Yes, because they will no longer be made.
When the ceo says its a graceful landing, that means they were able to tell the employees in person and not just lock the door, post a handwritten 8x10 saying "Out of Business" and turn the phone off.
Its over - no more Serotta. This talk of building bikes again is a face-saving pleasantry. They will be gone in 2 weeks - that is what is actually going to happen!

Ok, lets say this is so;

Who is responsible for these "Insane overheads"? Who is responsible for the loss of market share? Who ran the company down to ZERO, where they had to find an outside investor, and even his cash infusion wasn't enough to save this?

It's a hard world out there. Ben has built great bikes, yet,let the market go by.
The bottom line is that unless marketing changes are made and they can bring a bike to market that young people will like and WANT to buy. Then find a way to get said bikes to the people.


They need to sell more bikes. If they would have done this in the first place, there would be no Bill and no whoever in a takeover.

Until these problems are solved, Serotta will be a ghost, and not be a bike co at all. This fact makes me sad, but it is true!

Care to wager on that. I am not a fanboy, but I'd bet that Ben and Bill (maybe without Bill) will bring it back in some iteration...it maybe a 1-5 man shop, but I doubt it will disappear....just a feeling....but unlike you, I won't speak like it's a fact, because frankly neither of us really knows.

They have stated their plan. Why can't you believe them? They are closing in 2 weeks - they said so! Ben Serotta does not own anything, not the brand, not the building, not the tooling.

Did you read this thread (Letter from Ben Serotta)

Dear Friend,

I apologize for the lack of personalization in this note.

Since news broke of the planned shutdown of the Serotta facility there has been an absolute deluge of calls and emails expressing concern, hope, thanks, well wishes into the future and even offers for financial backing. I can’t thank you enough for your show of support and friendship.

It has been a difficult time for sure, but all of us here gain resolve from each other to find a path for a viable continuum of building the finest bicycles, but without the complications, restrictions and frustrations that come along with ‘outside’ corporate structure.

Bill and I have been working hard to structure a management buyout of Serotta, extricating it from the current holding company and we remain hopeful. If that doesn’t work out, there’s always plan B (or was it D?).

I believe that everyone on this planet has certain special skills. My wonderful, dedicated staff, colleagues and I are fortunate enough to have discovered some time ago that we are here to make wonderful things with our hands, hearts and minds. While many details remain between now and the future, the one thing that is certain, is that we’ll continue to make fabulous bicycles, because, that’s what we do. You can count on it!

Hope to see you on the road soon,

Ben

It's really sad to hear the news. I've dealt with Serotta for a very long time. I'm a Serotta-trained fitter. Loved their bikes. Enjoyed dealing with them and had nothing but admiration and the highest regard for Ben. I hope that he and his staff make it through this okay.


I can't imagine that this has anything to do with DCG. It sounds like they were the last hope and simply didn't come through with the financing. The nail was in the coffin the day Bradway stepped in. I used to work with the owner of Bradway and shot my mouth off about it as soon as I heard the news of the acquisition. The guy had 2 failing bike shops that eventually rolled into a "fit studio" before buying Serotta. What made anyone think that this meant a recipe for a successful bike company is beyond me.

The business end of it sound like a financial advisor talked some clients into buying a brand that was on the rocks and could be had for cheap. If it goes well then he walked into it for a song and is a superstar. If not, then it was obviously a brand that no one, not even an industry veteran, could rescue. Win-win for Bradway, who gets to puts this off on DCG for not coming up with the necessary capital. In the end they will still own the name, that can be sold off and turned into a "Motobecane" to recoup some of the original investment.

The sad thing is that up until a few days ago they were still pushing hard the idea of a "rebirth". They were pitching their new race bikes, all the while knowing that they would be shutting down. Whoever put money on one of these bikes with a "lifetime warranty" should be outraged. Where's the integrity there? When I opened up shop last year I was looking at Serotta-like companies to bring in. Serotta was not on my list because I didn't think they'd be around and I didn't want to pitch that high-end of a product that would't be supported. I refused to stock Dura-Ace 10-speed just before it changed to 11-speed. I didn't stock Ultegra 10-speed bikes this year because it was about to change. If I sold any with this stuff I made it a point to explain to customers what was coming so no one is "buying blind". This probably cost me some sales, this year and last, but I have a reputation to build. I have to sleep at night. Who's been pitching Serotta bikes for the past year with a good conscience? Is anyone missing sleep over this? I suppose that there was no choice but to keep selling... but to keep pitching it like they have been?

