The same day that President Obama announced his jobs bills in the State of the Union address, an Indianapolis-based bicycle components maker announced it would expand and create jobs by 2013.
Zipp Speed Weaponry, which makes wheels, aero bars and other components for road, cyclocross and triathlete bicycling, will expand its customer service and manufacturing division in Indianapolis, adding 105 jobs.
Currently the firm, which became a subsidiary of SRAM in 2007, employs 130 people. Hiring begins in June, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. Team Astana, Cervelo Test Team and Saxo Bank all use Zipp wheel products.
This $12.4 million investment is good news. Zipp is expanding and keeping its jobs in the US, not farming out to India or China. Specialized Bicycle Components also expanded recently, moving distribution and customer service into a 250,000 square foot facility in Salt Lake City. No new hirings were associated with that move, however.
News not all good
Unfortunately, all this isn't a harbinger that the bike industry in the US is turning the corner and leading the nation out of the recession.
Bike makers in Taiwan, a major supplier for the US market, recently told Bicycle Retailer that exports were down in 2009 and not much improvement is expected in 2010.
Taiwan-based Giant, for instance, says the company has a lot of excess inventory in the US. The Taiwan bike makers say the US is a mature market — one that will not see a lot of growth.
A Bicycle Product Suppliers Association study in November found that road and hybrid bikes were stacking up in US warehouses at unprecedented levels, according to Bicycle Retailer.
Soft market
Curiously, road bike sales were up 5% for the first nine months of 2009. The inventory problem arose because suppliers expected bigger demand for road bikes last year.
The real problem comes with the hybrids, as suppliers were expecting a huge run on commuter-style bikes that never materialized.
Writes Bicycle Retailer:
“It appears that some suppliers, betting that high gas prices like those in 2008 would keep customers flowing into bike shops, discovered that consumers were keeping a tight grip on their wallets. Instead, sales of most pavement bikes have trended down since the start of the recession in December 2007.”
If you noticed a lot of sales and markdowns in the past few months, that may be the reason.
Photo above of cruisers parked outside a Davis, California, bike shop in 2008.
Recent Comments