FYXO B-CON rear bike light // XECCON MARS 60 lumen

Helped me source a lot of parts, and like members on here has given nemerous amounts of time and knowledge along the way,
Mind you i’ve slagged off just about everyone I’ve ever met…
Edit. Besides Blakey

Fyxo debate - well I reckon it’s a great thing that Aussies have something/someone like Fyxo. Not everybody may get his humor/products/message, and for sure it can be a bit hit or miss, my view is that he’s taking the seriousness out of cycling a bit, which tends to take itself way too seriously at times.

How fucking cool is the Roobaix for example. haven’t seen many things like that. Sure if you’ve done it 4 times you might feel that’s enough. I’ve done the Roobaix as an adult and had a total blast, if I’d had done it as a kid I’d have thought it’s the best thing. Can’t wait to do it with my kids.

+1

#fiascobabes, Total rush etc

[QUOTE=EzyLee;597082]I don’t hate on him, I just don’t agree with the way he ‘pays homage / makes references’ to other big, well known brands in order to make a profit.

The other day Rapha put up a new design… it has some colours that are shared with one of the past melb roubaix jersey. A comment was made that fyxo was ‘fashion forward’. Thats a bit rich when 90% of the Fyxo products are a blatant rip off.[/QUOTE}

  1. Many respected brands have done the ‘paying homage’ thing before Fyxo. Look at Carharrt, doing their own interpretation of the Thrasher or Black Flag logos for example, everyone thinks it’s cool and it’s just another design in their range, not something that’s suddenly going to boost their profits immensely. It’s just going to appeal to those who are into Thrasher & Black Flag.

  2. ‘Blatant rip-off’ really? You think suddenly all the San Pellegrino drinkers are going to rush to buy Fyxo bidons? You might not like Fyxo designs, but IMO they’re not rip-offs. Not anymore than ‘Cafe Roubaix’ and the Neil Pryde ‘Alize’ being Specialized rip-offs.

To do it once… okay. But to consistently put out products sporting other peoples brands? A bit of a list below of some of the brands he has taken creative licence to in order to make money.

  • Absolut
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Good Year
  • Campagnolo
  • Shimano
  • Colnago
  • NOS
  • Rock Shox
  • Krylon
  • San Pellegrino
  • Mapei
  • PDM-Concorde
  • Brooklyn Chewing Gum

Yes - I do think these are all blatant rip offs of other peoples brands. It is taking their artwork, their fonts, their colours, their brand and making a slight adjustment to turn it into a quick FYXO product. If it were just a one off, I would be okay with it as I guess it would fall into your (1) point. But it seems as though its the easy way out to take an already existing, popular logo and put his own fyxo spin on it… to me it is now a novelty, cheap, gimmick bootleg brand. “Hmmm, I wonder what else I can fit FYXO on to that the punters will lap up?”. To me, it’s a cop out.

The dude does this stuff himself which shows he knows how to use the design programs well enough to start to do something original and not based purely on other peoples brands/intellectual property.

Respect where respect is due. Yes the Roobaix looks like a great event. To put something on like that is a massive effort and it really looks like a fun event. I have tried to go twice now and even put money into his pocket for an event I never attended.

He’s good at business ATMO and he likes bicycles. Whatever.

Yeah good on him for making a living out of his passion. Hats off once again.

I guess people don’t see it the way I do… creating brands is what I do for a living and knowing how hard it is at times to come up with something aesthetically pleasing and creative knowing that all it takes is someone with a bit of knowledge in the software I use, to make some tweaks for their own gain… It is a bit close to home and the reason why I have my nose out of joint on this one.

I see that light as similar to buying a Bidon with a logo on it, when the generic version is $5 less.
You buy it because you want to either support or be a part of a certain company, group or maybe be cool by association.
If the product is a quality item and a logo or two is enough for someone to hand over more money than they need to, then good on them.

I get your point, and it’s a really good one. Andy’s model is based on this, and loses integrity because of it. Buy in at your discretion, cos you’re tainted by it when you do. If you’re OK with that, I’m not going to think much less of you.

Tainted meat!!! Tainted meat!!

Don’t drink the kool-aid, kids.

iS NOTHING SACRED?

He could have me if he played his cards right, Becks.

ezy, totally see where your coming from. Guess its a pretty fine line, depending how you see it.

You either see him as a fellow cyclist making shit that other fellow cyclists enjoy/like and making a living out of his passion, or a bloke out to make a quick buck.

id like to think its the former rather than the latter.

I think it’s both.

You could totally sell this Ezy

Well as this seems to be a hot topic I might as well chime in too.

Like many who have spent any time in Melbourne as a cyclist, I know Andy. I really like the guy. I love the enthusiasm that he brings, in organising the Roobaix, and the various swap-meets over the years. I also really like his approachable, friendly and light-hearted manner. That said, I agree with both Antmandan and Ezylee.

Regarding the objectification of women, Fxyo’s photosets certainly don’t do anything for me. But I also feel that it is worth pointing out that no matter how sleazy they might seem, both parties - artist and model - seem to be entirely comfortable, conscious and happy with the manner in which they portrayed in such photographs (as an object of sexual interest). There is no sense that anyone is being exploited and I think that this is worth pointing out. And as both parties are consenting adults they can do as they damn well please; and furthermore, as it seems to be a relatively socially accepted form of expression, I think its simply a matter of take it or leave it.

As for the parody/homage works, I think the main problem is simply they are not witty enough and quite seem to be overly formulaic or derivative. There are HEAPS of people doing it these days, and some are doing it much better than others - Gage + de Soto’s Sriracha Hot Sauce bidon, Rothera Cycling’s Team ZA kit, FOA’s Prosickkent FRED LIFE, Sram FRED are a few examples that just work. You can’t just slap your brand name on it and expect people to be “WOW, FUCK! SO COOL MAN!”. In fact, by doing that, I think Ezy’s right, all you are doing is trying to tap into their cache of cool, and riding their wave.

But as for Blakey’s original gripe, that really doesn’t bother me. This is simply merchanising and is common practice with mainstream commercial brands. You only need to look at cycling tools, or carbon frames, forks and rims for that matter, to see how widespread a practice it really is. I can think of no less than a dozen companies that do this to lesser and greater extents. Some of which are major mainstream brands and others, like Andy, are small one-man operations. And I certainly don’t think Andy’s intention is to dupe his customers, by simply ‘slapping his brand on it and jumping up the price’.

Anyways, I just last week bought a FYXO Ride On Jersey. Sure it’s inspired by the Skil-Sem jersey but its by no means a rip-off. Its a Roobaix jersey and I’ll proudly wear it as one.

Andy’s a top dude. Okay, so he’s no golden goose but he has passion and vitality and you lot should be proud to have him in your midst.

Cool.

This sums it up for me.

Yeah jice ftw