Pole Bankrupt

[Plummet]

Any truth to this rumor?

 

[Mik3F]

Apparently so, Rob has posted a video on youtube confirming it

 

[MOTO13]

Wow, what an awesome bike to see go to the wayside. But, this is one reason I can't justify doing business with boutique bike brands. Just to risky.

 

[Streddaz]

I posted at the same time.

Yes, it does seem so.

 

[Stihldog]

Here’s the posted video.

 

[Durrti]

The Voima was fantastic bike for me, up until it broke. The way the situation was dealt with really showed me that they had tried to get too big too fast and wouldn’t be able to provide adequate support. It was like a peek behind the curtain into the house of cards.

 

[GeorgesEBike]

Very sad day for the bike industry. I HATE seeing this news.

 

[JP-NZ]

Yea always sad when innovators are forced out of the market. Be some cheap Sonni's and Voima's around for some to pick up.

Won't be the last bike brand that disappears this year either

 

[Plummet]

The Voima was fantastic bike for me, up until it broke. The way the situation was dealt with really showed me that they had tried to get too big too fast and wouldn’t be able to provide adequate support. It was like a peek behind the curtain into the house of cards.

I agree, the continued production delays showed the cracks in the process. That was probably cashflow related.

Sad to see an innovator go though.

 

[ari]

There was no dealership network , that's hard in today's world .

 

[Murphius]

Can someone help me understand the decision making here:
-Leo stated this problem has been present since Covid?
-Why open Pole Hub UK (Dec. 2023?)
-Why expand the Factory Racing Team (Announced March 22)

Decisions like this are probably just a few recent examples of those that show poor judgment (increasing costs/overhead when cash flow was an issue)

Leo describes the owner(s) of Pole as a third party when isn’t it Leo who is the owner?

Leo still remains proud of this manufacturing process but why, it clearly failed the ultimate test.

I have more thoughts but these are just a few that really throw me.

 

[Streddaz]

There was no dealership network , that's hard in today's world .

I'm not so sure about that. Direct to consumer brands is the way that a lot of manufactures are going. Dealers take a cut in profits.
Canyon, YT, Commencal, Fezzari, Intense, Evil, Polygon, Whyte to name a few are direct to consumer brands. Specialized have even moved towards it, with the ability to buy online, instead from a dealer.
If you are selling to a consumer that knows what they want, it works pretty well.

I think Leo expanded his line a bit too quick and overextended the company financially. There were some factory issues with machining centres going down, then of course the huge post covid drop in the market.

Even companies like Trek and Scott are not looking so great with layoffs and sacking CEOs. It's a tough time in the cycling industry.

 

[tyredryder]

I'm not so sure about that. Direct to consumer brands is the way that a lot of manufactures are going. Dealers take a cut in profits.
Canyon, YT, Commencal, Fezzari, Intense, Evil, Polygon, Whyte to name a few are direct to consumer brands. Specialized have even moved towards it, with the ability to buy online, instead from a dealer.
If you are selling to a consumer that knows what they want, it works pretty well.

I think Leo expanded his line a bit too quick and overextended the company financially. There were some factory issues with machining centres going down, then of course the huge post covid drop in the market.

Even companies like Trek and Scott are not looking so great with layoffs and sacking CEOs. It's a tough time in the cycling industry.

A lot of the big name brands use factories in Taiwan for frames etc, these factories are geared up for production and quality.

 

[sorensi]

I have the Voima. Should i try to order some bearing spare parts?

 

[Polar]

Why is it not mentioned on their website?

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

The website seems live, but its not possible to checkout. I just tried the process of ordering. they must have closed that recently (yesterday likely)

I dont know the financial situation of the company, the owners, or the investors, but chatted with Leo every couple of months about bikes in general, funny stuff in the world, that kind of stuff, but we would not really speak about financial details of the company (and id not ask out of respect, its not something i would do), but sometimes we spoke about how the bike industry was tough, especially when the demise of CRC happened.

I found out yesterday, Leo messaged me, i had no idea at all, and I got that video with leo's announcement out as soon as possible...

I recently visited the Pole UK hub, made a video, they announced a race team 3 weeks ago and were preparing for the Fort William world cup, signed a new rider only a few weeks ago for the 2024 season and were releasing the Sonni, so from the outside, it was looking good.

My mate got a warranty part shipped from finland only a few days ago.

