Allspeed takes over

[Gstring]

Allspeed made a big announcement today on Facebook that it’s “opening a mountain bike shop” at the Outdoor Center. It fell flat for me. Allspeed makes no acknowledgement of the Carrabassett Valley Bike Shop (owned by Bob Ash) which was the first true Sugarloaf mountain bike shop and has been at the Outdoor Center for several years. It fails to recognize the business that Bob has built and the customer good will he has created. Maybe they will. Maybe there are good reasons why they didn’t. Change can be good, but it’s questionable if it’s intended to obliterate the efforts and accomplishments of its predecessors. There are a lot of people around here who have had good interactions with Bob and have appreciated his commitment to the mountain bike scene at Sugarloaf. I say all this as a former member of the Allspeed mountain bike team (albeit under different ownership). It’s disappointing, to say the least, that Allspeed’s Facebook post and the comments under it suggest Allspeed is breaking new ground up here. It’s not.

[chriscarleton]

Hello G String.

I believe in being transparent, so I'll do my best to address your post.

I can tell you one thing for sure, we have absolutely no intentions of obliterating efforts the accomplishments of others. The Sugarloaf Outdoor Center is operated by Sugarloaf, and they were the ones that ultimately made the decision for Allspeed to occupy the space at the Outdoor Center. As noted below, there were several other shops that were interested in occupying the space, including Bob.

First and foremost, here is an official statement from Sugarloaf regarding the process in which this all happened:

“Bob ran the Carrabassett Valley Bike shop for five years as a sublessee and was an important part of the growth of mountain biking in Carrabassett Valley. We recently have had a number of different parties interested in the space. We met with all of them (including Bob), and elected to go with Allspeed for this coming season. We are excited about the resources, visibility, and animation that we expect Allspeed to bring to the space, and look forward to working with them.”

We feel we are doing something quite different than what Bob was doing (and he did an excellent job for years!).

Here's some text from a post I made in the other General forum that outlines some of our plans:

The overall focus of our new location is to make mountain biking more accessible to anyone, kids, women, and people new to mountain biking. We believe that CV has a unique trail system in that both beginners and advanced riders can be entertained on the same terrain. We hope to use guided rides to support this idea of making mountain biking more accessible. Both individuals and groups will be able to hire ride guides and get basic instruction and guided on trails that will suit their ability levels.

In addition to a full product selection and service, we will feature a complete rental fleet of ALL sizes of almost every model that Santa Cruz Bicycles makes. In total we are looking at about 30 S Kit Carbon full suspension bikes. Bikes have come a long way in the last ten years and Santa Cruz has undoubtedly been leading the charge in innovation, I would almost equate it to what shaped skis brought to skiing. In addition to Santa Cruz bikes, we will also have fully featured kids mountain bikes. These bikes will have correct gearing, tires actually made for rising on dirt, disc brakes, and suspension forks. Some will actually even be mini full suspension rippers featuring things like hydro disc brakes and dropper posts.

Our shop and myself personally have been involved in a lot of the trail development and maintenance in Falmouth, I serve on the board of Greater Portland NEMBA and try and give back as much time as I can. I truly look forward to working with CR NEMBA, the town of Carrabassett Valley, and Sugarloaf, to contribute to the beautiful trail system that is developing in the area.

Look forward to lots of social events, movie nights, and fund raisers hosted by us.

In addition to the things I mentioned above, expect to see a full service shop capable of any bike repair, parts in stock to fix, and a team of 3-4 people to make sure your rental goes out smoothly or we can get you back on the trail soon with a speedy repair.

We also have a big project in the works with Santa Cruz that will really help support efforts of everyone and also raise a lot of awareness about CVT.

We will be hosting a grand opening party at some point in the spring, and I hope that I have the opportunity to get to know you and further share on how we plan to contribute to the area's growth.

Give us a chance, I think we can do good things and I think you will enjoy what we have to offer.

[Pow on the Mao]

chris you ruined my dinner at hunker down on saturday.

that hightower bike gave me the biggest errec..... it was hard to focus on conversation at my table.

any plans to raffle one off? i demo'd the bronson at the MB fest 2 years ago and coveted one ever since. does all speed sell used?
i'm saving my pennies but 400,000 pennies takes awhile. at least i feel better about my $500 snowboard in comparison. those SC bikes are something else.

