Last year, Canadian brand Guru Cycles shut down after years of expanding their production capabilities and talents. We toured their facility a few years back and walked away very, very impressed with the techniques and equipment. Fortunately, rather than seeing it go to waste, industry veteran Tony Karklins purchased the assets and began moving it all to Little Rock, Arkansas, with the goal of creating a premiere domestic carbon fiber bicycle manufacturer.
We have a phone interview scheduled later this week, and we’ll be touring their new factory this fall. For now, check the full PR and a few pics after the break…
PRESS RELEASE: Earlier this year, HIA Velo was formed as a partnership between cycling industry veteran Tony Karklins (founder of Orbea USA), Douglas Zell (long time cyclist and founder of Intelligentsia Coff ee), and Sam Pickman (an 11 year veteran of Specialized’s senior engineering team).
“For the last two decades, I have seen bicycle factory a fter bicycle factory close down and shift their production to Asia. Now, few bicycle brands actually manufacture the products they sell. Even stranger, most of the composite bikes from nearly every known brand are made in only a handful of factories in Asia. We founded HIA Velo because we feel there is a real competitive advantage in having full control of the entire product development and manufacturing process under one roof, here in the USA. Our goal is to re-shore best in class, high volume composite bicycle production and to create great American manufactured cycling brands,” says Tony Karklins, HIA Velo’s Founder and Managing Director.
In February of this year, HIA Velo acquired all assets of Guru Cycles in Montreal, Canada. “Guru had one of the largest and best equipped high-end bicycle factories in North America,” says Karklins. Five containers of equipment and machinery were relocated to HIA Velo’s facility in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the installation took approximately 90 days.
“We have assembled a first class development and production team,” says Sam Pickman, HIA Velo’s Director of Product and Engineering. Chris Meertens, a previous co-worker from Specialized and a true master in composite part development joins HIA Velo as Senior Composites Engineer. Olivier Lavigueur joins as Composites Production Manager a fter working in the Guru composites department for nearly 11 years. David Woronets,
founder of Zen Fabrication in Portland, Oregon, brings 15 years of steel and aluminum production experience to HIA Velo and joins as Metal Product and Production Manager. “I am feeling confident in the team we have assembled. There is a great chemistry building, and everyone is dedicated to the project,” says Pickman.
“Paint was the last piece of the puzzle. We purchased Cyclart from Vista, California in July and will be relocating them to Little Rock early this fall. Cyclart will handle all production paint for HIA Velo products and continue to offer premium refinishing, restoration and repair services to the industry including composites repair,” says Karklins.
“Words are not enough to describe the excitement and energy surrounding this project. I am exceptionally optimistic about what is possible here and that it very much could be unlike anything ever seen before, particularly for bicycles made and built in the United States. The quality and integrity of the people involved as well as the beauty, strength, and utility of design have all the signs of being the best available anywhere. I cannot wait to see this all come to life,” says Douglas Zell.
HIA Velo is scheduled to launch its first brand, Allied Cycle Works, by spring of 2017 and is in discussion with other brands and joint venture opportunities in the industry that believe in the benefits of domestic manufacturing.
“Throughout the fall, HIA Velo will have several limited edition product releases as production scales up and as we prepare for the launch of the Allied Cycle Works brand,” says Karklins. To sign up for further information, visit www.hiavelo.com and www.alliedcycleworks.com.
