Who would like to play with rumors that Litespeed is no longer going to be producing Ti bicycles in TN? I have it from a good source that ABG does not even own the building where they once made Ti bikes…
So I do wonder what will happen to the Litespeed AND Merlin names…
If that were to be true, my guess on the Litespeed side of things is that it might be the upmarket/advanced road bikes(see C1/2/3), QR would be tri, and then Merlin, if kept, might be more old school/traditional road. And of course then they still have Tomac for Mtn.
Granted, that’s just a WAG. Another option might be farming out the Ti production to China/Taiwan ala Motobecane
But the rumor is that ABG sold their bicycle production facility in the US…and guess to who…
Tomac was only a partnership for a limited time. That has long ago gone back to John Tomac.
I thought it was a done deal. Not so yet?
Really want a Ti cross bike but can’t stand the Helix tubes.
I would say that it is a safe bet that moving trucks could be seen at ABG and new (old) folks will be moving in. I would bet that Litespeed go to 100% Asian carbon bikes (who ever made that decision I hope breaks their leg tripping over a porcupine). Merlin will be odd man out and the brand will all but fold. Lynskey will take over as the #1 producer of Ti bikes (again) and bring Ti back to front and center.
Quantanna Roo will be another mystery…things are a changin…
Maybe a new “blade” will finally come to market…
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Maybe a new “blade” will finally come to market…
Finally?
I was referring to this one…but that is a really sweet bike with some classic lines to it…
Here is the actual story in Bicycle Retailer:
Hurley said the new office will be twice the size of the old one, while the new factory will be cut in half.
Very telling.
i think ABG is facing what cannondale faced, which at base is this question: are you a metal fabricator? or are you a bike brand? cannondale put off that question for a long time, but finally came to grips with it. so, first they started making carbon bikes, then they stopped fabricating bikes in their U.S. plant altogether. cannondale is a better bike brand, and a more profitable company, for it.
litespeed, not under lynskey nor under ABG, ever figured out a way to climb over the fence of metal fabricator. you seem to think it’s a bad or negative thing if ABG is making changes that cause it to become more expansive in frame materials offered, and more nimble in its ability to make changes in bike styles. i think it’s a good thing, if ABG wants to become a bike brand.
now, let’s say that lynskey bought ABG’s manufacturing plant. my guess is that lynskey is going to remain what lynskey has always been: a very good metal fabricator, yet ambivalent about branding, and ebbing and flowing in terms of how many bikes it produces with a lynskey headbadge versus how many go out the door with some other headbadge. maybe one of those other headbadges might be litespeed, who knows? (i don’t know, i didn’t ask.)
in any case, so what? yes, there’s a certain elegance to having your bikes built in your own facility. but if you fast forward 5 years, and ABG is making a lot of its bikes out of carbon as well as titanium, i think if i had my choice i’d rather my company be the “brand” than the “fabricator.”
ABG blew it with me after my Ultimate cracked stay/warranty debacle. Will never buy another ABG product as long as I live. To say their CS department sucks would imply they actually have one. Happy to say I have convinced 3 people who had considered a LS to go with a used Merlin and 2 new Lynskey’s over the past several years.
Well that would make me very say, but I have to say that the new C1 is very, very, very good.
I think I’d still give up my left nut for that Blade Prototype… So cool
Lynskey DID purchase the MFG facility. While you are right about Cannondale who was building bikes out of an “out of fad” material (and just shortly really after the mess with GK and the patent fiasco was rolling down). ABG never pulled any punches about thier position in the industry - “Make money for their investors” (and god bless them for it). You are also right about Lynskey who was trying to transition from the Ti MFG for industry, to Ti for bicycles, all of course starting as a pet project much akin to Magic Motorcycle (yet another Cannondale mistake in the purchase and swap to Coda). You know what tooling costs, there is a reason that Lynskey and then ABG could do things that companies like Moots and Seven could never ever do…then again bicycles did not pay for the tooling to work the Ti in ways that Litespeed/ABG were able to do.
Litespeeds foray into Alu and Alu carbon some years back was nothing more than a wet finger in the wind (IMO) to see if folks would purchase a “Litespeed” that was not Ti…they did. They were quite smart about the transition and move to carbon that we see today - even making the Ti bikes with un-need buttress and flanged out interfaces with the head tube to match what is now common place in carbon bikes.
At any rate, and at the price point. Litespeed is now a direct competitor with Cervelo (road), Giant and a few other 500lbs Gorilla’s. At the price point they are at with the C1 they are right there, or even higher in MSRP than the R3…not sure that is where I would want to be in the market. Not sure how long they can sustain that while Gerard is making bikes that win races left and right and Giant is making bikes for the world. No longer can they count on a “Lifetime warranty” and a material that folks used to lust after.
I hope Lynskeys make a hell of a run and are able to bring Ti back to the head of the pack…fighting off the “carbon for the sake of carbon” mentality. If they learned their lessons and the time in the non-compete they took a few courses on business they just might.
Dan…I spy the beginning of a new philosophical series from you in that post. Nearly every article you do on manufacturers, bikes, etc. has some facet or reference to how you see the bike business, from branding vs actual products to how products ought to be developed, but unless I’m wrong, you’ve never really coalesced those meanderings into a coherent, single discussion of how a business ought to position and operate in today’s market. As you hint at below, there are pros and cons for the business and the consumer on the different sides of the issue. Its clear that any particular bike business operates in a much less black/white environment these days (or any other multisport equipment business, for that matter).
FWIW, I agree with your assessment on Litespeed, ABG, et. al below, although I have to fight the emotional response to the “loss” of my historic love of Litespeed titanium.
Thanks for the link. Carbon is fine, but I am glad I own a Litespeed tri bike. I am also glad I own a Merlin road bike. Perhaps one day I will own a Lynskey.
I think I’d still give up my left nut for that Blade Prototype… So cool
Some dude at Precision Bikes has one, and I doubt he gave his left or right nut.
H