Serotta lays off 40% of workforce, planning shutdown

[beeatnik]

When I worked in a high rent commercial/corporate strip in Brentwood, I would see Ferraris daily, Lamborghinis at least once a week. We're not talking Beverly Hills but definitely one of the most affluent communities in Southern California.

There's a pretty healthy road cycling community in the area and on the main drag (San Vicente) you can see as many roadies as kept ladiez in yoga pants, jogging. In any case, once I immersed myself in the sport, I expected to see many high end bikes, the daily Ferrari bike. A couple years ago after the big local ride, I spotted a Meivici AE outside the Brentwood Pete's. Haven't seen one since (although, I see 10 grand plus Tarmacs daily). Maybe this was one of Serotta's major issues..no market west of the Mississippi.

Outside the Brentwood Pete's aka The 8th Wonder:

[Ahneida Ride]

Remember those Serotta open houses ... ?

They were wildly popular ..
Yet discontinued ..... why ?
Ben charged 30 frn to participate. They were not a frn sink.


I'll just bet if Serotta had continued to run them they would have
thousands of cyclists showing up today.

The last one had easily over 100 people.
The rides were so big they has Police escorts !

another missed opportunity .....

Priceless free advertisement

[vqdriver]

Originally Posted by rnhood

I agree with "sfscott" 100%.

add me to that list. eye opening post

[wc1934]

Sorry to hear about the layoffs and the closing - difficult times for all involved.
Still appreciative of Serotta for funding/managing the forum all those years.

[wooly]

Originally Posted by rnhood

I agree, very well stated and I agree with "sfscott" 100%.

I too agree with sfscott. For a man that averages 20 posts a year, he sure speaks with substance!

[1centaur]

Blend sfscott's thoughts with many others here and I think we're pretty close to the reality that we'll never quite know. You don't do the deal with Bradway except from a position of weakness; DCG was just another step along that same hail Mary spiral. They were a symptom, not a catalyst.

I have long thought that the MeiVici was emblematic of a core problem: you don't declare superiority to achieve it, it is a designation bestowed by others. Serotta spent time and money to create an infrastructure to support the best carbon bike, in their opinion, starting behind the curve with the Ottrot. Having spent the money and created the overhead, they said it was better because the machine could make lugs that allowed angles greater than Parlee (to simplify) (which mattered to almost nobody) and otherwise, well...crickets...it's not all about weight (which we won't tell you). Then the market voted on whether it was better. Has any reviewer ever said it was clearly better than the other (less expensive) high end CF frames? Rather than build the infrastructure with demand, they built it before demand, gambling that belief in superiority would lead to superiority. Meanwhile, the coolness factor was gone. Neither cool nor better and with a cost base for maybe both. Ouch.

Bob Parlee strikes me as a stubborn guy who believes in his own ability to design the best CF bike. How come Parlee succeeded? He bought tubes from Edge (probably Reynolds before that), kept his overhead low (that Peabody location was minimal), applied his personality to Asia when it made sense, found a great customer service guy in Tom Rodi, moved outside painters around as necessary until the volume supported in-house work, etc. So when people talk about the importance of management decisions, they're right. Every company reflects a string of management decisions, over years. Bob Parlee kept it simple, kept hitting singles and doubles, never created a credibility gap, never swung for the fences, and BTW never had a great web site. He just worked his seam very hard and let the owners speak to the quality of the product on the sites where prospective customers were likely to look. I'd pick a Crumpton over a Parlee, but I have never had a reason to question Parlee quality. Parlee has allowed the market to define his product niche and sized the cost base to reflect that. BTW, I think he benefitted by hiding under the MeiVici's price umbrella. Very smart.

Serotta had a lot of success with technologically better in its metal days and then tried to repeat that. Like a pop artist trying to write another hit song that reflects a former hit song, they could not capture the magic a second time, and did not perceive that until it was too late. CF is either a big money game or a relentless pursuit of perfection game; neither is played well from a mid-sized base.

[Cat3roadracer]

Someone said this would go five pages?

[pbarry]

The comparisons to much newer companies like Seven and Crumpton are irrelative to this discussion. Serotta was building in numbers in the mid '70's. Only Trek and the Paramount shop, (apples to apples), were above their production in the States back then, afaik. It's been a good run. We can look back in another 20 years and evaluate today's crop of mid-size bike companies.

[Peter P.]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

Why does it always have to be about blame?

Because, as I have read, it is AN AMERICAN PRACTICE to spend the energy on finding fault. That is how we solve problems.

The Japanese manufacturing culture does it differently; they focus on SOLVING THE PROBLEM.

[pbarry]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

Because, as I have read, it is AN AMERICAN PRACTICE to spend the energy on finding fault. That is how we solve problems.

The Japanese manufacturing culture does it differently; they focus on SOLVING THE PROBLEM.

Broad strokes above. The "Lost Decade" was illuminating.

[1centaur]

Originally Posted by pbarry

It's been a good run.

+1 for something not said enough. Few bike companies are going to last and last; they tend to grow and die in shorter "cycles." It's not that surprising or interesting that Serotta did not transition from then to now, but it can be interesting to see how the demise evolved.

Bikes are fashion as well as function. Fashions fade as passions change.

[pbarry]

Originally Posted by 1centaur

I have long thought that the MeiVici was emblematic of a core problem: you don't declare superiority to achieve it, it is a designation bestowed by others.

Because that strategy had always worked for them! Colorado Concept tubing, and Legend Ti are two examples where this was very successful. However, they were painfully slow in adapting to the changes in the market and adapting to tech advances by competitors after the late 1990's.

Originally Posted by 1centaur

Serotta had a lot of success with technologically better in its metal days and then tried to repeat that. Like a pop artist trying to write another hit song that reflects a former hit song, they could not capture the magic a second time, and did not perceive that until it was too late. CF is either a big money game or a relentless pursuit of perfection game; neither is played well from a mid-sized base.

Well said.

[Onno]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but isn't Seven a lot like Serotta--lots of models, customizable, expensive, mid-size. They offer a line-up a lot like that of Serotta. Why are they succeeding, if they are, when Serotta hasn't?

[jr59]

Originally Posted by Onno

Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but isn't Seven a lot like Serotta--lots of models, customizable, expensive, mid-size. They offer a line-up a lot like that of Serotta. Why are they succeeding, if they are, when Serotta hasn't?

Price and customer service. That and to much overhead at Serotta.

Or to put it even more bluntly, poor management by Serotta.
You can cut it any way you wish, but it all comes down to this.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

Because, as I have read, it is AN AMERICAN PRACTICE to spend the energy on finding fault. That is how we solve problems.

The Japanese manufacturing culture does it differently; they focus on SOLVING THE PROBLEM.

Ok, but very few of us here have the power and the authority to SOLVE THE PROBLEM. This thread has degenerated into an armchair business school dissertation and a Serotta bash fest. Sad.