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Official statement from Archer :/
Archer Components Announces Transition to Limited Operations
August 14, 2024 – Santa Cruz, CA – Archer Components, a leader in electronic shifting technology for bicycles, today announced that it will be transitioning to limited operations. While the company will no longer be producing new products, it will continue to sell off its existing inventory and provide service and support from the original garage where the company was founded, for as long as possible. This decision comes after careful consideration of the current market conditions and the evolving landscape of the cycling industry.
In light of this transition, Archer Components is actively seeking potential buyers who are interested in acquiring the company's innovative technologies and continuing its legacy of excellence in the cycling industry. The company is open to discussions with parties who share its vision and commitment to advancing cycling technology.
Since its founding, Archer Components has been dedicated to delivering cutting-edge solutions that have empowered cyclists around the world to enhance their riding experience. The company’s flagship product, the Archer D1x Trail electronic shifter, set new standards for performance and adaptability, making it a favorite among cyclists and bike mechanics alike.
“We are incredibly proud of what we have accomplished at Archer Components,” said Brandon Rodgers, Co-founder and CEO. “Our team has always been driven by a passion for innovation and a commitment to improving the cycling experience. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, the current market dynamics have made it unsustainable for us to continue full-scale operations. We are deeply grateful to our customers, partners, and the cycling community for their support over the years.”
Archer Components will be working closely with its distributors, retailers, and customers to ensure a smooth transition as the company winds down its larger operations. The company will continue to honor warranties and provide customer support during this period. Detailed information on these processes will be available on the company’s website.
“We couldn’t have done any of this without the talented folks at our shop in Scotts Valley, CA, and the dedicated team from around the world who helped make this a success,” said Devin Carlson, Co-founder and COO.
Archer Components would like to extend its deepest appreciation to the cycling community for its loyalty and enthusiasm. The company’s legacy will live on in the advancements it brought to the industry and the positive impact it made on the riding experience.
For number 3. Jeff I actually think it's fragmenting a bit differently.
Were seeing consolidation by the big brands, PON, Trek, Specialized and Giant but at the same time, there are so many boutique brands doing (comparatively) tiny runs of bikes that are eating into the commercial small to mid-sized brand market that is causing headaches.
Lots of tiny brands like Chromag (for frames) RAAW, Cotic etc are taking that 5-10% from mid sized brands that they need to survive.
My prediction is we will see a market of the big 4(5/6?) brands with total security, and a boutique market beneath that comprising 20-30% by a whole host of small companies a lot of which will specialize in local markets.
It is always the mid size companies that struggle when times get hard. They have all the overheads of a larger company but without any of the economies of scale. They are too mainstream for the hardcore enthusiast but too niche for the everyday punter.
I'm thinking Propain,Transition,Ibis, Pivot etc.
The more I thought about this I feel the right framing (pun intended) is even more simple. The consolidation has (mostly) already happened. One fun way I tried to showcase this semi-objectively was by using Google Trends and seeing frequency of keyword searches of bikes we all consider "household names". As you can see, the Specialized Stumpjumper and Trek Fuel see an order of magnitude more traffic than anything from the smaller guys. Santa Cruz Nomad was a little bit of a a shocker here. This, combined with how "horizontal" the big boys already are (shoes, tires, helmets, tire sealant, wheels etc) tells me there isn't a lot more for them to "eat". They will jokey among each other for position, but the medium/small part of the market will continue to be there - especially being there is no reason for M&A to really happen - at least with respect to most frame/complete bike type of companies.
What does this mean for the smaller or even medium companies? Assuming your balance sheet is okay, and the market is buying your product, it'll come down to opportunity cost of those who work/own the company. Do you want to make $100K/yr in the bike industry or potentially a lot more CEOing/engineering/etc in some other industry? This is what will impact the boutique side of the business most, IMO. Like other "fine mechanical things", they'll be buyers for the rare/strange/cool, but the price point isn't luxury goods level, which is where the predicament will likely lie....for now anyway.
I'll save the rest of my predictions, which need to be taken with many large grains of salt (somebody put a milton picture somewhere here please), for the podcast
People always say that the privateers are the backbone of racing, and I disagree. The mid size companies and satelite factory teams that have a smaller buget, but still sponsor fan favorite riders are the ones holding the show together, IMO.
Satellite teams in this case are the privateers. Privateers as in teams whose sole reason for existence and only income is racing. This holds true for motorsports. With bike racing it's a bit more muddy. A few factory teams in the DH circuit are in fact privateers - Specialized and Pivot for example.
Privateer, and Satelite teams I mean in the most practical way. Specialized and Pivot are for sure, full factory efforts.
Mid size teams = Pivot, Intense, Cannondale, Scott ect.
Satelite teams= Commencals not sponsored by Muc-Off. Santa Cruzes outside of the Syndicate, ect.
There are very few "factory teams" run by the brand.
Many brands pay an agency / private team owner to run their "factory" team.
Commencal Muc-off is owned and run by the Ruffin brothers, Gaëtan and Thibaut (Riding Addiction), who manage the team and riders.
Pivot is run by Bernard Kerr. Specialized is run by Jack Racing or however they are called and ran the Lapierre team in the days of Blenki and when Loic and Loris were coming up through the ranks.
I motorsports factory teams are much more factory, when the brand pulls the plug, the project is usually disbanded. Private teams that are factory backed (Jota in endurance racing, Pramac in MotoGP) pivot to a different factory and continue operating. I think Bernard would... pivot away from Pivot if the pulled the plug.
Specialized Gravity is owned and run by Laurent Delorme who owns Pure Agency SAS. Team Lapierre Gravity Republic was the 1st team, when Lapierre pulled the sponsorship he approached Specialized and the rest is history.
