Cheddar420

@opignonlibre: I don't disagree just.offering a different perspective. Ive heard of Bentonville and I'm in a small city in Canada. It's probably a lot more common for people to have heard of it in NA. Just due to proximity.

@Blownoutrides: there's a lot more to it than just size though. Look at costs of carbon vs. 6061. Then factor in buying volume. Each of poles bikes is essentially a carbon mold. People will acknowledge how long it takes to make a mold. How costly it is. How prohibitive it is for companies to change design. Yet here's pole doing it...for every single bike.... It's literally insane. Companies say upwards of 100k for a new mold. Poles bikes? Under 10k lol. What? There's no money there. Pole could make more money running a traditional machine shop. I legitimately don't know how they got investment in the first damn place. Athertons are doing custom geo for cheaper. Geometron has managed to make Bikes for years that are truly custom. Pole has the most expensive manufacturing process I've seen from any bike brand.

@opignonlibre: he's really not that off base. Bentonville and Walmart have spent a load to advertise it as an MTB destination. Sethbikehacks has millions of views on Bentonville. Several other YouTubers are similar

@badbadleroybrown: my bad for discussing the company that is the subject of the article. Jesus kids today are soft AF. Let's discuss completely unrelated companies in different markets. It's def coming for the athertons. Who could literally start printing titanium for anyone to keep their business afloat, something in super high demand. And their expenses are WAAY too high with off the shelf carbon parts..

@MillerReid: I think a lot of the negativity comes from the fact Walmart has essentially bought a town while destroying towns all over north America. It's nice you all have a nice spot to ride. Just sucks Walmart can't invest in other communities that their executives families don't live in.

@badbadleroybrown: no they cant enter a market with a full range so introduce bikes.in categories that sell not ones you have a passion for...drop a trail bike 120mm and a hard tail. Get them into markets and get production costs down to make that viable. It's crazy to me that pole is machining aluminum frames instead of their own molds and pumping out dirt cheap to manufacture carbon frames. Hell he could he doing what the athertons are doing and gluing up lugged frames like it's 1980. Machining aluminum is slow and expensive. Passion needs to take a backseat to profits. I respect poles approach to customer service, but custom fabbing parts and not charging? That's crazy.

@badbadleroybrown: GG same exact problem. Focusing on a niche product in a single market instead of a broader audience. I'm not happy to see the companies close and leave customers in the lurch. But it is what it is. These brands aren't focused/capable on getting distribution on the level of the big brands. Brands like revel seem to understand how to get bikes into markets at reasonable pricing. Revel isn't immune to the same downturn, but they are going to be more resistant just due to the fact they aren't an American centric or euro centric bike co.

It's Pole. This isnt trek or specialized. The writing has been on the wall for years. Leo is a bad leader. Making custom one off parts and not charging for them is a great way to go out of business lickity split. Also something people don't want to admit : selling bikes to people who abuse them isn't where the money is. You can't warranty that and be lucrative. The money is selling commercially viable bikes to people that use them 3-5 times a year and replaces the bike instead of performing maintenance. this is specialized and trek. Even small brands like devinci recognize this. There's no money in people riding hard for bike manufacturers.

Yea to get a full assembled bike from Europe has insane duties in Canada. Might as well double the price.

@hece: how the fuck he get a patent on machining aluminum