I can’t remember exactly when I saw a Barcode frame for the first time. It had to be about ten years ago when I was just starting to get to know some of the older guys riding in the scene around where I grew up. I remember that everyone was jealous of the guy with this bomb proof frame by Terrible One. At that time, pretty much all the older guys were riding Standard, DK, S&M or Volume frames. There were even a few guys who were on Gack’s. The thing was, it seemed like everyone still wanted that Barcode frame.
Since then, the reputation for Terrible One has held strong over all these years. They’ve been through a lot of ups and downs in that time too. Throughout it all, they were still producing high quality products. I mean there’s a reason I’m riding a T1 frame today. Because it’s a brand I trust.
Over the last year or two, things have definitely started picking back up for the brand with updated products becoming available and that elusive Cyclops stem that has been up for speculation for the better part of the last 5 years or so getting real close to its release. I figured it would be a good time to get ahold of Joe Rich to see what’s cooking these days. So let’s check out what he had to say!
Joe Rich – Photo: Ed Docherty
Terrible One is a brand that, for me, stands for BMX and carries a reputation of high quality products. When did you and Taj initially start the brand? How many years strong has the brand been going now?
The idea of T-1 emerged during the summer of 1997. We started actually working on it that Fall, and it became a reality in the Spring of 1998. That makes it almost 15 years since its inception. That seems so crazy.
I know you have bounced around a fair bit in your days. Has Austin, Texas always been the home base for the brand? Have you ever considered moving operation anywhere else?
Yes and no. As I just mentioned, Terrible One came about over the summer of ‘97. Taj and I where at a point were we started kicking around the idea of doing something together. We talked to a few friends and they thought the idea was great, and offered to lend us money to start it, based solely on having faith in us. It was pretty amazing. Once we got to that point, Taj and I both knew that we had no idea how to run a business. I was 23 and Taj was 24. I loved the idea of helping design some stuff, but I knew I didn’t want to be behind a desk during the days. So we talked to the guys that did Props. We had both gotten to know them really well over the years, and they seemed to be doing a pretty good job with running their company. So we mentioned to them about our idea, and asked if they would want to be in on it, and help us run the brand. They were all for it. So T-1 began. The actual mailing address when it started was the same as Props’ was in Chicago. I thought all was going well until about 6 months in. Marco called us and told us we had hardly and money left, and asked us what we wanted to do. We had nothing to really show for the money that had been spent . . . ????? . . . We had our first batch of 100 Barcodes in production, and limited funds to keep the company going. What a start. We had a long talk. Officially closed the business in Illinois, and started it in Texas. This would have been Fall of 1998. Just one year after the idea of doing T-1 came about in the first place!
Danny Hickerson Signature frame
Since you took over sole ownership of the brand, you have picked up a few real good dudes to work for you. Who are the people helping you keep the day-to-day with Terrible One rolling?
Ed Docherty and Logan Balbirona are the two I owe the most to. Those dudes have gone above and beyond in every way to help T-1. Ed lives in Spain right by Ruben, so we are on messenger once or twice a day. I guess he’s the closest I have to someone I work with every day. Logan “officially” comes in every Tuesday to help with the shipping and anything else I may need. Though, I see him almost every day. If I ever need him for anything, here is here ready to help whenever needed. They both are amazing people, and I owe so much to them both.
Ruben Alcantara – Photo: Joe Rich
I know you are a pretty busy dude balancing riding, doing film work and taking care of the endless list of things that come with owning your own business. What’s a typical day like for you these days? Do you get much of a “typical” day ever?
Typical doesn’t really fall into any place in my life. Not that every day is entirely different, but something can stay the same, just as easy as it can change. Each day feels like something new to me. One day could be filled with answering emails and keeping up on all of my correspondence. Another day could be spent redesigning something, talking to manufacturers or stickering frames, The list goes on and on. Whenever I get to break away and do stuff like filming and editing, I feel most at home. I love that. Being out and about, hanging with friends and riding. That is BMX to me. The drawback is that whenever I’m away, the backend of the business suffers. But if too much time passes between the times when I get out to do that, then I suffer. It’s an odd balance for sure, but I try and do my best. Balance is the toughest challenge in my life.
