1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,840
Speaker 1: All right, the lux life when it comes to two wheels.

2
00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:06,920
Speaker 1: Here to tell us more is the founder of Felt Racing,

3
00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:10,680
Speaker 1: a maker of Felt bicycles, Jim Felt. Jim Felt, thanks

4
00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,560
Speaker 1: very much for being with us worries. Glad I can help,

5
00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:15,440
Speaker 1: all right, So tell us tell people that are not

6
00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:19,360
Speaker 1: familiar with the with Felt the bicycles, why a bicycle

7
00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:22,800
Speaker 1: might not have any breaks, why it might have the

8
00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:27,080
Speaker 1: gear change on the left hand side, and tell us

9
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:31,240
Speaker 1: about the price. Well, you're probably talking about the bike

10
00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,000
Speaker 1: we just developed for the Olympic Games for the US

11
00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:38,640
Speaker 1: cycling team women's pursuit team, uh this year for the

12
00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,600
Speaker 1: real Olympics. And what we did is like any projects.

13
00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:47,360
Speaker 1: Sometimes sometimes we pick and choose projects ahead of time, um,

14
00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,880
Speaker 1: based on marketing trends. Sometimes it's purely that it comes

15
00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,040
Speaker 1: to us. And we were asked to take on a

16
00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,240
Speaker 1: project for like the Olympic Games or something. This in

17
00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,120
Speaker 1: particular was the Olympic Games. So we developed a bike

18
00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:05,119
Speaker 1: a track for the women's pursuit team from ground up,

19
00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,360
Speaker 1: which consisted of and we just started with a clean canvas,

20
00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,360
Speaker 1: as I'll say, and uh, you know, we're kind of

21
00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:17,399
Speaker 1: known for pushing the envelope on aerodynamics and everything and

22
00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:19,920
Speaker 1: when you're in riding inside of a velodrome. We wanted

23
00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:25,039
Speaker 1: to find out some new new information that hasn't been

24
00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:29,600
Speaker 1: found before on what goes on aerodynamically inside of a velodrome,

25
00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:31,920
Speaker 1: and that caused us to put the drive train on

26
00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:36,679
Speaker 1: the left hand side. Matt Miller here um joining him today,

27
00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:38,880
Speaker 1: and I'm excited to talk to you because I'm really

28
00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:43,560
Speaker 1: into UM bikes. Can you make money on these super

29
00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,480
Speaker 1: high end and we're talking about, you know, ten twenty

30
00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,000
Speaker 1: dollar bikes. Can you make money in that market or

31
00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,480
Speaker 1: do you have to get out into UM the cross market,

32
00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:56,640
Speaker 1: into the gravel bikes, into the fitness bikes and the

33
00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,880
Speaker 1: mountain bikes to really make money. I think you really

34
00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,680
Speaker 1: have to have a broad range in order to make money.

35
00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,520
Speaker 1: To be a full branded bike. It certainly helps do

36
00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:07,600
Speaker 1: that the projects. You know, when you're talking about the

37
00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:12,280
Speaker 1: thirty track bike, you know, I mean the consumers and

38
00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,000
Speaker 1: the customers that you have to to use those bike.

39
00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,320
Speaker 1: Those bikes are specific for that, you know, for that

40
00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,080
Speaker 1: event or something like that. So there's uh kind of

41
00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:23,720
Speaker 1: the niche of the niche markets. But it does well

42
00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:27,040
Speaker 1: for our branding, exercise and stuff like that. We definitely

43
00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,840
Speaker 1: got some huge exposure from that project for doing that

44
00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,880
Speaker 1: Olympic project. And you keep making bikes UM in America.