I hope this doesn't come across as bitter. I really do wish Ben and the staff all the best. They had an awesome run and gave it a really solid try. They built an icon in the cycling world and truly changed the bike market for the better. Had it not been for Ben's fit school there wouldn't be Specialized Roubaix, Cannondale Synapses, H3 fits, Giant Defys and a slew of other bikes targeted at making cycling enthusiasts comfortable and fast. I think that Serotta, as much as any "Lance effect", is responsible for the resurgence of road cycling by making road cycling comfortable for the majority of the population. For this I truly thank them. For raising the bar on quality control, paint, customization options, tubing control... for all of that I have to thank Ben and the crew.

I hope that they treat the brand name with the same respect as Fat Chance, rather than Ibis, Bontrager, Klein, Merlin, Motobecane, Mercier, etc, etc, etc. Serotta deserves it.

RIP

There's always hope.
"While many details remain between now and the future, the one thing that is certain, is that we’ll continue to make fabulous bicycles, because, that’s what we do."
C'mon, Serotta is not going to build any bikes, fabulous or not, after 2 weeks. This is pie in the sky wishful thinking.

"but all of us here gain resolve from each other to find a path for a viable continuum of building the finest bicycles"
it takes more than resolve
"but without the complications, restrictions and frustrations that come along with ‘outside’ corporate structure."
how about the money, can you do it without the money? Apparently not.

Well said. :beer:

I wonder what all that expensive machinery will bring at auction. Heck, I wonder what the Serotta Building will bring. Wouldn't it be funny if Ben et.al. could buy all or part of it at distresses prices and thereby be back in business on some level?

Sadly, that letter is just a letter and nothing more. It's not a business plan, case study or creative brief explaining to how the Serotta brand can be resurrected.

The letter is more an apology to Serotta fans than anything else.

You don't think that isn't in the works....did you expect them to float it here?....I'd bet it's being worked on as we speak...or completed and in others' hands.

I have no skin in the game...don't/haven't owned a Serotta...have been critical in the past, but liked what I saw in their latest iteration.

Who knows what's in the works? All I know is I saw a response similar to Ben's when Buell went out of business, thanks to Harley-Davidson. It was a note of contrition and apology, and since then (4-5 yrs ago), I haven't heard any thing about members of that brand starting anything new.

First off...I have no special knowledge and you may be right. I have a hunch that Ben and Bill don't want to go out this way and will go down trying to make it work.

Not sure motorcycle production correlates well with frame building....but I don't think that was your point anyway. Hopefully, you're wrong :)

I don't think you've been paying attention.

http://www.erikbuellracing.com/wp-co...190rs_spec.png

They correlate very closely. In both instances, a larger company owns and potentially funds (or not) a smaller more boutique brand. The Buell and Serotta situations almost mirror each other.

Production and Supply Chain issues are exponentially less/more complex...Ben and Bill could scale back tomorrow...you just can re-open a mass production line of motorcycles.

Uh huh, and the sales?

i know zero about motorcycles
 

but it does look as if Buell will come back:

India's Hero Motorcorp has taken a 49.2-percent stake in Erik Buell Racing at cost of $25 million; $15 million of that is in immediate investment, the remaining $10 million to come over the next nine months. The two companies formalized a partnership in February last year, when Hero sponsored EBR's two bikes in the AMA Pro Racing series and Buell sent engineers to India to help Hero develop new products.

Things have apparently worked out, the equity stake representing Hero's faith in its partner. Until 2010, Hero was the Indian JV partner of Honda; it was known as Hero Honda and was the leader in the Indian market. But when the Japanese company divested its share after 27 years together, Hero needed to find a partner that could help it maintain its tech edge. Now that it can call its own shots it is also able to export its products, something it couldn't do when it was with Honda, and it will want offerings that can compete globally.