Ruben Alcantara signature frame.
Over the last few years you guys have been making some different changes to the brand like moving some of the production over to Taiwan, as well as trying to find machinists and welders to continue your U.S based production. What are some of the goals you have for the brand now that things are starting to really get moving again?
The main thing is that we need to have the brand be healthy. I want to be 100% proud of what we make, and what we put out there. Owning/running a small business is not the easiest thing to do. Especially with how things are in the BMX world. It’s so hard to keep enough money going round so that we can continue to grow. I’ve made plenty of mistakes over the years, and I’ve learned from them. But that is not to say that I won’t make any more. I just hope that things could be run smoothly and we can get to do as much of what we want to as possible.
I know for a while there it almost seemed like there was a shortage of Terrible One products coming through. How have things improved with the addition of Taiwan production? Who is handling the U.S production for you these days?
We’ve had a number of time spans were we just didn’t or couldn’t get the stuff we needed when we needed. There have been a number of factors that contributed to that. Taiwan has been a huge help because there is a schedule that we can count on there. They have been doing a great job with the products that they make for us, and I couldn’t be happier with the quality of it. As far as the US stuff goes, frame-wise S&M is responsible for doing the SFA frames at the moment. They will be doing our next run of Barcodes as well. Chris Moeller and Jason Ball have been really helpful and I can’t thank them enough.
I know that Cyclops stem is so damn close to being released. What’s the product line looking like for 2012? Can we expect any new items popping up over the summer?
The Cyclops should be running in production by the end of the Summer, or early Fall. Ken and John over at Zodiac have been doing a bang up job with dialing these in. We had one full run of 10 prototypes that were made a couple of months ago. After using them, we determined that they needed a few small changes in order for them to be as good as they could be. The new ones are due to be cut this upcoming week. If I get that one, and all seems good with it, we will go straight into production. Both Ruben’s and Danny’s frames are getting a few small changes done to them for this next order that is due to land this Fall. I’m stoked on these! Both have half inch taller standover heights, and the 20.9” top tube version of the Hickerson frame, has the same short back end as the 20.25” and 20.5” versions have. Which is 13.25”– 13.625” rear ends. I also have some small changes to make on the Barcode as well, so expect to see the updated ones by the end of the year.
What do you have cooking for 2013? Care to drop any hints of some things that are coming through the pipeline?
Just trying to get better keeping things running smoothly, and that our stuff is as good as it can be. Hopefully the Cyclops stems will be in full swing by then. That would be awesome! But yeah, doing some traveling, and seeing what ideas that come about. More fine tuning for sure.
A lot of brands have expanded by adding their own distribution, creating separate brands to offer parts, complete bikes, as well as getting into other styles of bikes like fixies. Does Terrible One have any plans of expanding like that at all?
I have no interest in doing a separate parts company, there are already enough of those out there. Logan and I have kicked around the idea of doing a very small run of 7 speed commuter type bikes, but that is still uncertain. I went through a pretty heavy phase of restoring bikes that were getting thrown away in garbage bins. I would always make them into a 5 speed, or a 7 speed. They are the best bikes to ride around just for the sake of cruising, or the perfect option whenever you would rather pedal, than drive. So much fun. The way Logan and I built them, is a bit different than what I see available on the floor of a bike shop. The goal would be for them to be very affordable to just about anyone. It’s something we seriously thought about doing maybe 50 of them. But who knows, I guess we’ll see what the future holds.
Etnies collaboration shoe with Terrible One and Ruben Alcantara – Out now.
How are things going with the team these days? Do you have any new additions you can tell us about?
