This announcement has been a super-long time coming. As in, babies have been made in less time. Almost exactly one year ago The Girl and I started looking at expansion space – both for The CupCakery as well as a place that I could store all of the gizmos, gadgets and trainers that had been piling up in our small Parisian apartment. At one point last spring we peaked at over 10 trainers in our apartment, along with six bikes. Seriously.
Meanwhile, The Girl’s CupCakery business continues to require extra space of her own. As the many readers who have visited the shop in Paris know – the space is tiny, and what you see is all there is. So last fall we started looking into options to increase space for both sides of our worlds.
We had many attempts over the course of the last year, but back in late May we finally signed on a new commercial location. This location would be perfect for both of us – one half for me, and one half for her. Actually, slightly more than half for her. Plus, a combined and legit office space with desks and all!
Of course, it wasn’t quite as simple as that. No, this stood in the way:
We had a lot of construction to do. Along with all the other things you’d expect when building a new space – from paperwork to designing kitchens and office plans. With the exception of the actual construction, we did everything else design-wise by ourselves (along with our awesome employees assisting in keeping things smooth on the French workflow side).
You know all those ‘5 Random Things’ posts I do each weekend? If only you saw what we really were doing. It actually looked a bit more like this:
And this:
And spray-painting instructions continually since apparently written notes kept getting overlooked:
We spent every day and night from June till October dealing with construction crews, contractors, real estate agents and everyone else in between (and many folks we didn’t really want in between).
Each morning and each night we’d start off with the construction crew clarifying items and explaining to them in a very Americana way that ‘C’est la vie’ was not good enough. Quite frankly, it was exhausting for both of us. Though, we do have some hilarious stories to tell (along with ones where we just wanted to cry in frustration). But, we’re incredibly happy to be past that phase of things.
So what’s the end resultant? Well…let’s dive into it!
The DC Rainmaker Cave!
You know how guys have ‘Man Caves’? Well, I actually have a legit cave. Seriously. It’s underground – the whole thing, and leads into a complex cave system.
The bulk of construction in the studio was actually underground, turning a scene worthy of a Law and Order kidnapper holding locale into something more appropriate for me. Here’s the tour of things! First, you’ve gotta go underground though:
First up is a storage place for most of the products. One of the biggest challenges I often face is finding parts and devices. I get hundreds of questions a day, and I’m often trying to quickly grab a watch to test or answer a question. Previously I had just boxes upon boxes, and I had to try and keep track of what went where. Now, it’s all perfectly labeled:
Do you need a heart rate strap?
Which is totally different from the mass of straight watches/devices that I’ve bought over time to continue supporting reviews after I send the trial units back to companies:
Then there’s the slew of new products that I’ve bought or have been sent to check out:
Of course, just because I bought something doesn’t mean a review will happen. Sometimes I just test things out to see how they work and to answer random questions.
Down below that I’ve got a slew of bike parts for quick swaps –from cranks to cassettes to pedals and more.
And down below that there’s the famous water bottle holders, along with a stack of stands for holding bikes. I use them outdoors when doing product shots, as well as indoors occasionally simply to hold a bike upright. Off to the left you see my distance measuring wheel.
(Update since many of you have asked: The storage system is called ‘Elfa’, and I found it at Leroy Merlin (our equivelant of Home Depot), here’s Elfa’s site. It looks like in the US The Container Store carries it.
The thing I liked most about it, is that all I had to drill into the wall is the single track at the top. Everything else just hangs from it. So there’s none of that awful keeping each spar perfectly level while you drill it into the wall piece. Just the one top one and done. Here’s a photo I took at the hardware store showing some of the options.)
The folks at Clever Training as part of a house warming gift sent over a massive Park Toolbox. This is awesome as it’s ensured I have everything I need to swap out new bike parts that I’m constantly rotating through (i.e. power meters with differing bottom bracket configurations).
Looking back, towards the right we’ve got the charging station and photography area. You can see a the 3DR IRIS+ Quadrocopter sitting there, ready to get packed to head with me on a trip. They’ve got a follow-me mode that should work while cycling with a GoPro action cam (we’ll see next week in a much more deserted locale). And behind that the much loved rolling pin.
Below it I’ve got huge and powerful USB charging strips to allow me to charge up tons of stuff at once.
Next to that…the magical water pressure testing system:
I can instantly set the tablet to emulate a given water pressure (down to 50m) and conduct tests including pressing of buttons. I can also emulate various pressure changes in a completely computerized and automated way. More on that in a future myth busting post…
On the other side of the room I’ve got some of our bikes up against the wall using the CLUG’s. This was a Kickstarter project that recently started shipping:
To the right of that I have an empty space for new trainers or various product photography. Empty space is my friend! Right now it has the Tacx Smart trainers in there, along with the insideRide rollers.
Then, I’ve got my more stationary trainer area. This space includes a TV and computer, along with an Apple TV so I can Airplay content from the iPad/iPhone. Obviously I just move the fan out to blow air on me.
Finally, in the main space I have a treadmill – perfect for doing various indoor running tests (or just workouts):
My treadmill search was long and slow. Unfortunately, for reasons that make no sense – Pro-Form sends their crappier units to Europe, without possibility to get the fancier (and even cheaper) US units with all sorts of neat displays. I’m not really a big fan of the company due to their patent troll practices, but product wise it checked off all the boxes, including full on automation of the treadmill with WiFi connectivity and automatic uploading.
This allows me, for example, to have a treadmill test suite for watches that claim to do indoor pace accurately without a footpod (most still suck there). I can repeat that test exactly the same each time for each watch, with the results and test baseline fully saved. Really cool. And that’s before I get into the ability to create any course/route on earth and re-run it.
