thetrickster wrote:
But we could all see this happening, the bike was pretty good, but not great. The dash computers were 10yrs too late, and the power meters made no sense when you can buy pedal power meters and add the fact no one was getting any support from them it just wasn't a good prospect.
I'm sure they will be back after filing and clearing the debt.
A CFO friend of mine would often say that "most struggling companies are just one bankruptcy away from success."
I do not think that Stages has anything to offer toward its survival, however. If you scan across their major product categories, there is not much that might draw another company to invest or acquire to help Stages survive.
- Power Meters - Stages used to have a cost advantage, but the PM market has stabilized and become a little commoditized.
- Bike - Really cool, but this is becoming a crowded space and the Stages Bike does not offer anything special over the others
- Bike Computers - They are good, but Garmin seem to have this locked up. And seems to be the next best alternative offering. I like Stages is better than Wahoo, but they are a few steps behind the others.
- HRM - Totally a commodity space.
The Giant deal fell through last year. Maybe another fully integrated bike maker, like Trek or Specialized would buy Stages to get their computers and HRM. And a Specialized or Trek might be able to get more juice out of the Stages bike.