Inside Maxima Racing Oils - Factory Visit
Maxima Racing Oils' Bike Division Product manager Sean McClendon (left) and President Danny Massie stand beside a few of the mixing stations at the Southern California factory
Danny Massie was a teenager when he started work at Maxima Racing Oils and by the time he had earned an MBA, he had worked his way from sweeping floors and bottling product, to formulating the secret concoctions that elevated Maxima's products to must-have status among the world's most successful motorsport racing teams. Few lads dream of careers in the boutique oil business though, including Massie, who had a job waiting for him in a top-five banking institution. Massie said that he already had purchased his blue suit, briefcase and Brooks Brothers Shoes when Maxima owner and founder Dick Lechien approached him with an offer to run the company. To say at that moment, Massie was torn between his loyalty for Maxima and his chosen career in the financial sector would have been a wild understatement. Danny chose Maxima and after the youthful president proved that he had what it took to oversee a healthy corporation, Massie put together a deal to buy the company. The rest, as it is so often said, is history.
Maxima is a manufacturing company that formulates, blends, and bottles all of its products (aerosols are bottled by another firm) - not a marketing business that simply designs and labels its range. It was founded back in 1974 by the father of Ron Lechien, who was a soon-to-be famous motocross racer. The story goes that the Lechienes were using a castor-based two-stroke oil that went out of production. Dick Lechien could not find a pre-mix oil that could match its performance, so he decided to formulate a castor-based oil for himself. Maxima still makes it. Maxima began as a racing company and that is where it remains today.
Maxima is well established within the most elite circles of automotive and motorcycle competition as a leading supplier of lubricants coolants and cleaning products. So, when they decided to enter into cycling in 2014, the decision was to offer only a high-end option for each category. Many riders, especially those with moto backgrounds, are familiar with Maxima's chain lubricant and SC1 cleaner, but most would be surprised to discover that they supply the suspension fluid that many upper level mountain bike shocks and forks are charged with. After establishing Maxima within the OEM marketplace, they turned their attention to the aftermarket, launching "Maxima Bike," a separate division that is headed up by ex DH pro Sean "Griz" McClendon. We interviewed Griz and Massie while the pair gave us a factory tour of the facility, which takes up two warehouses in Santee, California, a few miles east of San Diego.
Danny Massie
The story goes that you were Maxima’s first employee. What was a day’s work like back then, compared to today?
Maxima was established in 1979 when I was seven years old, so I can’t claim to be Maxima’s first employee, but I did start here when I was 16 years old. I’m now going on my 26th year with Maxima. Back then, times were simpler. I would work from the point I got out of school up until the shop closed – punching in and out each day. I did what was needed and worked my way through each department of the company.
Now, my days are always different. One general theme that does stay consistent is that my days are always interesting and challenging and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m fortunate to be a part of a brand that stands for something. Maxima is a brand that has legacy and it’s bigger than any one individual. My primary focus is the strategic placement of the brand through several trade channels (Powersports, Performance Auto, Bike and OEM), plus product development and overall brand aesthetics.
The story goes that you were Maxima’s first employee. What was a day’s work like back then, compared to today?Maxima was established in 1979 when I was seven years old, so I can’t claim to be Maxima’s first employee, but I did start here when I was 16 years old. I’m now going on my 26th year with Maxima. Back then, times were simpler. I would work from the point I got out of school up until the shop closed – punching in and out each day. I did what was needed and worked my way through each department of the company.
Now, my days are always different. One general theme that does stay consistent is that my days are always interesting and challenging and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m fortunate to be a part of a brand that stands for something. Maxima is a brand that has legacy and it’s bigger than any one individual. My primary focus is the strategic placement of the brand through several trade channels (Powersports, Performance Auto, Bike and OEM), plus product development and overall brand aesthetics.
Danny Massie: President, Maxima Oils
You do most of the formulating at Maxima. How did a shop rat who earned an accounting/finance degree in business also learn to be a chemist?Great question. I certainly couldn’t have highlighted my career path when I was younger. Who imagines owning a core, high-performance oil company? I’ve always been a person that is 100-percent committed to the task at hand and can’t help but to fully immerse myself in what it is that I’m doing. Maxima is what I’ve been doing for 26 years collectively. I’ve learned business ethics from great individuals and have applied real world knowledge with higher education as a foundation for my career. I’ve been actively involved in the chemistry portion of Maxima for the past 15-plus years. I work alongside PH.D. chemists, engineers and technicians to develop advanced lubricants. My training is well rounded, coming from formal education, technical training and hands-on R&D.