Next to the cave itself is a full shower suite. We put in the shower and bathroom so we can quickly transition from workout to regular work. There’s still a bit of touch up work to complete in here, but the basics all work.
But perhaps the real magic is in the caves, where we have a two separate storage areas that are massive for putting boxes of trainers I’m currently testing, along with all assortment of other things. They’re all back through the system of underground cave tunnels:
I’ve been in the space since mid-August, though hadn’t really got into the groove of things until early October. The space is great when other companies come to town, as it means meetings aren’t in our apartment at the kitchen table. And best of all, it means almost all of my DCR stuff is out of our apartment. Huge awesomeness there!
Here’s a video walkthrough of the whole space, including starting from the street and through the caves a bit. Enjoy!
Now let’s head upstairs…
Bertie’s Cake Studio:
Next we’ve got The Girl’s new space. The goal of this space was actually not a second Bertie’s CupCakery location serving cupcakes. Rather, a core and growing aspect of our business is actually cakes and custom orders. Weddings, birthday parties, corporate events, etc… even the occasional private jet catering. As this has exploded it’s become increasingly difficult to complete this work in the tiny kitchen at the main shop (which many of you have stopped by to see!). Especially since all cupcakes are baked daily at the main shop, so that still has to continue at the same time you might be preparing a multitude of intricate wedding cakes on a given day for pickup.
Finally, the existing locale doesn’t have anywhere to have a consultation. So when a bride or event planner comes in to plan an event we’re providing cakes to, they can’t do that since we only have a single tiny table outside (and it pretty much rains all winter in Paris).
Without further ado, here’s the new space! The location is on a street corner, overlooking the Seine:
(Two photos taken prior to us starting construction internally, so the old realty company signs are still up)
It has massive windows on all sides, which are constantly filled with people watching and checking out the displays:
We’re still working through some of the city permitting process to get our external signage and painting done. But we did successfully install our little window logo on Thursday. Woot!
Once you head inside there is the kitchen area. We wanted it to feel a bit more like a home kitchen, but still have all the same functionality as our existing commercialized kitchen at the other shop. So to that end we have the same oven as we do in our main location – capable of everything from hundreds of cupcakes an hour, to massive wedding cakes, or, just a frozen pizza for us for dinner.
Many cakes come out of the studio each week, from both The Girl and our other awesome baker.
We’ve got a massive ‘American Style’ fridge (seriously, it’s what they’re called here). This is ideal for us to be able to store cakes preparing for delivery, or, under construction:
Of course, in addition to the show space, we also gained a communal office area that we could both work from. However, it’s in a bit of a ‘work in progress’ state. So we’ll just leave that behind a closed door for the moment…
So now we work side by side each day (at least when I’m not travelling for work). Thankfully even when I’m in town I work from home, so I just work here instead next to her. It’s great! :) And of course we’ve got a handy-dandy couch for those late nights.
To bring it back to reality though…everything in the communal office space is Ikea. No reason to spend unnecessary money in this area. We spent many a late night building it all. Also of note, the locking file cabinets are a complete and total nightmare.
Finally, we’ve got another cake-specific storage room that also has a laundry machine (primarily to wash aprons and rags from the shop, but also our athletic gear). Here’s me getting the machine in – it fit…by about 1mm (at most).
And with that, we conclude the full tour of the new spot! If you happen to walk along the river and see the location, and it looks like we’re inside, feel free to knock on the door and say hello!
Thanks for reading!
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Congrats guys. It´s quite hard to say which space is better… if you didn´t post your trip reports, one could easily think your blogging and analysis is a major full-time operation
Great place… for both :-) I bet we can now expect even more reviews, as you will not have to spend so much time “building”…
I guess you have to go now to your “cave” gym to do all the training… no more jumping into bike intervals straight from the bed :-) How far is this from your place? According to the photos towards the Seine, i guess this is a lot closer to the Pont de la Tournelle than to Notre Dame?
And the last question… How safe it is to leave all the gear and the bikes in the cave?
I love the Sonos, it’s great. I do wish however it allowed me to plug things straight into it (I know, the crazy expensive variant does). But otherwise, it works quite well – probably no review planned though.
It’s common for English businesses in France to maintain the English wording. We have most other things in dual French/English (like the door).
Awesome ideas for me and I did not know about the CLUG system. I have an outdoor shop for the summer but I bring it all inside in the winter and I have been looking for a set-up such as the CLUG, I will be acquiring these immediately. Thanks!
Firstly, kudos on the new space – goodness knows how you can deal with all that, plus your job, traveling, product reviews, training……..and a wife.
To the treadmill though, is that perhaps a European model number then, as the Performance 1250 that’s showing on the US sites doesn’t look like yours (yours being nicer).
Yeah, that’s the European model number. I’ve never understood why companies make different models with the same model numbers globally. History is very clear in all that does is introduce consumer confusion and reduce popularity of any given model. Imagine if the iPhone was given different model numbers and branding for each country?
Thanks Pierre for the link, you answered a question I was going to ask regarding the treadmill in the photo.
What is maintenance like for these units, having never owned a treadmill but looking to buy one in the new year, are there any issues with belt life for example? I see the warranty periods on your link, they look pretty good.
DC that is awesome man cave – thank you for the tour!, top job on an obviously large / many late nights undertaking for you and the girl in its original state. I am still amazed how you manage to keep all your workouts going with your busy schedule.
