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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 themalthough 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.
2009 Lynskey R230 Houseblend - Brooks Team Pro
2007 Rivendell Bleriot - Rivet Pearl
Could he be jealous of Pedro?
2009 Lynskey R230 Houseblend - Brooks Team Pro
2007 Rivendell Bleriot - Rivet Pearl
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.......
"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we might become." Charles Dubois
Mde. Yves was last sighted headed South toward Delaware, in search of that Vixen who is after her man!
Uh-oh...watch out, Pardes!![]()
Oh dear.
2009 Lynskey R230 Houseblend - Brooks Team Pro
2007 Rivendell Bleriot - Rivet Pearl
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.
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.![]()
"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we might become." Charles Dubois
I thought that was Pedro.
(refocusing trifocals....)
"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we might become." Charles Dubois
Zen, you are a trip! Certifiable and official.
"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we might become." Charles Dubois
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.
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.
"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we might become." Charles Dubois