The investment keeps Buell in charge of his company, leaves the company headquartered in East Troy, Wisconsin, and allows EBR to continue to develop its 1190 RS road racing superbike and expand its line-up.

By looking at the Buell website, it looks like that motorcycle (and only that version motorcycle) is by order only. And at $40,000 a copy. Wrong approach as Buell was never known as an outrageously-priced product, but more a practical response to what Harley Davidson's couldn't be in the crotch rocket world.

Nice try, but that's not the correct way to resurrect a brand, particularly what is now an overpriced brand. I'd rather have a Ducati.

This is definitely not the route Serotta needs to take.

The flesh of the fruit may rot, but if you have the seed(s) ... ideas and knowledge are far more valuable than the physical trappings that surround them. The intangible (brand) is most valuable at this point, but even if it can't be regained, the seed that created it still remains.

Dreamers forge forward and fatalists give up. Sounds like Ben is a dreamer, so I wouldn't count him out.

It's ok to say, "I was wrong and uninformed. Erik Buell is making motorcycles again."

Goodbye old friend.
 

A red Serotta TIG was my first road racing bike. Colorado Legend II Ti was my first college racer and cross country companion. Fell in love with carbon fiber on a 2007 HSG. Learning this news is like finding out an old college buddy has cancer. How sad.

How about the sales? The sales. I'm near motorcycles on a daily basis & haven't seen a single Buell like this on the road.

Meanwhile, I see tons of so-called boutique brands to America, such as Ducati, KTM, Aprilia, etc. What's the difference between these brands and Buell's resurfacing? Marketing and approachability in price (within reason), not exclusive one-offs.

I never said he wasn't making them again, in fact I never knew he was. But at that price point, I can't see for how long he will be (or have funding).

Surprised.

Glad I decided not to sell the 7-11 huffy/serotta.

Was seriously considering it about 3 weeks ago.

Oh, and just so we're clear, Christian:

That doesn't read they're not making anything new.

It's okay to say, "I read that statement incorrectly."

Sad day. Some of the nicest bikes I've ever seen.

This is also . . .
 

. . . pretty much my feeling. I strongly doubt they are just making plans to go lie on the beach. But they're not going to present them here for us to critique.

BBD

my fear is that someone like BikesDirect.com who sell motobecane and bottechia want to be able to brand gas pipe road bikes under the Serotta name, and are willing to pay DCG a decent penny for the branding rights.

Wishing for an eleventh hour break, all the best to Ben and company.

Before we get too misty-eyed here, (oops, too late:)) let's remember that Ben Serotta is not an innocent victim. The company's failure is not due to DCG or Bradway Capital or those evil financiers who didn't warn Ben that a crash was coming in 2008.

Every problem that the company has had is due directly to his poor decisions; the less charitable might say his arrogance. As far as I can tell, Ben Serotta is the latest in a long, long line of wonderful craftsmen who couldn't manage their way out of a wet paper sack.

The only victims here are the employees who are soon to be unemployed despite their superlative skills and efforts.

I'm certain that Ben Serotta could start a one-man shop a la Kellogg, Sachs, Strong and build great bikes and even make a little money if that's what he wants to do. But I be willing to bet that anything more ambitious than that will wind up the same way as the Serotta Competition Bicycles.

Guys like Bradway Capital are the ones that buy a struggling company up for dirt cheap not in the hopes of making a great product, but in the hopes of making money on someone else's reputation. There's no tolerance for "break even" and to time to allow growth or a "rebirth". The bike business is tough... too tough for "financiers" unless they buy a brand dirt cheap, take just enough time and effort to try to show some sort of an upswing, and then flip it for a profit. There was no long term plan for owning a bike company because there simply isn't enough money in it.

It's maybe a tad pretentious to compare a hand-built custom bicycle to a work of art, but it occurred to me that one potential measure of the value of the Serotta brand in the face of reduced or absent supply is whether the value of existing bikes has increased on the secondary market. And whether those who may have planned to sell their Serottas are reconsidering. I don't visit ebay et al but if prices are trending upward, it may indicate a certain respect for the brand. If not, the market may be indicating apathy for its resurrection.