How do you stay on top of your cycling workouts in that location other than the rollers / turbo, I’ve never had the pleasure of going to Paris unfortunately (one on my to do list), do you have to drive out of the City to get in sufficient training on the TT bike?
Of course you have access to the Alps though, for that I am eternally jealous! :)
It’s about a 25-28 minute ride either direction (East or West) to clear the city and get to steady state riding. Perfectly fine in warmer/nicer weather, but kinda sucky that you basically dedicate an hour of your ride round-trip to get to clean riding weather.
On the flip side, Parisians are not morning people – so you can easily head out at 9-10AM on a Sunday and have the roads to yourself getting through the city, so it’s reasonably clean.
That looks amazing and I imagine being underground it must stay a relatively cool and even temperature all year round. My wife would be totally creeped out by the caves. How far do they go and are there other entrances from other shops?
Finally, two quick questions if I might:
1) What are you using for the water bottle holder, is that designed for that purpose or is it a repurpose? What brand is it? I do ultrass that are large loops (10+ miles) so you loop by your stuff and that would be awesome to hold my bottles for quick exchange.
2) What is the brand of USB charging strip? Is it just USB or does it have regular power plugs as well? I have been looking for one that is USB only but most are regular power strips with 2 usb plugs in the end.
So no chair or desk in the space?
I know rest is overrated, but you must have some kind of work space you can use.
Or maybe the best work is done while on the treadmill/stationary bike :)
Laramie
We’ve got shared office space upstairs behind the door that has the wreath on it. Desks, couch, chairs and all. It’s just that right now it’s as if the world exploded in there, so it needs one of those 1998 style “Under Construction” animated GIF’s found on web pages.
Downstairs I have a couple of fold-out Ikea chairs and also a fold-out Ikea table in a separate closet in case I need it.
Yup, they came by once mid-summer mid-construction (if you look at the little timeline option in Google Street View, you can see it with the windows all blanked out).
Then they came by again earlier this fall, before the kitchen portion was installed. But you can see The Girl and one of our employees working inside at some make-shift Ikea tables we had setup to work on cakes then. Hopefully they’ll come by again after the exterior is all finished.
Selfish Request: Lifehacker does a column called “How I work” link to lifehacker.com Would be sooo interested if you did one on yourself as your productivity is quite impressive.
OMG…the quad copter looks amazzzzing. The youtube video on their site is pretty neat. Too bad the FCC and whatever other agencies in the US frown on drones.
It would make an amazing ski video or ironman supplement
In your part of the new place, I’m really impressed by the wall mounted drawers/sliders around the pegboard! I have never seen anything like that at hardware stores around here (Midwestern USA) and it looks like an awesome solution. I bet a lot of readers would be interested to know exactly what all the parts of that wall mounted setup are.
What do you think of the CLUGS? They seem less intrusive than drilling hooks into all the studs….
The storage system is called ‘Elfa’, and I found it at Leroy Merlin (our equivelant of Home Depot), here’s Elfa’s site: link to elfa.com – It looks like in the US the Container store carries it.
The thing I liked most about it, is that all I had to drill into the wall is the single track at the top. Everything else just hangs. So there’s none of that aweful keeping each spar perfectly level while you drill it piece. Just the one top one and done. Here’s a photo I took at the hardware store showing some of the options: link to dcrainmaker.com
The Clugs work well from what I’m seeing in a home setting. I’m not sure they’d be as great in a large communal area such as a busy office with lots of bike traffic, since there’s a little bit of play in the clug at the top and some clunky coworker of yours might be able bonk a bike out. But for me? Perfect and super easy to install.
Indeed the container store carries it. Another alternative which I just installed in my garage ie man cave was a grid system from a company called diamond life gear. 2’x4′ grids and then you order accessories for hanging things. More drilling than Elfa.
Thank you very much for the detailed reply (and Josh for the confirmation). I’ll definitely check that out! My wife can never saw no to a trip to the Container Store.
I hopped on the Clug site and the prices sure skyrocketed post-Kickstarter. Yikes!
More importantly, good luck with you and your wife’s new space! I’m sure all the thought and hard work you have put into it will be very rewarding.
Totally pumped about your new space. Really exciting. I say this from the heart because you are my favorite blogger, but it’s OK to throw some stuff away (or sell it). How many straps do you need to keep? I admit that I’m still using a 310xt and hrm2, but I wouldn’t expect you to keep reviewing those products.
C’est magnifique! I’m always impressed and inspired by people who are “producers” driven by their passions rather than merely “consumers”. Keep up the good work and best of luck to both of you.
As a scuba diver, that “magical water pressure testing system” sounds like something that would be useful to troubleshoot the occasional misbehaving dive computer. How many bar/psi does it support?
The chamber tube is rated to 120psi, but the compressor and software is limited to control up to 50m (75psi) for safety reasons. But, that’s pretty much the max I’d test watches at.
It was custom designed by a company that makes underwater dive photography equipment, for testing their own gear.
Great post, very cool setup you have there. Very interested in your comments about the treadmill and how you use the online features. I’m guessing iFit? If so, are you planning a separate post that talks about those features and your experiences?
I’ll likely do some form of review on iFit, but probably not the treadmill itself. Since iFit is the secret sauce, and it’s applicable to many treadmills – it seems like the best balance.
Awesome, definitely interested in the iFit review moreso than any commentary on the specific treadmill itself. Looking forward to that post. Thanks again.
Wow, I’m not sure if the upstairs or downstairs is better. Downstairs is reminiscent of James Bond studio where “M” works on the gadgets in what might have been a bomb shelter at one time, and upstairs is like having the most awesome living room, only that people can also see in while you see out enjoying the views.
