All of our dealer orders have been filled and it's time to blow out sales samples & sundry other items in our annual Summer Warehouse Sale. If you're in the neighborhood come by on June 23rd or 24th to grab screaming deals on overstock & discontinued items plus one-of-a-kind finds from our prototype lab! 10% of all sale proceeds benefit Outdoor Outreach, connecting disadvantaged youth to adventures in the wild. Also a $10 pint glass from SDMBA gets you bottomless beer from our kegerator! Check out the flyer attached below.

And it's ALL GOOD...

Put through the ringer by Dirt Rag, our Ether Short came out clean! Here's what reviewer Justin Steiner had to say:

"At $74 - $84 for patterns or plaids - ZOIC's Ether shorts sit on the affordable end of the baggy-with-liner spectrum. The no-frills mesh liner sports a comfy, if not terribly technically advanced, chamois, while the synthetic outer offers a stretchy gusset trhough the crotch for good mobility. The fit is loose without being baggy; let's call it casual - the twelve-inch inseam falls just around the knee. There are plenty of pockets, five in total.

In use, the Ether short quickly became my choice for hot temps due to their comfort on the bike, and the lightness of both the liner and outer. Unlike many liners, ZOIC's Assault Liner is perfectly up to task - I've worn it comfortably during some long days in the saddle.

These shorts have held up well through a couple of seasons of riding, and come highly recommended due to their affordability. Made in China."

Thanks Justin! If you like what he had to say, check out
Dirt Rag at http://www.dirtragmag.com/
The Ether at http://www.zoic.com/mens-ether-short
The Assault Liner at http://www.zoic.com/mens-assault-liner

After my Ellsworth Evolve was stolen about a month ago, I unfortunately found myself in the market for a new bike. So when our buddies from Pivot Cycles (link) came to San Diego last week for a demo event with Black Mountain Bicycles (link), I was quick to clear my calendar to get out & ride. Our sales manager has been preaching from the gospel according to Pivot for a year now; a position he shares with many in the press and on MTBR.com (link). Having ridden a 29er the past 3 years I went in expecting to give the Mach 429 a hard look, but came away with an unexpected take on the ideal bike for me.

iPods & iPads are SO last week, study says Active Americans want to find cycling equipment & accessories under the tree.

We all know bikes are cool. And a recent study by Leisure Trends (link) illustrates this against the backdrop of holiday gift giving. According to the market research company and their 2.8 million Most Active American research panel, bicycling equipment & accessories tops the list of “Coolest” gifts to receive this holiday season. Ahead of tech gadgets like iPods, iPads, GPS and cell phones. Ahead of other outdoor products like ski/snowboard or kayak/boating equipment. Even ahead of the catchall category of “vacations”.

You can spin this many ways, but at ZOIC we see it boiling down to this: cycling offers active Americans tremendous bang for the buck. And these days where wallets are stretched thinner than shrink wrap, investing in a sport without many hidden or add-on costs makes for a sure fire winner.

Our friends Alison & Jason were up in Whistler last week training with and helping out at the Dirt Series mountain biking instructional program. They took some of our 2011 samples and in spite of the rain, managed to get some fun & interesting photos, as well as video of Jason's sweet attempt at a huge teeter! (YouTube link)

Our friends Alison & Jason were up in Whistler last week training with and helping out at the Dirt Series mountain biking instructional program. They took some of our 2011 samples and in spite of the rain, managed to get some fun & interesting photos, as well as video of Jason's sweet attempt at a huge teeter! (YouTube link)

The ZOIC 2011 Collection came together quite nicely and when we haven't been on the road selling it, we've been riding and taking some photos. Here's a quick peek at some of the looks and colors you can expect from ZOIC in 2011. We'd love to hear what you think!

A few weeks ago we spread some ZOIC love with a warehouse sale that sold off last season's samples and old inventory. Local riders got great deals on sharp threads and we donated 10% of the proceeds to Outdoor Outreach (link). We also poured FREE BEER for anyone who bought an SDMBA (link) pint glass, funding trail advocacy and development in San Diego County. And as a topper, all of the quarters from playing our arcade table went to SDMBA as well! I could say more, but sometimes others say it best:

A great big thank you to ZOIC! You and Eric really did a great job with the sale event and promoting
good causes. I saw many SDMBA members shopping there, and this past weekend I saw several people out riding in their new ZOIC Clothing. SDMBA appreciates your support and certainly the donated funds help
our organization do what it takes to open more trails in San Diego.

Thank you!
Minette Ozaki
San Diego Mountain Biking Association

If you have a cycling event that you think ZOIC should be involved in, please contact us (link). Just know what you want and be ready to tell us how your event promotes trail advocacy and having fun on bikes!

For those of you who caught Part I of this post (link), you know that at ZOIC we're very proud of our liners and the great job they do "covering your ass" while you're riding. In that post I mentioned that we're so confident that we asked a customer who purchased our Assault liners for a 9 week riding trip through India to give us feedback throughout his travels. I'll call this customer Chris (cuz that's his name). Well, Chris managed to get word to us a few weeks back and here finally are his comments:

"We are having a wonderful tour of India and I must say the liner shorts have far exceeded our expectations. Fit, comfort, and breath ability are outstanding even with an average day of 6 hours riding. Even the socks are just right. The outer shorts are a bit heavy but hey, it's nearly 100 degrees here. I will order up a pair of lighter shorts when I return for the hot Idaho summer coming up. I thank you daily for creating these wonderful liner shorts." - Chris

"15 long days in the saddle and no signs of wear and just as comfortable as day one.." - Chris

ZOIC exhibited at the 2010 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA last weekend and man was it a fantastic event for cyclists! If you enjoy riding in any of its forms, this is *the* place to be every April. We were thrilled to have riders from all over California and the country seek us out to talk about ZOIC product, take advantage of our expo steals and deals, and most importantly recount the experiences we've all shared over 15 years of coming to Sea Otter and wearing ZOIC.

It was a perfect weekend with gorgeous weather, but we remember the bitter cold and rain 3 years ago when Eric's hot toddies saved countless souls, including the couple who now return each year with a flask of Jameson to repay the kindness and relive the misery of the 2007 Classic.

We enjoyed seeing the rider from North Carolina who comes every year or two, spots a killer expo deal and convinces his 3 buddies it's a must purchase. A few years back it was a longsleeve SportWool jersey, this time around it was the few '09 Ether shorts still on hand. You know you're treating the customer right when they become your #1 salesman!

There were jogs down memory lane with friends and business partners we've worked with over the years. We got the chance to say hi to ZOIC dealers who were scouting the expo for product information and soaking up the vibe; the CEO of one of our national retailers even took advantage of a bargain from our expo bins.