[bigelow]

chris you ruined my dinner at hunker down on saturday.

that hightower bike gave me the biggest errec..... it was hard to focus on conversation at my table.

any plans to raffle one off? i demo'd the bronson at the MB fest 2 years ago and coveted one ever since. does all speed sell used?
i'm saving my pennies but 400,000 pennies takes awhile. at least i feel better about my $500 snowboard in comparison. those SC bikes are something else.

POTM - ever see a hearse hauling a trailer? Me neither.
You deserve one

[chriscarleton]

chris you ruined my dinner at hunker down on saturday.

that hightower bike gave me the biggest errec..... it was hard to focus on conversation at my table.

any plans to raffle one off? i demo'd the bronson at the MB fest 2 years ago and coveted one ever since. does all speed sell used?
i'm saving my pennies but 400,000 pennies takes awhile. at least i feel better about my $500 snowboard in comparison. those SC bikes are something else.

Well, I apologize for ruining your dinner and other things...

No plans to raffle one off...yet...

The Hightower LT is an awesome bike, think of it as a Bronson with big wheels. I ride one and love it. We actually do sell used and end up with a fair amount of our customer's previously loved Santa Cruz bikes. We also do a HUGE bike swap every year with tons of great used bikes (especially a lot of used high end mtb bikes). This year our bike swap will be Saturday May 19th. The great thing about Santa Cruz is you really don't have to worry about it as the frame comes with a lifetime warranty. They are also doing something completely unheard of in the bike industry with their new carbon wheels and also offering a lifetime warranty on those as well.

[gondicar]

The great thing about Santa Cruz is you really don't have to worry about it as the frame comes with a lifetime warranty. They are also doing something completely unheard of in the bike industry with their new carbon wheels and also offering a lifetime warranty on those as well.

I love companies that stand behind their product like that. Does it just apply to the original owner, or do they extend it to subsequent/used buyers as well?

[chriscarleton]

chris you ruined my dinner at hunker down on saturday.

that hightower bike gave me the biggest errec..... it was hard to focus on conversation at my table.

any plans to raffle one off? i demo'd the bronson at the MB fest 2 years ago and coveted one ever since. does all speed sell used?
i'm saving my pennies but 400,000 pennies takes awhile. at least i feel better about my $500 snowboard in comparison. those SC bikes are something else.

Well, I apologize for ruining your dinner and other things...

No plans to raffle one off...yet...

The Hightower LT is an awesome bike, think of it as a Bronson with big wheels. I ride one and love it. We actually do sell used and end up with a fair amount of our customer's previously loved Santa Cruz bikes. We also do a HUGE bike swap every year with tons of great used bikes (especially a lot of used high end mtb bikes). This year our bike swap will be Saturday May 19th. The great thing about Santa Cruz is you really don't have to worry about it as the frame comes with a lifetime warranty. They are also doing something completely unheard of in the bike industry with their new carbon wheels and also offering a lifetime warranty on those as well.

[chriscarleton]

The great thing about Santa Cruz is you really don't have to worry about it as the frame comes with a lifetime warranty. They are also doing something completely unheard of in the bike industry with their new carbon wheels and also offering a lifetime warranty on those as well.

I love companies that stand behind their product like that. Does it just apply to the original owner, or do they extend it to subsequent/used buyers as well?

It's only the original owner. If they did subsequent buyers...they would probably go out of business.

I think it's pretty generous that SC offers this though. I can tell you from experience they really are easy to work with. There are even times when something is out of warranty (ie your bike fell off your car on the highway at 70mph - NOT covered under warranty) and they offer a significantly reduced crash replacement price to help out the customer. Every time we've ever dealt with them, I always feel like they "do the right thing".

[gondicar]

The great thing about Santa Cruz is you really don't have to worry about it as the frame comes with a lifetime warranty. They are also doing something completely unheard of in the bike industry with their new carbon wheels and also offering a lifetime warranty on those as well.

I love companies that stand behind their product like that. Does it just apply to the original owner, or do they extend it to subsequent/used buyers as well?

It's only the original owner. If they did subsequent buyers...they would probably go out of business.

I think it's pretty generous that SC offers this though. I can tell you from experience they really are easy to work with. There are even times when something is out of warranty (ie your bike fell off your car on the highway at 70mph - NOT covered under warranty) and they offer a significantly reduced crash replacement price to help out the customer. Every time we've ever dealt with them, I always feel like they "do the right thing".

Thanks, that’s what I figured, and makes sense. I would have been very surprised if otherwise. Glad to hear they are such a great company to work with.