Zach,
Actually, I used this term in incorrect fashion. Horizontal integration is where a company acquires
a competitor (E.g., Compaq and HP) and merges the two companies together. Vertical integration is
where a company is acquired to compliment or add value to a existing product line.
It was Horizontal and Vertical manufacturing is what I was implying. And yes, I stand corrected.
After I wrote that initial message, I wanted to go back and make the correction, but it was the
Superbowl Slaughter, and I was captivated watching my favorite team get their butts kicked (and
rightfully so!).
Anyway, I do recall reading an article in bicycle magazine about that fully machined MTB back in
1994. If I remember correctly, they spent a king's ransom on CNC machining (was it $600,000 each?).
When you purchase a machine like that, it must be running 80 hours/wk to pay for itself. Needless to
say, I believe Cannondale stood a better chance of survival using off the shelf technology, rather
than re-invent the wheel. I wonder what would be their fate if they never purchased magic
motorcycle.
Regards,
--
Rickey Horwitz Hell-bent Cycle Works
http://www.hellbentcycles.com
"Zach Kaplan Cycles" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I remember seeing the mockup of the Cannondale-Magic Motorcycle CNC machined mountain bike at
> Interbike in 1993. The whole frame was to be a CNC machined monocoque structure with the two
> halves bolted together though the mockup was made of a solid piece of aluminium. All the bearings
> (headset, hubs, suspension pivots) were all the same size and extremely oversized. All the bolts
> on the bike were to be operated by the same size key. It was a clean sheet of paper design and
> very intriguing but it never went into production.
>
> I thought fabricating everything in-house is called "vertical integration" rather than "horizontal
> integration".
>
> Zach Kaplan
>
> "Hel-bent" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<
[email protected]>...
> > John, Their venture into motorcycles started with the purchase of Magic Motorcycles back in
> > '93/'94. The buy-out gave C'dale the CNC machining technology to produce many of the extreme and
> > outragous designed bikes
we
> > see today. Sadly, this technology came at an extreme price.
> >
> > In my opinion, Cannondale's failure was attributed to their horizontal integration philosophy.
> > Meaning that they tried to fabricate everything in-house. I sincerely believe they would have
> > been much more successful
if
> > they limited themselves to a core competency and vertically integrated
their
> > product line. However, being one of the very few surviving American
bicycle
> > manufacturers, perhaps they needed this extreme technology lead over
their
> > competitors. In closing, I am praying that Cannondale will pull itself
out
> > of this mess and continue building fine American products.
> >
> > --
> > Rickey Horwitz Hell-bent Cycle Works
http://www.hellbentcycles.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > better off by having a "BentHeadSWB" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
> >
news:[email protected]...
> > > It is sad, Cannondale leveraged a bicycle company to make motorcycles...and
> > failed.
> > > Hopefully, C-dale will be bought out as a bicycle company and they
pull
> > their
> > > heads out of their butts and make a fast, cool bent. One can hope.
> > >
> > > John H N TX