Pretty sure Serotta went bankrupt, the company was based out of my hometown and it was very infrequent we didn't hear how much the company was suffering.

Think Guru is alive and kicking, believe they primarily do custom frames these days and have a new fitting system.

Kuota I believe is still going but just isn't behind big names like it used to be.

And most importantly CEEPO bikes are still the best 😝

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Tim Russell, Pro Triathlete

Instagram- @timbikerun

Serotonin got bought by the same group that bought Mad Fiber and (almost) Blue. They fooled everything to a fair thee well and are out of business. Ben Serotta is now doing various consulting gigs in the industry, including a city bike program (don't remember the town or supplier)

Softride got t of the bike business, but Alsop is still (last I heard) in business doing office supply products.

Calfee is still in business.

Schwinn went bankrupt in '92 and was bought by Scott Sports Group. They then bought GT in 98 and went bankrupt again in '00 / 01. Bought by Pacific Cycles in '01 and taken to the mass merchants. Pacific is nor part of Dorel Outdoor. They own Schwinn, Mongoose, GT, Cannondale, Pacific and I think Iron Horse. Doing by well and are big hitters in the bike biz.

Huffy still in business, but it's branded business has taken huge hits and is a much smaller company than they were even 10'years ago.

Kuota is still in business, but focuses more on the Euro market, I believe.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Serotta: Dead. Management mistakes. Went down the road of manufacturing its own carbon tubes, forks, and everything else that went into its frames. Capability of manipulating a frame's materials was incredible, as was the quality. It all came with an incredible price to match. After the housing bubble, Serotta found $8K frames a hard sell. Its titanium frames, which should have been the company's bread and butter, were a thousand dollars more than Moots, and that was a really bad position to be in.

Calfee: Still around. It makes really nice custom frames, but the design of the company's three models has changed little in fifteen or twenty years. Recently introduced a carbon soft-tail road bike. Craig seems to spend his efforts promoting bamboo bikes. Best carbon repair in the business.

Hey! Here's one, whatever happened to Slingshot?

Believe it or not, the company still exists and is still selling frames that use a cable for a downtube.

I've heard they are really comfortable

Did you even try google? Several of those companies are still around with up to date websites.

I'll play.
I eill add that I recall & (& have owned some & even miss):
1980- 2000 MTB & road edition:

Bridgestone
Ross
Univega
Myata
Nishiki
Haro
Muddy Fox
Klein

Slingshot was very nearly my first tri bike. For the right price, I'd love to hang one on my wall.

THAT was when the tri industry really was pushing the envelope. Softrides. Zipps, Slingshot, Litespeed, Quintana Roo, Hotta, Cheetah. The arms race back then was awesome!

Back then you really could spot a trigeek from a mile away, and not just for riding with a Speedo! Ahhhhh, the good old days

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

The U.S. Division of Bridgestone went under in the mid-late 90's, but they still make bikes for the Japanese market. The USA division was largely the vision of Grant Peterson, though and the bikes were completely different. Peterson now runs Rivendell.

Nishiki is owned by Raleigh North America (which in turn is owned by Accell). They were using the brand for department stores, but don't know if they still do.

Haro is still in business.

Klein was bought by Trek in the "Great 90's Buyout Frenzy" and trudged along for a few years, but is now discontinued.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Going back to my freestyle days.

Kuwahara!

OOB years ago in the states. But never knew why. Should go Google it and find out.

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_____________________________________________
Rick, "Retired" hobbyist athlete
Trying to come back slowly from acute A-Fib

Sekine ?

The RM-10 was my first 10sp, back in 1981.

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AndyF
bike geek

You can peel my Serotta Colorado CR from my cold, dead hands....

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Ditto. I love my Colorado ii. I think I bought it in 1992 or so.

Of course I'm aware some are still in business. Some of these brands were all the rage, now have drifted off to non players. Hence, the query, "whatever happened to?"

I had both a Bridgestone MTB and Klein road bike. Loved 'em both.

I also have a post-Trek Klein road bike hanging up in the garage (frame and fork only right now) . Debating whether I want to turn it into a commuter or not. I also have a Quintana Roo frame that might become the commuter bike.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

My Colorado II in its current configuration....bought in 91 and still running strong. Note the friction DT shifters.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

pretty!!

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

How did Motobecane go from being a good French bike company to a Bikes Direct exclusive?

I have a Kuota, a Calfee and a Softride sitting in my basement.

Didn't Storman Norman win Kona twice on a Kuota? Man, for a while there Kuota was the go to Tri bike, then poof, they are only sold in Europe and maybe one Canadian distributor.

