Techs-Mechs: Cannondale Sold

by Mr Van P on Feb 13, 2008 10:03 PM EST in Techs-Mechs & Gear

Cannondale Corp announced that it has been acquired by Montreal based global consumer product company Dorel Industries, Ltd. According to early reports Dorel has no immediate plans to make changes to the current corp structure. However, Dorel is also the parent company of such once-proud brands as GT, Mongoose and Schwinn to name a few. Currently these bikes can be purchased at Walmart. Cannondale was acquired to lead the company's new IBD (Independent Bike Dealers)division. As such Dorel will allow Cannondale to continue with it's innovations and creative designs. Perhaps the backing of a larger corporation will help fund R & D? Maybe so, but I'm skeptical. I plan on picking up another "Handmade in the USA" Cannondale frame while I still can. As an owner of an early hand welded/painted 1980's Cannondale, I weep at the the thought of seeing those signature fat down tubes and smooth welds hanging from the racks at Walmart.

0 recs | Comment 14 comments

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sad

Damn. That's a pretty depressing picture you just painted. It's pretty easy to imagine the pig iron Cannondales lined up at Dick's or WalMart.

-K-

by KevinK on Feb 13, 2008 10:31 PM EST 0 recs

The folks in Bedford PA

have proven to be survivors in the past. Let's hope Dorel sees Cannondale as their link to serious bike shops, and not just another Performancebike store brand.

Vlaenderen die Leu

by Mr Van P on Feb 13, 2008 11:32 PM EST up 0 recs

I fear that

Cannondale owners will one day experience the same feeling I get whenever I see a new GT for sale . . .

by Sui Juris on Feb 14, 2008 7:13 AM EST up 0 recs

management

As sad as this is, C'dale must have been a poorly managed company. The engineers and fabricators should go elsewhere and work their magic on aluminum.

-K-

by KevinK on Feb 14, 2008 7:57 AM EST 0 recs

The sale price was

between $190-$200mm. If upper management did a bad job, they can reflect on it while piloting their yachts. Actually it's hard to gauge if this was a sale out of necessity or not from the press releases. However from a consumer standpoint I think Cannondale has filled a nice niche of building inexpensive but well designed race frames for many years. They had a banner year on the pro tour in 2007. I hope they leave things alone for a while.

Vlaenderen die Leu

by Mr Van P on Feb 15, 2008 6:17 AM EST up 0 recs

conjecture

The leaping off point for my thinking was that C'dale went bankrupt a few years ago. But maybe the current management has nothing to do with that.

At any rate, they did a pretty good job building the C'dale brand.

-K-

by KevinK on Feb 15, 2008 8:00 AM EST up 0 recs

My LBS

Said they quit repping Cdales 2 years ago because getting along with their management was horrendous and getting them to honor warranty claims was worse.

With that said, i still take mine in for service there and they have no problem putting a wrench to it. I have recently been tempted to cross the pond for my next purchase.

Life is like a jar of Jalapeno peppers. What you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.

by CannonDowell on Feb 14, 2008 9:57 AM EST 0 recs

Warranties

A few years back my Viner split a weld btw the chainstay and main tube. It was two years past warranty, but the seller sent it back to Italy for me just to see what would happen. They fixed the weld AND repainted the entire frame (couldn't let it out the door looking shabby!) all for the cost of shipping. THAT is what you hope for from a bike company. In fairness, welds shouldn't fail like that, so ignoring me would have been bad form, but they could have anyway.

by Chris... on Feb 14, 2008 1:04 PM EST up 0 recs

Interesting

I bought a new Cadd 8 frame last spring after swapping out my old Cadd 4 frame through their trade in program. Didn't have an ounce of trouble, got the new frame, fork and HS for $599. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

"Only those who are in top condition can say that the Ronde is not hard. For everyone else, it's the Way of the Cross." -Andrea Tafi

by Drew on Feb 14, 2008 10:22 AM EST 0 recs