Available for Men Here and Women Here

UPDATE: If you have an opinion on this issue, you can make your voice heard over here on the BBC’s Strategy Review survey.

Naomi is out in the back warehouse right now getting the clothes sorted out and packed up.

Once that’s done and we fix a small windscreen wiper problem, Simon will be driving the big black van down to the Bristol shop on Thursday.

There will be the usual collection of great end of line items along with a few amazing one-off samples (some in odd colours) that we never put into production, some otherwise brilliant stuff with dodgy buttons and plenty of other t-shirts and things at bargain prices.

Definitely worth a look if you’re in the area.

The sale will be held upstairs in the shop – here’s the address and opening times -

howies
62 Queens Road
Bristol
BS8 1RE
(map here)

Opening times:

Thursday  18th – 4pm til 8pm
Friday 19th – 9.30am – 6pm
Saturday 20th – 9.30am – 6pm
Sunday 21st – 11am – 5 pm

Bring a bag, ’cause as usual, we wont have any.

Hope to see you there.

Reports are that he’s getting better at it, but still spends a lot of time falling over or going in the wrong direction.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jon says ‘Don’t hate skiing anymore. I hate how rubbish I am. In my head I rule. But I totally don’t.’

We are expecting a bruised Heslop to return on Monday.

I’ve been running a lot the last few days. A lot more than usual anyway.

Here are my thoughts from Sunday afternoon.

Why am I out here? Sure it’s a nice day. Beautiful light. But I could be enjoying the day without running…

Don’t I deserve to relax on the weekend? Isn’t that the point? I work all week, then earn a rest.

Then it clicked.

I don’t deserve a rest for working all week at a desk in an office.

I deserve a run.

Or a cycle. Or anything to clear my mind and recharge.

Things make more sense when you think of it this way.

I never feel more refreshed and positive than after pushing myself a few miles and getting out of breath.

(Thanks to Ade and his post from last week for getting me out and pointing me to this realisation)

The Do Lectures sent out their first newsletter recently, and if you aren’t already on their mailing list, you can  sign up here.

I’m still working my way through the 2009 talks online, and have yet to see one that disappoints.

If you want to attend the 2010 Do Lectures, you can get tickets now (details here), but I’d be quick… I have a feeling the tickets will be selling out faster each year as these inspiring events gain the reputation they deserve.

Total obsession!

Check his blog for more updates from the mountains of Switzerland.

It is surplus to requirements, so Emma thought she might as well let us auction it off as well. Again all proceeds will go to Haiti.

This is a brand new, never used banjo, and it’s quite a good one. Bidding starts at £100.

Here are some more details (if you want any other photos or details, let us know)-

Stagg 5-string Bluegrass deluxe banjo.

• 5-string Bluegrass Banjo Deluxe w/ metal pot
• Resonator: Mahogany
• Pot: all-cast metal alloy
• Bracket hooks: 30 (flat type)
• Top head: 11″ REMO(tm) White Coated
• Bridge: 5-string Maple + Ebony
• Tailpiece: Nickel-plated Brass
• Machine heads: 4 x Open-gear on headstock + High Gear ratio 5th peg on neck, w/ pearloid knobs
• Armrest: nickel-plated Brass
• Neck: Nato set neck, 660 mm (26 in.)
• Fingerboard: Rosewood, 22 frets
• Position markers: Pearloid “clover” inlays
• Resonator & Neck binding: Ivoroid cream
• Finish: Highgloss.

Someone out there must want this! If not you, maybe you know someone?

Let bidding commence!

The rules are simple… set your camera timer to 2 seconds then get as far away from it as you can.

I have three pairs of these Sweekskinz 20″ BMX tyres on my desk. One pair red, one pair blue and one pair camo (non matching tread)

They have reflective bits on the side walls and look pretty sweet at night  (though not my thing I must admit!)

Anyway, they are taking up a lot of room on my otherwise very neat desk, so I was wondering if anyone would find them useful?

If you want a pair, email me. ruben at howies.co.uk

They’re free to a good home and I’ll blog a photo of your bike with them on.

One pair per-person and first come first served.

Thanks to @RobWelsh on twitter for pointing me to this.

Check here for the 250m version.

It’s been snowing and sleeting most of the day here in Cardigan.

It hasn’t been settling much in town, just turning to slush, but for those living a few miles inland, the roads have been impassable and we’ve lost more than a couple of staff today.

They were forced to go out and make snowmen, sledge down hills or start snowball fights instead of sitting at a warm desk. It’s a tough life, and those of us who got in this morning have been thinking of their hardship.

