Arkel OverDesigns. A Wonderful Bike Accessory Company!

[pardes]

If you have not looked into Arkel.COM, (http://www.arkel-od.com/panniers/utility/overview.asp?fl=1&site=) you should.

They are a Canadian company that ships in the US from Vermont.

I ordered lots of things from them over the weekend and also sent a list of questions about their panniers and racks which Yves (don't you just LOVE that name) replied immediately with extensive answers that included photo descriptions of my questions. Bless his heart.

On top of that my bank declined the transaction by the anti-fraud unit who got suspicious by numerous credit card transactions from multiple places. Bless their heart, they are really on the ball. And obviously they have never dealt with the mania of a new bike owner.

So Yves sent a friendly letter to call the bank, I did, straightened it out, and emailed him back to charge and ship.

Oh, and you'll love this, .....

"Yes! The Cold Springs front is design to mount on the axle via the quick release and to the v-brake bosses or brake pivots. If ever your fork doesn’t any brake bosses, you will need to add a set of C-Clamps, sold $6 per set. The C-Clamps are available in many different sizes so it will be important to measure the circumference of the fork leg right at the level where the brake bosses would be if your bike was equipped with v-brakes. I've also included a picture that shows where to take the measurement. To do so, simply wrap a piece of string around the seat stay and then measure the length that was needed to go all the way around. You can simply add this info in the online order form's comment box. With this info, we'll be able to send the proper size clamps."

I replied that I wouldn't know what a brake boss was if it bit me and that I didn't have the bike yet and couldn't measure it even if I knew where to look for the seat stay....whatever that is......

Of course he included photos with arrows of where to measure but it was lost on me.

I also added that I was a very impatient 62 year old WHO WANTED TO RIDE HER NEWLY DECKED OUT BIKE BEFORE SHE WAS 63.

So I'm waiting for Yves.....

And no, I really don't want to know what a brake boss is or where the seat stay is....I just wanna ride my new bike.

So check out Arkel. You'll love their panniers and you'll love Yves.

[oxysback]

I ordered an Old Man Mountain Sherpa rack and a set of T-28 panniers from them two summers ago. I also talked to Yves on the phone and he was great at answering my questions. Once I got my panniers and rack installed I sent them a picture. My bike is the first one. This is a great company!

http://www.arkel-od.com/panniers/t28/testimonials.asp?fl=1&site=

[Zen]

Oh that Yves, he does get around...

[withm]

I bought 2 sets of Arkel panniers this winter T-28s and T-42s for the C&O Canal trip that I didn't do but I've used them for groceries, trips to the library, post office, the occasional ride to work etc. Easy to install or remove, and the TailRider trunk pack is the most fantastic bag I've ever owned. Eventually I need to get rain covers for them, and maybe the front handlebar bag but until I have a real trip in the works those items can wait.

The workmanship on these things is absolutely perfect.

[Zen]

But did you get to talk to Yves? ;)

[withm]

I have 3 emails from him :) does that count?

[Zen]

Three emails?
That makes him a boyfriend!

[pardes]

Oh Yves is going to love this. I sent him a link to this thread.

[malkin]

I love Yves already.

[Velobambina]

Hands off girl! He belongs to Zen

[beccaB]

I can speak a tiny bit of French, not well and with incorrect pronunciation. Will that qualify me as a girlfriend? You ladies might have some competition.
Seriously, I had been thinking about getting some panniers for my college kid, and I'm glad I didn't buy them yet, because those are the best I've liked so far.

[bmccasland]

I have a pair of Arkel panniers for my cruiser that I bought three years ago. Successfully shipped to the post Katrina mayhem that was New Orleans. Just a quiet order. But at that time I was surprised when anything actually arrived at my doorstep. So maybe Yves pulled off a magic trick. :p

[Mr. SR500]

Great Products!

[spindizzy]

You should read the descriptions and nicknames of the team..very entertaining!

[emily_in_nc]

My DH and I each bought two sets of Arkel panniers, plus front bags, rain covers, and Tailriders, for a cross NY state self-supported tour in 2004. Arkel was absolutely fantastic! We initially bought panniers that we decided were too large, so needed to send them back and get different ones, and Arkel folks worked with us and made the entire process very easy.