Of course you know you are part of the “in” crowd when you know about the secret passage downstairs to use the water closet whilst touring Paris ;-)
Ray,
This place looks awesome! Love the clean lines in the upstairs space and who wouldn’t want a sweet workout cave. Just make sure you install a good security system since you’ve basically just told the world exactly where you store thousands of dollars worth of pilferable gear.
Dude! Nice man cave. I love it! Nice work. The Girl’s shop upstairs looks great too. Since your man cave looks like a studio in a way…would you ever do a spin class in there ha!
I also love the shout out to Elfa! It (nearly) literally saved my marriage at one point when my wife and I disagreed how to distribute space within a kitchen pantry / a/v cabinet. With the help of the designers at the Container Store, we’ve since used Elfa to organize each storage area in hour house. The system is awesome. We have systems that we’ve been using for nearly 10 years, and they are still as good as the day we bought them.
I’m also loving the posters in the backround of your cave. I have some of them hanging in my boys’ bedroom!
So, when the DCR logo appears in the Parisian night sky, do you emerge from your cave with gadgets to save the day of some struggling runner? I see potential for a whole line of DCR comic books and movies. . .
hey Ray, You have a great spot for all your play toys. Have I mentioned ” when I die, I’m planning on coming back as a ” DC Rainmaker “. I wish you both lots “good wishes” and a Happy Christmas.
“So what are you going to do with all the space in the apt?”
everything looks great man! Congrats and I am a bit jealous.
What are you using for a USB charger? I have looked at a few solutions, but always wary when charging a ton of expensive electronics…
Here’s the USB charging strips I have (link to amazon.com)* – . They’re designed to be a bit heavier duty than most simply USB charging stations, and I selected them due to the higher amperage port available for stuff like tablets. Thus far, very happy with them.
*Anker AH232 USB 3.0 Aluminum 13-Port Hub + 5V 2.1A Smart Charging Port with 12V 5A Power Adapter
Thought I should point out only one port is 2.1A and won’t do data, the rest are .9A with all ports together limited to 8A. So good for lots of data ports but if you purely want charging ports are higher amps there are better options.
I’m convinced now I need a fuel tank upgrade and a pair of turbos installed.
Congratulations to you both. You’ve both worked really hard to achieve this. Like many others, I don’t know when you sleep or how you even sleep with that much going on. You are the energizer bunny between work, training, remodeling and DCR. Or you have a clone ;)
Will you do a review of that quadrocopter? Would love to know more about it, pros, cons, …
Forget a few of the other little nameless gadgets on the to do list ;) Skip to the flying machine ;)
I don’t expect to directly do a full review of the entire quad, but likely talk to viability in action cam usage for sports (such as the follow me functionality in cycling, etc…). Though, I suspect you’ll see tidbits of my thoughts on it here and there.
Your perspective with regards to action cam usage for sports would be highly appreciated.
As that would be a large part of my use (just as a hobby, personal use), and I suspect others, to have a go with live recording and live tracking; but we are just worried about the investment and it turning out to be a disappointment, or something that is obsoleted in 3 or 6 months by a newer model.
I know you have – or had – a DJI, but I just wasn’t convinced on it (all things I read considered). Then I saw your new quad in the DCR Cave. And this 3DR looks better especially with tracking ability. Then once you add the gopro, gimball & live viewer; it gets to be the thing my wife and I want to operate to get some “action” shots over water.
Biggest detail for me is wind tolerance, as the primary hobby is windsurfing. Not that I’d take it out in very high winds, but you pretty much need 4 beaufort to get going. And, I suspect that is going to be a problem.
Anyway. Looking forward to your perspective after some of your trials with it.
What watch is in the pressure testing chamber? Looks like a Fenix, but Fenix 1 has an orange Menu button, Fenix 2 has a black one. Not aware of any that has a blue button though… Fenix 3 maybe? :D
Congratulations with the new space, both to you as well as to The Girl !
The road might have been bumpy, but the end result looks superb.
Indeed the cave is an absolute dream for any man or woman into sports.
While we are at it, I am in Paris regularly for work while you are regularly out of Paris (for work as well). You do not have a spare key laying around, do you? ;-)
Your video reminds me ov videographer Casey Neistat’s studio video. Nice work. Seems like you may be planning to being in Paris for a while.
Video link: link to youtube.com
Congratulations to both of you, impressive result considering the starting point, I wish to both of you all the best in this new challenge.
I’m sorry DC but when I saw the bakery, all the rest……. is not primary but must admit you have a personal space that everyone of us would love to have and when I saw all your devices etc I felt to be like a kid in a toys shop..
If I will visit Paris I think I will make a point to pass there.
Ciao
You have done a remarkably stunning job with the kitchen and the gym area with the TACX runners and road bike is the icing on the cherry. Well done and all the best to you.
for me the most stunning part were these cave tunnels and ..your new quadrocopter. My english is not good enough to understand everything, but could it be that you said the name of the quadrocopter is “Rover”? It seems to be bigger then the DJI Phantom. Really impressive.
Wish you and your girl all the best with your new shop.
Frank is correct, that one on the desk is the IRIS+. Though, below it in the black case is the DJI Phantom2.
They are interesting to compare. Both are polished and unpolished in their own ways. The Phantom’s hardware is more polished and far easier to travel with, whereas the 3DR software side is more refined than DJI and the utilization of that software is cheaper/free.
Thank you Frank and Ray. Found the website. I think the IRIS+ has no special accu, like the Phantom, so buying a second one would be cheaper too. Seems there are more and more companies around developing and selling copters. Never heard of 3DRobotics I must admit. This “follow me” function could be very useful sometimes. But now I am very curious what GO Pro will come up with.