Another downside of the snow is that Royal Mail and our other couriers have not been able to get to the warehouse and pick up your parcels today, so unfortunately your order may be a little late.

We will get your stuff to you as fast as the weather allows, and we’ll update you on the status of the collections as soon as we have some more news.

For now, I suggest making the best of the weather!

Landscapes take on a new appearance, the light changes and things feel a lot stiller and quieter.

To celebrate our last day off work, I went for a ride with Ade and his friend Laurence.

There was snow and ice on all the roads, and we had to walk some of the steeper hills.

It was a beautiful morning. We saw the sun rising on one side of the road and the moon setting on the other.

We found some great bits of singletrack and it definitely counts as the best ride of the year so far!

This means our customer service and warehouse teams have been in the building most of this week (when they would usually be off) to start processing your orders out so that you get your stuff as soon as possible.

The delivery drivers will be picking the orders up and fetching them to your doors as soon as possible, but there will inevitably be some delays due to the holidays.

Here is the pile waiting for the next courier pick-up this evening-

If you are still waiting for your order, please give us a call on 01239 614 122 or email info@howies.co.uk
(but remember, emails can take a bit longer to get answered than the phones when things get busy)

The girls on customer service will be here until around 1pm tomorrow (going above and beyond as usual), then we will all be back in as normal on the 4th January.

Have a great New Year everyone!

NY Times have a multimedia feature up with some beautiful sound slide profiles New York residents.

I’m about half way through watching them, and I just saw the one on Steven Marmo, an ironworker who used to get in bar fights every weekend until he picked up a bike.

“If you don’t see the negative, you’re never going to realise what the positive is.”

Really absorbing stuff. Check it out here.
Or jump straight to Steven Marmo here.

Thanks to @rwanderman on twitter for pointing me toward this.

We hope you have a great time over the holidays and we will see you on the other side.

We will be launching our online sale on the 28th and we will be back in the office on the 29th to start getting your orders out.

The shops are going to sale a couple of days earlier, on the 27th, so if you are in Cardigan, London or Bristol, you’ll be able to pick up an early bargain! You can find their opening hours here.

Very best wishes from everyone at howies.

Sound familiar?

When we did this at the end of November it made a lot of our customers very happy. But we figured that there are a fair few of our customers who are like us, and leave their Christmas shopping until the last minute.

So we decided to repeat the offer (there’s nothing wrong with recycling) and encourage you to do your last minute shopping with us.

So, for one day (and a bit either side) we are giving you 20% off all our stuff and free postage on all orders.

We’ll ship your stuff in time for Christmas, as well.

That should make things a little easier.

By the way the offer ends midday Friday 18th December online, but our shops in Carnaby Street, Bristol and Cardigan will keep the offer going over the weekend.

To claim your discount just enter code SNOW2B at the checkout, quote it to the folks in mail order or take it to one of our shops.

Customer Service: 01239 614 122

Carnaby -

24th – 10am til 4pm
25th – CLOSED
26th – CLOSED
27th – 11am til 5pm
28th – 11am til 5pm
29th – 10am til 7pm
30th – 10am til 7pm
31st – 10am til 4pm
1st Jan – CLOSED
Normal service resumes 2nd January

Bristol -

24th – 9.30am til 4pm
25th – CLOSED
26th – CLOSED
27th – 11am til 5pm
28th – 11am til 5pm
29th – 9.30am til 6pm
30th – 9.30am til 6pm
31st – 9.30am til 4pm
1st Jan – CLOSED
Normal service resumes 2nd January

Cardigan -

24th – 9am til 4pm
25th – CLOSED
26th – CLOSED
27th – 11am til 4pm
28th – 11am til 4pm
29th – 9am til 6pm
30th – 9am til 6pm
31st – 11am til 4pm
1st Jan – CLOSED
Normal service resumes 2nd January

We’re expecting much ‘better’ weather this time, although we actually loved the challence of the gale force winds and torrential rain that greeted us to our last dark lap.

It got us thinking though, much as we love Brechfa, we’re a bit limited with little choice of other places to go and ride around howies HQ, trail-centre wise.

What are your top 5 trails (or just places to ride) in the UK?

Me and David probably put the legendary Glentress at the top of our list.

It’s been selling so well that we’ve run out of the men’s breton blue blanks that we were printing it on.

Don’t worry, though – we’ve switched it over to another colour, and you can now get the design on pine tees for men.

