Company Behind Hunt & Privateer Receives Funding for Expansion

 The hunt for privateer equity paid off.

 equity for hunts

 If your sponsor gives you a bike, then after a short while asks for it back. Plus an extra set of wheels and forks. And if you can't ,they take your house. Then yes.

 @watchmen Don't take the bike if you can't afford to ride it enough to satisfy your sponsorship contract.

 @watchmen: true that

 @warmerdamj: that was a joke about a bank being your sponsor, and then taking more back and foreclosing? and a clever one, at that

 @yetiguy1: Is that a question.

 @warmerdamj: That's an excellent reply?

 Not all heroes wear capes

 banks and huge pharmaceutical companies

 They're not all bad
www.triodos.co.uk

 B Corps are tight.

 @savagelake: this, but unironically. Santander here are allowing Privateer to produce more bikes and hire more people. big pharma saves millions of lives by producing covid vaccines.

 @mattg95: big pharma made billions of pounds off the back of Covid vaccines by selling to the wealthiest countries, which it invests into lobbying (aka bribing) to undermine affordable social healthcare.

 Neoliberal Pornography

 And they all use Data to make those decisions...........data driven verses feelings based

 @rivercitycycles: Data. So hot right now.

 I got the 2022, so I'm in the clear.

 Yes and he is hiring Holden Tudix as VP

 @Frank191:
Kraven Moorehead got let go?

 Replaced by Wayne Kerr, I heard

 Replaced by Ben Dover. @initforthedonuts:

 @initforthedonuts: replaced by Nicolas Cage

 @Trailfingers: who actually turned out to be John Travolta

 @BikesBoatsNJeeps: To help implement their international strategy they've headhunted Eini Juan Farabije.

 And they have just sponsored Hugh Jorgan.

 Don't forget head of backend data: Lou Sanous

 Gonna have to add this to my PB User's All Time Greatest Comments of All Time collection

 Kept in check by CIO Meg Rundle

 Naaah. Jenny Toll took the job.

 My name will be the first on their buy list if they dropped a 181.

 I messaged them some time ago to see if this might be a possibility, as the 161 frameset is clearly burly enough to be adapted for a bit more travel. IIRC they said they had been playing around with linkages and stuff, and not to rule it out. Probably a bit niche though, so I expect we'll see them update the 161 and get their ebike out first.

 I would definitely be interested in a 181

 Stuff DOES have to be $$$$$ to pay back your banking overlords and "advisory support" firms, tho, so don't get too attached to those prices.. I say that as a Hunt customer myself, unfortunately.

 @abbottt1: haha let’s just be optimistic and say the bank got behind their budget-minded ethos. We can only hope.

 I have a set of hung wheels, and I think they suck! The rims are softer than Brie, and the hubs drag more than your dad on a Friday night.

 @ct0413: Now, that they've got big banking involved, there is literally zero reason to be optimistic.

 @Muscovir: That's not necessarily true. Just as a theoretical example - as they're a relatively small company and probably only producing relatively small volume, an injection of cash could allow them to up their order quantities which would in turn typically result in a lower cost per item for manufacture. They appear to sell out pretty consistently so there's probably demand for those extra items.

With that reduction in costs, they could theoretically keep RRPs the same as they have been while using the extra margin to pay off whatever their burden is to Santander. At the same time, the increase in sales means that they'll have more money available themselves to do more R&D, speed up other projects (e.g. the 181 and e-Bikes people have mentioned elsewhere in the comments), support more riders, do trail advocacy, etc.

Just to be clear, I don't really have much faith in big banks and the injection of money into some companies can derail what was previously a good thing, but it doesn't have to be the case. That's especially the case for some smaller companies who might otherwise be struggling to make ends meet either just in terms of rising costs, cash-flow issues from needing to pay production facilities much more in advance now than they ordinarily would have to, or whatever else it might be.

Also worth noting that they've been with Santander for the past 6 years, so it's not like they're just getting "big banking involved" now. Doing something like this with a bank you've been with for that length of time is probably safer (from our point of view of not wanting brands like Privateer to go south) than if they'd suddenly got in bed with a random finance company.

 my hunt xc wide wheels were okay, not great. rims held up well & spoke tension was even. the rear hub went through bearings at an alarming rate & the freehub slipped at least once on every ride. i've got a 5year old dt 240 thats never slipped, on original bearings. eventually last year I gave up on the hunts & went for dt 350 & havent had bearing issue since.

 @ct0413: Hunt sells wheels at a specific price for a specific audience. (I have a 161 with hunt wheels) You can't just increase price and expect customers to follow, especially when customers have comparable options. It's also super hard to go up market (VW). Much easier to go downmarket (Tesla).

Congrats to The Rider Firm! Growing a business is hard work. For everyone who hates on banks, it's more than likely that your job was the result of your company being able to secure financing to grow. Not saying banks are great or perfect but look in the mirror. How did you buy your car, house and possibly even your bike?!

 @unrooted: They're hung and they suck, you say?

 @unrooted: I think you got the amazon knock off's - you should have got hunts

 Innit. But obviously nobody here works for a company which has ever accessed finance to fund its growth, so we shouldn't be too harsh. Sounds like most of the money is for marketing and team sponsorships, which may well pay dividends. They must already be confident they have product development covered and that they can scale up production as required.

