Store Your Board – Naked Surf Rack

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I managed a surf shop over a decade of my adult life, and as I mentioned in the VewDo board post, I’ve see all the accessories and trinkets that sales reps have to pitch, board racks included. Some are for aesthetics, some for function. Few companies offered a product range that covered both needs very well. Store Your Board offers racks for a range of activities from surfing to snowboarding to cycling. They have a wide range of racks that span from minimal displays to utilitarian tools for space management. Prices are fair, and many of their racks are made in the USA. I have the Naked Surf Rack, and it is about as minimalist of a surf rack as you will find. It shows off the board, without the usual bulky foam or metal rack getting in the way. It retails for $25, and is on sale now for…Continue Reading

Saris Freedom SuperClamp

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Saris might be the most genius company in existence, that I’ve encountered. When it comes to installing and assembling new products, I tend to lose the battle. It takes longer than expected, or I don’t have the right tools, or I just do everything backwards. It doesn’t take much for me to lose my mind while putting something new together, when all I want to do is USE the new “thing.” I worked at a retail shop where we sold car racks. Every salesman avoided being the one that had to assemble and mount the racks to the customer’s car. It’s not that we didn’t want to be helpful, but because it usually entailed about an hour and half of looking like a complete idiot. Saris is a god-send for all you shop workers. Saris Cycling group just celebrated their 25th anniversary. Founded and based out of Madison, Wisconsin since…Continue Reading

THULE

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Today we are talking with Karl Wiedemann from Thule. Thule is the well known Swedish car rack company, but not as many people know that they manufacture a majority of their products for the North American market right here in the USA.   Can you give 50 BUILT readers some background on yourself, your time at THULE and your current role? I have been at Thule for 5 ½ years and I am currently the Communications and Sponsorship Manager for our North American Brands (Thule, SportRack, Chariot, Croozer, TracRac and UWS). After racing mountain bikes in college, I took a job in the bicycle industry working at a company that made bicycle tools and cleaning products. After ten years there, I joined Thule and it has been a wonderful place to work. Thule is the type of environment where work hard / play hard is a way of life. Everyday up…Continue Reading