The Paceline Cycling Podcast

Cannondale's parent company, the Netherlands-based Pon, has announced that they will close Cannondale's U.S. offices and lay off its entire workforce. Operations will be concentrated in Woudenberg, Netherlands, Cannondale's existing European headquarters. The closure will see Pon lay off 143 workers. Lori and Patrick discuss what this means for American consumers.

There are pockets of the U.S. that seem to generate a gravity specific to certain crafts. The California Bay Area has produced frame builders to a degree found nowhere else in the United States. Alberti Eisentraut, Bruce Gordon and Rock Lobster’s Paul Sadoff all built their careers in the Bay Area. Santa Cruz has contributed more artisans to the craft than any other community in the Bay Area. Frame Builder John Caletti hails from Santa Cruz and had the fortune to learn from many of the area’s craftsmen before striking out on his own with Caletti Cycles in 2004. As a one-man shop, anyone who orders from John deals with the man himself. Caletti offers a wide range of models including road, gravel and mountain, with some grayer areas thrown in. He works in both steel and titanium, but he’s best known for his titanium work. Caletti is an affable guy who’s easy to talk to and supportive of other builders, so much so that he offers a Frame Builder’s Summit in which he imparts his more than two decades of experience to newer builders working to make that transition to building full-time. Any time I visit Santa Cruz, I never fail to see a Caletti on the road.

By the time Ibis re-launched in 2005, Tom Morgan had achieved bike industry veteran status. He'd done stints with the likes of Giant and Answer/Manitou before joining Scot Nicol and Hans Heim in the relaunch of one of the earliest innovators in the mountain bike scene. Tom talks about his background, shepherding Ibis through the covid pandemic and their approach to innovation and testing.

The friendships we form on the bike can run deep. But why? Is it the shared sweating? Is it riding into a shared future? Is it just not looking each other in the eye? Lori and Patrick explore these questions.

While some of the country enjoys a final summer hurrah, the reality is, winter is around the corner. Changes in bike technologies (disc brakes, especially) and lubes have made planning for the winter necessary in a way it didn't necessarily used to be. Patrick and Lori discuss the steps that are helpful to take if you plan to ride through the winter.

Revel Bikes is one of those rare brands that enjoyed a acclaim within days of their launch, followed by such a meteoric rise that the only way founder Adam Miller could keep up with the company's growth was to sell a majority stake in the company to private equity. It didn't take long for things to sour, though and not long after Miller's departure, the owners filed bankruptcy. Miller saw an opportunity to buy the company back and after accomplishing what should have been a longshot, he began rebuilding the team that had established the brand as one not just to watch, but to own. Lori and Patrick talk with Miller about the bumpy ride Revel has experienced, what he's learned along the way, and what drew him to license the Canfield CBF suspension design.

This week Lori and Patrick welcome Katy Bryce, the CEO of the Robert Axle Project (a maker of thru-axles) and Old Man Mountain (a maker of touring and bikepacking racks and bags.

The Fit Kit was the first truly systematic fitting system available to riders here in the U.S. Prior to that, bike fit was more alchemy than science. And while there will always be an element of art to it, John Higgins of Fit Kit Systems has evolved the brand and the mission to make bike fit something riders can improve at home. Once marketed strictly to bike shops, the Fit Kit is now primarily a consumer-facing business.

Being a bike mechanic is a tougher job than most people think. But it's one thing to be a bike mechanic, and quite another to be a race mechanic. Vince Gee has been a pro mechanic for more than 20 years and worked for some of the biggest and best teams in the business, including the U.S. Postal Service Team. Patrick and Lori talk to him about his experience as a race mechanic, World Champion on the track and cancer survivor.

This week Lori and Patrick welcome Tom Boss, the Executive Director for the Redwood Trails Alliance, a mountain bike advocacy organization based in Sonoma County, California. Tom talks about the three counties they serve as well as the scope of their work, which ranges from collaboration with park officials to trail maintenance to the construction of new trails.