Downtime Podcast had an interesting interview earlier this year with Laurent. Listen HERE
As I understand it, KTM pulled the plug on the TLD/ Gas Gas team... Some consolidation going on there.. A lot of rumors pointing to a future TLD/ Ducati team in the future..
since this has turned into a general "MTB Business" thread, posting here that Pivot is now doing click-and-ship - Pivot Factory Orders
"Pivot Factory Orders enable customers to purchase directly from the Pivot Factory online store and facilitate pick-up through a Pivot Authorized Dealer. By purchasing a new or demo bike, you can add soft goods, accessories, and small parts to your order. We value our trusted dealers and believe they create the best rider experience for after sale support and setup."
https://global.pivotcycles.com/pivot-factory-orders/
Interesting!
Now I could potentially purchase a Trail 429 (a bike I've been lusting over...even though it has that annoying-ass superboost rear spacing) without having to go through the local Pivot dealer who literally prices every single accessory, tool, and maintenance thing at more than double the price (they have the $31 Park chain cleaning tool priced at $80.99).
They're the same guys who tried to sell me - a 5'7" if I stand up extra straight guy with a proportionaly longer torso and shorter arms - Specialized Fuse 29" size large for $3200 in 2022. They said it'll fit great now and even better when I grow into it. I was 38 at the time with grey in my beard as I stood in their store and talked to their sales guy. He was saying literally anything he could to get me to buy that bike. I was looking for a mullet setup since I'm short. "Oh, 27.5" wheels are flimsy and the 29" wheels manual better anyway. These components are all really high end, too, so you'll have them a long time. You'll probably get tired of this frame and want to move up to something like a Stumpjumper before you have to replace any of the components" while looking at a RS Recon and Sram NX.
Luckily there's another bike shop in town who is owned by a saint of a human who loves bikes and carries Santa Cruz, Ibis and Rocky Mountain.
Just so we have everything aggregated here (I may or may not be making an Office Space inspired power point - and this is one of my "sources")
https://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2024/08/23/hayes-performa…
Hayes lays off less than 10% of its workforce (small layoff - but still)
10% is "small" company-wide but 50+ people getting the boot is pretty significant. especially if a portion of them are in rural wisconsin.
I'd love to work in the bike industry, but man lots of those positions have such specialized skillsets that if you get laid off you're in a muddy creek with no snorkel
...and I missed this one too! https://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2024/08/20/gopro-reduce-workforce-about-15 - hardly surprising, and not exactly bike specific.
Not really, unless you are like a very specific marketing or engineer or tech support. Anything else from HR to purchasing, sales, demand planning, production planning, warehouse management, accounting, IT and anything else really require a similar skill set to any other sector of business.
I went from demand planning at a Bike Parts & Accessories distributor to demand planing for an hardware store company and the job is pretty much the same. But salary and benefits are way better outside of the bike industry.
I’m going to say that in the next 6 months a “big”
But actually small brand files for liquidation.
Is this a hunch or do you have actual knowledge of a situation?
As @1llumA noted, unless you spend a long time building a career around something very esoteric, most things transfer pretty well. In fact, I've watched a buddy transition from suspension engineer to aerospace, another go from suspension engineer to medical device and a third go from product manager to running a large customer book at an industrial HVAC company.
The real bummer about "the bike industry" is it is hard to get paid what you could get paid in some other industry, equalizing for as many variables as possible.
On the plus side there have been a number of visionary minds that dabbled in bikes at one point or another; DeVinci and the Wright Bros both come to mind
Funny, I often look outside bikes at options and do some math at the amount of parts, clothing and bikes I buy in a year, usually at a good discount, plus industry discounts outside of the industry. If I left my current bike job, I'd have to make about 10k more to come out even in some cases. The pay is meh but for similar gigs I haven't found anything that would even things out and it certainly wouldn't have the vibe.
Transition?
Also traveling to Taiwan multiple time a year does not sound fun. I spent some time in the industry as an engineer and thankfully never had to do that, but it seemed like I was lucky in that regards as most people on the product side of businesses seem to make 3-4 trips there per year. Honestly in my experience, the pay and benefits were about the same as other industries.
I also did the math regarding parts/bikes/etc but I was still better off with the new job. Also feels more free to choose parts I really want instead of mostly choosing what my old job would distribute even though the choice was pretty diverse.
In my case, i was actually keen to go to Taiwan but never got to.
Traveling is one of the biggest perks for me. I personally love being in Taiwan and it’s a good jumping off point for exploring more of that side of the world. The actual flying part sucks but being there is awesome.
Yes, I make significantly more money doing software engineering, but man its hard to get passionate about getting up every day and writing software that processes credit cards.
The bike biz is a great business to be in! It is also a job at the end of the day. Not everyday is drinking beers and riding bikes with badass industry folks. Some days are spreadsheets, negotiating pricing like a car deal or spending hours upon hours driving or standing in a tradeshow booth. But when you get those days of riding bikes and hanging with cool people talking bikes, it is more than worth it.
While in the bike business I've never had a meeting with the Bob's or had to hide my stapler. Pick the right brand to be a part of and it won't be soul crushing
I was actually in talks to do some contract work at Pinkbike on their buy/sell page, but they stopped responding after looking thru my comment history. Then I got permanently banned.
My guess was Evil. They haven't seemed to do much of anything new in a while...unless I just missed it.
Them shutting down would be a bummer. If I'm opening up my considerations for a future short travel trail bike to include the Superboost malarkey then I could potentially be talked into The Following LS. It seems like a really awesome bike.
...but then again when was the last time anyone saw someone riding a Niner?
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