!(CID:{218D01AC-2330-4763-9E57-5ED76724D6C4}/Pavia06.jpg)
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Ooops… Sorry. Wait one… Stand by.
tease
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No man, I am photoshopping and uploading as we speak… Give me 7 minutes to work here…
Tom, it is just plain WRONG to TEASE us like that. 
Working…working. ait one. Inbound to target area. Danger close. Danger close. Danger close.
???
BAMMM! Direct hit… laser guided. Target destroyed. Charlie Mike.
How is it different from what Craig Calfee has been making for a decade?
Nice bike, but Carbon Litespeed is that not an oxymoron?
No kidding, it reminds me of the carbon Cannondale.
I’ll take one if the frame is under $100, that’s all I have right now.
Shape it like a Blade…then maybe…
Here is a better pic.
Herbert
Litespeed
Hmmm. Interesting point. I think ABG and Litespeed are smart to do this to a degree. The bike appears (based strictly on this photo) to be a solid configuration: The cable routing is external and relatively simple, it is round tubed so the ride quality will be at least quite good- maybe much better than good (guessing), there is a lot of material around the bottom bracket, the rear derailleur hanger is replaceable. There is a lot of good here.
Here is the problem though- There are a lot of players in carbon. Most have more expereince from a consumer standpoint- but you have to start somewhere. When people think oof carbon they think of Cervelo R2.5. As well they should: Ivan Basso used this bike in the Tour de France. The bike is a proven design that a lot of people have owned and had good luck with. It has proven lineage and there is a lot of marketing inertia with it.
Also: Felt is the emerging giant of carbon. They have *Dura-Ace *equipped bikes in full carbon that are beautifully made and ride awesome for $500-$1000 less than everyone else. Plus- the bikes ride well, are super durable and have been out for a year. That is tough to go up against.
Now, that said- ABG has its strengths to be sure. ABG’s primary strength is as a titanium frame manufacturer. A wise strategy in a severly contracting economy would be for them to circle the wagons, spin off a brand or two, bag the complete bike business, reduce the work force by 70% and do what they do best: Build titanium frames.
Their strategy is aggresive though. It is an aggressive maneuver strategy: They are, as the Britsih like to say, “Going through the thickest part of the hedge”. They are usng considerable assets and resources to “re-slice” a shrinking pie. They are working hard to make their slice bigger as the pie gets smaller.
In the July 2005 Forbes magazine (pp. 56) there is a chart that shows, among other statistics related to the cycling industry a “11% decline in average income of riders since 1990”.
That is ominous. How does a sales manager expect to produce growth in sales and market share when the market is shrinking and sales are decreasing? New product may be one strategy, albeit an extremely high risk and labor intensive one.
This is one of those weird business quandries: If it costs $5,000,000.00 to capture 80% of the market you are realistically capable of capturing, and then *another *$5,000,000.00 to capture the remaining 20%- what do you do?
I am a carful man and I like my money. I give the 20% away to someone else and keep my $5,000,000.00 and make do with the first 80% of what I am realistically capable of.
Here is a lesson of history: Part VIII, Variation of Tactics, Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”:
“There are roads that must not be followed: Towns that must not be beseiged.”
The greatest wisdom in battle and business is to know what battles to pick and when.
Herbert,
I think very highly of Lightspeed, the new Vortex is definitely on the top of my wish list. However a carbon litespeed seems like chasing a fad and getting away from your brand roots. Seems like the Litespeed brand is build on American Titanium Bikes, why mess with a good thing? Why not spend your R&D on making better Ti bikes and inovations. Sell the carbon, but under a different name.
While I respect Litespeed’s Ti quality. I’ve never had an interest in other materials from you guys.
I’d agree, a TT bike would have been interesting, but this leaves a bit to be desired. It’s just not that exciting (relatively dull paint scheme makes it less beautiful than something Italian and it’ll need to be really light and competitively priced to compete with Scott).
Tough market…Not a dig at Litespeed, but some feedback from another one of the masses.
Cheers,
Puskas
Is this the <800g frameset they mention on their website? If so, that’s a neat marketing gimmick.
I’m almost afraid to ask how much this costs, but I’ll do it anyway . . . how much?
Something tells me I won’t be trading in my fuji carbon straight up for this thing.
Tom,
I’m not an expert in the bike industry, but it breaks my heart to see great brands take a step in the wrong direction. Example:
Porsche coming out with an SUV
Starbucks selling hard-liqueur and now bottled water
Polo Ralph Lauren selling Paint
There are countless brands that try overextending themselves into ruin. The Brand image becomes diluted in the long term. Also, as you mentioned is the market for bikes is not growing, coming out with a carbon Litespeed might just take away sales from a Ti Litepeed.
With our aluminum bikes we filled a certain niche consumers had wanted from us, but carbon is replacing in many ways aluminum in the cycling world and thus for 2006 the carbon Pavia replaces the Vela and the Avior aluminum bikes in the lineup.
As you can see with the Vortex, the Vortex Compact, the new Ultimate and Ghisallo, the completely redone Siena and Tuscany and Saber, our biggest effort in R&D has still clearly been in titanium.
But if we see in a couple years that the best bikes can be made from plastic or “quantzullium”, we will certainly look at that aswell.
Cheers,
Herbert
Litespeed
AS for the sub 800gr frame, it certainly is made from titanium