Leader HQ visit

As most of you know, we were closed last week to spend some time on the west coast. In our travels, we dropped in to visit one of our all-time favorite companies to work with, San Diego's own Leader Bikes.


In addition to being treated to some world-class authentic tacos for lunch we were given a tour of the warehouse, then sat down with our friend and Leader owner Sal Lombroso to have a marathon conversation about his and Leader's pretty extensive history in the bike biz (which goes back further than most people think), discussed details about their products ranging from the design, construction, materials, geometry and finish of their frames to the vast number of things they've pioneered over the years - which are most often either completely overlooked or blatantly stolen by other companies - and even got an exclusive sneak peek of some killer upcoming projects (but don't ask, 'cause we won't tell).








The warehouse is jam-packed with complete bikes, frames and parts. We were like kids in a candy store.

Charlie - who does marketing for Leader and also runs The Awarewolfs and organizes Fullmoon Bikerides in San Diego - and Scrod talking about welds (or bubble wrap...or burritos...or something else).

From the new hydroformed headbadge, custom CNC machined dropouts and smooth welds to the internally-butted/reinforced tubes, the 2013 725 frame is nothing short of perfect. Believe it.

Trina - in addition to being Leader's National Sales Manager (and dealing with Scrod's nonsense on a daily basis via e-mail) - is an eleven-year Cat 1 road racer, two-year Cat 3 track racer and a cycling coach at the San Diego Velodrome.

Hamming it up with The Boss.

All in all it was a great day, an exceptional visit and we can't wait until the next time we get out this way to spend more time with these guys - which will be sooner than later. Leader have paid their dues, continue to innovate, are at the top of their game and here to stay.