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  1. #326
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
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    BC to CO
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    5,023
    Giant acquired Stages Cycling from bankruptcy.
    When Stages was having finical difficulty Giant offered them $20m for 32.5%, and Stages refused the offer.
    Then Giant sued them for $14m for unpaid invoices and for misuse of intellectual property rights. Industry insiders believe that this was the straw that broke the camels back, forcing Stages into bankruptcy.
    Less than 6 months later they filed for bankruptcy, and Giant has now acquired the bankrupt company for $20m.
    What a weird business this bike industry is.

  2. #327
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
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    SLC
    Posts
    2,577
    Peak TPC was when they actually sold genuine pro team kit on eBay. I have some United Healtchare and Optum team bibs from 10 years ago that I still wear, probably paid $15 each. They’ve held up way better than fancy consumer grade cycling clothes I’ve owned

  3. #328
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Posts
    856
    Quote Originally Posted by Dee Hubbs View Post
    Giant acquired Stages Cycling from bankruptcy.
    When Stages was having finical difficulty Giant offered them $20m for 32.5%, and Stages refused the offer.
    Then Giant sued them for $14m for unpaid invoices and for misuse of intellectual property rights. Industry insiders believe that this was the straw that broke the camels back, forcing Stages into bankruptcy.
    Less than 6 months later they filed for bankruptcy, and Giant has now acquired the bankrupt company for $20m.
    What a weird business this bike industry is.
    Giant had made Stages excercise, peloton style bikes and were probably owed some money.

  4. #329
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Posts
    856
    Quote Originally Posted by Benneke10 View Post
    Peak TPC was when they actually sold genuine pro team kit on eBay. I have some United Healtchare and Optum team bibs from 10 years ago that I still wear, probably paid $15 each. They’ve held up way better than fancy consumer grade cycling clothes I’ve owned
    I remember paying $300 for some used Travis Brown chamois’. Ahhh, simpler times…

  5. #330
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    SF & the Ho
    Posts
    10,185
    How many times did he use it?

  6. #331
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    1,776
    Travis' brown chamois?
    Or
    Travis Brown's chamois?

  7. #332
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    slc
    Posts
    18,564
    Quote Originally Posted by mcski View Post
    I’d bet that private equity somehow turned what in real terms is bad business into good business for themselves
    Guaranteed that those guys structured the deal so that they made money no matter what.

  8. #333
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
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    SLC
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    2,577
    I got some great used pieces from TPC but I only bought unused bibs. In hindsight I wish I had the nerve to stock on the used ones back in the day. I did pick up a pair of lightly used bibs from the Trek world tour team at a consignment shop for $20 a few years ago, money well spent.

  9. #334
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
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    Paper St. Soap Co.
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    3,475
    Quote Originally Posted by sfotex View Post
    Speaking of Ti, Lynskey has been having a fire sell the last few months. Road and gravel frames - all sizes for $850.. Hope things are ok over there...
    I would guess Ti tubing is going to be much more expensive soon with the restrictions on Russian imports?

  10. #335
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Posts
    6,949
    Quote Originally Posted by One (+) Sentence View Post
    Giant had made Stages excercise, peloton style bikes and were probably owed some money.
    That is my understanding.

  11. #336
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    panhandle locdog
    Posts
    7,923
    I bought a bike from the TPC before prices got stupid and it was an awesome experience. Pretty sad to see. Honestly whoever signed off on buying bikes at the inflated prices they did should have been fired long ago… but in general how where people in the bike industry so stupid?

  12. #337
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Boulder
    Posts
    6,109
    Quote Originally Posted by TAFKALVS View Post
    I bought a bike from the TPC before prices got stupid and it was an awesome experience. Pretty sad to see. Honestly whoever signed off on buying bikes at the inflated prices they did should have been fired long ago… but in general how where people in the bike industry so stupid?
    Having worked in the industry, I'd say that most people are in it for the "bikes" and not the "business".
    They likely wouldn't make as business people outside of this niche.

  13. #338
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Three-O-Three
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    15,587
    Quote Originally Posted by XtrPickels View Post
    Having worked in the industry, I'd say that most people are in it for the "bikes" and not the "business".
    They likely wouldn't make as business people outside of this niche.
    Add to that the infusion of stupid VC money with the Pro's Closet, and it was a recipe for disaster. There were so many bad business decisions made with that company, and you could see the signs of desperation over the last 18 months.

