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Pon is reported to have 'paused' GT Bicycles. Alarm bells started ringing last week, as many GT sponsored BMX riders were told they couldn't ride for ...
By stwhannah
Get the full story here:
https://singletrackmag.com/2024/12/mass-rider-layoffs-as-pon-pauses-gt-bicycles/
Oh poo.
I had quite a chat with Hans Rey at the Malverns this year... It was certainly a very surreal moment, having been a fan of his since I first saw him in early 90's MBUK articles. I still have a copy of "Monkey see, monkey do" on VHS somewhere...
Hans Rey without GT doesn't seem quite right somehow... In fact, the MTB and BMX scenes full stop without GT don't seem quite right!
Shame. Been seeing less and less GT's on the trails for a long time. Just looked at the website, not much that is desirable on there, although pricing is more competitive than some. Guess Pon have bigger more successful brands to put recourses into.
Less GT’s on the trails for a long time.
One of the side effects of supplying rental fleets to Vail resorts. Used market flooded with shitty used bikes
Sad times. First proper MTB was a Timberline with the cool zebra stripes. I then had an LTS DH for a while but nothing since.
Always felt like a 90s brand that didn’t quite make the jump to more modern bikes all that well - pioneering in many ways (a bit like Kona) but then lost that edge.
Wonder what Wyn and Hans will do now.
Edit: and didn’t Danny H go onto GT frames last year too after nukeproof went pop? That’s some bad luck right there…
As stated above, the off-road cycling world without GT in it feels like a sad place to be. But then I can't think of a GT that I've wanted to own since the 90s.
Feels like a sucky time for the holding company to pull the plug though. Not that there is ever a good time to lose your job.
Not nice for the riders, staff or suppliers. This hits the nail on the head for me:
Always felt like a 90s brand that didn’t quite make the jump to more modern bikes all that well – pioneering in many ways (a bit like Kona) but then lost that edge.
And also this:
I can’t think of a GT that I’ve wanted to own since the 90s.
p.s. Hans will always be GT, just because.
It will be a sad moment if GT disappears but it feels like they've been a bit of a nothing brand for a long long time. They don't really make anything desirable or cutting edge enough to stand out in a crowded market. You can't just rely on a prestigious name any more.
I would say the GT Grade was quite popular at if not ahead of its time it was at the crest of the first big gravel wave.
GT Tequesta was my first proper bike and always wanted an I drive. Seemed they cheapened the brand over the years and never really recovered.
It's a shame for all those who's livelihoods depends on it.
I've never owned a GT but the last one I listed after was an STS which dates it somewhat.
what is going to happen to Wyn's privateer program?
Echoing the above, they seemed to lose their way about 20 years ago (at least from the MTB side of things) and never really recovered which seems to be the way of some bike brands who then just become a name to be passed around by huge companies with little real love for the brand and their history (see Kona although hope that'll change now its back with the original owners).
A real shame - I've never owned a GT but I did always hanker after one. I believe the newer bikes were really rather good but I'm not sure I really fancied spending money on one - a bit too generic with badge for some reason.
I assume there'll need to be a rebrand of the Malverns now - hope it doesn't hit any of the (previously) supported riders/programmes/events too badly.
I thought the new GT's loooked pretty on trend with the high pivots and shiz.
This is a bit of bummer, as there are some proper bargains at the moment and I was thinking of getting my son one. But having a Nukeproof already I really don;t want another frame that I can't get spares for....
Pon?
A Dutch megacorp.
Pon holdings BV
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pon_Holdings
Own a massive chunk of the bike industry and loads of other stuff.
Just to inject a bit of clarity, from the link above:
will pause releasing new products while streamlining operations
"To ensure a sustainable and successful future, we are implementing a strategic reorientation to align with evolving customer preferences," according to a statement by GT.
The brand will focus "on core strengths, and refining our strategy to position GT for long-term growth. ... We will continue to sell our current range from existing inventory," GT said in the statement.
Warranty and customer service will be handled by Cycling Sports Group.
"GT Bicycles remains a brand with strong potential, and this decision has been taken to lay a solid foundation for its next chapter," the brand said.
So you could read that as "these ugly bikes aren't selling, let's try doing something better"?
Also, is cancelling or not renewing rider sponsorship deals really "layoffs"?
Pon?
