Interview: Trickstuff Announces 3 Month Sales Pause Following Huge Growth
Trickstuff has stopped taking new orders for three months after it has struggled to keep up with an explosion in demand. The German boutique brake brand announced it would be pausing on November 16th and has a planned re-opening date of February 15, 2021.
During this time, Trickstuff won't be taking any more orders or providing purchase advice. In lieu of sales, Trickstuff is hoping to reorganize its structure and processes, move to a larger building and add more people to the team. The manufacturing and sales won't totally pause however as it will process backorders if they are available and carry out service and warranty work on its products.
The reasons given by the brand for the shutdown include massively increased growth and demand over the past few years, a lack of space in its current facility and the looming impacts of COVID. We fired some questions over to Dag Freudenhammer, the marketing manager at Trickstuff, to get a better idea of the reasons for and implications of Trickstuff's decision.
How fast was Trickstuff growing?
We have tripled our staff in the last three years and employ 21 people now. Our sales have grown even more than this. The big difference is the immense increase in the attention we get from large companies such as distributors, bike manufacturers etc.
These multiply the demand for Trickstuff products and we wouldn’t be able to keep up while maintaining our quality standards. So we prefer to grow at our own rate. We have grown steadily and we plan to keep on doing so. But at the end of the day, we want to love what we do. So all the business and growth mustn’t stop us from doing what we love - making incredible bike parts simply because we love riding our bikes. It may sound a bit like a cliché but we really enjoy coming to work every day and we want it to stay this way.
What were the limiting factors that were stopping Trickstuff from keeping pace with demand?
The limiting factor keeps changing. It used to be the production of parts for our assembly. Once we had solved this, the limiting factor was our assembly, later the speed of our quality control. Also, cash flow had been a problem. We want to grow using what we have earned before. Without an investor with big money, it can be tricky to be able to afford production for more and more parts from one day to another. At this point, the financial and machining capacities are there and we didn’t have to sell any shares of the company or compromise our products for mass production.
The problem right now is space. Our facility is simply too small. We can’t employ more people and can’t store more parts. This is why we will be moving to a new nearby building in January.
What was your decision and why did you make it?
We decided to restructure. In summer we employed more people and began training them in their new jobs. The problem - new structures are necessary if you want to work in a bigger team. In a company of six passionate people, everyone has their tasks, people have lunch together every day and everyone can do a bit of everyone's job, and each employee somehow manages most of his tasks in his head. We hit the point when this wasn’t possible anymore. We needed better structures, needed to manage the knowledge about our products and operating procedures. One new employee put into words by saying:
“I spend one hour a day to learn how something is done, I spend the rest of the day trying to figure out all the exceptions from this rule that [my senior co-worker] is managing naturally because he’s the one who came up with all the exceptions over the last years and knows them all."
Well, he didn’t say 'senior co-worker“'… but I took the name to avoid the risk of pointing fingers at someone.
We soon realised that with the extra workload in this COVID year and a team of people who are already working more than they signed up for, there won’t be any time to change how things are done.
So we had a look at our numbers.
We have 12 months waiting period on brakes and had almost no pads and discs in stock. If we decided to stop taking orders and limit all communication to an absolute minimum, we could focus on restructuring our internal processes and prepare everything for our move to a new facility in January. So this is what we are doing now. We are busy catching up on all the things that were neglected over the last few years.
At the same time, we are building brakes and shipping them to customers also all other pre-ordered parts are shipped once they are ready for shipping. Our service technician, Jakob, is still servicing products and answering questions of people who own Trickstuff products and need our help. We haven’t stopped our business – we are just saying, "Wait a moment, I need to finish these existing tasks first before I can give my full attention to you."
We are not doing this because we are going broke. We are at our all-time best right now but we know that this will change if we don’t change things now. So we are doing this as long as we can do it in a healthy way.
Has COVID had some impact on this decision?
Definitely. It has made everything even worse and forced us to take action. Workspace became much more important. So we rented rooms down the road to have enough space for everyone to come to work and still keep a safe distance from their co-workers.