Cheers and have a nice day
Congrats on the new space. Everything looks great, though I have to say, I was kinda partial to the prison-theme of the original layout :)
I love my wife soooo much, we’ve been married 20 years and very rarely argue, let alone fight, but there is absolutely no way we could “work” together. You are a better (and crazier) man than I.
Conseils performances et sucre, une combinaison absolument parfaite! Je vous engagerais bien dans mon équipe de support pour mon prochain cycle olympique! Your blog is fantastic.
Treadmill in the cave … I look forward how you gona use it during summer. I did not see any air condition in that facility downstairs. A fan might not help much.
Hi
You recently installed a treadmill in your man cave. I was interested if you have done any reviews on software controlling treadmills, Like PerfPro software and Wahoo Kickr power trainer.
Regards
Gordon
I’m not aware of any 3rd party apps/devices that can control the treadmill. The treadmill utilizes iFIT, which does control it – but I’m not aware of any other way unfortunately (I’d love to know of one if such a thing exists!).
Hi Ray,
I was just wondering if you managed to get an internet connection in the cave. And if yes how?
We are going to move to a new place, where I will be able to get my own bike cave ;-) but I am not sure on how I am going to make the connection to the web work there.
Any advice welcome
It’s messy. There’s little to no cell signal down there, so I positioned the WiFi router upstairs to be somewhat close. That mostly works. But I also then use PowerLine ethernet to try and bridge it, and then put a secondary WiFi access point down there. That also works, but sometimes introduces complications.
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It really looks great!
Congrats to both of you for the hard work
I must admit that I am a little jealous as I have to use our living room for my “in-house” rides, which is far from ideal…
Very impressive. I’m quite jealous!
Not least because of access to delicious cakes. :)
Really cool stuff. One thing I may have missed – how far is it from your apartment?
Just a few blocks away. So nice and close.
Holy crap that is awesome! Looks like you could do with more storage space in the cave already though!
great work.
Pure awesome.
Congrats to both you and the girl!
WOW! That is a fabulous space for both of you. Enjoy!!
Wow! The DCR cave is awesome. Seriously though when do you sleep?
Congrats guys. It´s quite hard to say which space is better… if you didn´t post your trip reports, one could easily think your blogging and analysis is a major full-time operation
Your place look awesome. Congrats, Thanks for all your review.
Great place… for both :-) I bet we can now expect even more reviews, as you will not have to spend so much time “building”…
I guess you have to go now to your “cave” gym to do all the training… no more jumping into bike intervals straight from the bed :-) How far is this from your place? According to the photos towards the Seine, i guess this is a lot closer to the Pont de la Tournelle than to Notre Dame?
And the last question… How safe it is to leave all the gear and the bikes in the cave?
Yup, just about 3-4 blocks or so away from our home, so a quick and easy three minute walk.
Mazel tov on this space, it’s fantastic.
Gonna review the sonos? Great work, but don’t the Parisians mind that the wording is in English for the cupcakery?
I love the Sonos, it’s great. I do wish however it allowed me to plug things straight into it (I know, the crazy expensive variant does). But otherwise, it works quite well – probably no review planned though.
It’s common for English businesses in France to maintain the English wording. We have most other things in dual French/English (like the door).
Wow! The dream cave for any MAMIL….
I hope you have good door locks now that everyone knows where all your bike gear is :o(
YOU ARE TOTALLY NUTS, DUDE
Do you two ever sleep?
Congratulations, it look as a very nice place.
Awesome ideas for me and I did not know about the CLUG system. I have an outdoor shop for the summer but I bring it all inside in the winter and I have been looking for a set-up such as the CLUG, I will be acquiring these immediately. Thanks!
Congrats!!!
So which Pro-Form did you choose, tried to figure out the model o the picture but no luck?
Did you buy it in Europe?
It’s the Performance 1250.
I bought it through their European/French site. It was roughly 30-40% off at some point back in early November I believe, some sort of holiday sale.
Thanks,
Did notice that the 1350 was on big discount on the UK site
link to proformfitness.co.uk
Firstly, kudos on the new space – goodness knows how you can deal with all that, plus your job, traveling, product reviews, training……..and a wife.
To the treadmill though, is that perhaps a European model number then, as the Performance 1250 that’s showing on the US sites doesn’t look like yours (yours being nicer).
Yeah, that’s the European model number. I’ve never understood why companies make different models with the same model numbers globally. History is very clear in all that does is introduce consumer confusion and reduce popularity of any given model. Imagine if the iPhone was given different model numbers and branding for each country?
Thanks Pierre for the link, you answered a question I was going to ask regarding the treadmill in the photo.
What is maintenance like for these units, having never owned a treadmill but looking to buy one in the new year, are there any issues with belt life for example? I see the warranty periods on your link, they look pretty good.
DC that is awesome man cave – thank you for the tour!, top job on an obviously large / many late nights undertaking for you and the girl in its original state. I am still amazed how you manage to keep all your workouts going with your busy schedule.
How do you stay on top of your cycling workouts in that location other than the rollers / turbo, I’ve never had the pleasure of going to Paris unfortunately (one on my to do list), do you have to drive out of the City to get in sufficient training on the TT bike?
Of course you have access to the Alps though, for that I am eternally jealous! :)
It’s about a 25-28 minute ride either direction (East or West) to clear the city and get to steady state riding. Perfectly fine in warmer/nicer weather, but kinda sucky that you basically dedicate an hour of your ride round-trip to get to clean riding weather.