 @chakaping: more $$ means they can buy more factory capacity.

Sponsorships are pretty cheap. Going to Asia and getting more of your widgets made isn’t.

I’m stoked to see a good company getting the funds they need to grow!!

 @wyorider: I expected it to be to increase production, but the article says the investment is mainly for new hires relating to marketing and for sponsoring pros.
I'm not gonna pretend I know better than them what it takes to grow their business.

 @wyorider: Also, Hunt must do most of their business in road wheels, where sponsorships won't be so cheap.

 Couldn’t agree more. Pinkbike comment advisory committee is like Keith Rainere (Nexium)-level wisdom.

Super stoked to hear this. I love my privateer 141 and reading this makes me feel like making great products pays off.

 Aren't their wheels just off the shelf Chinese made stuff that's re-branded?

 @er043: I think some bits are and some bits aren’t. Either way, I have road and MTB wheels I’m very happy with, and I didn’t get absolutely turned over when paying for them

 @Sambikes11: yeah my point was that their wheels are OEM and Hunt don't actually make them. Original poster was completely contradicting himself.

 @er043: they don’t MAKE anything. Aside from Merida and Giant, only a handful of boutique companies make stuff.

But…..they keep the stuff they design/sell reliable, fairly hype-free and reasonably priced.

 Wheels are awesome

 @wyorider: that's more true of their MTB stuff. Their road stuff is borderline nothing but hype. They're effectively the same Chinese factory products that Prime (owned by Wiggle, who owns Chain Reaction Cycles) also sells at a lower price. Hunt claims to have "aerodynamic" shallow, alloy rims and their more expensive carbon fiber, deep rims don't hold up to other rims both more expensive and cheaper than Hunt.

 @conman1395: a couple of years ago on a road sportif, one of the lads in the group managed to warp his prime wheels on a steep descent, my Hunts were fine (both carbon). Pure anecdotal, but just saying

 I will agree with your customer service comment. But their QC needs help. I found 3 items on my 141 that needed attention, that customer service was helpful to fix. But for the money, I want it perfect when it arrives at my door.

 @AppleJack76: You're always going to be disappointed if your base expectation is perfection.

 @AppleJack76: I think you need to tailor your expectations to what you're buying, considering Privateer isn't what's considered a luxury brand. Just be happy that their Customer Service actually helps you, unlike Specialized who won't even help you with replacement stickers for the bike.

 @watchmen: you haven't worked as long as I have. I valve my money more than you do. But, throw your money away. What do I care.

 @nickfranko: I wouldn't consider any bicycle company a luxury brand. Luxury is a perception, marketing departments create. One of my B.S. is mktg mngt. I know a little from my studies and 20 years in the automotive industry, dealing with "luxury" cars.

 @AppleJack76: Working at a car wash is not relevant here.

 @watchmen: At least I don't live in my mom's basement, jerking off to anime porn.

 @AppleJack76: It took you a month to think of that. And I live in your Moms basement and she jacks off to me porn.

 Let us know how many dings your rims have and how much your freewheel drags after a year of riding please.

 @unrooted: I take it this has been your experience? Have you found that they ding significantly more than others? Every aluminum rim I’ve had suffers from dings. So far none of them catastrophically, though.

 @endoguru: they ding a lot easier than Stan’s flow rims I had.

 @unrooted: restated, one of your aluminum wheel sets was better than the other. huh.

 I’ve just got mine it’s f**king mint

 Just received my ltd ed 141. And I love it. Pedals so much better than my last bike but has taken everything I can throw at it.

 @steveperry: also had my 141 LTD ED since May. She does pedal well, but boy, is she a hefty British gal,
climbing my regular Socal climbs. Ooof.

 @AppleJack76: I am in SoCal as well and The bike pedals so much better than my Capra did. I haven’t minded the weight as my bikes are typically pigs, but I am loving it. Took it to Snow Valley two weeks ago and I loved it.

 Sounds like a sick bike!

 @AppleJack76: While she's hefty, the antisquat and position seem to make it a decent climber. I've put some faster climb times on this bike when compared to my hardtail, or the riot that it replaced.

 @watchmen: www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2022/07/06/vista-outdoor-acquire-fox-racing-540-million#.YsXC3-wTE0E

 It's not back on normal schedule, it's falling off a cliff. Going to take a couple of years for the correction to work its way through but the factories are inundated with cancellations, all while certain parts are still on 2+ yr lead times. It is a total s*** show out there.

 @benpinnick: www.bikeradar.com/news/bike-supply-issues-when-will-the-industry-return-to-normal

Long article alert. Certainly mixed opinions, and Brexit makes the UK even further behind, but global shipping is improving according to AP Moller-Maersk. Then you have statements like: “I heard Dominic Langan [CEO of distributor Madison, which brings multiple cycling brands into the country, including Shimano] saying he feels things will be fine by the end of the year. I'm not seeing it."

 That may be long

 @fracasnoxteam: It may be forever, or 2 weeks before Bonty wheels break. Their QC will never be able to tell you either way.

 Small,works (low overheads)
Large, works (economies of scale)
The bit in between.....notsomuch.