Posted in the 'note from Ben' thread...

"My employee, who works the Courage Classic as support, heard this 2 weeks ago from a relative thru marriage of Ben, who stopped at his booth. Sister in law??

She mentioned that Ben and ?? are trying to buy the company."

If Ben and ? get the funds, I wouldn't be surprised that Ben emerges as a much smaller, frame building company, owned by him and ?. Few of the manufacturing staff come along...

More than a few mid sized frame builders thrive today. "Do one thing and do it well', comes to mind as does really taking care of a small and dedicated dealer network. All ti and all steel frames, from this tiny bike shop owner's perspective, do well. Going toe to toe with trekspecializedgiantcannondale is dumb. Economy of scale. Sounds like ben wants to make great frames, I think he and others will do that. Smaller, more directed, kinda doing the things that Moots and Waterford are doing.

Doing one thing and doing it well.

My opinion is all. When I was in a couple of previous shops, we sold serotta. In the era of all steel CSI, CR/L, and Legend. Concours. Pretty easy to sell these. Do a fit, buy a frame, build, what 'pro' shops are supposed to do.

my 2 lira.

I'm not going to defend Bradway Capital. A lot of us who do this sort of thing for a living were skeptical about Bradway from the beginning. But keep in mind that the only reason Bradway was ever involved was because the company was, to use your word, struggling and the primary reason that the company was struggling was because of mismanagement. Ultimately, the responsibility for mismanagement is with the CEO and the primary shareholders.

I will admit to not knowing very much about the internal workings of Serotta Competition Bicycles. It is possible that Ben Serotta has been a figurehead for the last decade or so, sort like Eddy Merckx after he sold Merckx Cycles. But if Ben Serotta was more involved in the company, as CEO, Chairman and/or major shareholder, he deserves a great deal of the blame for the demise of a company that has been coming for 10 years or more.

I am always sorry when any company fails and, from experience, I know how painful that is for everyone, including the executive management. But it's way too easy to blame the Bradways and DCGs of the world when the actual fault lies elsewhere.

Just as Waterford arose from the ashes of Schwinn, I'm sure Serotta will be reborn in some form. I fret not their future. Excelsior!

I disagree a bit with this. There may well have been mistakes made with regard to management, strategy or positioning, but that doesn't mean it was mismanaged. And that might depend on our respective definitions of 'mismanage'. The industry changed around them, it bifurcated and they were left trying to make a bespoke product with the overhead of a line manufacturer.

Looked at another way, a struggling company is not a symptom of mismanagement anymore than a successful company is a sign of good management. Sometimes luck, good or bad, or market dynamics outside of your control play a part in the success of a business...

Speaking for myself only . . .
 

. . . I think this is very reasonable critique. Maybe not a "great deal" of the blame, but I think he's made business mistakes. Of course, I'm also not privy to the inner workings and so could never be totally familiar with the reasoning behind some of their business decisions--or even know if they were indeed Ben's decisions. But that would apply to all of us, as far as I know.

But also living close to the factory and being involved in local media, I have likely seen more local media coverage of the company's problems than many forum members, and I know he has been very candid in those local stories about mistakes being made and him making his share.

Again, only in my own opinion (not as a mod), it's a situation that has indeed been abuilding for while. I just hope they are able to continue to build bikes in some scaled down operation, because I know they ARE good at that.

BBD

As I understand events (and I could be wrong)

Serotta was owned by Serotta for a period of about 10 years.

from the purchase back from Archibald Cox to the recent involvement
with Stan and Bonnie Mavis.

Stan, Howard and Bill are all recent personalities.


(speaking for myself and not as a mod)

Guys,

This isn't just Serotta...

Blue Bicycles and Madfiber Wheels are not confirming that DCG's deal is done and that they are well funded and off and running either...

This may be about DCG's failure to execute as easily as it could have been about any or all of the three brands being in far worse shape than due diligence exposed early on.


This might be Devine Cycling Group bridge collapse versus Serotta getting tossed off the bridge.