There are no oil wells out back, but Maxima seems to be vertically integrated from R&D through manufacturing. Do you blend and bottle all of your products in Santee?Yes. Maxima is vertical in its operations and we formulate, blend, package and ship all from our facilities located in Santee (located between San Diego and Alpine, CA.) Formulating and blending is one of our strongest attributes as a high performance company. I wouldn’t know how to do it any other way. Some of our competitors aren’t hands-on and are at the mercy of another company to produce their products. For Maxima, our advantage is that the development burden is all placed on internal teams. Having the components in-house to experiment with and find the synergies inside the formulas is the magic that separates the really good from mediocrity.
California has draconian environmental regulations for petro-chemical businesses. How can a relatively small manufacturer like Maxima survive here?
Maxima's factory hums to the tune of powerful motors, blending products under controlled temperatures in large vats. Plush suspension fluid is Maxima's latest product.
You took the reins at Maxima at a fairly young age and then later, bought the business. You must have been either motivated or adventurous…Many things fell into place that have enabled me to be where I’m at today with Maxima. Dick Lechien founded Maxima and mentored me for much of my adult working life. I worked for Mr. Lechien for 17 years before transitioning the business to my ownership. While working for Mr. Lechien, I put myself through college and upon graduating, fast tracked through upper levels of management.
I’ve always tried to put myself in a good place and I had a lot of good opportunities come my way when I was in my 20’s. At the time, some of them looked appealing financially, but contributing to a company that stands for the same things that I do on a personal level is hard to overlook. I actively MTB and MX and that’s what we do at Maxima. I’m proud to come home each night and hang my hat up on the Maxima rack. It means something to me and I couldn’t imagine doing something just to do it. Doing something you love is amazing and makes for a better, more creative product – no matter what that product is.
How many people do you employ and can you give us a sense of the size and scope of the business?Maxima is a relatively small company, but has been growing up a lot. We employ less than 50 people and operate in over 40 countries around the world. Current capacities are over 30,000 liters of oil per day with an additional 35-percent output coming online in 2015. Our product portfolio exceeds 100 unique formulations and our products can be found in just about every one of the 8,500 motorcycle shops in the USA. We’re looking for similar penetration in the Bike markets in the USA and around the world. We have already solidified excellent partnerships, such as Live To Play (Norco) in Canada, BTI, and others.
Maxima is heavily involved in motorsports racing. Is that a passion that you share?Absolutely. It’s in our corporate DNA and embedded in my soul. I’ve always been around motorsports, most notably motocross. Growing up a SoCal kid there was a natural attraction to the outdoors – we’re fortunate to have the sun shining most every day here in San Diego. There’s no better time spent outside the family than on two wheels, either putting in some laps at the MX track or cranking out some time on the MTB trails.
How, when and why did Maxima decide to manufacture cycling products? Is that a separate part of the business?Cycling is a separate part of the business in the sense that our cycling division needs to be a part of the cycling community and not necessarily an extension of Maxima or just another revenue source. Active participation is important and we look at Maxima Bike as a core brand within the cycling community. We have dedicated team members that live and breathe Bike. This philosophy extends to all phases of Maxima Bike – product development specific to BIKE, trade channel support and event activation.
Maxima has been an OEM supplier to key companies in the cycling industry for two decades. With all of the crossover between cycling and motorsports – and being that most of the management at Maxima loves MTB – it felt right to produce a complete BIKE line under the Maxima label. Ultimately, commercializing the Maxima BIKE line is enabling us to do bigger, cooler projects in the cycling community. We look at it as a way to give back. This is exciting to us and puts a smile on our faces. Look for fun concepts to come in 2015-16.
We understand that Maxima supplies suspension fluids to OEM shock and fork makers. Can you name names?Maxima supplies more than just suspension fluids to OEMs. We have actively developed dropper post lubes, brake fluids and a host of other products. OEM relationships are managed professionally and independently. Some of our OEM accounts use the Maxima name to build credibility for their factory fill or aftermarket lube oils and others prefer to market solely under their name.
Each relationship is different and managed in a way as to create synergies between the Maxima brand and the OEM. We are careful not to speak out of school when it comes to OEM accounts as there is sensitive intellectual property that is developed together and the protection of this information is important to the OEM.
Most enthusiasts know that OEMs are in the hard parts business and not necessarily chemical engineers. Insert Maxima. We partner with the OEM to alleviate this fear by working closely with OEM engineers to create products that contribute to the overall performance of the OEM parts. It’s a great relationship, and for me, a very cool part of our business. It helps Maxima stay on the forefront of technology.