On the flip side, Parisians are not morning people – so you can easily head out at 9-10AM on a Sunday and have the roads to yourself getting through the city, so it’s reasonably clean.
The new place looks awesome, the upstairs just as much as the downstairs.
All the best!
Congrats on the new space. Wish I have my own space for my junks.
Anyway, the cave is sorta creepy. At least to me it is..haha
Please post photo of finished Nutella cake!
Wow, totally awesome review and new location. You both sure have some sweat equity in your lives! Congratulations!
That looks amazing and I imagine being underground it must stay a relatively cool and even temperature all year round. My wife would be totally creeped out by the caves. How far do they go and are there other entrances from other shops?
Finally, two quick questions if I might:
1) What are you using for the water bottle holder, is that designed for that purpose or is it a repurpose? What brand is it? I do ultrass that are large loops (10+ miles) so you loop by your stuff and that would be awesome to hold my bottles for quick exchange.
2) What is the brand of USB charging strip? Is it just USB or does it have regular power plugs as well? I have been looking for one that is USB only but most are regular power strips with 2 usb plugs in the end.
So no chair or desk in the space?
I know rest is overrated, but you must have some kind of work space you can use.
Or maybe the best work is done while on the treadmill/stationary bike :)
Laramie
We’ve got shared office space upstairs behind the door that has the wreath on it. Desks, couch, chairs and all. It’s just that right now it’s as if the world exploded in there, so it needs one of those 1998 style “Under Construction” animated GIF’s found on web pages.
Downstairs I have a couple of fold-out Ikea chairs and also a fold-out Ikea table in a separate closet in case I need it.
This pretty much confirms my life sucks.
Great work though.
Mine too Rob, mine too…
looks great especially the cakes!
Have you seen that you are also on google earth, I mean with streetview there a girl inside the space that seems to be The Girl
Yup, they came by once mid-summer mid-construction (if you look at the little timeline option in Google Street View, you can see it with the windows all blanked out).
Then they came by again earlier this fall, before the kitchen portion was installed. But you can see The Girl and one of our employees working inside at some make-shift Ikea tables we had setup to work on cakes then. Hopefully they’ll come by again after the exterior is all finished.
C’est magnifique!
I have no idea where you find the time.
So cool. So Impressive.
Selfish Request: Lifehacker does a column called “How I work” link to lifehacker.com Would be sooo interested if you did one on yourself as your productivity is quite impressive.
OMG…the quad copter looks amazzzzing. The youtube video on their site is pretty neat. Too bad the FCC and whatever other agencies in the US frown on drones.
It would make an amazing ski video or ironman supplement
Congratulations!!
You really did great work. This place is really wonderful!
I always wonder how you find all this time letting this things getting real.
Wish you both all the best!
Chapeau!
Ray,
In your part of the new place, I’m really impressed by the wall mounted drawers/sliders around the pegboard! I have never seen anything like that at hardware stores around here (Midwestern USA) and it looks like an awesome solution. I bet a lot of readers would be interested to know exactly what all the parts of that wall mounted setup are.
What do you think of the CLUGS? They seem less intrusive than drilling hooks into all the studs….
The storage system is called ‘Elfa’, and I found it at Leroy Merlin (our equivelant of Home Depot), here’s Elfa’s site: link to elfa.com – It looks like in the US the Container store carries it.
The thing I liked most about it, is that all I had to drill into the wall is the single track at the top. Everything else just hangs. So there’s none of that aweful keeping each spar perfectly level while you drill it piece. Just the one top one and done. Here’s a photo I took at the hardware store showing some of the options: link to dcrainmaker.com
The Clugs work well from what I’m seeing in a home setting. I’m not sure they’d be as great in a large communal area such as a busy office with lots of bike traffic, since there’s a little bit of play in the clug at the top and some clunky coworker of yours might be able bonk a bike out. But for me? Perfect and super easy to install.
Indeed the container store carries it. Another alternative which I just installed in my garage ie man cave was a grid system from a company called diamond life gear. 2’x4′ grids and then you order accessories for hanging things. More drilling than Elfa.
Ray,
Thank you very much for the detailed reply (and Josh for the confirmation). I’ll definitely check that out! My wife can never saw no to a trip to the Container Store.
I hopped on the Clug site and the prices sure skyrocketed post-Kickstarter. Yikes!
More importantly, good luck with you and your wife’s new space! I’m sure all the thought and hard work you have put into it will be very rewarding.
Awesome cave!!! Where did you get those storage shelves/drawers that hold your HRM, chargers, etc. Looks like IKEA…
Ray,
Totally pumped about your new space. Really exciting. I say this from the heart because you are my favorite blogger, but it’s OK to throw some stuff away (or sell it). How many straps do you need to keep? I admit that I’m still using a 310xt and hrm2, but I wouldn’t expect you to keep reviewing those products.
C’est magnifique! I’m always impressed and inspired by people who are “producers” driven by their passions rather than merely “consumers”. Keep up the good work and best of luck to both of you.
Noice!
As a scuba diver, that “magical water pressure testing system” sounds like something that would be useful to troubleshoot the occasional misbehaving dive computer. How many bar/psi does it support?
The chamber tube is rated to 120psi, but the compressor and software is limited to control up to 50m (75psi) for safety reasons. But, that’s pretty much the max I’d test watches at.
It was custom designed by a company that makes underwater dive photography equipment, for testing their own gear.
I think the nicest decorating touch is the hacksaw…
kudos!
Wow really nice “man” cave!
I will steal some ideas for my future cave!