The women’s version is still available on the blue, click here for the women’s  tee

We took this into consideration, and ended up printing some of the designs Si liked. To be honest, we totally forgot about the promised Haribo… until it arrived, along with an interesting pattern drawing.

Thanks, Si!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ade and his team down in London are having a great time at the sample sale, but they’re very very busy.

In fact, they’re so busy that they were afraid they’d sell out of stuff early, and so we’ve boxed up some emergency extra stuff for them and sent it down for the weekend.

So if you’re planning a trip to Brick Lane, don’t worry – there’ll be plenty of great stuff down there. Samples, prototypes, one-offs, colourways we never put into production, stuff that’s left over from past seasons, and all the usual things that have been returned with slightly dodgy zips or missing buttons etc.

For opening times and location, click here.

It’s that mad time of year again when the high street starts competing for everybody’s Christmas money. Everywhere you look there are offers, offers, offers.

We didn’t want our customers to miss out (and if the truth be told, we didn’t want you to go spend your money with the other guys) so we thought we’d better join the rest of them and give you a bit of a deal too.

So, until noon tomorrow we are giving you 20% off all our stuff.

That should make the Christmas shopping a bit easier.

This offer ends midday Friday 27th November.

Just enter code DAY15B at the checkout, quote it to the folks in mail order or take it into any of our shops.

By the way our Bristol shop is 1 year old this weekend so, in celebration, we are extending the offer there for the whole weekend (until 5pm Sunday). More on that soon.

They are taking the usual collection of past season stock, one off samples, stuff with slightly dodgy zips or missing buttons, and plenty of other stuff that has been hiding out in the back warehouse.

They also have a great collection of t-shirts with them, some of howies back issues and a load of the best teepay designs. Pedal, Revolution, Surfer, CMYK and Casio Collector to name just a few.

There is also a late night Christmas shopping event happening on Brick Lane tomorrow night, if you needed more reasons to drop by.

The sample sale will be open -

Thursday 5pm – 9pm
Friday 10am – 7pm
Saturday 10am – 6pm
Sunday 11am – 5pm

And you can find it here -

P.S. Bring your own bag, we don’t have any. Sorry.

Issue 3 of The Ride is out and has arrived in our warehouse.

I know more than a couple of you have been looking forward to getting your hands on this, but I have to admit that a little streak of selfishness made me turn a few pages and have a sneaky read before I got it up online. Sorry.

This issue features the usual great looking design work and some thoughtful insights into the multi-faceted world of cycling – as seen from some of those on the front lines. The riders who live and breathe bicycles.

Some of my favourite pieces so far include the cyclocross feature, James Lucas’ Bristol Bike Project and Sidi’s Founder Dino Signori musing on growing up in the shoe business and starting his company.

You can get yours from us now – Online here, or in any of our shops.

Tomorrow night is Grazia night in Carnaby Street and many shops and restraunts will be offering 20% off all evening, including our own shop at number 42.

Sounds like a great evening to me, and I half wish I wasn’t 300 odd miles away in Cardigan Bay, or I could probably get most of my Christmas shopping done in one go. But then, I wouldn’t be able to go for a nice run through the Teifi valley after work… so maybe I’m not doing too badly after all.

If you are in the area, I reckon it will be worth checking out. Click here for details on how to sign up for the event.

If anyone else has a story they’d like us to read , please send it in!

howies
Bath House Road
Cardigan
SA43 1JY

We recently installed a new payment gateway on the site.
It’s designed to make things faster, more secure and easier to use.

Unfortunately, as with any IT upgrade, there are a few teething problems.

Some people have told us that they have been having trouble placing orders through our site.

This is to do with some changes in the format our payment system requires data to be supplied in.

The problem shouldn’t affect many people, but if it you have any trouble, please let us know and we will be able to help you.

Call us on 01239 614 122 or email info@howies.co.uk

We are working to fix this now

We lose an hour this weekend so before the dark gets darker we thought we’d try to make the sun shine for a little longer.

To make way for the new we have to move out the old so here are some treats that should brighten the day, no matter how dark it gets.

So last night, when it came time to go home and I realised that after taking a lift in, I had no way to get home, other than walking -  I remembered the new howies bike that Tim got on eBay.

It’s a big heavy beast, and the thought of riding it home made the little hills along the way seem a lot bigger, but after tightening the loose chain, I decided to go for it, it was bound to be more fun than walking.

Toby and David rode with me (on slightly lighter machines) and Toby filmed the event on his iPhone.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Best ride home ever?

