Everyone must support each other and while we all want fast answers and resolution, another military quote comes to mind: “No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy”. We are all going to have to try to stay calm and become very adaptable to a changing environment.

 

[Chris Nolte]

I find combat veterans typically have a very pragmatic way of dealing with difficulty that comes with perspective. Everyone must support each other and while we all want fast answers and resolution, another military quote comes to mind: “No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy”. We are all going to have to try to stay calm and become very adaptable to a changing environment.

Thanks! I am definitely finding my military training helpful in this situation. I totally agree with everything you said. It’s all about being adaptable and working with the resources and information we have. Unfortunately at the moment the country has very little of both.