Great post, very cool setup you have there. Very interested in your comments about the treadmill and how you use the online features. I’m guessing iFit? If so, are you planning a separate post that talks about those features and your experiences?
I’ll likely do some form of review on iFit, but probably not the treadmill itself. Since iFit is the secret sauce, and it’s applicable to many treadmills – it seems like the best balance.
Awesome, definitely interested in the iFit review moreso than any commentary on the specific treadmill itself. Looking forward to that post. Thanks again.
Wow, I’m not sure if the upstairs or downstairs is better. Downstairs is reminiscent of James Bond studio where “M” works on the gadgets in what might have been a bomb shelter at one time, and upstairs is like having the most awesome living room, only that people can also see in while you see out enjoying the views.
Of course you know you are part of the “in” crowd when you know about the secret passage downstairs to use the water closet whilst touring Paris ;-)
Soooooooooooooooooooooooo jelouss!!!!
Ray,
This place looks awesome! Love the clean lines in the upstairs space and who wouldn’t want a sweet workout cave. Just make sure you install a good security system since you’ve basically just told the world exactly where you store thousands of dollars worth of pilferable gear.
Congratulations on your new space. Looks great!
Dude! Nice man cave. I love it! Nice work. The Girl’s shop upstairs looks great too. Since your man cave looks like a studio in a way…would you ever do a spin class in there ha!
Absolutely wow, congratulations to both of you! I should stop by the CupCakery very soon.
The new shop looks magical!
Awesome!!, congratulations to both of you.
Really impressive.
Enjoy,
I was happy that I hung up a picture last weekend and now I see this! :-)
Congrats and great job. Glad both of your businesses are growing!
Congratulations! Great space!
I also love the shout out to Elfa! It (nearly) literally saved my marriage at one point when my wife and I disagreed how to distribute space within a kitchen pantry / a/v cabinet. With the help of the designers at the Container Store, we’ve since used Elfa to organize each storage area in hour house. The system is awesome. We have systems that we’ve been using for nearly 10 years, and they are still as good as the day we bought them.
I’m also loving the posters in the backround of your cave. I have some of them hanging in my boys’ bedroom!
Cheers.
Cool! I bet you don’t recognise the apartment without all your stuff in it
So, when the DCR logo appears in the Parisian night sky, do you emerge from your cave with gadgets to save the day of some struggling runner? I see potential for a whole line of DCR comic books and movies. . .
hey Ray, You have a great spot for all your play toys. Have I mentioned ” when I die, I’m planning on coming back as a ” DC Rainmaker “. I wish you both lots “good wishes” and a Happy Christmas.
“So what are you going to do with all the space in the apt?”
Very nice place…!
Ray,
everything looks great man! Congrats and I am a bit jealous.
What are you using for a USB charger? I have looked at a few solutions, but always wary when charging a ton of expensive electronics…
Here’s the USB charging strips I have (link to amazon.com)* – . They’re designed to be a bit heavier duty than most simply USB charging stations, and I selected them due to the higher amperage port available for stuff like tablets. Thus far, very happy with them.
*Anker AH232 USB 3.0 Aluminum 13-Port Hub + 5V 2.1A Smart Charging Port with 12V 5A Power Adapter
Thought I should point out only one port is 2.1A and won’t do data, the rest are .9A with all ports together limited to 8A. So good for lots of data ports but if you purely want charging ports are higher amps there are better options.
I’m convinced now I need a fuel tank upgrade and a pair of turbos installed.
Congratulations to you both. You’ve both worked really hard to achieve this. Like many others, I don’t know when you sleep or how you even sleep with that much going on. You are the energizer bunny between work, training, remodeling and DCR. Or you have a clone ;)
Will you do a review of that quadrocopter? Would love to know more about it, pros, cons, …
Forget a few of the other little nameless gadgets on the to do list ;) Skip to the flying machine ;)
I don’t expect to directly do a full review of the entire quad, but likely talk to viability in action cam usage for sports (such as the follow me functionality in cycling, etc…). Though, I suspect you’ll see tidbits of my thoughts on it here and there.
Your perspective with regards to action cam usage for sports would be highly appreciated.
As that would be a large part of my use (just as a hobby, personal use), and I suspect others, to have a go with live recording and live tracking; but we are just worried about the investment and it turning out to be a disappointment, or something that is obsoleted in 3 or 6 months by a newer model.
I know you have – or had – a DJI, but I just wasn’t convinced on it (all things I read considered). Then I saw your new quad in the DCR Cave. And this 3DR looks better especially with tracking ability. Then once you add the gopro, gimball & live viewer; it gets to be the thing my wife and I want to operate to get some “action” shots over water.
Biggest detail for me is wind tolerance, as the primary hobby is windsurfing. Not that I’d take it out in very high winds, but you pretty much need 4 beaufort to get going. And, I suspect that is going to be a problem.
Anyway. Looking forward to your perspective after some of your trials with it.
That looks awesome, especially the tunnel.
Is that a Nutella cake she’s frosting???
But of course!
What watch is in the pressure testing chamber? Looks like a Fenix, but Fenix 1 has an orange Menu button, Fenix 2 has a black one. Not aware of any that has a blue button though… Fenix 3 maybe? :D
It’s the quatix (a.k.a. Fenix 1 for sailing):
link to sites.garmin.com
oh right haha. And here I thought Ray was teasing us with a new product
OMG. ARE THERE SKULLS IN THE CAVES? ARE YOU CONNECTED TO THE CATACOMBS!? scary….
After the Batcave… The Dcave.
Now you need a Dsignal to come to our rescue !
Congratulations with the new space, both to you as well as to The Girl !