The bike boom that came with COVID has caused a massive increase in sales in spring/summer. People did extra hours to manage to get the work done. Our manufacturers couldn’t keep up with the demand during the peaks of the pandemic. Now our shelves are empty, we are still as busy as before managing requests and communicating with waiting customers. All the extra hours and extra sales during summer have filled our bank account but drained the tanks of our employees. We had to find a solution and become more effective.
Will all staff still be paid during the shutdown?
Of course! We are doing this whole thing because we don’t want to do this on the back of the employees. Everyone gets paid. Everyone comes to work every day. Shipping out pre-ordered parts and building brakes keeps around 1/2 of our staff busy. The other half is working on our new structures and planning the move to a new facility. We couldn’t ask this of the team while maintaining the regular day to day business.
What will be different about the new facility Trickstuff is moving into?
It is about three times as large as the old one. It will allow us to give every task the space it needs and not share space that is too small already. Also, the extra space will allow us to open up a bit more. We have never had our own store but always said that we have an open door instead. It will still be this way, but the door will be a bit bigger and more open!
And of course, we will be able to hire new people.
How many new staff will Trickstuff be hiring? What roles will they be in?
We are currently talking to all the staff about their wishes and ideas about their personal development within the company throughout the next years. This will have an effect on the job description of our job openings. But in general, we are looking for people in:
- Assembly
- Quality Control / - Management
- Sales / Customer Service
How much greater will Trickstuff’s capacity be after the transitional period?
We should be a lot faster when it comes to customer service and shipping. Also, we will be able to store more parts so brake pads, discs etc. should be available throughout the whole year. What will take some time is the growth in brake assembly. We hire skilled mechanics so that every bolt or seal is double-checked during assembly simply because the person installing knows exactly what they are doing and how it should feel. This is not only important for our quality control of each brake, but also for the development of new products.
Another issue is the time-consuming QC of parts for the brakes and of the assembled brakes. Our brakes start at €900 per set, people have a right to expect high quality. So even though our mechanics are absolute professionals, there must always be another person double-checking their work. This will also need new people and takes even longer. A lot of things can be measured but at the end of the day, the brake must feel right in the customer's hands. This job needs experience.
We are aiming to increase the capacities in assembly and QC throughout 2021 and plan to at least double our output.
Do you have any further comments you wish to add?
When we sent out the news about our restructuring, we were a bit scared about how people would react. The overall reaction was complete affirmation. Our dealers and partners do not only understand our decision but also support it. We are very grateful for this and want to thank everyone for their support.
We look forward to the work that lies ahead of us until February and even more to the time after that when we pick up our regular business again.
More information, here.
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Was extremely excited to get these brakes after reviews, apparently pro racers and dangerholm were more important than customers. I've seen one set of these on a Pole in whistler, otherwise only "pro" bikes
Vejayjay, your constant b*tching isn’t endearing anymore so howsabout shutting up now and going for a ride or something.
Likewise they might make it cheaper, similar to how intend does the blackline series. But that is only cheaper in comparison to the rest of intend and only by a little bit. Trickstuffs, assuming they keep to their business principles are never going to be cheap brakes. Indeed part of the reason I think they're so successful is because they are so expensive. Calling slightly cheaper more affordable is definitely a stretch when pretty much other brake on the market is still a lot cheaper.
Specialized saying they won’t take new orders for three months would have a huge backlash, none of it positive.
As for how much they cost, if you have the money available and they perform the way you like them, it is a proper investment. They should last you a lifetime. I'm currently riding with Magura Louise 2006 masters and Louise 2007 slaves (because my fork and frame have postmount tabs now). There is a little play at the lever but that's it. Paint chipping and anodizing fading to prove how old these are. But if you'd invest in something from Hope or Trickstuff, they can probably provide you with spares and repairs for a lifetime (if ever needed). Who cares if they cost you a little bit more fifteen years ago? Decision probably depends on whether you're the sparkly fresh outfit every year or the old battered jeans type of person. I'm definitely the latter but if you identify as the former then indeed getting something this durable (with the price to match) is indeed a waste.
I think I will use it forever if the brake mounts won't change.
What? Any info, articles, links you could provide on that? I believe you, I'm just curious to learn more about it. Btw www.hopetech.com/history has some great blast from the past photos on it.
For clarity on everything, here's a timeline.
