I really don’t mind those comments at all. It gives me a chance to explain our product and our company.
To that end - I thought I should provide an overview.
We started the bike development work in March 2014. The work prior to that was technical, competitive and market research. At first it was just me, then 3 of us then 5 people together working on the project. We were working on everything; a highly motivated team and we had a clear target; to make the best triathlon bike in the world and a bike people could afford; the bike that athletes were asking for.
If I had not built a positive reputation over the past 20 years; manufacturing technical products in Taiwan - this bike would not have been possible. This is a very consolidated industry on the manufacturing side. There are no mediocre factories in Taiwan today. PremierBikes’ Tactical is made at the same factory in Taiwan - producing top-of-the-line bikes, which readers here discuss, praise and admire on Slowtwitch everyday. The quality companies just don’t need to work with unproven entities.
Shimano is Shimano – we spec DI2 as standard equipment. We include the best Continental tires and tubes - standard. Our race wheels (wide rear CC disk and front 24 cm deep carbon clincher include high quality spokes and hubs) they are standard equipment and are made for us; just like they are made for the best companies that are talked about and sell to contributors here on Slowtwitch. Our components are all top of the line – well except for the $10 seat.
We have a staff in Taiwan that check on things everyday. But its’ not a question of manufacturing excellence, quality control, the quality of the carbon fiber or the lay-up – that is fairly fixed. If we at PremierBike have made a manufacturing “partner error” then the top companies in the industry have made the same partnering errors.
Yes – PremierBike did all the visual design work, geometry, set the specifications and did the up front CAD design, the CFD and the FEA work. We also did the post manufacturing aero confirmation work. But lets be clear – its’ our Taiwan manufacturing partners - that are exposed too and develop the advancements, the lay-up, new techniques and lessons learned from working with marketing companies around the world. The best manufacturing factories have incrementally carried forward, refined and enhanced a lot of the gains that athletes enjoy today and it has been very important for PremierBike to have learned and gained from their advancements. Very few companies can honestly claim these gains without the factory expertise.
We didn’t have legacy costs and systems to deal with - we could go with absolute best practices, methods and materials. We started without multi layer distribution, huge executive staffs and bloated marketing programs – these costs - which make up a huge part of the price of products – are passed on to athletes and it’s gotten out of control. Their bloat and structures are an advantage to us.
Competition is always nice. It shows you the best of what you can get, but to determine who is best is very subjective. I think with our bike design, the quality manufacturing, standard components, ease of travel, day- to-day usability and value – IMO our bike is the best package. It’s the bike many athletes have been asking for.
Dan Kennison
facebook: @triPremierBike
http://www.PremierBike.com http://www.PositionOneSports.com