Cycling Guys, tape Notice!!!Cannondale Closing USA Factory!!

[Racerbvd]

Cannondale: call Cannondale and ask for Bob Bairds voicemail or email. Tell him you are disgusted about closing the US factory. (888)625-3245

Send an email to Cannondale telling them they suck for Cannondale.
Their website says "The good fight" while they spinelessly send jobs to China to save a few bucks!! At the same time we get less quality and they will try to charge us the same price while they triple their margin.
dave.manchester@cannondale.com;
bob.baird@cannondale.com;
jeff.mcguane@cannondale.com'
We do not need another Specialized!!!

[the]

That's just the way the industry is going.

Skateboards, too. Lots of skateboard decks used to be produced in the US, mostly in California. Two of the biggest California deck producers quietly closed down their California factories in the past 6 months. They still make decks, they just do it in factories in China and Mexico now.

They "quietly" shut down their US operations because, of course, for years they railed against their competitor's overseas operations, and touted their proud Made in America products.

Those types of goods, which are basically unskilled labor and machine intensive, just aren't able to be competitively made in the US anymore, particularly in tax and regulation overburdened states like Cal.

[Zeke]

When they reach a certain volume, that's true, We can always seek out boutique operations that make their stuff right here under our noses. Of course, in the case of bicycles, what individual component is not made overseas? What are we losing here, a few frame welders?
Let them start their own company and whup up on Cannondale.

[willtel]

That is the way all the big builders are going, I'm actually surprised to hear they still have a factory in the US. Even the boutique guys making $2000 frames have a hard time getting by.

I've never really been a fan of Crack 'N Fail anyway, too many proprietary parts for me.

[the]

True, boutique operations who make their stuff here exist. And there will always be some people willing to pay the price for a frame "made" in the US.

But alot of Mfrs are finding there just aren't enough of those people.

Esp. when it is found out that most of the time the materials are coming from overseas, anyways. So, as you point out, the only real difference is whether it's welded up in the US, or in China (chinese factories, btw, are capable of producing the highest quality welds on a bicycle frame), and where it is powdercoated and stickered.

A lot of people aren't willing to pay for that. Because, at the end of the day, the quality of the overseas made frame is going to be just as good, maybe better (assuming the same materials and specs are used).

All forms of bicycling (and skateboarding, to a smaller extent) do oddly rabid "Buy American made stuff" groups. This group will not strap any bike atop their BMW unless it is made in the US, dammit!

[911pcars]

And oddly enough, China produces most of the CF frames today.

S

[Zef]

Just another reason to stop buy Cannondale products....We'll have to continue to buy stuff made here...
Proudly made in USA

[willtel]

My Turner was made in the US but I bought it used and have now had it for seven years and I have absolutely no desire to replace it.



Didn't Cannondale get a new owner several years back?

[badcar]

They were purchased by Dorel who also owns the Pacific Cycle group with such brands as Schwinn, GT, and Mongoose. They own 32% of the US market in bike unit sales.

[Dave L]

Here is an interesting article about where your bike may have been made. I am fairly sure my Klein Attitude was made in the US.

http://allanti.com/page.cfm?PageID=328

[herr_oberst]

My Breezer Jetstream was made in the US, (at least I'm pretty sure it was) but so what? A Logic tubeset could have been welded together by any manufacturer using any similar jig with the same geometry and it would have the exact same ride as the US made version (which is to say a sweet, sweet ride!) A lot of what makes a frame great are details of design. The execution of the design can be farmed out to any excellent manufacturer.

One thing to remember, the elite welders in China, Taiwan, etc are some of the best in the business because they weld so many damn frames a day that they get really good at it.

I'm glad Cannonwhale tried to build in the USA as long as they did. It just goes to show how hard mass manufacturing is in the US when labor costs are so high.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by Dave L

am fairly sure my Klein Attitude was made in the US.

Yep, but... If it is a post-1995 build, you may as well call it a Trek.
They were still built in WA up until 2001/2002, but to Trek's new "standards" and incorporated a few style changes (like visible sloppy welds).

If it is a `95 or earlier, consider yourself lucky, and hang on to that bike! The early Chehalis-frame Kleins are becoming hard to find in good condition (and are not cheap).

[Dave L]

Its a 2000 but the welds are very good, much better than my wifes Trek from the same time frame. I have 3 treks in the garage and have had 2 others in the past as well so I am okay with someone calling my Klein a Trek. Hey you can even call my car a VW and the other one a Subaru too

[creaturecat]

Crack and fail, good riddance. Owned 2, 1 road,1 mountain. Worst rides ever.

[creaturecat]

Crack and fail, good riddance. Owned 2, 1 road,1 mountain. Worst rides ever.

