The Cyclocross Bike: What's (not) in a name

Our strategy in this business has never explicitly been to look at how most of the bicycle industry operates, and then do exactly the opposite. Instead, whenever we make a decision about anything, we start with our customers' perspective and do whatever we think creates the most value for them, or creates the best purchasing and ownership experience. It just so happens that when we follow those guidelines, we end up doing the exact opposite of most other companies.

But now, for the first time, we are willfully flying in the face of industry convention. Because now we have to name our cyclocross bike, and the way almost every other company in the bike business does it is so hackneyed and meaningless that we can't possibly fall into line, even if we did think it was the right thing to do. According to my rapidscan of competitors' cross bikes, over 90% of them are named exactly the same way - using "CX" or "cross" or "X" in the name, as if the inclusion of the type of event for which the bikes are designed within the bike's name is the only way customers will know what the bike is for. Either they think their customers (or the people who sell their bikes to customers) are ignorant, or they can't think of anything better, or they just can't be bothered. You've got your Tricross, your CAADX, your F75X, your Norcross, your X-fire, X-night and X-bow, the Cronus CX and on and on. Honestly, if just one of them had the balls to call their cyclocross bike The Crucifix I could pardon the practice altogether. But nobody does, so to hell with the whole lot of them.

When we chose a name for our cylocross bike, we decided to bite our thumb at best practices through the obvious omission of the "cross" convention. We thought we'd take a phrase that usually includes the word, but leave it out. One of our early contenders was the Dirty Double, but we ruled it out owing to the uncanny popularity of the tandem class here in the Mid-Atlantic. Instead of differentiating, we thought that name might raise some questions about how many riders our cross bike is actually intended for.

Another name in the hunt was the Your Heart and Hope to Die. But given that a friend of ours went into cardiac arrest while bridging to the lead group in the elite race of a local cross event last season (he's fine) we thought it was a little too soon for that joke. We also would have had to replace the bike's Max Perkins build with the Brian Fouche build, and didn't want to negotiate royalties with him. American Red, Railroad -ing and By Stills and Nash are all also not quite right.

Ultimately we decided on a name that pays homage to the toned and purposeful physiques of the world's elite cyclocross champions, and at the same time nods to the rewards we amateur hacks have earned for our 45 minutes of suffering.

Ladies, gentlemen and mudders everywhere, we present to you:

The November Bicycles HOT BUNS.