There are a number of conflicting studies regarding the effectiveness of lubricants as a means of reducing chain friction. One famous study says that the improvement is negligible regardless of the type of lubricant, while the most recent study claims that using the correct lube can save up to six watts. How does Maxima test its products?There is no doubt that properly formulated lubricants can lower the coefficient of friction which equates to greater watt output. Not to mention, additional benefits that a good chain lube deliver are noise reduction in the drivetrain and rust and corrosion protection. Maxima is a very technical company and has countless hours behind the integrity of our products.
We partnered to design and tool for a simulated bicycle test in a world-class mechanical lab. Our goal was to demonstrate differences in chain lubes on the market today. We analyzed wear, efficiency, protection and noise. We worked with the SRAM drivetrain group out of Germany to understand typical load specs and simulated them on the test rig via an electric motor and load cell. The bicycle can run continuously for 24 hours a day with servo actuated shifters. We even accelerated the test by introducing premeasured amounts of “lab dirt” to the drivetrain to further differentiate the wear attributes of the different lube types. All in all, we’ve been able to plot distinct data points that do show differences in the amount of protection and performance achieved by different commercially available chain lubes. Chain lube is not chain lube!
A number of people there ride mountain bikes. Do you show up for the Friday rides?Riding makes for a better week and a happier sense of being. Many of us ride at least twice each week and we try to get involved with our local IBDs, athletes, clubs and trail builders. We’re lucky enough to have awesome all-mountain riding in the Pines and world class DH in Anderson Truck Trail, and a host of other trails. We organize rides out of Maxima on Wednesdays and come Friday – the crew is torn between motocross and DH. An inside joke at Maxima is that Friday is our official test day as we work four ten-hour days.
Which Maxima product has been the greatest challenge for you to formulate?
Tuning up Maxima's automated bottling line. Maxima bottles both individual-sized containers for aftermarket sales, as well as steel drums and bulk containers for its OEM customers.
The filling station is the first stop on the production line
The first pilot run of Maxima's Chain Pro dry condition chain lube is ready for labeling
After labeling, the bottles are captured by a turntable, where they are placed by hand into cardboard cartons.
However, Plush takes home the prize as being the most difficult. One of the true challenges in developing Plush was actually improving our World Cup proven fork and shock fluids. Countless hours and resources have been applied to making Plush the most anticipated release of 2015. With a lot of attention at the OEM level, Plush is a scalable platform that can be optimized for specific systems.
Which cycling product are you most proud of?I’d have to say SC1. SC1 evokes so much emotion out of our customers that it’s hard to not get excited. It’s almost addictive - once you use it, your bike never feels complete without it. Additionally, the multitude of uses our end users have found for SC1 are endless. Without question, SC1 is the best product on the market to make the world shiny.
Sean "Griz" McClendon
So, how did a pro DH racer and former journalist find his way to Maxima?
First, a career ending injury took my first choice of racing away. That’s a separate story for another time, but through the process of reinventing myself, I gravitated toward the business side of bikes and needed a good opportunity. Maxima and I found each other through old relationships.
When Danny Massie put the word out that he wanted to commercialize a Bike line at Maxima, he told a mutual friend he was looking for someone that fit the description of a guy like me – a washed up racer, preferably business minded, with connections – to run the division. Trevor Reis, a professional Supercross racer, long-term Maxima support rider and personal friend, contacted me while I was on my way to Interbike 2013. He put me in contact with Danny Massie and we coordinated a meeting between Danny and me at the show. We clicked at the meeting and the rest is history. My experience with DH racing, a stint as the voice of American Downhill and above all, my solid network in the industry, paved the way in me getting here. This wasn’t the first or last occasion Maxima has employed an abandoned athlete and supported our “growing up.”
What are your responsibilities there?
So, how did a pro DH racer and former journalist find his way to Maxima?First, a career ending injury took my first choice of racing away. That’s a separate story for another time, but through the process of reinventing myself, I gravitated toward the business side of bikes and needed a good opportunity. Maxima and I found each other through old relationships.
When Danny Massie put the word out that he wanted to commercialize a Bike line at Maxima, he told a mutual friend he was looking for someone that fit the description of a guy like me – a washed up racer, preferably business minded, with connections – to run the division. Trevor Reis, a professional Supercross racer, long-term Maxima support rider and personal friend, contacted me while I was on my way to Interbike 2013. He put me in contact with Danny Massie and we coordinated a meeting between Danny and me at the show. We clicked at the meeting and the rest is history. My experience with DH racing, a stint as the voice of American Downhill and above all, my solid network in the industry, paved the way in me getting here. This wasn’t the first or last occasion Maxima has employed an abandoned athlete and supported our “growing up.”
