In another big move, the Hayes Bicycle Group has bought Answer Products (makers of Manitou suspension). Here's the little note that is floating around the industry to verify this report:November 3, 2006
To our Customers and Friends,
Effective immediately,
Answer Products will now be a part of Hayes Bicycle Group (manufacturers of the
Hayes Disc Brakes, [L=http://www.sun-ringle.com/]Sun Ringle’ [/L]and Wheelsmith brands), a division of HB Performance Systems Inc.
Answer Products operations will continue as usual. For the time being, pending orders, production, contacts and everyday business will not change.
Best regards,
Joel Richardson
so if your fork breaks: oviusly it sucks!!!
It all comes with how the companies will end up, not the size they are to begin with. Money has no limits, hense size dosent matter
The company was fine, they just wanted to broaden their horizons and venture into new products. Its nothing about being in debt or bailing out. Hayes wouldnt have baught them out if they were doing so bad. Its not worth their time. Dont spread worthless rumors. Thats what people on mtbr forums are for.
OGC here in canada was the distributor for hayes up untill jan 1st 07'. They are currently still the manitou distributor. Will this now all change?
If it does, OGC will be hurting.
1. Bradbury did indeed popularize the aluminum stantion, uncommon in the days prior to the Manitou 2.
2. Manitou led the "elastomer revolution", but that turned out to be a technological dead-end. Air and coil that had existed prior to the "elastomer revolution" turned out to have been the better choices.
3. Manitou led the world away from sealed/oil-lubed forks (Rock Shox Mag 21, Marzocchi XC500) and toward scraper/grease-lubed forks. Rock Shox was stupid and followed with the Judy, but Marzocchi showed us the error of our ways with the first Bomber Z-forks and we never looked back.
4. Manitou added oil damping to a non-oil fork by pioneering the "sealed" damping cartridge (Manitou EFC). It sucked because it blew (been there done that) , but that didn't stop Rock Shox from copying that disaster into the Judy. Nobody does a sealed cartridge in a non-oil fork anymore.
5. Manitou was the first major company to commit to a thru-axle mount for a DH fork. For the longest time people were trying to get quick-releases to work with even inverted forks (!)
6. Manitou innovated the first integrated lower-legs/arch assembly. Even though it was three pieces bonded together, it was still revolutionary. One piece lowers are de rigeur today.
7. Manitou came up with TPC, but since other players had other damping setups that worked as-well (perhaps better), this is more of an advance for Manitou than for MTB suspension as a whole. This can be said for a lot of Manitou tech: interesting solutions, but nothing that forced forced everyone else to adopt an undeniable improvement.
I think if anything, Manitou's positive legacy from the '90s had mostly to do with fork structure, which was the biggest issue that most riders found lacking in the forks of the day. That said, most of Manitou's "innovation" in fork internals were revealed to be steps backward in light of what we use today, and also in light of established motorcross technology.
In other words, I wouldn't brag about Manitou's history. They were about as often right as they were wrong.
And one last thing is, what kind of grass roots programs is a Hayes or Sram mega company going to provide??? They'll have a list of great riders but I doubt some 16year old wanting to race B.C. cup is going to be helped out much. Small companies support Small riders and help them acheave there goals and develop into pro's that we can all look up to. Small companies are a stepping stone in the bike industry and when you populate the industry with these mega mergers the little guy who has to charge $120 CND for a set of pedals will be destroyed. Case in point? how many mom and pop gas stations do you see around these days??? Thats my rant. Prop me to hell hahah.
marzocchi / mavic / shimano
and manitou / hayes