After
being placed into receivership in May, a buyer has been found for struggling French brand Mavic. According to
Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, at least 14 bids were placed on Mavic, including offers from Fox Factory and Tour de France legend Bernard Hinault, but the
French media are reporting that Bourellier Group have emerged with the approved bid.
Formerly known as Bricorama, a home improvement retail chain that first opened in 1975, Bourellier also operate the Gamma and Karwei brands in Belgium and The Netherlands. The Group intends to keep both Mavic's R&D site in Annecy and its production facitility in Saint Triviers open and is claiming it will retain 105 jobs, which is just under half of the Mavic workforce.
Mavic made its name producing wheels and its distincitve Deemax range was at one time
the hoop of choice for gravity mountain bikers. In recent years it has branched out into other product lines including
footwear,
apparel and
pedals. However, it sounds like Bourellier will now be stripping back Mavic to focus solely on wheels. A press release said the brand intends to, "refocus on the rim, hub and wheel in aluminum and carbon, which have made Mavic successful and notorious among customers in search of performance."
Bourellier's plan also includes modernizing Mavic's production tooling. It says, "With the takeover of Mavic, Bourrelier Group is committed in the long term to redeploying a French industrial company of international renown around a new project which will draw on the know-how and the strengths of the company."
This is the latest in a line of takeovers for Mavic after Amer Sports, the owners of Enve, Salomon and Arc’teryx, announced it was looking to sell the brand in September 2018. Shortly after Amer was taken over by Chinese company Anta Sports then the sale of Mavic was announced to US-based private equity firm, Regent in March the following year. However, as reported by
Cycling Tips, there were suggestions that the company was actually owned by a Delaware-based group called M Sports International LLC. A Mavic press release suggested that the company felt “incomprehensibly abandoned and [has] never really been taken over, neither by Regent LP, nor by M Sports.” Hopefully this latest acquisition is more permanent and offers securtiy for the Mavic brand and its employees into the future.
122 Comments
I also still own a pair of their Crossmax shorts, the ultra baggy ones, about four years of riding on those. Had to have a seam resewn, but other than that, nothing to complain about.
@kwb377: Not this again...
@chriskneeland: Exactly...not sure why he had to bring it up.
29er rims only up to 30mm though...
Mavic has a big problem with sharing information like their products are secret or something, not a good marketing strategy IMHO.
It's actually extremely easy. 823 = 8 series rim with a 23mm internal.
Best of luck Mavic, great to know they are focusing solely on what they are known for : wheels.
Don't forget how uppish they were with the lbs in the late 2000s. They check all the signs of a sinking ship but they still gave cr*p to the store trying to sell and fix their wheels. Mavic used to make such great products in the 90s and 80s, what a shame really …
They're also right on UST. Having a rim that's properly airtight is a better system than having an end user mess around with tape.
Yeah I traded a pair to a buddy who was a big rider, he liked them too. I got a nice bottle of tequila in return.
Besides the warm fuzzy feeling of supporting people actually making things instead of just making investments, I feel like you generally end up with better products when they’re made by corporations focused on keeping their customers/riders happy instead of keeping their investors happy.
They also contribute to trail maintenance/ trail days on The Shore - so im down with that
However mavic wheels non servís able in almost any bike park across the globe, probably in morzine you will bi able to find spare spoke or request warranty claim, however it depends;
Any bike component could be broken, however ability to fix (find spare part) when you on the trip is most important to me
Never again. If it's a new wheel, I will go for Hope hubs, Stan rims and Sapim spokes.
which means neither found any way to make money with this company. doesn't inspire confidence for the future, but lets see how new owner plays this.
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