  14. #339
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    In a van... down by the river
    Posts
    14,761
    Quote Originally Posted by XtrPickels View Post
    Having worked in the industry, I'd say that most people are in it for the "bikes" and not the "business".
    They likely wouldn't make as business people outside of this niche.
    You know the old saying:

    How do you make a small fortune in the bike business? Start with a *large* fortune.

  15. #340
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    SF & the Ho
    Posts
    10,185
    Ha! I just said this to a guy in the neighborhood that is selling his bike shop and asked me if I was interested in buying it.

  16. #341
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Land of Brine Shrimp and Magic Underwear
    Posts
    6,905
    Quote Originally Posted by SKIP IN7RO View Post
    Step #1 should be to keep the Trail Knee Pads in stock. Those things are hard to get.
    Quote Originally Posted by smmokan View Post
    Add to that the infusion of stupid VC money with the Pro's Closet, and it was a recipe for disaster. There were so many bad business decisions made with that company, and you could see the signs of desperation over the last 18 months.
    Yep. Just posted this in that thread...

    I don't work in finance or anything remotely related but even I and most people I know, as consumers, equate VC (scum) involvement with degraded product and/or service and most likely, demise of said product and/or service, all for a very small chance of explosive growth and survival. Easy for VC scum to play that game when they have eggs in many baskets, each representing small relative potential loss for them. For the business owner courting such funding though, how do they not see this? All their eggs are in the one basket that the VC DGAF about. It's one thing to cash out and exit/retire but if you want to keep your business and you're giving it your all, it's tall odds at succeeding in this model.
    There's nothing better than sliding down snow, flying through the air

  17. #342
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Eugenio Oregón
    Posts
    8,653
    Is Cleary joining the tumult?
    _______________________________________________
    "Strapping myself to a sitski built with 30lb of metal and fibreglass then trying to water ski in it sounds like a stupid idea to me.

    I'll be there."
    ... Andy Campbell

  18. #343
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Park City
    Posts
    1,906
    There is some you tube guy who pointed out "Why did they buy a huge warehouse"? I'd add to that, at Boulder Colorado Prices. I haven't lived there for a very long time, but back when we did, the real-estate was more pricey than anything else in Denver area, including Cherry Creek. Their model was portable. they probably could have pulled that off is alot of places where the lease or buy of commercial space was multiples less.

  19. #344
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
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    Driving2VT
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    4,715
    Quote Originally Posted by SchralphMacchio View Post
    Is Cleary joining the tumult?
    Appears so. Bummer. I had a good run of 16-26” cleary rigs for my kids. Just grabbed a 50% off 26” Meerkat for my 8 year old who will be done with her 24” by Spring ‘25. Heavy but rolls great and I like the look of their bikes. Mostly just get around our pretty flat town, to/from school needs

    https://www.clearybikes.com
    Uno mas

  20. #345
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
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    Paper St. Soap Co.
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    Oh man, good prices, I need to find my oldest a 24", but looks like they sold out of those.

  21. #346
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    Jun 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by 406 View Post
    Oh man, good prices, I need to find my oldest a 24", but looks like they sold out of those.
    Does your oldest like pink??
    Uno mas

  22. #347
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    Jan 2008
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    Paper St. Soap Co.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doremite View Post
    Does your oldest like pink??
    Yeah, she loves it....You selling a Scout or Meerkat? We would want the Scout.

  23. #348
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Hell Track
    Posts
    14,423
    Yeah, good prices. Just grabbed a scout. Thanks for the heads up! Bummer they're folding. Kinda surprising, really. Simple bikes so no fancy tooling to get bored down in, and I see plenty of clearys around.

    Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

  24. #349
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    Jun 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by 406 View Post
    Yeah, she loves it....You selling a Scout or Meerkat? We would want the Scout.
    Sorry, Meerkat.

    That said I will likely have a 24” Prevelo Zulu Four up for grabs come Spring. Pink grips and pink pedals!
    Uno mas

  25. #350
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Eugenio Oregón
    Posts
    8,653
    I ordered a single speed Owl. My older kid is looking silly huge on her Ramones 14 (which is a pointlessly stupid bike unless you live in Whistler and your 3.5-4 year old has been hucking their balance bike off of everything since before they could walk and needs an appropriate fitting 14” bike with the stopping power of a race motorcycle). I wonder if she can skip 16. If not, friends have a couple of free Woom 16s they are giving me this weekend.

    Big bummer about Cleary though.
    _______________________________________________
    "Strapping myself to a sitski built with 30lb of metal and fibreglass then trying to water ski in it sounds like a stupid idea to me.

    I'll be there."
    ... Andy Campbell

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