All items we purchased were wonderfully made and were completely problem-free on our tour. We couldn't have been happier. We use them now for market runs since we haven't done an actual tour since 2004. They work great for hauling food too.

LOVE this company and product. Two thumbs WAY up! :p

[jobob]

LeeBob and I each own a full set of front & back panniers, which we used on our tour around the Puget Sound a few years back. Maybe someday we'll get some more use out of them :rolleyes: although I do use my small front panniers a lot for commuting and errands.

Mine I got off eBay, and Lee purchased his new, directly from Arkel. (I don't remember if Lee had any bonding experiences with Yves.)

Excellent workmanship.

[Zen]

Hands off girl! He belongs to Zen

Mais non! Yves est le garçon ami de Withm ;)
I don't have a single email from him :(

[jobob]

Could he be jealous of Pedro?

[Zen]

7883
Well, who wouldn't be?

[pardes]

There has been another Yves sighting.....

Yves and I (doesn't that have a nice ring?) decided to freak out my bank for a second them. We added the rain covers for the panniers (which I forgot) to the order making it now a different total and surprise, surprise.....the bank melted down, threw themselves over my pile of shiny coins, and wouldn't let Yves touch them. Again.

One more call to the bank combined with a description of Yves of the North, and the bank teller swooned....and then she laughed when she discovered that Yves (now found to not be perfect but who cares???) had typed in my card expiration date as 3020 or something and that's why they balked on releasing the funds.

So I called Yves with the good news and got his answering machine. Okay, I admit it, I listened to the recording more than once. But only 4 or 5 times. We could say that I was trying to brush up on my French but I can't lie....I never spoke French.

WARING WARNING WARNING

Yves tells me that Mrs. Yves is now monitoring this thread so we may have to go underground.......

[Velobambina]

Mde. Yves was last sighted headed South toward Delaware, in search of that Vixen who is after her man!

[oxysback]

Uh-oh...watch out, Pardes! :p

[jobob]

Oh dear.

[malkin]

Send Mme Yves my way...we've got plenty of wine and I'm sure it will all work out in the end.

I don't know how.
It's a mystery.

[pardes]

Okay. I now hold the record. 5 emails from Yves. (Smug smile)

All has been sorted out....at least with the panniers shipment. Yves is even paying for overnight air shipment so I can have the bike for this weekend since it was his typo that held things up. Now is that a good company, or what?

Mrs. Yves just smiles. She recognizes a grandmotherly figure when she sees one.

Does anyone else think it odd that all the employees photos are listed on their site EXCEPT Yves? Let me see what I can do about that. :D

[7rider]

Does anyone else think it odd that all the employees photos are listed on their site EXCEPT Yves? Let me see what I can do about that. :D

See Zen's post #19.

[pardes]

I thought that was Pedro.

(refocusing trifocals....)

[Zen]

Yes, the former was Pedro

7892
Bonjour!

Je suis Yves!

[pardes]

Zen, you are a trip! Certifiable and official.

[pardes]

I finally was able to to talk to Paul McKenzie, Arkel's General Manager about why Yves is not included in any company photos.

Paul opined that it might have had something to do with the champagne lunch they served before the creative team meeting to celebrate the millionith customer to buy panniers.

It seems that at the following creative team meeting to present new ideas for panniers of the future, Yves went a little over the top. He bought in a new design of a bicycle for the production team to measure and make panniers to fit it.

They were annoyed and said it couldn't be done so Yves whipped out a 100 yard bolt of fuchsia fabric and took off on the bike with it flapping in the breeze. All 100 yards of it. Part of this was caught on video. Since then he's been relegated to being behind the camera. Permanently.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htVNrO8lWv0

Paul added that in protest, Yves now wears all of his clothing made out of the fuchsia fabric and is sure that the trend will spread.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yves.
There is just 'something' about those French. :cool:

My husband bought a black wool cap in Quebec at a hat shop 3 years ago. With his beard, it makes him look French and sometimes when he wears it he pretends to speak French because he knows it drives me wild.