Just for clarification, this is Norman, not me. :)

Javelin Bicycles is headquartered outside Chicago, and has been manufacturing the highest quality racing frames since our inception. Are tube-to-tube carbon manufacturing process gives us the ability to produce any of our full carbon road, track, cyclocross, and time trial frames custom tailored to a riders specifications. Geometry, integrated seat mast, disc brakes, electronic optimization, anything is possible! Our customers not looking for a custom build, also have the option to choose between 5 stock sizes in most models.

Whether you're looking for a sub 700 gram road frame, or custom time trial bike your next Ironman, Javelin has you covered.

Feel free to reach me at matt@javbike.com with any other questions.

www.javbike.com

www.facebook.com/javbike

That is Bikes Direct's business model. It buys defunct brands, slaps the names on stuff made in China, portrays the brands as still in business, and offers a phony discount for buying through Bikes Direct.

Here's a few more:

Lynskey
Airstream
Devinci
Cucuma
Vitus
Jamis
Parlee
Dolan
Voss

Again, not saying they are out of business, just not seeing them much anymore. Am I wrong?

On my second Lynskey (seen here outside Eugene, OR). Based on the Lynskey Owners' group on Facebook they are doing well all over the world.

Vitus has become Chain Reaction's in house brand. A few guys in my club ride (and like) them, but they're essentially open mold frames.

Lynskey, Jamis and Vitus seem to be going strong. Jamis is big in the road and mountain world. Looks like a lack of distribution channels or they are just open molds.

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Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

Going back to my freestyle days.

Kuwahara! //

Believe it or not, I was sponsored by these guys for a couple years, and they only built BNX bikes! I had a very good friend named Steve Potts and he was a huge dealer for them, and his brother was I believe the first trick rider for them too. He talked them into making some road/tri bikes for me back in the mid 80's, and then they decked me out with a ton of padded clothing. Got a nice little bonus schedule too from them. Wasn't until later on that he told me that they had to stop production to make my few bikes, and they probably lots 100's of their regular bikes because of it. I think I still have one of those old long sleeve jerseys hanging up somewhere, the one with all the pads sewn in. I guess those BMX guys like to crash a lot…(-;

No offense to anyone riding one currently, but I would add Kestrel to this list.

From the Nitro, to the 4000, to 200EMS, to the 500SCi (later EMS), Kestrel was the gold standard for carbon bikes in the early 90's.

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

Aegis was a USA made early aero carbon frame (made in Maine). Went away in 2007 - hard to compete with Chinese wages. My first aero bike. A touch heavy by today's standards, but a very slick and comfortable bike. Here's a picture from 1999 Kona.[/img]

They went bankrupt and the name was sold off, probably for pittance. The bikesdirect bikes have literally nothing at all to do with the former company other than the sticker.

Do I get any credit for having a Yaqui? Circa 2001, love it still, use it mostly for training rides and on the trainer though. Ves Mandaric was more of a pioneer than many people realize.

Why is Devinci on this list? They're doing fine - they don't do much on the tri side, but they are doing very well on the hybrid, MTB and road side of things...

Ok, I'm not perfect. You are right, they seem to be ok, just not on the Tri side. I stand corrected.

I still race in my 2005 Yaqui. Custom built and fits like a glove!

Speaking of Kestrel, here's my 1991-ish 200SC. It has Ultegra 600 components, Campy Omega clinchers, a suede Selle Italia Turbo saddle and TTT stem and bars. The only thing not original are the chain, the Continental Gatorskin tires, and the somewhat recent Cinelli cork ribbon on the bars. It still rides great. I don't race it or anything, but I take it for a spin now and then.

Kuota actually has a really nice looking new KT05 check it out

I'm still riding a post Trek, Chiallis Wa. Klein as my road bike. Sorry that Trek killed them off. Trek continued to sell Kleins in Japan until about 2012. (Don't know why they were popular in Japan). Other flashbacks, Motobecane, Ross, Dawes, Gitane and Windsor were all bought (in name only) by Bikes Direct and are used as "brands" on their budget priced Chinese imports. Wife rides a "Motobecane" 29er I got her last year.

The front page features an article about a new Lynskey tri bike.

And don't forget Hooker, who made the most aero bikes around in the mid-90's.

Front disk wheel outdoors? Yikes!

I'll throw Centurion onto that list. My first "tri" bike was the Lemans RS.

Softride had huge sales in the early 90s? But when double diamond frames were mandated at uci races, their sales went way south. Seems like their business was sized and run for those huge numbers, they said they would sell their business but I guess no one could come to a good price on it. Shame, I'd like to see where they would be with 10 years of development on their designs. Hell, even still having the same designs, or at the very least somebody making spare beams in their garage!

Titanflex still seems to be doing OK, I ride one and like it. I think the company us just a few people, they seem like good folks, very easy to work with.