Sorry to anyone who has ordered recently and faced delays or uncertainty, and sorry to the Pole employees and team.

 

[MrSimmo]

This f*cking sucks.

 

[RustyMTB]

I saw that video with Phil Seton. My first thought was it's indicative things have happened very suddenly. Really sorry to see what's unfolding, Pole bikes look like they're doing 100mph stood still, we need more like them.

 

[Hattori-Hanzo]

Such a shame, the Sonni looked like an interesting bike, one I'd have definitely considered for my next.

What happens to pole owners now should they need a frame repair?
I guess try to find an independent workshop willing to take on the work?

 

[ari]

Either way, the bikes will be fixable, unless the frame is damaged, but that the case with all carbon bikes also .Will be a desirable bike to own now .

 

[TheSnowShark]

I'm very sad, I really wanted to get a Pole in the future..

 

[cozzy]

The known issue with the cracking swingarms is a big problem without warranty. The bike will be scrap.
If you have the 3rd 4th gen, the right one, I wouldn't be so worried.
Updated. There were 3 versions of swingarm before this to my understanding.
V1 built in brake mount.
V2 bolt on brake mount.
V3 bolt on brake mount but more material, so heavier.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Here is the political strike Leo was referring to in the video:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/finnish-unions-extend-strikes-against-government-by-one-week-2024-03-20/

It started on March 11th and ended today. It seemed to have closed ports for 6 weeks, raw materials, supply and several industries, amongst other things:

Finland – Transport worker’s union strike impacting all operations

A political strike closes Finland's ports for two weeks

www.maersk.com

And the impact on companies here

I heard that they had an employee sleeping at the factory till the very end, trying to ship out to customers, and that one employee was personally delivering boxes to the terminal to try and ship every piece they could.

 

[tooFATtoRIDE]

The known issue with the cracking swingarms is a big problem. The bike will be scrap.
If you have the 3rd gen, the right one, I wouldn't be so worried.
View attachment 138731

Yeah, I have the one on the left so I am worried.

 

[B1rdie]

This is how the magic happens…

 

[Bnito]

From a financial perspective :

Turnover 2019 : 1.9M€, Operating income : - 0.6M€.
Turnover 2020 : 1.4M€, Operating Income : - 1.0M€
Turnover 2021 : 0.8M€, Operating Income : - 1.1M€
Turnover 2022 : 3.1M€, Operating Income : -1.4M€

source : https://www.finder.fi/Polkupyörä/Pole+Bicycle+Company+Oy/Muurame/yhteystiedot/2836573

Tough times and sad to see them go, but problems did exist long before the political strike, which shutdown finnish ports and transportation. That was just a nail to the coffin.

 

[D3xt3rMTB]

Real shame for the employees and those with unfulfilled orders who had paid. Have an early K4 Voima (Nov 22) with about 1000miles on the clock and only real concern I have is also around the swing arm failures. Fingers crossed on that one but in the meantime I'll continue to use it and enjoy it, it's still a great bike.

 

[tlvenn]

Ya same as you, riding the gen1 and very happy with the bike, just worried about that swing arm...
Is there any chance that Leo could open source the design of the swing arm gen3 ? It could potentially give us a way to cnc it on our own one day.

 

[Erkki Perkele]

Either way, the bikes will be fixable, unless the frame is damaged, but that the case with all carbon bikes also .Will be a desirable bike to own now .

It wont be desirable at all. It will be impossible to get spares when the swingarm fails or the glue joints. As has happened with all previous pole models.

 

[Planemo]

I remember some time back watching a Pole factory walkaround vid on YT, I think it might have been one of Robs, and coming from an engineering background the very first thing I thought was 'shit, this looks real nice'. Like a fully kitted out, well presented and maintained engineering shop with ALL the fancy equipment not to mention how much the CNC stuff alone must have cost. It reminded me of the Cosworth factory. I remember thinking at the time 'jesus that will take a lot of bikes before you come close to breaking even let alone making money'...

I know the bikes cost a fair bit but not enough or indeed sold in the numbers required bearing in mind how much that factory must have had sunk into it. I'm guessing it was simply too much investment too soon which is fine if you're playing the very long game but it's a big gamble for a boutique bike manufacturer. Still, very sad indeed, they were switched on guys and gotta hand it to them for being unique in a saturated market.