Recent from talks
Cannondale
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Cannondale
Cannondale Bicycle Corporation is an American division of Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings that supplies high-performance bicycles and electric bicycles. The smallest of the so-called "Big 4" bicycle brands (including Specialized, Trek, and Giant), it has a reputation for innovative, unconventional, and sometimes odd designs. Its main headquarters are in Wilton, Connecticut, near where the company was founded; with additional offices in Woudenberg, Netherlands; Freiburg, Germany; and Taichung, Taiwan. Frames are manufactured primarily in Taiwan, with some production in China, and Vietnam. Bikes are assembled at their facility in Almelo, Netherlands, and in Taiwan. Cannondale bicycles are distributed through a network of approved independently owned bicycle shops throughout the US, Europe, and the UK, as well as distributors in more than 70 countries worldwide.
The company was founded in 1971 by Joe Montgomery and Murdock MacGregor to manufacture precast concrete housing. Later Ron Davis came to Cannondale from CBS Laboratories where he was vice-president in charge of the development of microfilm reproduction. Davis had an idea for an internal combustion engine that would use ammonia as fuel. Davis, with MacGregor as his assistant, managed to duplicate and exceed results obtained by Allison Engine, then a division of General Motors. Faced with a commitment to invest a large amount of capital to take the project to a workable model installed in an automobile, Montgomery decided that the company should raise capital by developing and marketing other products that they had conceived. By now MacGregor and Davis had recruited two more CBS Laboratory alumni: John Wistrand, an industrial designer, and Jim Catrambone, in management. An air conditioner with no moving parts was a first effort.
Then Joe Montgomery, after a camping bike trip with his son, conceived "the Bugger" bicycle trailer. Ron Davis devised an under-seat hitch, a torsion spring made of Lexan. Wistrand designed the cloth bags and cargo carrier on the two models of trailers. Montgomery, in an effort repeated in numerous products, sourced the cloth components and oversaw their manufacture. At the New York Bicycle Show the team received requests from bike dealers who wanted to buy the bags.[citation needed] In less than six months Cannondale became the world's largest manufacturer of lightweight bicycle bags. Using a marketing plan devised by Montgomery, Cannondale secured orders from more than 2,500 dealers in less than 20 months. They then used the infrastructure developed to produce the bags to enter the camping goods market with backpacks and tents. Regarding the Bugger trailer, although Cannondale's marketing department claimed to be unaware of the connotations of that name in British English,[citation needed] some were, nevertheless, exported to the UK.
Todd Patterson, another designer/inventor, joined the company and developed the process for jigging and welding aluminum bicycle frames, enabling Cannondale to become a bicycle manufacturer.
Today, Cannondale produces bicycles, although they are no longer hand-made in the US. Many bicycle frame manufacturers use many materials such as steel or titanium whereas Cannondale specializes in aluminum and carbon fiber, a technology in which they were pioneers.
The name of the company was taken from the Cannondale Metro North train station in Wilton, Connecticut. Another story as told in their 1983 catalog is that employee Pete Meyers was sent to order telephone service installation in 1970. When asked for the name of the business to be listed under, Meyers coined the name while looking at a rusty cannon inscribed "dale" and the sign on the Cannon railroad crossing.
Originally a privately held company, Cannondale became publicly held after a $22 million IPO in 1995.
In the late 1990s Cannondale moved into the motorsports business, producing a line of off-road motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. According to an interview with Cannondale Communications Director, Tom Armstrong, the company was unable to reduce the cost of their vehicles fast enough. As sales increased, the company was losing money on each motorbike. This gap drove the company into bankruptcy protection on January 29, 2003. Cannondale's full assets were then purchased at auction by Pegasus Capital Advisors fund Pegasus Partners II, L.P. Pegasus sold off the motorsport division and supported the company's renewed focus on bicycle production.
Hub AI
Cannondale AI simulator
(@Cannondale_simulator)
Cannondale
Cannondale Bicycle Corporation is an American division of Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings that supplies high-performance bicycles and electric bicycles. The smallest of the so-called "Big 4" bicycle brands (including Specialized, Trek, and Giant), it has a reputation for innovative, unconventional, and sometimes odd designs. Its main headquarters are in Wilton, Connecticut, near where the company was founded; with additional offices in Woudenberg, Netherlands; Freiburg, Germany; and Taichung, Taiwan. Frames are manufactured primarily in Taiwan, with some production in China, and Vietnam. Bikes are assembled at their facility in Almelo, Netherlands, and in Taiwan. Cannondale bicycles are distributed through a network of approved independently owned bicycle shops throughout the US, Europe, and the UK, as well as distributors in more than 70 countries worldwide.
The company was founded in 1971 by Joe Montgomery and Murdock MacGregor to manufacture precast concrete housing. Later Ron Davis came to Cannondale from CBS Laboratories where he was vice-president in charge of the development of microfilm reproduction. Davis had an idea for an internal combustion engine that would use ammonia as fuel. Davis, with MacGregor as his assistant, managed to duplicate and exceed results obtained by Allison Engine, then a division of General Motors. Faced with a commitment to invest a large amount of capital to take the project to a workable model installed in an automobile, Montgomery decided that the company should raise capital by developing and marketing other products that they had conceived. By now MacGregor and Davis had recruited two more CBS Laboratory alumni: John Wistrand, an industrial designer, and Jim Catrambone, in management. An air conditioner with no moving parts was a first effort.
Then Joe Montgomery, after a camping bike trip with his son, conceived "the Bugger" bicycle trailer. Ron Davis devised an under-seat hitch, a torsion spring made of Lexan. Wistrand designed the cloth bags and cargo carrier on the two models of trailers. Montgomery, in an effort repeated in numerous products, sourced the cloth components and oversaw their manufacture. At the New York Bicycle Show the team received requests from bike dealers who wanted to buy the bags.[citation needed] In less than six months Cannondale became the world's largest manufacturer of lightweight bicycle bags. Using a marketing plan devised by Montgomery, Cannondale secured orders from more than 2,500 dealers in less than 20 months. They then used the infrastructure developed to produce the bags to enter the camping goods market with backpacks and tents. Regarding the Bugger trailer, although Cannondale's marketing department claimed to be unaware of the connotations of that name in British English,[citation needed] some were, nevertheless, exported to the UK.
Todd Patterson, another designer/inventor, joined the company and developed the process for jigging and welding aluminum bicycle frames, enabling Cannondale to become a bicycle manufacturer.
Today, Cannondale produces bicycles, although they are no longer hand-made in the US. Many bicycle frame manufacturers use many materials such as steel or titanium whereas Cannondale specializes in aluminum and carbon fiber, a technology in which they were pioneers.
The name of the company was taken from the Cannondale Metro North train station in Wilton, Connecticut. Another story as told in their 1983 catalog is that employee Pete Meyers was sent to order telephone service installation in 1970. When asked for the name of the business to be listed under, Meyers coined the name while looking at a rusty cannon inscribed "dale" and the sign on the Cannon railroad crossing.
Originally a privately held company, Cannondale became publicly held after a $22 million IPO in 1995.
In the late 1990s Cannondale moved into the motorsports business, producing a line of off-road motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. According to an interview with Cannondale Communications Director, Tom Armstrong, the company was unable to reduce the cost of their vehicles fast enough. As sales increased, the company was losing money on each motorbike. This gap drove the company into bankruptcy protection on January 29, 2003. Cannondale's full assets were then purchased at auction by Pegasus Capital Advisors fund Pegasus Partners II, L.P. Pegasus sold off the motorsport division and supported the company's renewed focus on bicycle production.
Recent media