[Joeaksa]

Glad I kept my older model Cannondale.

[John Rogers]

In a similar note, I have a Motobecane (1980s vintage) tandem for sale with a Canondale trailer.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

It just goes to show how hard mass manufacturing is in the US when labor costs are so high.

$35 an hour here, $1 an hour over seas

I still have a rare pair of Cannondale BMX bikes, one NOS.

[look 171]

Is mass production you know so they have to complete. Cervelos CF frames are made in China or was it Taiwan? I think the Chinese can produce a damn great product. Buy custom and your probem solved, or buy Italian. The hand made jobs not Colnago. Oh, they are so nice still.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by look 171

Is mass production you know so they have to complete. Cervelos CF frames are made in China or was it Taiwan? I think the Chinese can produce a damn great product. Buy custom and your probem solved, or buy Italian. The hand made jobs not Colnago. Oh, they are so nice still.

There is no dought that the Chinese can produce great stuff these days (look at the women) but the fact that a USA company, that builds a green product, is going to send it's production over seas The company that swallowed then up Schwinn & GT bicycles and pretty much destroyed what they where built on.
My last 4 bikes were custom built, and in very small numbers but I see one last Cannondale in my future, already talked to a buddy about it today..

4/02/2009 5:00 PM MST [ back ]
Cannondale's U.S. Manufacturing Ending



BEDFORD, PA (BRAIN)—It wasn’t too long ago that Cannondale actually added 7,000 square feet solely for carbon fiber production to its 225,000 square foot Bedford, Pennsylvania, manufacturing facility “to speed up time to market.”

But those manufacturing days in Bedford (pictured) are slowly coming to an end as Dorel Industries announced yesterday its shifting Bedford’s operations away from bicycle frame manufacturing by 2010, and to Taichung, Taiwan. All Cannondale 2011 model year bikes will be sourced from Asia, according to Dorel.

Anyone listening to Dorel’s March meeting with investors knew this writing was on the wall. Dorel recreation and leisure segment president Robert Baird alluded to the fact it takes 45 hours to manufacture a carbon fiber frame, and that labor costs $1 an hour in China and $35 an hour in the U.S.

“As I’ve told Bedford, they’re going to have an exciting future,” Baird said in that meeting. “It’s probably going to be a bit of a different future over time.”

That “different future” Baird alluded to was spelled out yesterday.

Bedford will now be focused on final bicycle and Headshok assembly (strictly for the U.S. market), CNC machining, testing and quality control, bicycle warranty repair, inside sales/service, distribution and customer support/administration (including a new call center on-site). Bedford’s 300 employees will dwindle to 100 by the end of 2010.

Even before Dorel bought Cannondale in early 2008, Bedford’s days of manufacturing seemed numbered. Two years prior, Cannondale turned to Asia for the first time to source entry-level aluminum bikes. It had been that Cannondale sourced its all-carbon fiber bikes from China, but produced its aluminum, and aluminum-carbon bikes in Bedford. That’s the way it had been done since Cannondale first began making bikes in 1983.

Dorel’s announcement yesterday didn’t just involve Bedford. Three remote offices located in Lake Forest, California, Longmont, Colorado, and an IBD-focused office in Madison, Wisconsin, will be closing, as the Bethel, Connecticut, facility sees an expansion. Dorel owns Cannondale, GT, Schwinn, Mongoose and Sugoi, an apparel brand.

Some longtime GT employees work out of the Lake Forest and Longmont offices including GT director of product development Mark Peterman and GT vice president of engineering Forest Yelverton.

Baird told Bicycle Retailer that Dorel is in the "process of relocating" key individuals" to Bethel with "very critical players having already committed." The offices will stay open for least another "15 months" while this relocation process takes place, Baird added.

New CSG NA (now called Cycling Sports Group instead of Cannondale Sports Group) president Jeff McGuane said that Dorel is making a “big investment” into Bethel, both “physically and with people.”

Baird said it was an “important step” to put the best talent under one roof, citing reasons like being able to “innovate quicker.” In essence, Bethel now becomes Dorel’s defacto home to its high-end or “IBD” brands, while Madison officially becomes the designated home to the mass market.

“This further demonstrates that [IBD] commitment to dealers,” McGuane told Bicycle Retailer yesterday.

The total cost of the overall re-organization plan is expected to be no more than $4.5 million, the majority of which will be related to employee relocation and severance. These costs will be incurred over the course of 2009 and 2010. Once completed, the company expects to realize annualized cost savings of up to $4 million.

“For us to continue on our quest to remain competitive and to become the world’s premier provider in delivering the top recreation and leisure brands and products that consumers trust and want, we must continue to simplify and streamline our operations to help us drive forward,” McGuane said.

For more on this story, be sure to the read the April 15 issue of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News