45
00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,240
Speaker 1: I know that almost everybody, especially obviously the big brands

46
00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,400
Speaker 1: that we think of as American made bikes like Cannondale,

47
00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,919
Speaker 1: UM and Raleigh have all moved the most the majority

48
00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,040
Speaker 1: of their production out to UM lower labor countries. Do

49
00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,920
Speaker 1: you have to move as well? Yeah, I think. I

50
00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:54,280
Speaker 1: think for a couple of reasons. That is one price

51
00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,200
Speaker 1: for the end price of the bike, because the bikes,

52
00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:59,440
Speaker 1: as as you know, some bikes are you know, ten

53
00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,600
Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars now at some of the high end bikes,

54
00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:04,400
Speaker 1: and they would be even more than that if we

55
00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,919
Speaker 1: were to do of the labor in the US. UM.

56
00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,240
Speaker 1: But one of the biggest things is that, you know,

57
00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:14,280
Speaker 1: five ten years ago, most of the bikes out there

58
00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:19,080
Speaker 1: were steel or aluminum. Uh now we're now the bikes

59
00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:23,079
Speaker 1: out there are probably composite construction, meaning carbon fiber. And

60
00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,960
Speaker 1: you know, the Orient especially is well known and pretty

61
00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,440
Speaker 1: much the leader in composite technology. So they're doing things

62
00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,840
Speaker 1: over there UM with those materials that we just simply

63
00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,000
Speaker 1: haven't caught up to. In here in the state. It's

64
00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:39,880
Speaker 1: it's interesting because we developed the materials for aerospace over here,

65
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,280
Speaker 1: but aerospace is actually looking to the bicycle industry for

66
00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,560
Speaker 1: the technology because we're using those materials unlike that they

67
00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,640
Speaker 1: can even do in in aerospace right now. So we're

68
00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:53,400
Speaker 1: kind of, uh, we kind of complement each other. Jim

69
00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:56,040
Speaker 1: Felt tell us a little bit about the one bike

70
00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:58,680
Speaker 1: in particular, because I know that Matt Miller has been

71
00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:04,040
Speaker 1: desirous of this. It's across F sixt X with the

72
00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:07,280
Speaker 1: Shamano one oh five groups Set. Whatever that means, You've

73
00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:08,880
Speaker 1: got to tell me. And then I want to know

74
00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:14,440
Speaker 1: about this new uh seven seven thousand five Eastern aluminum

75
00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:19,679
Speaker 1: that you've put together. Well, yeah, that's um, there's there's

76
00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,240
Speaker 1: uh yeah. I mean the F sixty five is uh

77
00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,799
Speaker 1: been a go to bike for us for for quite

78
00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,240
Speaker 1: some time now. UM and Shimano, the who is the

79
00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:32,479
Speaker 1: manufacturer of the group set as a leader. I mean

80
00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,839
Speaker 1: they're known for their bicycle components and their fishing equipment.

81
00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,080
Speaker 1: UM kind of well known for that. UM and the

82
00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,720
Speaker 1: one oh five is reliable and not too expensive. I'm

83
00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,000
Speaker 1: not looking to drop ten grand, but Jim, to what

84
00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:49,159
Speaker 1: extent are you beholden to these groups that manufacturers because

85
00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:54,520
Speaker 1: Shimano and s ram Um they're so expensive, it's it

86
00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,560
Speaker 1: seems odd that someone would pay so much or unusual

87
00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,960
Speaker 1: unique so much um for a component of a part

88
00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,919
Speaker 1: of the product he makes. Yeah. No, and you're talking

89
00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,160
Speaker 1: about the two probably leaders. There's a couple other component

90
00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,920
Speaker 1: manufacturers out there, European brands that are that are also

91
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,279
Speaker 1: producing components, but your Shimono and shram are the two

92
00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,400
Speaker 1: key suppliers to the bike industry. They go head to

93
00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,279
Speaker 1: head on on price and quality, and it's at those

94
00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:24,960
Speaker 1: different levels. You are correct, one oh five. There's kind

95
00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,120
Speaker 1: of a mid price point level of very good quality.

96
00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:30,760
Speaker 1: All right, Jim, thanks so much for joining us. Jim

97
00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:37,200
Speaker 1: Felt there, uh, the head of Felt Bicycles. This is Bloomberg. Yeah,