Dutch company. Owns loads of brands (Santa Cruz, Cannondale, Cervelo etc)
I'd be amazed if the brand is sunset in the medium term - its got enough recognition that its surely worth flogging some catalog frames with the GT brand on them and making a few quid? PON have plenty of brands under their umberella, so easy enough for them to do
BadlyWiredDog
Pon?
Santa Criuz, Cannondale, GT, Mongoose, One Up from mtb plus loads of others
the off-road cycling world without GT in it feels like a sad place to be. But then I can’t think of a GT that I’ve wanted to own since the 90s
Entirely sums up my thoughts too. It has had a 'resting on it's laurels' feel to it for a long time now. I'm hoping that it'll rise phoenix like (like Kona) with some ace bikes, although it still does feel like a bit of MTB history ripped away.
I'm not fact checking this but didn't Gary Turner sell up in 93 or 94? I know they had a huge presence in MTB with lots of interesting bikes in the late 90's but not much since.
They haven't been what's considered a 'core' BMX company for decades. GT is just the badge they slap on the corporate property. See also Haro, Mongoose, Cannondale, Schwinn, Redline. All sold off and turned into toyshop bikes.
It's a shame for all the real people involved. It would be good to see it revived somehow but do the owners really care? Do people who use sentences like "we are implementing a strategic reorientation to align with evolving customer preferences" really care about riding bikes in the dirt?
I’d be amazed if the brand is sunset in the medium term – its got enough recognition that its surely worth flogging some catalog frames with the GT brand on them and making a few quid? PON have plenty of brands under their umberella, so easy enough for them to do
They are indicating that they intend to get their shit together and come back to market with a tighter range.
I'd imagine Pon would want to position GT as a value-ish brand, since SC are very spendy and Cannondale mid-to-upper.
Something like how Marin has been brought back, maybe?
Dutch company. Owns loads of brands (Santa Cruz, Cannondale, Cervelo etc)
Thanks all. Maybe the story could explain that for those of us who aren't up to date on bike industry ownership structures. I had no idea that Santa Cruz, for example, was owned by Dutch people. Or that they seem to be behind Lease a Bike, as in Visma Lease a Bike road team etc.
It 's a real shame but hardly surprising, I couldnt name any of their current range and whatever I have seen appears to be just middlingly average, dullness. Particularly since being in the PON family it seems to be entirely based on 'cant afford a Santa Cruz, well you'll have to make do with a GT instead' without any actual brand image or draw of their own.
An interesting comparison, as they are again both in the 'PON' family now - would be Cannondale.
Cannondale and GT were both massive brands in the 90s, desirable, big teams, very clear brand images and bikes you could recognise at 30 yards.
What have Cannondale done for the past 30 years, that GT havent?
What have Cannondale done for the past 30 years, that GT havent?
Supported a very successful XC race team and produced some really good road and gravel bikes. They've focussed more on the "speed" rather than gnar side of things (Ratboy sponsorship aside).
Always sad to see a long-term brand like that go, I've never owned one but the recent ranges look good. I wonder how many full-market brands (from cheap hardtails to DH race bikes) the MTB market can sustain.
I feel for the Cumming team - had Nukeproof then GT pulled, hope they can find another and have more luck with them.
rockguardz have shut up shop week too.
What have Cannondale done for the past 30 years, that GT havent?
Judging by GT's website, there is one particular bandwagon Cannondale have done well on and GT have slightly missed..
https://www.cannondale.com/en-gb/bikes/electric/e-mountain
v
https://uk.gtbicycles.com/collections/electric-mountain-bikes
Shame. I had GTs all through the '90s and '00s, hell, I was still hitting up pump tracks on my (then) 10 year old Zaskar in 2016! I got one of the first Zaskar 29ers, though, and it was utter dogshit. Never had another since but I'd've loved a modern 27.5 Zaskar...
Shame if they don’t reappear as they’re a classic old name that has produced some iconic bikes. Happily have a 92 RTS-1 with M900 in the garage.
Last time I actually saw a new one was a year or two ago in Stif. No idea who signed off the design but it was an ugly brute with weird tube bends that looked all wrong. Dull colour and dull decals didn’t help, especially sat next to the Santa Cruz. Wasn’t especially cheap either so I couldn’t see who would buy it?