(that bit where I’m riding all hunched over at the end is where the rubber band that was holding the stand up broke and I had to hold it in place. lucky that happened only 100 yards from home!)

Photographer Chris Jordan has posted a disturbing gallery of photos depicting  the effects of litter in the oceans on baby albatross.

Midway
Message from the Gyre

These photographs of albatross chicks were made just a few weeks ago on Midway Atoll, a tiny stretch of sand and coral near the middle of the North Pacific. The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.

To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, not a single piece of plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the actual stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent.

~cj, October 2009

See the rest of the gallery here

Some say they are pointless.
Others that they are childish.
Mum always told you not to “ruin those tyres”. Ha. But can you remember the satisfaction you felt when you finally wore them through to the innertube?
That was the mark of a true champion…

Yeah skids are for kids.
But that’s why we do ‘em.

More about Gav –

Gav Strange is a jack of all trades; Senior Online Designer at Aardman Animations by Day and a designer going under the alias Jamfactory by night. Working in the field of Web & Graphics primarily but also dabbling in character design, photography, film making and illustration. Gavin has created pretty things for a diverse range of clients from the Beeb and  Realmac Software to Fifty Fifty store and Channel 4, aswell as creating his own vinyl toy named ‘Droplet’. He’s also had the pleasure of talking at Apple Stores around the UK but most importantly, he loves a good cuppa.

Check his site here

The first batch of October’s Archive T-shirt of the Month are hot of the press down in the printshop. One of our designs from way back in ‘04, ‘Revolution’.

Wear it proud, shout it loud.
Tell ten of your friends
Get your friends to tell ten of their friends
Tell their friends to each tell ten of their friends
And so on and so on…
Pretty soon the world will know.

Revolutions can start with a t-shirt.

Get the women’s here

Get the men’s here

Both on Breton Blue.

Keep your eyes open – the brand new, totally original T-shirt of the Month will follow soon.

David, Toby and myself went for a quick ride around the the countryside surrounding Cardigan after work last night. The sunset looked great, and the ride was good. There were no incidents at all. Why would I fall off my bike and cut my hand while trundling along flat roads on my hardtail? Nah, that just wouldn’t happen. (ouch)

There are pipes and rattly cogs and all kinds of Heath Robinson type things back there.

Not really, but you get the idea. It needs some attention.

Which is why we are making some changes, updating some things and generally working to make everything better.

Next week, we are installing a brand new payment gateway and moving the site to a shiny new server.

This might mean some downtime, so if you’re visiting the site around the middle of next week, please be aware the sight may go a bit funny for a few hours.

Though we hope it’ll just be a seamless switch.

We’ll keep you updated.

Quick message -

If you phone an order through to the howies mail order girls between now and 5pm, you’ll get a FREE teepay t-shirt*.

That’s 2 hours of free t-shirts. But you have to phone us.

01239 614 122

Go, go, go.

*You have to place an order to get the free shirt. We’ll pick the shirts based on what’s in stock, just tell us your size

If you are a follower of the blog, you probably know about our friend Nick Hand and his epic 5,000 mile bicycle ride around the coast of Britain.

He set off from Bristol back in June, and after and almost 100 days on the road he has now covered over 4,000 miles and is on the homeward leg of the journey. Pretty impressive, I reckon.

Check out his website here, where you can follow his progress on a map.

As well as posting some lovely soundslides and documenting his adventures on Twitter and his blog (which I have been religiously checking every day), Nick has been fund raising for the Parkinson’s Disease Society through his justgiving page which you can find here.

To cheer Nick on for the last thousand odd miles, and to help out with his fund raising, we are printing this limited edition t-shirt featuring an illustration by John Spencer.

10% of the profits from this t-shirt will go to the Parkinson’s Disease Society. The shirt is only available online and in the Bristol shop (where Nick will be arriving on the 3rd October at the end of his journey.

(If you want to welcome Nick home, a few of us from howies will be meeting up with him at Clevedon Peir around 3:30pm on October 3rd, then cycling in convoy with him back to the howies shop on Queen’s Road for some tea and cakes by 4:30pm…. Super nice.)

When Sarah McKee and the lovely people at Yorkshire Te saw our shocking admission, they took pity on us and today, we found an unexpected parcel in the mail.

Imagine our surprise when we found this…

Many many thanks to Sarah and Co. It’s a great start to our week

We now have enough cakes and biscuits to last… well… I’d like to say they’ll last for ages. But when you introduce biscuits to an office that has endured the kind of biscuit drought that we have…