Guerrilla Gravity, badass frame manufacturer in Colorado
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Well that would be under grad type stuff, but yeah
So is that it? You have to be "too big to fail" to make it in the industry? IDK.
The cycling world is boutique, right? Like us 12 people on this site. That is super boutique. We should actually get a hair salon and maybe work on bikes and talk the latest tire designs.
Anyways, point being: Ain't no boutique gonna reach economies of scale. But many boutique-ish companies still exist. I still can't believe Crank Bros are still in business. For example. But I did not see the end of GG coming. Maybe they took the poison pill?
Makes me sad that hookers and blow hasn't been on the table. Those former employees were awful happy.
The cost of capital is much lower than it's been for a very long time. What do those companies you list probably don't have that a relatively new mfg does have? Fresh capex debt. Machining centers, expanding facilities, other overhead. Established factories have less of that, and while they likely borrowed at higher rates at the time, also likely refi'd over the past 5-10 years to tie to historic low rates. What if a new bike co. borrowed a huge sum at historically low rates, but those were tied to adjustable rates and are 2x 3x what they were 5ish years ago?
I don't know, I'm an idiot. GG made super rad bikes and innovated (not just "BNG" technology) so not having them in the game sucks.
Yeah, and what significance does that have?GG started in 2012
They obviously wanted to grow and took on investors/debt to be able to make that happen.
If it had remained a few guys in their garage they'd still be making bikes, just not very many.
Solid vision; US made carbon for GG bikes and also US made carbon supplier for other mtb companies. It had great potential, too bad it didn't work out.
Wouldn't be surprised if some other bike company doesn't nab the Revved Carbon side and go forward with the technology they developed and a US based carbon production model.
Imagine if Yeti could say "made in Colorado" again?
The fan bois would literally shit their pants.
can anyone follow a string of thoughts around here?
the business had already been steadily growing
see above
Neither GG, nor alta created the biz with the intention of selling it, they'd already had that waved in their face in the 10 years prior
They'd already been doing it for almost a decade, well past 3 years
Seems if you could get 3-4 "US" companies to help fund the cash needed and then agree to a discounted frame price for X years and so many years after the loan is paid as "interest" you could get the funds. Also would keep it within the bike industry and not outside investments....
It seems like what folks are missing is that to relaunch the brand, frames essentially have to be either china or Taiwan made, and if you want to do carbon, either it’s going with catalog frames or investing into molds that will take a decade to break even on.
It is almost as though a composite bike that weighs pretty much the same as an alloy one isn't going to be as competitive as the alloy one.
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So there's no infrastructure left? Just the brand/IP?
Fair point, but there are other benefits including durability and ride quality which I would argue are superior for the Rev'd frames. Surely there is room for improvement as with any first product using new methods, as such I'd really like to see this technology move forward in the bike world.
Allied. And charge 5k/frame.
just fyi you'd have to be a fucking idiot to buy whatever guerilla gravity currently is
@SylentK I'm only going to say this once
everything else will be pure ridicule, fully earned
remember when dorkcorp 1, 2, and 3 bought GT and saved them because dorkcorp 2.5, 1.5 and 0.5 just didn't have their savy? When these dickwads bought ellsworth and saved the brand?
bikerumor.com
Yeah, don't be that idiot
@SylentK I'm only going to say this once
everything else will be pure ridicule, fully earned
remember when dorkcorp 1, 2, and 3 bought GT and saved them because dorkcorp 2.5, 1.5 and 0.5 just didn't have their savy? When these dickwads bought ellsworth and saved the brand?
ASG Group buys out American Ellsworth mountain bikes
What does ASG's acquisition mean for Ellsworth? With origins in South Africa and operations in Italy, ASG International has been expanding into more cycling markets & segments recently. Now by taking on Ellsworth bikes, ASG is planting a foothold in the Americas, bringing with it ASG's...
bikerumor.com
Yeah, don't be that idiot
honestly I see the return of aluminum in the next couple of years. maybe carbon isn't all its cracked up to be (HA HA FUNNY). but seriously, there's space for a small brand, welded in the US sort of deal now that technology has slowed down to the point where you can get a great riding bike without 11 patents (see geometron or REEB or privateer)
Outsell? God no. Just that not every boutique brand has to be carbon.
edit to add: not even just boutique brand, but that high end aluminum has a place.
edit to add: not even just boutique brand, but that high end aluminum has a place.
Like Foes?
Frequently Asked Questions/Carbon Vs. Aluminum
The bike industry sold you a lie! Carbon Fiber is not the best material for the rigors of mountain biking. Learn more about why we always choose 6061 T6 alloy.
www.foesracing.com
Or banshee
Like Foes?
Frequently Asked Questions/Carbon Vs. Aluminum
The bike industry sold you a lie! Carbon Fiber is not the best material for the rigors of mountain biking. Learn more about why we always choose 6061 T6 alloy.
Banshee bikes are all made in Asia.
Devinci is already making aluminum frames in-house, in Quebec.
Are they? I thought they just made it sound like they were but the frames were Asian?
Not all. Only certain models made in house in QC
True, that's a good point. But it's a start, hopefully they continue to bring manufacturing back this way.
I'm sure part of them being able to do it is all of their city bike type stuff that they do in QC.
It used to be that 100% of production was made in house. But at one point they had to outsource to stay viable and competitive. Not sure which line or models are still made in QC
There are these models; https://www.devinci.com/en/quebec/
Obviously any carbon bikes are made overseas.
Years ago when I researched this, they had a whole line of city bikes; similar or the same as the Bixi bikes that you can rent in some cities. Those were made in Quebec as well and I'd guess with the volume, is what funded their MTB side of things.
Nice, where's that?
That’s where avocados belong!