Their gravel bike wasn't bad, was about to review the e version but that's on hold as you'd expect
Brage is a massive star for the 'core youth' market which is pretty big at the moment. Apart from Wyn and Hans I couldn't name one other person on GT.
Given the recent heavy discounting at Santa Cruz and Reserve you do wonder who will be next for any restructuring. Lifetime warranty is only good if there’s a company left to back it up.
Apart from Wyn and Hans I couldn’t name one other person on GT.
There's also that Skills With Phil fella.
They were investing in influencers and ambassadors more than actual competitors for a while. Wyn holds far more sway and value holding a microphone than a pair of handlebars, unless of course the mic is taped to the end of the handlebars.
Now that's over, somebody has to step up and offer Wyn a post race interview gig.
somebody has to step up and offer Wyn a post race interview gig.
Pinkbike should be trying to snap him up and take on WynTV for 2025 onwards. Maybe even evolve the format and get him teamed up with Cathro.
But if Pon have any sense they will slide Wyn (and Brage) across to SC or Cannondale sharpish. Probably SC, as they actually have a DH bike.
All the bike brands they own
I'd forgotten that Pon own Focus & Schwinn. They definitely have bike brands to spare, don't they.
its got enough recognition that its surely worth flogging some catalog frames with the GT brand on them and making a few quid?
This was the case in the early 2000's when GT was sold to Pacific cycles, GT bmx's were then to be found in Walmart with all the other POS bikes
GT have has so many owners since Gary Turner sold up in 98, in the BMX world GT has been seen as a low end brand ever since
my last GT was a 1994 GT Fueler
History of owners
1998 bought by Schwinn
2001 bought by Pacific cycles
2004 Dorel industries
2021 Pon holdings
GT also owned the following bmx brands at one point or another
Powerlite
Auburn
Robinson
Dyno
Given the recent heavy discounting at Santa Cruz and Reserve
I think this is normal for this time of year, best time to buy a Santa Cruz.
In the shadowed annals of Middle-earth, amidst tales of valour and despair, there lies an ancient prophecy, whispered by the winds through the forlorn forests and echoed in the caverns deep. It speaks of a time when the fate of realms would hang by the slenderest thread, woven not by the hands of elves or men, but by the capricious whims of sponsorship.
In the days of yore, when the world was still young, there came forth a rider of great renown, Hans Ray, whose feats upon the rugged peaks and treacherous trails were sung by minstrels and etched into the very stone of the earth. His steed, a noble contrivance of metal and wheel, bore the sigil of GT, a house of craft and innovation. Together, they conquered mountains, bridging the chasm between the realms of possibility and dreams.
Yet, in the shadows lurked a portent, a grim foretelling of doom and despair. It was said that should the bond between Hans Ray and the House of GT be severed, a darkness would descend upon the world of mountain biking, casting it into oblivion. The trails would grow silent, and the thrill of the ride, once a beacon of joy and freedom, would wither into forgotten lore.
As the prophecy unfolds, the absence of that storied sponsorship becomes the herald of calamity, echoing through the lands. The wheels would turn no more, and the mountains, once alive with the pulse of adventure, would stand in mournful silence. The end of mountain biking would be but the beginning, a harbinger of a greater end.
For in this dark vision, the unraveling of the cycling world would set forth a chain, a dread domino of despair that would spill into all corners of existence. The earth would tremble, the skies would weep, and the stars themselves would flicker and fade, as if retreating from the ruin wrought by broken ties and lost dreams.
Thus, the prophecy warns: when the wheel ceases to spin, and the rider is forsaken by his steed, a shadow shall fall, and the world, as we know it, shall follow into an unending night.
"I think this is normal for this time of year, best time to buy a Santa Cruz."
Nothing normal about the depth of discounting, the number of models discounted, or the duration of the discounting for Santa Cruz or Reserve. Real distress signals.
Just found this history of the company which was written in 2008. When GT was already 36 years old.
https://sidewaysandfallover.blogspot.com/2008/07/history-of-gt-bicycles.html
It's very detailed, I haven't read it all I'm still at work.
Pon has become a bit of a graveyard for bike brands. Santa Cruz and Cervelo are run as proper bike brands with R&D, Marketing, etc. Cannondale and Focus seem to have some money thrown their way but not enough to enable them to really compete in the market place like they previously could. GT, Schwinn, Mongoose, Gazelle and Caloi are very poor versions of the brands they used to be. I wonder what the strategy is at Pon?
