Last week 7 teammates and myself headed down to Tenn. for some Spring Training miles. We headed to Chattanooga mostly because of the opportunity for a tour of the Litespeed factory. We spent about 1.5 hours walking through the facilities and here are a couple observations.
* Anything that is Ti, is truly hand built. No robotic welders. No pre-formed/pre-cut tubing. No conveyer belt assembly process.
* Custom frames/bikes are truly CUSTOM!! Individual to-scale drawings. One person building the frame from start to finish. Separate working area from everything else.
* The finishing welders work in their own isolated area… away from the noises, distractions, etc. The tour guide said it’s vital that the final welds be top-self stuff… therefore it’s important that they have a working environment that will allow them to focus JUST on welding.
* Quality Control was really impressive. Frames are checked and checked, and rechecked again. Seemed like a fair amount of duplication of things, but knowing each and every frame is checked that many times (and people have to sign off on it) is a nice thing to know.
* Bikes are not assembled at the factory. Each shop is expected to do it’s own final assembly… head-set, forks, BB, group, etc. I’m sure some shops might see this as some extra work for them, but my mechanic LOVES it!! He knows, without questions, that the bike is built up the exact way it should be.
* Litespeed (American Bicycle Group) is not a HUGE company. I’d consider them a larger custom shop vs. a full blown ‘factory’. Their attention to details, value placed on individual customers (and shops), and quality of products produced really stands out in my mind!!
Overall, I was pretty impressed with the products that Litespeed (ABG) is producing!!
JBergland
Silver Cycling
* Anything that is Ti, is truly hand built. No robotic welders. No pre-formed/pre-cut tubing. No conveyer belt assembly process.
* Custom frames/bikes are truly CUSTOM!! Individual to-scale drawings. One person building the frame from start to finish. Separate working area from everything else.
* The finishing welders work in their own isolated area… away from the noises, distractions, etc. The tour guide said it’s vital that the final welds be top-self stuff… therefore it’s important that they have a working environment that will allow them to focus JUST on welding.
* Quality Control was really impressive. Frames are checked and checked, and rechecked again. Seemed like a fair amount of duplication of things, but knowing each and every frame is checked that many times (and people have to sign off on it) is a nice thing to know.
* Bikes are not assembled at the factory. Each shop is expected to do it’s own final assembly… head-set, forks, BB, group, etc. I’m sure some shops might see this as some extra work for them, but my mechanic LOVES it!! He knows, without questions, that the bike is built up the exact way it should be.
* Litespeed (American Bicycle Group) is not a HUGE company. I’d consider them a larger custom shop vs. a full blown ‘factory’. Their attention to details, value placed on individual customers (and shops), and quality of products produced really stands out in my mind!!
Overall, I was pretty impressed with the products that Litespeed (ABG) is producing!!
JBergland
Silver Cycling