Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cannondale President Joe Montgomery parts. When we were testing, everything was good. Europe. Of course, there's Japan and Australia, but the sport; they're extremely energetic. 1 blow the When it came time for them to mass-produce some average out of the water, but the average age in the it makes it very easy to do business in Europe." things, a lot of the quality wasn't there that we were group is very young. We like to work together and The MX400 was named Dirt Rider's Bike of the having in the beginning. Some of the larger probplay together and, when you're doing something Year about a year before there was actually a prolems that got uncovered were due to that. We got a like this or like bicycling, it's a very easy formula. duction model. Did the early hype that surrounded better relationship with understanding and verifying Where are you going to go on vacation? 'I'm going the bike later turn out to hurt you? to go bike someplace,' or 'I'm going to go ride a dirt the parts during that time." J.M.: "Yes, I think it put us up on a pedestal, and bike someplace.' It's an easy kind of thing, and it's J.M.: "The tolerances in these engines - that was expectations went through the roof. When we finally the way the company is. You walk around this something we had to learn. And we did it wrong in got our clothes off and got in bed, it wasn't as good building tonight, and I guarantee there are 20 peoboth directions. We inspected the tolerances to the as everybody thought it would have been [laughs]. ple here still doing something. It's not because they point where nobody could make it, or if they did But on the other side of that, it certainly put us on work a second shift, and it's not because I told them make it, it cost $400 when it needed to cost $2. In the map in terms of motorsports, and that wasn't all to or anything. They're here because they want to other areas, vendors didn't hold the tolerances, or bad. And it gave certain people in the industry somebe. They care, they give a damn, and they want to we were too lenient with the tolerances. When you thing to cut up and dice. But that's okay. We'll have make it better - not a year from now. They want to get them together, then you get tolerance stack-up, the last laugh." make it better tomorrow than it is today, and they'll and you lean towards one extreme or the other. We The early MX400 that we rode was very promisdo whatever it takes to make that happen." learned a lot about that stuff." ing, but it had a number of serious glitches. How This history of American-built dirt bikes hasn't A few months back, production was temporarily did it come to pass that a production bike had such exactly been a success story. What special obstahalted on the MX400 and, right around that time, problems? • des do you face because you're an American at least one fairly key employee left. What exactly J.M.: "I think that our testing was not as far-flung company? was going on at that J.M.: "I don't think there point? are any obstacles, really J.M.: "In any project like except for the lack of this, there are always casuexperience, which I now alties. It doesn't mean anythink we've put a big dent body's right or anybody's in. I think we've got the wrong. It just means that it finest work force in the didn't work. We've had that world, and it comes down happen many times to us to all of the characteristics through our history. When defining that statement you do this with the intensieducation, one language, ty that we do it, and you do the tremendous technologit as long as we do it every ica prowess of the United day - in a start-up like this, States, and the work ethic. you do it seven days a We are among t.he least week - you have to be passocialistic, [most] capitalsionate, you have to be oriented countries - if not opinionated. Sometimes, the most - in the world. those opinions turn out to Even some of what are be wrong, or they don't considered up-and-coming mesh well with the prevailthird-world countries are ing opinion, or any combination thereof. So you lose socialistic. And that socialpeople. ism gets in their way. So "[Concerning the halt in you've got the best workproduction], we were just force in the world, we've unhappy with the product, got the brand name. It's so we said, 'Stop.'" the best brand name in the Cannondale president Joe Montgomery says his employees "give a damn." Here, a group of them poses next to the company's new FX400 quad In the company's Bedford, Pennsylvania, motorcycle factory. You've already made a world today, in bicycles. I few veiled references to don't think there's very this, but I'll ask you specifically. Even taking the as it needed to be. We still have people who bought much question about that. And we have these core early problems into account, it seems that some of those bikes, and we're asking for those bikes back, technologies, and we've added engine technology. the press was particularly enthusiastic in its critibecause we wanted to refurb certain things and put We're definitely the underdog. We're the little guy, cism. certain things we've re-engineered on those bikes. and we have to figure out how to get twice as much J.M.: "The size of individual egos has never But the long and short of it was, the engine just out of every dollar we spend. And we're competing ceased to amaze me but, again, I think we'll get the didn't have the durability that it needed to have. We with some pretty formidable companies - Honda last laugh." weren't nearly as experienced as we are now. We and Yamaha, certainly." S.M.: "There are some benefits to getting beaten design tests on these dynos, and we test on this What about being in the eastern United States, up. There were some days when there were some of track out here. They run seven days a week on those away from California, where much of the motorcythose challenges, that those fires across the bow tracks. For a while, we were running the quad 24 cle industry is located? were very motivational to our company. If there's J.M.: "I don't know why that is, except geohours a day. Now we know you've got to get it in one great attribute Cannondale has, probably over graphically there's a big freight differential if you're sand and hot weather. We started to do all that stuff, anything else, it's the perseverance being in a tough buying something from Japan or Taiwan, which we but we just didn't get it done." situation. When you're in a pressurized situation, don't do. Banking out here is strong. I would say Did you feel pressure to get something out and you have somebody saying you can't do it that the overhead is certainly a lot lower here than there? 'You will fair - it is a tremendous motivator for a lot in New York, or San Francisco, or San Diego, or J.M.: "I think we did, yeah. I think that was anothof people. If you look back over the course of our L.A., or any of those places." er factor. We had delayed the introduction, and 30-year history, we have been over a lot of rough Scott Montgomery: "It's a big advantage for delayed it and delayed it and delayed it. And there road, and really, quite frankly, a lot of predicaments doing business in Europe, too, because a flight to were all these jokes about, 'Will it ever really hapthat were way more severe than this. Now this does Europe seems like nothing. It's almost like a flight pen?' And, of course, we were very excited about it." look severe, because it's fresh but, if you really go to here from California. So we're kind of balanced. back through the history, there were times where Bill Ruddell: "I think another thing that happened things were a lot more severe. It motivated us, and We already envision our two major markets like was - not to put the blame on vendors, but - as a lot it brought us together, and it gave us resolve to they are in bicycles, with North America and of the parts were coming into us, they were one-off Continued on a e 81 24 APRIL 14, 2001 • cue • e n e _ s

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