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They got acquired by Fox -> https://bikebiz.com/the-in-house-concept/amp/
They are liquidating the old stock and the new Fox shoes are taking on RC tech/looks
They got acquired by Fox Factory – aka Fox Racing Shox – not Fox the apparel brand.
Bike industry companies under the Fox Factory umbrella are Fox (suspension), Marzocchi, Race Face, Easton, Lizard Skins, and Ride Concepts.
Fox apparel (aka "Fox Head") is under the umbrella of Revelyst, who also own Bell, Giro, Camelbak, Blackburn, and Quietkat.
So, what does that mean for them? If they're not being rolled into a different clothing company it's concerning that everything they have is basically on sale
Nah they are just blowing out last years colors before releasing this years, that have been doing it for a couple of years now and its a great time to get a deal if they have your size.
I would expect the above mentioned Canidae tail brand to come out with a revamped full line up coming from a related genus vulpes brand that is slowly winding down their garment collection.
I guess the bigger question is do they keep the RC brand or do we see Race Face or Fox tail shoes?
There may or may not be separate component, suspension and apparel brands
Seems like a good strategy to scale back softgoods both technical and lifestyle. Seeing a lot of discounted product and with the MSRP on new creeping out of control the market is cold.
I see Liberated Brands is in trouble, how many lifelines does Quicksilver have left
Liberated is done as far as I know. Volcom staff was axed and it sounded like all licensing agreements with Authentic Group was done.
Or in other words, Quik, Billabong, Volcom will get shuttled off to another operating partner. All branding is owned by Authentic and they just license to others who make the product. In this latest iteration that was Liberated, but it could be whoever wants to pay.
Do we know if the two Foxes have any non-compete agreements (for example, Fox tail not producing softgoods)? If so, they'd need a different brand to do it.
FOX suspension are investing heavily on RC.
They will have shoes, clothing, helmets, protection...
The market is ripe for a new brand filling the gap between Fox Head and Fox Tail. Please welcome: Fox Torso
And when all 3 come together, they form Mega Fox!
Wasn't she in Transformers?
I'm contemplating locking this thread simply for this mic drop moment.
Crab Fox
RE: Nukeproof, this is a portion of an interview on Bike-EU with Belgian Cycling Factory CEO Joachim Aerts. Full article is behind a paywall.
How big is Nukeproof in relation to Ridley?
Ridley is about half the size of Nukeproof in revenue. Nukeproof also includes a series of parts and accessories. We will continue to distribute these.
What other assets were included in the take-over?
We only acquired the brand, nothing else. To maintain the continuity of the brand, key members of the previous team have already joined us, bringing their expertise and deep understanding of the brand’s DNA. Together with the team we are currently developing a new product range, and we will launch a new basic collection at Eurobike.
Where will the Nukeproof bikes be made?
The high-end range will be assembled in our Ridley and Eddy Merckx factory in Beringen, Belgium. These will be offered via the same custom paint and custom build system as we use for Ridley. That makes us rather unique in the market. Not many MTB brands are customised on a scale we can offer.
I'm happy someone caught where I was going with that...
Nice!
Interesting to see it says brand only. I wonder what that actually means and how much IP was included. Is it literally only branding and they have to essentially start product development from scratch on all their frames (and slap the logo on a bunch of Taiwanese factory P&A), or if substantial IP was part of the "brand"? I hope the new platforms won't be a huge departure, I loved the look of their carbon frames and it seemed like they reviewed well.
I get why the new guys don't have interest in taking over old stock or picking up previous models that are stuck at manufacturers, but it seems like an awfully quick turn-around time from a brand perception perspective. Supporting my "this is weird" theory, you can email Carbonda directly (who made a number of carbon Nukeproof frames) and have them sell you a new old-stock frame and ship it direclty to your door. Coincidentally they too offer custom painting, so soon there will be TWO companies offering brand new custom painted nukeproof bikes directly from the factory, just like, different "generations".
I've been off the thread for a while and this may have been covered already, but apparently Trek ordered so fucking many Gen 5 slashes from manufacturers without the ability to cancel them that Trek NA is still receiving new Gen 5 stock, despite being about to put the Gen 6 slash on sale in a month. Not that I think Trek is in any danger of shutting down, but dang!
I think "Brand only" means "Brand only." AKA they don't have any IP. They don't own frame designs, suspension designs, testing data, CAD drawing, FEA analysis, old image files... anything. I think it means they own the label and have to start from scratch on the product front.
I remember reading about the IP vs. brand separation when Mike Ashley bought Nukeproof. That's part of the reason he bought it for pennies on the dollar compared to the previous value of the whole business prior to liquidation. My assumption is that it will be a label slapped on catalog frames and catalog pedals, handlebars, etc for the foreseeable future. And if Mike Ashley continues to own the IP and is only licensing it, I imagine it will be catalog products forever.
Also curious on the 'half the revenue of ridley'...I gotta imagine current state, aka today, the NP $rev is nill?
I've seen this as well on Bikeradar which had way more information than most other sites, suggesting they did get the IP as well and some of the staff were returning
"BCF has purchased existing Nukeproof intellectual property – this would include the existing bikes in the range, as well as componentry."
https://www.bikeradar.com/news/nukeproof-returns
I mean the IP of Nukeproof really isn't a lot. Not having a go at them, but a few horst link bikes and a couple linkage driven single pivots.
Not like they had anything revolutionary, they're bikes are very middle of the road, not in a bad way.
Does IP include specific model names?
They also made decent wheelsets, and stems, bars ect. So they have IP for every part of a bike except for suspension and drivetrain. That's just about as much IP as any bike company is gonna have.
Very few companies actually have anything "revolutionary." Most of the time it's just something hyped up that bored consumers are foaming at the mouth to buy.
Would be interested to hear more about your emails with Carbonda.... How did you find out this was the manufacturer? This could be a good move.
Yeah you're right, I wasn't trying to downplay Nukeproof, or indicate that they have all off the shelf parts for their bikes, just more so that rebuilding a company behind the badge isn't that complicated.
They haven't lost the recipe to the secret sauce is my point I guess.
Nukeproof were good, middle of the road design, affordable high performance bikes.
Whereas buying a brand like Yeti, without their switch infinity patent would be bad, as that is a brand based on secret sauce IP (not that it's inherently better imo)
At the end of the day, that's really what someone is buying; Brand Recognition.
Would you rather...
1) Fezzari to Ari
2) Rebirth of Nukeproof
3) Rebirth of Kona
🤔
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