2010 Preview

• The shop has been in hibernation mode for a month or more now, but in typical TATI fashion, just as the season is coming to a close and we submit to winter's gloomy hand, things are happening again behind the orange curtain. 2010 is looking to be a year of change in TATIville, and I'm cautiously optimistic that these changes will be the first timid steps towards evolving the tiny enterprise into a stable and lasting Hyde Park institution.

  IBIS
  Many of you have known about this for some time, but TATI is now an official IBIS dealer. This is a brand that goes back some thirty years. Scot Nichol is a renowned framebuilder who recast his company a few years back with an all-carbon, all-the-time focus. This may seem odd coming from a fellow expert in steel and titanium fabrication, until you read his "Materials 101" treatise written for Velonews way back in 1994. Dude was prescient. Though primarily focused on the MTB market, IBIS has begun to dip its toes into the skinny tire universe, and offer competitively priced super swank carbon road and cross frames. I'll have a lot more on IBIS soon, but the first wave of frames are due to arrive next week -- so swing by if you're carbon-curious.

  Cyclocross Focus
  TATI is still just a faint blip on the radar screen of Chicagoland pro shops, and there's no way we'll become "Pony Shop South," as some have suggested -- but for a whole host of reasons, I've decided to really make an effort to focus more on the cyclocross market next year. This means stocking (and using, and testing) a full range of cross clinchers and tubulars all year round; it means never running out of embrocation; it means more torrented Superprestige races on the shop monitors; and it means a much broader range of cross frame and complete bike options next year. On the racing side, we've had a break out season -- with some very strong performances on the masters side of things, and several very promising novices. Our Jackson Park cross workouts remain open to the public, and in 2010 they will begin earlier in the season and end later. Plus in a few short weeks... Ice Cross! will be back. But more importantly, cyclocross bikes simply are the most economical and practical solution for a very wide range of Chicago cyclists. Whether looking for a spirited all-weather commuter, or a single racing bike for both the road and the dirt, cyclocross bikes are the obvious choice.

  Expansion
  Going appointment-only for 2009 was, for the most part, a success. At least insofar as it ensured that custom customers were able to get the one-on-one time and attention required to design and build and fit their dream bikes... it worked. However, for the rest of the neighborhood, it kind of left a lot of folks feeling a little unwanted and sad. Things are not completely set as yet, but TATI will have expanded operating hours, a small-but-highly-skilled mechanical staff, and if we're lucky, a little more space for service, storage, and inventory.

  Most notably, TATI will be expanding its commuter bike offerings into the $400-600 range. More on that very soon.

  I'll have more on these developments in the coming days and weeks. The plans are literally changing every day right now, which is a bit disconcerting, but it's for the best, I suppose.