GT bikes were a dream bike when I started, but more recently they seemed a much less attractive package.
The RTS and the LTS were hugely desirable but way beyond my reach. More recent models have failed to catch my eye and more importantly my wallet.
Given the recent heavy discounting at Santa Cruz and Reserve
I think this is normal for this time of year, best time to buy a Santa Cruz.
To be honest I can't remember Santa Cruz every being discounted. They used to sell everything they could make at full price or near enough. In the glory days of the Syndicate you couldn't move in Sheffield for Santa Cruz bikes.
I picked up some Reserve wheels this year but I thought the discount was related to the DT Swiss hubs being updated. I'm happy with stone aged 350's.
GT bikes were a dream bike when I started, but more recently they seemed a much less attractive package.
The RTS and the LTS were hugely desirable but way beyond my reach. More recent models have failed to catch my eye and more importantly my wallet.
I bought my first ever MTB magazine in the summer of 1996 and that month's bike check was Steve Peat's LTS-DH. My teenage eyes popped out of my little head. Plus all the MBUK team were riding them, then the STS and LOBO were things of beauty.
I still never got one because I was skint. By the time I could afford to buy my own bikes they were fizzling out a bit.
For me, I can sum up GT thus:
1) Wyn Masters' excellent race coverage and privateer awards etc. This makes me possibly want to buy one - especially a cheaper gravity bike as a second bike.
2) Lifetime support of Hans Rey. I can appreciate it from a slightly non conventional sponsorship arrangement, probably won't make me buy a bike.
3) The Athertons and Martin Maes were on them for a while, was it between commencal and trek? Was probably a (comparative) low point in the Athertons' stellar careers, either that or it all just blurs into one.
I said something similar when Kona were in trouble, and when people were incensed that Ford had called the new electric car a Capri - something you lusted after decades ago which was good in its day but would be utter shite by modern standards, is no way to base your modern purchases or race team aleigances.
Hope they pull through, it would be sad to see them go. I always lusted after a Pro Performer in the BMX days but was well beyond my means.
Had a string of MTBs in the 90' s though - Timberline, Zaskar, LTS, STS and recently bought a very tired LTS 2 with intention of resurrecting it (been sat in the garage for about 9 months!)
Would agree that they don't seem that desirable these days (apart from the Fury)
I think this thread provides a great summary of the problem. Everyone wanted one 20 years ago and now no one does. Everyone had a rose tinted recollection of some of their classics. Alas investors dont care about rose tinted history, if no one wants to buy one then its either scale it down or throw money at it. PON have clearly chosen the first option.
I imagine retro GT bike prices might sneak up a little.
Kind of sad. GT's and Zaskars were dream bikes in the early 90s. I've owned a few over the years and still do (Tequesta, Pantera, few Zaskars). Got a mate in the UK who's a collector and was at Malvern again this year with a few of the other GT collectors.
What will happen to the MTB team?
What will happen to the MTB team?
They don't have one now AFAIK.
I think they had just stepped in as frame sponsor on the Continental team after nukeproof went pop, and had Martin Maes on the books.
He's off to Orbea and I'm not sure if the Conti team will continue, what with the rule changes.
This is the case for so many brands at the moment. A few of us were talking about some brands and when we actually last potentially wanted one........ GT about 1997/1998, Schwinn 1997/1998, Trek 1997, Kona 1995.
The big brands lost it back then.
Everything has looked the same since.
Basically, the times for lusting after mainstream bike brands has gone. Santa cruz all looks the same, and I couldn't want one less.
The only interesting manual bikes that are worth considering and wet the appetite are small niche brands like cotic, Stanton, kingdom and Curtis plus Huhn......
I imagine retro GT bike prices might sneak up a little.
Why?
Apart from the fact they're already attracting a retro premium I can't think of a single reason for the failure of a modern iteration that has nothing to do with the old brand other than a name to affect prices.
If anything the newer stuff is going to tank now that there will likely be no spares support. Which is then going to make people think twice about buying their other lines and so the spiral downwards continues. If they want to prevent that they need to make sure GT is supported for a reasonable time. We'll see what happens...
(not sure if that's already been addressed)