As most mountain bikers know, carbon fiber has been used in building frames, forks, levers, cranks and just about anything you can think of. But when I recently took a job at TAI Sports, the world of softball and baseball opened up to me. First of all, I haven’t played softball since I was in elementary school and at that time we had wooden bats and only the rich kids had aluminum bats.

But when I started seeing softball bats made with some sort of carbon composite, I was intrigued. Khoa is a HUGE fan of carbon and even asked if I can get him a bat just for the fact its carbon. He like I, doesn’t play softball, but these bats are just pretty.

Here’s a few bats.

These are Easton bats that use “Carbon Nanotube Technology.”

One of the questions Khoa had about these bats since they are carbon, “Don’t they break?” Well yes and no. As long as you don’t “shave” or “roll” them, then they could last a few seasons. But these bats are pretty strong and our company hosted a bat testing session for Worth Bats and I got a glimpse of how much power some of the softball players can dish out with these carbon bats.

Anyhow, this post has a little something to do with mountain biking since the common denominator is carbon. So I thought to myself, when will someone come out with carbon derailleur or brake housing…but I remembered that Nokon has!

Personally I’m not one to go out and get carbon parts, I’m just too broke to do it. But I do admire how it has revolutionized the biking and softball word.

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So here’s our next project, we’re working on getting some sublimated jerseys, but not like the club fit kind. These can be worn for XC, DH and BMX. Here’s what our first round looks like.

The jersey is was created by my work place, TAI Sports. We do custom sublimation and softball equipment. I even run the blog, TaiSports.com/blog.

Here’s a close up of the jersey. Our next round of jerseys will most likely have the logo a larger diameter. Then on the back, across the shoulders would say “MtnBikeRiders.com”

Elite is only available exclusively by TAI Sports, and its Dry Fit!

I only had 2 made, but once we get the final samples and we feel good about them, we’ll get more made.

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I recently started working for a new company that sells Softball and Baseball Equipment. I share an office with the owner of TAI Sports, Carlos Vega. As I worked my first week, I was blown away by how much people would spend on equipment. Never really being exposed to this business, it came as a shock to me to find out bats were now made out of carbon fiber and other materials that are commonly used in bicycles. Heck, they even have titanium bats.

During my first few days on the job, I saw many walks of life walk into our office/warehouse/store front. Both blue and white collar kind of people as well as kids would come in and buy their bats, mitts, turfs(shoes), jerseys, and anything else you can think of that’s related to softball/baseball.

So I asked Carlos, my boss, why are there so many people coming in on a daily basis that buy new gear? He explained to me that hobbies/sports are like drugs. People will find ways to afford a brand new $400 composite bat.

This whole world of softball/baseball is so new to me, heck I didn’t even know it existed! But what’s funny is, there is a huge similarity to the bicycle industry and sport. When I worked at an LBS, we had people coming in buying $2-4K bikes…on a daily basis…

So I’m wondering if the bicycle retailer is somewhat safe from the slowing economy? I would also think that with gas prices, the sale of commuter and road bikes are giving the shops a sales spike. But then again, the only business that I know of that is impervious or recession proof is the medical field.

Popularity: 4% [?]