School book opinion No.1: „What you don’t have in your shop you can’t sell“ is not really applicable for a NICOLAI PremiumShop like WURZELPASSAGE. NICOLAI bikes are custom-made products. Starting with the frame geometry up to anodised spoke nipples every detail on the bike is configured to the customer. The WURZELPASSAGE crew, Rainer Schönfeld and Claus Papendorf don‘t consider NICOLAI Bikes as simply a commodity. For them, every NICOLAI bike is a project; the aim of which is the dream bike. They accompany their customers with patience and care every step of the way through the project‘s life-cycle. Consequently NICOLAI frames and parts are always ordered for the customers not simply taken off the shop‘s shelf. School book opinion No.2 „The shop window is your business card“. Sorry but this is limited. NICOLAI riders don‘t window shop, they‘d rather test the bikes extensively in the field; that’s why Rainer has his own test fleet. As a founding member of the Heidelberg HD Freeride e.V. association he has access to a large pool of customers and owners of individually built NICOLAI bikes. They regularly meet to go for a Rainer Schönfeld is a trained precision mechanic. He uses a self- designed laser level to align the Cane Creek Angle-Sets. He has a desk drill press and a lathe in his workshop. This allows him to produce precision parts such as shock bushings by himself. The barbecue session at the front door is really a common practice in the lunch break, even in winter! ride on their officially approved and constantly maintained bike track in the “Königstuhl”, their local mountain in the city of Heidelberg. Here you can hook up with like-minded people and talk real shop. School book opinion No.3 „location location location“ ... disproved. You don’t find NICOLAI Bikes in every local bike shop, which is major plus point for many potential customers. A special product waits to be discovered. And sometimes you’ll have to turn away from the main traffic flow („mainstream“) and make a pilgrimage to the „guru“ (Rainer’s nickname in the mountainbike Internet forums). Rainer is a well known and respected entity in the most visited German speaking mountain bike technology forum. He is a walking NICOLAI encyclopedia and answers questions usually faster than the company‘s own employees. And yet, one school book opinion would perhaps be true. „Don’t make youself comparable.“ The WURZELPASSAGE, whose nickname is associated with a “House of Pleasure” turns money to real love. Where else would you find such passion for bikes? Rainer Schönfeld ist gelernter Feinmechaniker. Zum Ausrichten des Cane Creek Angle Sets verwendet er eine selbst konstruierte Laser- Wasserwaage. In seiner Werkstatt stehen Standbohrer und Drehbank. Damit können durchaus Präzisionsteile wie Dämpferbuchsen hergestellt werden. Die Grill-Session vor dem Laden findet wirklich regelmäßig in der Mittagspause statt, auch im Winter!