SSU insolvency and the bike industry generally

[t.odd]

we went from a ramones 14 to a 20" specizlized riprock for Jr. T.odd this summer....I was worried it would be too big a jump, but he took to it pretty quick. still loves hopping on the 14 a fair bit, kinda uses it like a bmx bike! lol

[mntlion]

I"m NOT a parent, but a bike mechanic

See parents skip a size OFTEN.

[beaterdit]

Not a parent but the number of kids I see absolutely shredding on bikes that WAY too big for them makes me think skipping a size is fine.

[toast2266]

^^^ I'd say that's about 50/50. I've seen a bunch of kids who are good riders, and their parents put them on a bigger bike because a bigger bike tends to mean better tires, better brakes, maybe suspension, gears, etc. The kids benefit from the better bike and continue to shred.

I've also seen a bunch of kids that are ok-ish riders that don't really get much benefit from the nicer parts and are clearly less comfortable on the bigger bike. They'd be much better served on a smaller bike that they can maneuver more easily.

Also depends on what the kids are riding. Much easier to get away with a bike that's a bit too big on flat bike paths and smooth pavement. Harder to manage to bigger bike on pump tracks, hillier terrain, and any place where they're gonna be stopping and starting a lot.

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[EWG]

I’m a proponent of bikes that fit well. Worked well for my kids. How much would you want to ride a bike that was two sizes too big?

[beaterdit]

I'm sure a bike that fits is better and, more bikes is better duh! But those things are figgin expensive!

[Dantheman]

If the kid is "silly huge" on a 14" than jumping straight to a 20" should not be a problem.

[SchralphMacchio]

Yeah we’ll see about fit on the 20”, she had a great time on the 16” bike yesterday. Woom 3 frame wasn’t really much longer than the Ramones 14, the stark difference was in stack and standover height. I’ll probably keep the 20” Cleary in storage until Summer as it’s like 5 lbs heavier than the Woom 3.

Ramones 14 is a well built bike btw, my mini rant about it being mostly pointless is that it’s 17 lbs fully built, intended for a 35-40 lbs kid with a very small window of usage due to limited height range for that wheel size. Not much need for dual disc brakes, beefy chromoly tubing and burly rims at that age. I mean that bike can handle my weight and stop with me on it! Plus with a bike that ends up getting chucked into the back of a car trunk with other random things, it’s not really great to use rotors that can get bent from banging into other bike pedals etc. This bike was probably marketed specifically for unrealistic dads wanting their kid to be as cool as them.

[MarsB]

Bell Helmets, Fox Racing, Giro sold to PE

https://www.rideapart.com/news/73659...fbul3wENjP1Xtw

[frorider]

As we've come to expect from forward-looking statements of sales, the release given by Revelyst and Strategic Value Partners is one where it touts that this investment will "unlock new potential" for these brands. And that the new owners have deep respect for each company's core audience.

Phew! Fox Racing will be fine !!1!!&!

:facepalm:

[406]

Crazy

[HankScorpio]

Looks like Cleary kids bikes is also going under(?)

https://www.clearybikes.com/

I have been huge fan of Cleary bikes for my son; I think he's had every size wheel Cleary starting when he was 2 on a 12 inch balance bike. Good thing I get a 24 inch Scout last year while I could.

[TBS]

Bell Helmets, Fox Racing, Giro sold by a PE-owned firm to another PE-owned firm

https://www.rideapart.com/news/73659...fbul3wENjP1Xtw

FIFY
The seller, Vista Outdoors, is owned by Black Rock, Gates Capital Management and some other institutional investors. They are big in the ammunition business

[dannynoonan]

Just Fox head, i.e. the apparel brand not the suspension stuff. But yeah, they're all fucked now I'm sure.

[Dee Hubbs]

So back to The Pros Closet. I came across their foreclosure auction site:
https://online.localauctions.com/auc...28/bidgallery/

Holly fawk they have a lot of equipment, more tool stations than a World Tour service course, more laptops, tablets, and monitors than a tech company. Fancy coffee machines and arcade games.
It must have been a spending heyday with all that VC money. The raised over $100 million in VC money to sell only 46,000 bikes in the business' lifetime (do that math), only 146,000 individual customers they have ever done business with. I read they received a $5.5 million input as recent as January of this year.
It really baffles me on how upside down you can finically get trying to sell used bikes.

[wendigo]

damn, that is a lot of stuff.
kinda glad it is all to far away, otherwise i'd be putting in a lot of bids!

[joetron]

Haha. I’ve been browsing the auction this morning….just coming here to basically post the same as Dee. The amount of the shit they have is just wild. So. Much. Racking.
I’m trying not to bid on the Centipede arcade game


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[TBS]

The whole VC playbook is Scale Fast. So TPC invested for a scale that never came.

There was a company in Portland that burned thru $100million over a year back in 2000 trying to sell stereo equipment over the web. Scaled fast, never got close to turning a profit - or even a gross profit. Liquidators got $5million back.

[XtrPickels]

So. Much. Racking


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Having been in there during COVID, every one of those racks was filled with a boxed bike ready to go.
It was overwhelming how much inventory they had.

[rideit]

I want one of those stainless wash/degrease stations that you can fit a bike in!

(But where in the hell would I put it, lol)

[Marshal Olson]

The raised over $100 million in VC money to sell only 46,000 bikes in the business' lifetime (do that math), only 146,000 individual customers they have ever done business with.

For those that didn't feel like getting the calculator out, $684,000 per customer / $2.175m per bike sold.

Speachless

[Skistack]

My take is they used some of later funding rounds to pay back the earlier investors. There’s no way they burned through a hundred mill, although it looks like they sure had fun trying.

I would love to go to through their financial statements.


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[g_man80]

Did the $100 MM go towards payroll as well? I’m not sure how many employees they had. Upper management could have been getting paid well.

What about monthly building lease payments? Food? Maybe fancy lunches every day.

Expensive marketing costs?

[Tailwind]

Check your math here I think you did $100 Billion.

I’m getting $684 per VC customer.

$2.175M is correct if you’re doing M as thousands and MM as millions.

For those that didn't feel like getting the calculator out, $684,000 per customer / $2.175m per bike sold.

Speachless

[Skistack]

I will miss their vintage bike videos. This was probably the last one ever, Missy Giove's Yeti ARC.