Fascinating Read: CyclingTips on the Rise and Fall of Consumer Direct Brand SpeedX

Triathlon Forum
1

https://cyclingtips.com/…-happened-to-speedx/

A few salient quotes below from the beginning of the article as “teasers” but it really is a fascinating and informative read and I’d encourage most to read it in its entirety.

The tale of the Chinese start-up SpeedX is one of rapid growth, dizzying expansion and total collapse. In the space of two wild years, the company blossomed from the seed of an idea to hogging headlines around the cycling and tech world. It was poised to disrupt the big brands with its competitively priced and highly integrated ‘smart’ road bikes. And then, seemingly overnight, on the eve of shipping its ambitious second model, SpeedX disappeared without a trace – leaving in its wake a trail of unfulfilled Kickstarter pledges, unpaid suppliers, and unreturned deposits.
…
But it got a fair bit weirder than that, too. The ripples from the company’s collapse spread to include the ghosts of Tiananmen Square, the Chinese secret police, and the collapse of an entire industry.
…
Now, digest this fact: in just those three months, 50% of all the bike stores in Beijing – a city with a population of 21 million people – were forced out of business.
That’s not a market fluctuation. That’s a bloodbath.

2

Fascinating read!

3

Thanks for sharing this. Great read.

Fascinating bit in there about how bikeshare decimated the Beijing bike shops.

4

A crazy story.

I’m still trying to process it all.

However, I do recall the first time I saw something about SpeedX. I’m no great business guru, but it did have the whiff, of over-promising, and under-delivering.

5

For what it’s worth, the first time I saw SpeedX I thought “if they just didn’t go for the stem integrated computer this would be quite easy to pull off”. I always assumed they were using open mold frames. I had no idea they were trying to produce the frames themselves. I found that… surprising.

6

Very fascinating read, thanks. I love some of the behind the scenes “lessons” about investing in markets or countries, where literally you, me and every other investor has zero chance of understanding what’s going on or the relative strength/risk relationship…throw in political unpredictability and you are really gambling.

Maurice