NY-based framebuilder Serotta Competition Bicycles seeks to enhance its carbon fiber capabilities with the addition of a dedicated composites facility. MacLean Quality Composites (MQC), parent company of Reynolds Cycling and a long-term collaborator with Serotta as well as a number of other manufacturers in the industry, currently operate the Poway, CA facility that will change hands on January 1, 2007.
According to Ben Serotta and Dean Gestal, CEOs of Serotta and MQC, respectively, “Our companies have enjoyed an excellent working partnership of more than five years. At the core of the relationship has been our honest and open dialog, in which we’ve shared some of our long range strategic plans and concerns with each other.”
Serotta will retain the complete staff of the Poway operation as part of the agreement, including lead engineer Mike Lopez who will also continue to provide engineering and consulting services to MQC and its customers on an “on call” basis. Lopez, a widely regarded expert in the field, views the new arrangement as a “win-win result for all parties involved.”
Wonder what impact this will have on Parlee, Seven, Calfee, etc. I assume this facility just makes tubing, not the forks, wheels, bars and other Reynolds components.
Great…if anyone can take carbon fiber and make it even more unreasonably priced with hoards of fanantic followers willing to spend 10K on a frame alone, Serotta can.
Thanks Serotta, for once again driving the price of bicycle components to unrealistic levels.
MeiVici: $7,395
Chevy Aveo: $9,430
Seriously, I don’t get it. Look how close the two are in price and look at what goes into each one.
The car has 5 year/100,000 mile drivetrain warranty, four wheels, engine, interior and has to be shipped here from Asia. How is it possible that a frame from Ben is sold for nearly what a whole car sells for?
But…but…but…he made frames for the Olympic team back in 1984! That was only 22 years ago. Surely, he is the world’s best frame builder. Still. Because, you know, it’s the frame that determines everything about the bike. The wheels and components are just decorative.
Great…if anyone can take carbon fiber and make it even more unreasonably priced with hoards of fanantic followers willing to spend 10K on a frame alone, Serotta can.
Thanks Serotta, for once again driving the price of bicycle components to unrealistic levels.
MeiVici: $7,395
Chevy Aveo: $9,430
Seriously, I don’t get it. Look how close the two are in price and look at what goes into each one.
The car has 5 year/100,000 mile drivetrain warranty, four wheels, engine, interior and has to be shipped here from Asia. How is it possible that a frame from Ben is sold for nearly what a whole car sells for?
PT was right.
OK- you clearly were not an Econ major, so…
high-volume stuff made in regions of the world with low labor cost = low price
low-volume stuff made in regions of the world with high labor cost = high price
Not sure why anyone would be surprised by this, complain about it, or expect that it will ever change. Those that are looking for cheap carbon should buy the stuff that comes out of Asia. Those that think that asian-made carbon comes from Satan’s own hands should love the stuff that Serotta makes.
The Poway facility is pretty small. They were busy making Serotta’s lugs and bladder molded tubes. They also did the fork testing and some machining there. It makes sense for Serotta to buy this facility.
The Utah facility is much bigger, with the filament winding, roll wrapping, autoclaves, fork and wheel production. They have a Chinese facility as well, making sailboard masts and maybe some handlebars and forks. They no longer make Parlee’s tubes. We still get our tubes from them and have been since 1989 when they first got started as Quality Composites.
Craig Calfee
Wonder what impact this will have on Parlee, Seven, Calfee, etc. I assume this facility just makes tubing, not the forks, wheels, bars and other Reynolds components.
so does this mean that serotta is taking over only the u.s. facility, while the parent company goes to a off-shore sourcing? i.e. is this simply another manufacturer going overseas and offloading the high priced u.s. facility?
“In 2003 we began construction of a 33,000 sq. ft. building in Hangzhou, China, which is now complete. In early 2004 we will begin building many of our high volume recreational products there. We own and staff this facility with MQC employees and eventually we will offer all of our customers development and low volume manufacturing in our U.S. facilities, followed by high volume, low cost, offshore manufacturing.”
Sounds like Poway was producing for one client, so it makes sense for them to sell since that client will not be moving production off shore.
so does this mean that serotta is taking over only the u.s. facility, while the parent company goes to a off-shore sourcing? i.e. is this simply another manufacturer going overseas and offloading the high priced u.s. facility?
Great…if anyone can take carbon fiber and make it even more unreasonably priced with hoards of fanantic followers willing to spend 10K on a frame alone, Serotta can.
Thanks Serotta, for once again driving the price of bicycle components to unrealistic levels.
MeiVici: $7,395
Chevy Aveo: $9,430
Seriously, I don’t get it. Look how close the two are in price and look at what goes into each one.
The car has 5 year/100,000 mile drivetrain warranty, four wheels, engine, interior and has to be shipped here from Asia. How is it possible that a frame from Ben is sold for nearly what a whole car sells for?
PT was right.
OK- you clearly were not an Econ major, so…
high-volume stuff made in regions of the world with low labor cost = low price
low-volume stuff made in regions of the world with high labor cost = high price
Not sure why anyone would be surprised by this, complain about it, or expect that it will ever change. Those that are looking for cheap carbon should buy the stuff that comes out of Asia. Those that think that asian-made carbon comes from Satan’s own hands should love the stuff that Serotta makes.
Ironically serotta is 15 minutes from my house…and I coach for a rowing team that has a boat named the “serotta”…apparently one of his kids rowed for our club a while back and he made a charitable donation to the club.