The road might have been bumpy, but the end result looks superb.
Indeed the cave is an absolute dream for any man or woman into sports.
While we are at it, I am in Paris regularly for work while you are regularly out of Paris (for work as well). You do not have a spare key laying around, do you? ;-)
Enjoy the new place!
Hendrik
Your video reminds me ov videographer Casey Neistat’s studio video. Nice work. Seems like you may be planning to being in Paris for a while.
Video link:
link to youtube.com
Congratulations to both of you, impressive result considering the starting point, I wish to both of you all the best in this new challenge.
I’m sorry DC but when I saw the bakery, all the rest……. is not primary but must admit you have a personal space that everyone of us would love to have and when I saw all your devices etc I felt to be like a kid in a toys shop..
If I will visit Paris I think I will make a point to pass there.
Ciao
Amazing Ray.
You work, bike, swim, run, write reviews, have a partner, and found the time to remodel!!
Just do you do it? Do you even sleep?
You have done a remarkably stunning job with the kitchen and the gym area with the TACX runners and road bike is the icing on the cherry. Well done and all the best to you.
Very nice! Looks great.
Hahaha !!!! I share the same thoughts regarding the pro form “strategies”… fool!!!
Hello Ray,
for me the most stunning part were these cave tunnels and ..your new quadrocopter. My english is not good enough to understand everything, but could it be that you said the name of the quadrocopter is “Rover”? It seems to be bigger then the DJI Phantom. Really impressive.
Wish you and your girl all the best with your new shop.
Cheers
Have a look at 3DRobotics IRIS+
Frank is correct, that one on the desk is the IRIS+. Though, below it in the black case is the DJI Phantom2.
They are interesting to compare. Both are polished and unpolished in their own ways. The Phantom’s hardware is more polished and far easier to travel with, whereas the 3DR software side is more refined than DJI and the utilization of that software is cheaper/free.
Thank you Frank and Ray. Found the website. I think the IRIS+ has no special accu, like the Phantom, so buying a second one would be cheaper too. Seems there are more and more companies around developing and selling copters. Never heard of 3DRobotics I must admit. This “follow me” function could be very useful sometimes. But now I am very curious what GO Pro will come up with.
Cheers and have a nice day
Awesome!! Congratulations to your new work space!!
Awesome. The only thing missing is an endless pool!
link to endlesspools.com
Ciao Ray,
awesome work, looks great !
wow both spaces look great. you’ve inspired me to finally sort my workout and storage spaces out!
Ray,
Congrats on the new space. Everything looks great, though I have to say, I was kinda partial to the prison-theme of the original layout :)
I love my wife soooo much, we’ve been married 20 years and very rarely argue, let alone fight, but there is absolutely no way we could “work” together. You are a better (and crazier) man than I.
Conseils performances et sucre, une combinaison absolument parfaite! Je vous engagerais bien dans mon équipe de support pour mon prochain cycle olympique! Your blog is fantastic.
Really nothing to say other than “great space” and “thanks for the tour.”
Treadmill in the cave … I look forward how you gona use it during summer. I did not see any air condition in that facility downstairs. A fan might not help much.
It remains surprisingly cool underground. I was in and out of the space all summer long, without any issues there.
But, we thought ahead and built air vent outlets to hook up a portable A/C unit if we had to.
Thanks for sharing your Trideout Ray! It’s awesome. You and the Girl have a Merry Christmas!
Awesome space Ray. Happy christmas to you both, hope you get some well earned rest!
Beautiful cakes and a beautiful space! Inspiring me to get our space (and our workspaces) together!
Hi
You recently installed a treadmill in your man cave. I was interested if you have done any reviews on software controlling treadmills, Like PerfPro software and Wahoo Kickr power trainer.
Regards
Gordon
I’m not aware of any 3rd party apps/devices that can control the treadmill. The treadmill utilizes iFIT, which does control it – but I’m not aware of any other way unfortunately (I’d love to know of one if such a thing exists!).
Hey Ray- Love both your new spaces. What kind of oven is that in the cake studio?
It’s a commercial convection oven. I don’t have the brand handy at the moment (travelling), but it’s designed for baking/patisserie work.
You could always go totally French and pronounce it in French — “cahv.” If you really wanted to sound like a snooty expat, of course… :-)
You’re my hero :)
It’s so enthusiastic to see someone dedicated like to his passions.
Congratulations.
Ray, this looks sensational. As a long long time ready of your site, I really look forward to trying one of the cupcakes when we are in Paris in July.
I’m also looking forward to the review of the Alarm system you have on the new place! :-P
What kind of tablet is that hooked up to the water pressure testing system?
Space looks awesome. Is the cave system connected to other businesses, or do you own all of that space? I’m not sure how that whole thing works.
It’s just a small Dell tablet running full-blown version of Windows (not an RT device).
For the space, it’s below ground directly below the Cake Studio, which is part of The Girl’s Cupcakery business.
What is the model of bike stands that you use?
Hi Ray,
I was just wondering if you managed to get an internet connection in the cave. And if yes how?
We are going to move to a new place, where I will be able to get my own bike cave ;-) but I am not sure on how I am going to make the connection to the web work there.
Any advice welcome
It’s messy. There’s little to no cell signal down there, so I positioned the WiFi router upstairs to be somewhat close. That mostly works. But I also then use PowerLine ethernet to try and bridge it, and then put a secondary WiFi access point down there. That also works, but sometimes introduces complications.
Cheers Ray!
I was thinking of similar set-ups but I am pretty sure I will face the same issues…
If any reader has alternative suggestions, they are welcome