I ordered my brakes 10/9/19. I received the email saying they would be delayed (41 +/- 4) weeks on June 28 this year. 37.5 weeks after order. So almost exactly my 9 month original quote. I thought he was meaning 41 weeks from order, which meant July 22 roughly. I waited until August 3rd to follow up. When I followed up, I received an email from Dirk stating. "The 41 +/- 4 weeks do not count from order date but from the date of the email (28th of june)." Which meant my new expected delivery date was appox. April 11, 2021, +/- 4 weeks.
So as much as I wish this had been some form of translation error, Dirk assured me with that statement, that it was not an error or miscommunication. My order that was originally quoted 36 weeks had in fact been changed to 77 weeks, give or take a few. With this current announcement, I'm guessing it would have been "give a few" so yeah, considering I didn't feel like waiting till May 2021 for my order, I cancelled it.
I'm only posting this to shed some light from a customer perspective. I have a lot of respect for the quality of what these guys are making and was very much looking forward to having a set of the brakes. I would love to see something similar here out of the USA. Covid has shown that relying on Asia is not a great path forward for any form of high end consumer product. I feel like many US/Euro companies and consumers are realizing this as well. Everything about this last year in the bike industry has encouraged me to try and support US/Euro made companies even more. But this experience with Trickstuff was a tough one to swallow. Especially when you open IG only to see numerous pros, from privateer racers to freestyle fest riders running the brakes. Or seeing someone like Dangerholm with yet another set of custom Trickstuff, knowing there is no way he ordered any of that a year prior.
I'm Italian and never used the calender week before moving to Germany 4 years ago. And every time I have to Google that, because you know, no clue when exactly week 23 or 39 or ... is.
I find it not practical at all but still very funny.
Teachers can only prop up dysfunctional cultures and families so much.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t bad teachers. But they are pretty universally underpaid imo.
You are right however that the first failures fell into the hands of the parents...but, if a parent is to reprimand or punish a child the teacher will be on the bat phone to report "abuse".
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t3wmHlDFzg
Yeah there's a lot to dissect around our (the U.S.) public education system from grade school all the way up to the college level.
It's nuts. I know so many high paying jobs (in technology for example) that really require minimal education but some good technical training. It is asinine how much some colleges charge with literally zero return on investment... no assistance getting into the workforce and no, or little, assistance in helping students figure out what the f to do with their 'education'. College and even higher education did help me get to where I am though and I stuck with relatively 'affordable' colleges.
And yeah, don't get a masters if you've already decided to teach elementary school.
But to bring it home Trickstuff brakes look sick, would love to try, but too pricey for me. I tried Hopes (tech 3 e4) and would scorch my rotors on long, steep descents.... to the point of almost not being able to stop. I'm not sure where to go with Hope if I wanted to try them again. The N4s have more power but wouldn't I still cook the rotors? I'm on Zees now on SRAM rotors and don't cook my brakes anymore.
The right wants to attack and demonize the public education system.
So it can be cut up and served up to the highest bidder.
Same reason the usps is being attacked for years.
There's money to be made off our public services.
The right wants to attack and demonize the public education system.
Maybe due to the terrible job they do in many cities, with very few exeptions.
So it can be cut up and served up to the highest bidder.
Somewhat, most people of means already send their kids to private schools....
Same reason the usps is being attacked for years.
They are MORE wasteful than the School Systems, plus UPS and FedEx now Amazon do a FAR better job.
There's money to be made off our public services.
Far too may to begin with
"We want to grow using what we have earned before. Without an investor" THANK YOU !
1. Friday talked to them on the phone asking questions about my Brake which needed some love after 3 years.
2, Sent in my brake on monday morning
3. got my invoice for service on wednesday -> payed
4. got the brake (full rebuilt all new seals every rubber part was replaced!) back on saturday .... rode on sunday ...
managed to do this while the week was rainy ....
happy customer -
You can do stuff like that, if you’re Rolex or Ferrari - if you’re Timex or GM - well not so much.
Maxima pad is same as Hope V4
Direttissima is same as Hope E4/older XT 4 piston
Piccola is same as Avid Elixir/Level
And yeah they do look killer!
And of course the bling level..I went gold