Abbey Bike Tools 2023 Factory Tour: USA-Made in Bend, Oregon
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- čas přidán 15. 08. 2023
- "Tools matter, they build things and are pivotal to the manufacturing and assembly of pretty much everything. Our professional tools help talented craftsmen elevate the bike mechanic trade. A trade that needs elevating." - Jason Quade, Abbey Bike Tools, Owner - abbeybiketools.com
In this video, JOM of the Gravel Cyclist crew meets with Jason, founder of Abbey Bike Tools, for a tour of their latest production facility. Bigger, better, and more efficient!
Origins of the Abbey Name:
"The name Abbey started before the tool business was even a thought. When Jason was still splitting time between the race circuit and a bike shop in Bend Oregon, he and another employee wanted to build some bike frames. Between the two of them they had everything needed to build bicycle frames except a name. Jason's cohort in this endeavor loved Belgium. The fowl weather, the cobbles, frites, beer, bike racing and especially cyclocross. Jason liked Belgium and also had a home brewing hobby and wanted to turn the tables of the craft beer scene using names from cycling. After many options Abbey was mentioned and it was the obvious choice. There might have been some libations involved but a web address was purchased moments later. Abbey Bike Works was born on the spot and adorns the down tubes of a couple dozen bicycle frames around Oregon. Despite the legit fabrication skills Jason had it wasn't anything that was started with intention of being an actual business."
"Abbey Bike Works built a dozen or so frames before the bike shop went out of business during the economic downturn. At this point, Jason took the name and started a mobile bike service to earn a living and stay in Bend. This mobile business led to wrenching at regional bike races."
The Crombie:
"During the winter of 2010 Jason attended the Bill Woodul race mechanics clinic and met aspiring pro-mechanic Jeff Crombie. The two connected through a shared past of working in aviation, Jeff as an air frame and power plant mechanic (A&P) and Jason as a welder."
"Fast forward two years and Jeff Crombie gets his first full time job with Canadian Pro-Continental team Spyder Tech. In anticipation of the coming season he asked his friend to make him a custom tool. Jeff's background as an A&P meant mistakes were not an option. Mistakes in aviation mean aircraft crash and that normally involves people dying. Jeff wanted to check lock rings on a daily basis as part of the standard "bolt check" every race mechanic goes through. A phone call later the idea for our signature tool was born. 48 hours later Jason was boring holes in lock rings and welding handles on them."
A Tool Company is Born:
"In July of 2012 the Cascade Classic comes to Abbey's home town of Bend. During this event Jason walked the pit at Saturday night criterium and sold a Crombie tool to every mechanic that had cash in their pocket. He sold tools to everybody that didn't at the start of the next days stage. By the end of that race season we had sold tools to nearly every active race mechanic in the United States. The last two tools out of that first batch were sent to two tech editors, Nick Legan and Zach Overholt of Velonews and Bikerumor respectively. Both of those reviews came back overwhelmingly positive. However, Jason still didn't think that his "heirloom quality tool" was the foundation of an entire tool business. 10 months later there were 6 different teams using our signature tool at the Tour de France, including the head mechanic of eventual GC winner."
Read more of the Abbey Bike Tools story here - www.abbeybiketools.com/pages/...
Links of Interest:
Abbey Bike Tools - abbeybiketools.com
Gravel Cyclist's Route Library - www.gravelcyclist.com/gravel-...
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No cost to you, but every purchase made helps keep Gravel Cyclist up and running! - www.amazon.com/?&_encoding=UT...
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Wow they’ve grown… new premises and all. Nice to see some old school gear still active.
Thanks for the update, great kit outside of the big brands.
Well done JOM. enjoyed it on my lunch break.
The Frair for president ✌️✌️
This is the Rolls Royce of bicycle tools. Super lovely equipment. Quality like Snap On. High end. Good stuff. The Volvo 240. A great car in it’s time. But Oregon is all about environment and nature. The neighbors gotta love that chap when he starts up in the morning in his driveway or rolls through town.😂 Another great video. Thanks JOM.
Very interesting. Go America.
"Abbey, Abbey someone" (Igore from Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein)
Awesome tour and would love a collection of those tools
I had an ‘83 DL wagon with a 4 speed manual plus push button OD. It had 300,000 miles on before I sold it to a junk yard. It had too much body rust for me to deal with. 6 months laters I saw it on the road again. Someone who knew what they were doing bought it, fixed it up, and painted. One of my daughters who grew up in the car cried when we sold. 😢
Oh! Say hi to Chris Horner.
Couldn't see Chris for the wildfire smoke currently enveloping the Bend area.
Hey, those are different Adidas sunglasses. Very cool tour, mate! Hey, didn't you have a video of the K-Edge factory? I wanted to show a client of mine that video but I can't find it.
Hey there, I don't have them in front of me, but this model of Adidas shades are about two years old. I am quite a fan of the brand, appreciate their support, and how well made the product is. Whatever you do, avoid brands such as Goodr, Julbo, to name a few. Absolute cheap $hit rubbish. K-Edge is on my list to visit, I have been using their Garmin / Camera / Light mounts for many years.
So what does machine tool coolant taste like? Considering a bunch of mist found its way into that mug from machine #1
Tastes like chicken?
I was wondering the same; I was hoping for hazelnut flavor.
abbey tools are good till you try a warranty on a 4way that snapped first time use
I would love to see photos of this.
if you look at the design they are bonded where they cross and the bonding on them got seperated and came apart, i ended up grinding them down and repurppsing the bits that came on it to make another tool
@@aldo5878 I hope you voiced your concerns to Abbey.
@@GravelCyclisti like alot of their tools and i work as a full time mechanic , i own several including the hag , the chain decade chain breaker , the dishing gauge, i think the issue was they wanted proof of purchase and it was a gift so i didn't have a physical receipt, which for a tool company i feel is kinda dumb considering if the tools fails replace it , like most tool companies would , i emailed them and they ignored me after no proof of receipt, so if you buy abbey just make sure you dont lose track of those receipts lol
Hate this video, now I have a new tool urge.......
Tools for the hipster dilettante mechanic, rarely found in commercial settings (unlike Park, Pedros, BikeHand, VAR, Unior etc.) because they're eminently stealable, uncompetitively priced, and a bit . . . idiosyncratic? . . . in their design. The ones I've used I've liked, but not many, because they're rare & expensive.
Ok, we got it, you’re bitter because all you can afford is Harbor Freight “tools”.