What are your responsibilities there?
Maxima Bike Product Manager Sean "Griz" McClendon at the US Open, 2010. - Sven Martin photo
Basically, when you think of the brand Maxima in the Bike world – I am responsible for the thoughts and emotions that rise while coordinating a place for shops and customers to buy Maxima products. As Bike Brand Manager, I oversee the Bike division under the guidance of Danny Massie and Steve Benson. From driving business growth domestically and internationally, managing distributor partners, PR, developing, implementing and executing marketing activities, to product management, R&D (this is the fun part, where I get to ride), and I manage sponsorships for athletes and events.
Outside the office, you’ll see me on the road attending races, tradeshows and festivals, digging lines at Rampage for Kyle Strait, presenting to distributor partners, doing shop rides and dealer visits with our distributer sales reps, telling the story of Maxima Racing Oils. I also support the Powersport and Performance Auto divisions as needed. It’s a comprehensive role, to say the least.
Does Maxima plan on doing any type of sponsorship programs?Positively. Giving back to the sport is a large driver for commercializing a Bike line at Maxima. Initially, we’re using our synergy with DH, freestyle and Enduro to blend into the bike world. We align with the best athletes in all divisions of Maxima Racing Oils. Our Elite MTB team is stacked and I couldn’t be more proud to work with all of them. Their accomplishments speak for themselves as does their choice to ride Maxima.
All amateurs feel free to submit your resume by contacting racersupport@maximausa.com if you’re looking for support. We’re also supporting camps, demo tours, bike parks, and race series like Southridge USA, NW Cups, and Summer Gravity Camps in Whistler. We’re also supporting local XC races like the Coyote Classic in El Paso, Texas, and clubs Like Total Cyclist in North Carolina, and others around the US. We also support the Intense Cycles and Transition Bikes demo programs.
A really cool project we support is the bike wash station at Northstar. Under strict guidance, Northstar has done an amazing job with this station in making it ecofriendly. Constructed from wood used from a winter season project in 2014, the station utilizes self-reclaimed waste water and we provide the Bio Wash. The end result is a place for riders to clean their equipment before going home or to their hotel at no additional cost. As the Bike division grows, we’ll be able to pump more love in more places back into the community.
Much of Maxima’s success in motorsports has been due to word-of-mouth advertising and testimonials. How do you plan to get the word out to cyclists?We will continue to pursue opportunities to activate and extend an invite to try Maxima products. We are not a marketing company. We are a vertical manufacturer known for making the best high performance lubricants. Suspension tuners know the difference. Devinci Global Racing, Norco Factory Racing, Cam Zink, Kyle Strait and Brandon Semenuk know. World Cup racers that have been told by their mechanics to buy SC1 and deliver to the races know. Pinkbike knows. Many bike shops and their customers now know. Some of you readers even know. The trickledown effect comes from those who know, sharing their accounts of the benefits of using Maxima products. It’s on us to confirm that the proof is in the pudding, and that’s what we do.
As it stands, how many products are in Maxima’s cycling range and which are your best movers?Best movers are: SC1, Chain Wax, Suspension Clean, Chain Pro, and Waterproof Grease. However, Plush hasn’t hit the market just yet. It’s coming!
If everything goes according to plan, where will Maxima be positioned in the mountain bike marketplace? Who are the customers that your brand speaks best to?When Maxima is established as a legitimate brand that riders, racers, and the industry identify with and want to be a part of, we’ve hit our mark. Riders are spending upwards of $10,000 on bikes. We’re here for performance-oriented riders who expect the best in what they buy.
What has been your toughest challenge since launching Maxima’s cycling range?Like many categories in the bike industry, the lubricant category is so crowded that some distributors are currently dropping lubricant lines that maybe aren’t selling. Being the new kid on the block, some openings just aren’t here for us today. And that’s okay - we’ll be here when the time is right. In terms of placing the Maxima Bike line in the market, we’ve had some initial traction by securing BTI and WPS in the USA, MDH Bikes in Mexico, Silverfish in the UK and exclusively, Live To Play in Canada, as distribution partners. With North America covered in less than six months from our launch, we will keep chipping away with our current partners to grow the division and continue to naturally align with the right distributors.
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Uhhhhh, you mean like all these bike parts manufacturers that have their own labeled chemicals that sell for two to three times as much as automotive or motorcycle products?
Yeah, I've never fallen for that ridiculous trap.
Love Maxima suspension fluids. Very highly rated, plus the prices are among the cheapest.
Instead of taking a hit selling through distributors & be at their mercy, you should [seriously] consider getting your bike lineup of products on Amazon.com.