“I really hope QR comes back, and that ABG starts taking the brand more seriously and with the respect it has earned through the years and the one it deserves”
when saucony sold QR to ABG back in 2001 or so, saucony had just hit it big with its line of retro shoes (nike, and a lot of companies, were riding that wave). saucony added about $50 million or so worth of revenue through its “originals” and it was very easy. why fart around with a $4 million bike/wetsuit company when you could add footwear revenue that easily? so they sold their struggling bike company and stuck with footwear.
since that time, saucony has itself been sold to another company, which was itself sold to another company, and i think it’s doing fine but it just goes to show you that you just never know what the future will hold for you.
enter ABG.
it was my sense that what ABG really wanted was an august titanium brand like merlin—which along with QR made up the saucony bike division—and QR was thrown in as the “player to be named later,” or “help with the salary cap.” when the lynskeys first sold litespeed, it’s revenues were something between $15 million and $20 million i think, and litespeed was a red hot brand. but in the interim, titanium has taken a hit, there is no secret there. regardless of the strength of the brand, titanium has a trendline about like steel back in the early 90s. no brand was immune from this.
but during this time, over the past 5 or 6 years, it seemed like the owners of ABG just didn’t want to admit that the throwaway brand, QR, had more upside (on paper) than the important, preeminent brand (litespeed). so QR sort of rolled along, but without a lot of vigor behind it.
i sense (and it’s just my guess) that sometime mid last year somebody woke up and smelled his coffee, and realized that:
- triathlon was the largest growth sector in the cycling market;
- regardless of how badly they munged it up, QR retained a strong narrative and brand appeal;
- this is the one brand they owned that could be made out of carbon with no apologies given.
if i was to make a guess, i’d say QR is getting a lot more R&D and tooling attention and budget than litespeed is. i don’t know this, but i’m guessing it’s the case. i think the ABG guys were rummaging around in their closet, found this brand, and realized it might be the best brand they have if you project forward 5 or 10 years.
accordingly, i think you’ll find this brand making a comeback, because of the change of heart i describe above, and because of the strength of the bike products in 2009, model by model. of course, i’m just guessing all of this. no one at ABG has said it to me in those terms. it’s just my sense.
it’s not that i think litespeed is not a worthwhile brand. i think it’s a great brand. it’s just that QR still has pretty robust brand equity, and if you want a brand that has the most upside, that can be realized the quickest, with the least cost, that pretty much advertises itself if the product functions, QR is that brand of the three that ABG owns.