DH and I sometimes go for a lovely 50 mile round trip into Mass. and back home to NY. Our mid point lunch stop is Great Barrington MA. which has some wonderful shops.
We usually just have some apple crepes and latte at a little cafe, but while there one day we discovered the most wonderful shop that sells cheeses and olive oil, dried figs, olive oil soap, hand made sandwiches, good cold cuts, etc.
It's owned by a real Frenchman- Jean-Francoise, and his lovely wife Helene.
The cheese is really from France, and it's really good. There are cheaper cheese shops nearby, but without the French accent so why bother. A little good French cheese goes a long way.

We hire a man to come plow our driveway when we get snows of over 5".
Three years ago a French speaking Quebecois fellow named Benois came to our house looking for snowplow work. We hired him...completely charmed by his je-ne-sai-quois. He was very methodical, putting out tiny red poles along the edges of the driveway so he could plow correctly when there was deep snow obscuring the boundaries. He carried his laptop in his truck and had a cell phone so we could stay in communication on 'iffy' snow days.
Then he disappeared the following winter, and we couldn't get in touch with him- his cell phone number had changed. So we hired another snow plow guy, and he was actually cheaper...but it wasn't the same somehow. He wasn't Benois.
A few weeks ago Benois suddenly phoned us out of the blue and explained that he had had a back injury and surgery and was out of commission last winter and did we want him back? All in his heavy French accent of course. We were overjoyed to have 'our Benois' back again.

Coincidentally, for dinner this evening I had some of Jean-Francois' bleu cheese and crusty bread.

[Zen]

Paul added that in protest, Yves now wears all of his clothing made out of the fuchsia fabric and is sure that the trend will spread.

i tried to buy a pair of fuschia Keens from SAC today but missed out due to a slow computer. I'm sure they were an Yves design...

Lisa, your snow plow man sounds charming

[pardes]

I'm finally out of my pjs and off to drop in the lab to make sure the Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer is still running and didn't crash last night. On the way to the lab I plan to stop by the lbs and visit my new winter bike sitting in the dark in the supply room where it waits, not so patiently for the Arkel racks panniers to arrive and be installed.

I tell ya....men are so fickle. I've been dumped by Yves!

He promised next day air shipping but the shipping department folks didn't follow through and they won't arrive until Monday. :(:(:( The least Yves could have done was deliver it personally by dogsled or something.

Men! They are all alike.

hmmmm....I wonder if Mrs. Yves works in shipping?

[jobob]

hee hee - I think you're on to something there.

So is the GC-MS behaving itself?

[pardes]

So is the GC-MS behaving itself?

Well, actually I am STILL in my pjs. It's 33 degrees out there with high winds! If it crashed, it crashed.

The plan now is to try and make it to the restaurant for dinner tonight. We'll see. Right now, the box of macaroni and cheese "blue box" is looking more tempting than putting on six layers of clothing, which by the way, is all soaking in a bucket to de-stink itself and waiting to be dried.

[Crankin]

Lisa, is that French cheese shop in GB?
Maybe it's time for a meeting?
As long as I don't have to do that lovely 7 mile climb...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa, is that French cheese shop in GB?
Maybe it's time for a meeting?
As long as I don't have to do that lovely 7 mile climb...

Here is the shop's online blog:
http://bizalionsfinefood.blogspot.com/
It really looks just like the picture on the right with the hanging sausages! :p
Be prepared to taste and buy various olive oils, cheeses, prosciutto, dried figs, and have a sandwich while you are there.
I think it may be getting too cold and unpredictable weather-wise at this point to successfully plan a 50 mile round trip bike meet there, though! :o

Ok you are going to KILL me now.....
After doing that round trip to Great Barrington many times, Brian and I decided to try doing it in the opposite direction last month just to see how it was. It was WAY easier and that 7 mile climb out of town became a lovely descent instead. The inclines throughout the route to GB were now more spaced out and gradual when going in the other direction.

Don't kill me. :cool:

[Crankin]

Gee, thanks for the information about the ride!
I have never been in that shop, but I know I have passed it. No, I didn't think we would ride and meet there; I meant drive! Although, it probably would be more equitable and realistic if we met in Northampton. About half way for each of us. Doesn't your daughter live there?

OK, enough off topic. Email me...