[schwim offline]

Kind of sad to read.

“The acquisition of Marin by Minestone will allow us to strengthen our brand through increased investment in product innovation, marketing and human resources,"

[jeff]

Sad because it'll be owned by the Brits or sad because an investment firm bought them? The latter is pretty common in the bike biz - for example Fox Racing Shox and Camelbak are both owned by a company called "Compass Diversified Holdings" that also owns Triden Medical, ERGO Baby, and American Furniture Manufacturing, among others.

Marin was definitely a big part of the early MTB scene and it's too bad they weren't able to translate that into more sales here in the US. Sounds like they have a decent following in the UK and for now they're staying in California which is good news...

[schwim offline]

A sentence you'll probably never hear:

"Bobby decided that he loved mountain biking so much that he was going to start an investment firm."

I've gotten to witness it happen a few times in the enduro mc market and no matter how glass-half-full they try to make the acquirement statement, the fact is that decisions will now be made and vetoed by the bean counters and the product will be homogenized to some degree to appease the stock holders.

[ollysj offline]

Sad bc the brand could disappear in the near future. Look what Trek did to Schwinn, Klein, Gary Fisher or Bontrager....

[dozzerboy offline]

Sad bc the brand could disappear in the near future. Look what Trek did to Schwinn, Klein, Gary Fisher or Bontrager....

What do you mean what trek did with fisher? They bought it to keep it alive. Fisher wouldn't exist without trek. Also, how many people ride treks? Lance Armstrong has...

[ollysj offline]

Sad bc the brand could disappear in the near future. Look what Trek did to Schwinn, Klein, Gary Fisher or Bontrager....

What do you mean what trek did with fisher? They bought it to keep it alive. Fisher wouldn't exist without trek. Also, how many people ride treks? Lance Armstrong has...

I ride a Trek and a Gary Fisher

Today, the brand GF doesn't exsist anymore, just as a "collection". Doesn't look very vivid to me.

[jtorlando25 offline]

As long as I have 30 lbs of fun between my legs at the end of the day, I could care less about which investment firm owns the sticker on the side of the frame. Business is business. Just ride and don't worry about it.

[GoldenGoose]

As long as I have 30 lbs of fun between my legs at the end of the day, I could care less

Wow, this is just too easy.

[jtorlando25 offline]

As long as I have 30 lbs of fun between my legs at the end of the day, I could care less

Wow, this is just too easy.

[maddslacker offline]

30 lbs? Is that your bike weight?

[steve32300]

My first Mtn. Bike was a Marin,a steel hard tail Pine Mountain.I'll always remember how nice it rode...

[schwim offline]

As long as I have 30 lbs of fun between my legs at the end of the day, I could care less about which investment firm owns the sticker on the side of the frame. Business is business. Just ride and don't worry about it.

Which is fine when a consumer has this attitude. The problem arises when the people that own the bike companies have this attitude as well.

[1sikkHucker offline]

As long as I have 30 lbs of fun between my legs at the end of the day, I could care less about which investment firm owns the sticker on the side of the frame. Business is business. Just ride and don't worry about it.

Which is fine when a consumer has this attitude. The problem arises when the people that own the bike companies have this attitude as well.

I agree with both of you on 1 hand most bikes need upgrades straight out of the shop anyway so just inspect the welds more than likely you'll upgrade parts eventually so find a bike thats right for you then go out there and put the product to the test and beat the hell out of it. On the flip side of the coin schwimm is also correct because after an aquisition (especially from a company that has no clue about the existing product or the culture) the new owners of the company are not in touch with their client base and will cut corners anywhere and everywhere they can to increase their profit margin then as soon as the real bikers quit buying their products they go straight to the Wal-Mart shelves in hopes to snag the uninformed and hasty buyers

[vKAOSv offline]

As long as I have 30 lbs of fun between my legs at the end of the day, I could care less

Wow, this is just too easy.

LOL. Awesome.....

[mtbgreg1 offline]

Kind of sad to hear, but if they weren't doing a good enough job of running their company that they had to sell out.... ?

Personally, if/when I ever buy a really nice rig for myself, it will be from a company that I think really has a passion for bikes, and isn't a mega-corporation. Three of the medium-size companies that I would love to buy a bike from are Ibis, Santa Cruz, and Niner. I feel like they (and SO MANY other smaller companies) put so much passion and soul into their bikes, whereas most of the Trek bikes that I've looked at just seem rather bland. I'm sure they ride great, they just don't seem to have that soul that some other bikes do.

And if I had to choose one of the "big 3," it would probably be Specialized. I know some of their business practices are wack, but I just love the looks (and ride) of all of their bikes that I've checked out.

Just my 0.02!