Rossi set to enter bike market.

[jetski]

Interesting...
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/inter...p#.WJTZ5NQrIsZ

As the worlds snow line recedes like OG TGR posters hairlines, bikes might be the answer!

Highlights from the article. They want a Rossi branded bike line and to double Felts global biz. Seems fairly ambitious in a slumping bike industry.

[babybear]

saw on pinkbike this am too and was surprised

but I guess my radar was more on the ski/ outdoor co's that Newell is divesting

As the worlds snow line recedes like OG TGR posters hairlines, bikes might be the answer!

and this made me lol

[jetski]

I'm too fast for hair

[jm2e]

Guessing it was a grab at a cheap flailing company.
Might be nice to see them rebranded as Rossi Bikes.
Probably going to be a huge tragic flop.

[toast2266]

Felt's mountain bikes have always been kinda misdirected, but they seem pretty solid on the road / tri side of things.

[jetski]

Might work in France? Scott bikes struggle to crack open the NA market. Decent bikes but hard to market against the big brands. Pockets of success here and there Should be similar with Rossi.
Entry level city bike...The Soul "7" speed

[Shredhead]

Rossi's foray into bikes, will probably last as long as their foray into golf.

but I guess my radar was more on the ski/ outdoor co's that Newell is divesting

Rumor has it Martin's already looking to buy some of them back.

[jm2e]

Looking forward to reports of Rossi running 2000 unsold bikes through a wood chipper to prepare for next years product release.

[gravitylover]

They could double (or better) their dealer count pretty easily by considering ski shops as bike dealers. It may also give some of the struggling winter dealers a lifeline for the other half of the year.

[babybear]

Rumor has it Martin's already looking to buy back some of them back.

hmm yes heard they were amassing some cash so this is good news

on a much smaller note, am looking fwd to the next powder podcast with Jason Levinthal...
andrew heard he was trying to buy Line back but his offer got shut down from NWL.
he's quite a talker so I imagine we'll hear some interesting intel on the deal environment

[skaredshtles]

Definitely sounds like a floppy deal.

[babybear]

sometimes when people are ready to cash out tho it can be a good thing
stop working but have an income that (finally) matches the work you have been putting in for yrs/ decades

[jono]

Felt's mountain bikes have always been kinda misdirected, but they seem pretty solid on the road / tri side of things.

This. Their CX offerings have been nice, too. If the bent toward using CF properly doesn't go by the wayside, their rigid offerings could stay good; not that there's a business prediction in there.

[cmcrawfo]

They could double (or better) their dealer count pretty easily by considering ski shops as bike dealers. It may also give some of the struggling winter dealers a lifeline for the other half of the year.

That would guarantee a fail, and is completely impractical. Unless the shop is already equipped to assemble/maintain bikes, there is no way a bunch of ski techs, wielding flat blade screwdrivers and drill bits as their only tools are going to be able to turn out a quality product to the end consumer.

I always thought Felt bikes were good quality and reasonably priced... some of their MTB designeds seemed to miss the mark and their marketing/brand strategy was more road focused.

I cant wait to have the opportunity to buy a Rossi bike ... at closeout prices, after this fails miserably.

[Shredhead]

I know I shouldn't have, but I put a set of Cleveland VAS "Rossi" clubs in the dumpster today.