Hanson Little was the last person that got added, and that was just over a year ago. Joseph Frans was before him. I feel lucky to have both of them as T-1ers. There is another guy from Arizona, Joey Calderone that originally got brought on as a part of our Community Service Program. That program is something we came up with where we work with a shop that carries T-1. They would have to have some sort of history of knowing about T-1 and what it’s about. Then, they pick a rider that they are close with and help out already in some way. It would be someone that they think is a good fit for T-1. This is how it works from there. With a frame, the shop pays half, and we pay half. And we kick down for getting them the rest of the parts T-1 makes, along with a few t-shirts. It’s something that helps a rider out, helps the shop out, and helps T-1 out. Then there is a possibility for us to do more for them in the future.
Hanson Little – Photo: Joe Rich
Are you looking to get more riders on board? Any advice for kids out there looking to get sponsored in general? I know you know a thing or two about being a professional…
I get sponsor requests pretty regularly. It always puts me in a tough position because we don’t really have the means to help anyone else out now. If I were to pick up more dudes, I would be able to do less for the guys on the team, and less for the new dudes. Everyone I have sponsored under the T-1 name, has come from a personal relationship first. It’s never been based just on how good someone is, or what they are doing. I feel like the kind of person you are, is more important than what you can do. When you find that mix of both in someone, it’s gold. My advice would be to just keep doing what you do. Don’t worry about getting sponsored. If you keep at it, someone will eventually notice.
Do you have any team trips, videos or anything like that you can tell us about coming up this summer?
We were planning on doing a joint T-1/Empire trip, but the summer is disappearing quickly. We may have to wait for Fall to do it. I just finished a video that focuses on Ruben and his new Etnies/T-1 collaboration shoe. Ruben, Hanson and I took an 18 day trip up to the North West to ride some of their beautiful concrete. It was a blast! That video should be out this week coming up. But I’m also going to put together a T-1 edit with all the footage that didn’t get used in the Ruben edit. I figured I’d wait a month or so after the Etnies one, and then put it out. I’m also working on an edit with Joseph Frans. And doing another one with Elf as well. Those are going to be fun to put together. Both such great dudes.
Joseph Frans – Photo: Joe Rich
Let’s say a shop or distributor wants to get Terrible One in their shops and warehouses. Who should they contact to make that happen?
If they are in the states, they should contact me or Blackout Distribution. I will talk to them and find out what their needs are, from there I will either take care of it myself, or get them in contact with one of our distributors, depending on where they are calling from.
What kind of warranty do you guys offer these days? Who should somebody get ahold of if they have any issues?
Warranties can be such a grey area. It’s tough to have a gauge on the timeframe of how long something should last. Frames and parts these days have to be a balance of strength, integrity, longevity and weight. I feel like if a frame can last you a year of hard riding, then that’s pretty good. Gone are the days of 6.5 and 7 pound frames that could carry a lifetime warranty on them. We warranty ours against manufacturing defects for as long as you own it. If it breaks or bends as a result of hard use, then we treat each of those cases depending on the scenario that surrounds it. I’ve had guys email me and tell that their bars bent and they want new ones. I ask what happened, and they tell me that they bailed off their bike on a 25 foot set of doubles. If the bike goes flying, and something happens, it’s not our fault. But I don’t want them to be totally assed out, so I offer a replacement for our cost plus shipping. If there are any issues, they can email or call me at T-1.
Shawn “Elf” Walters – Photo: Jason Eichorst
What about general questions for you about the brand? Who should they talk to there?
They can email [email protected] or [email protected]. I answer all of the emails that come to T-1. Ed Docherty helps me out a lot with keeping up on Facebook and so forth. So either way, whether they talk to Ed or me, we’ll sort out whatever their needs are.
Where do you see the brand going in the next few years?
I would like to see it stay strong in a way that doesn’t center around needing to put out just more and more products. I feel like if we could just concentrate on what we do, maybe add a product when we see the need for something that doesn’t already exist. That would be my goal.
Is there anything I missed you want to add?
Just thanks for taking the time, and having the interest in doing this with me and T-1. Hopefully the T-1 ship will be afloat for many years to come. Cheers!
For more information about Terrible One, visit their website — TerribleOne.Com
