altre info:
Mequon, Wis. (Nov. 10, 2006) – HB Performance Systems Inc., a leader in the design, manufacture
and sales of non-automotive custom-engineered brake systems, has acquired the assets of Answer Products
Inc., of Valencia, Calif., a company that produces Answer™ and Manitou™ brand bicycle suspension
forks, shocks, bars and stems. An agreement was reached on Nov. 3. Details of the sale were not disclosed.
Rhonda Kirkwood, vice president and general manager at HB Performance Systems, will
manage the new acquisition renamed HB Suspension Products, under the company’s Hayes Bicycle
Group division. The Hayes Bicycle Group currently manufactures Hayes™ Disc Brakes and Sun
Ringlé™ wheels, rims and hubs, and will include Wheelsmith™ spokes and wheel building services in
its product line soon.
HB Performance Systems is in the process of developing a business transition and integration
strategy for this latest acquisition. Details are expected to be announced in early 2007. The Manitou
brand name will be retained.
Answer Products is the third acquisition of HB Performance Systems and its bicycle division in
the past 16 months. HB Performance Systems purchased Sun Metal Products in July 2005 and is
completing a deal with Wheelsmith Fabrication Inc. that was finalized in September 2006. These
acquisitions followed the June 2005 management buyout that created HB Performance Systems Inc.,
formerly Hayes Brake. At that time, President and CEO Rand McNally stated that the management team
had plans to grow the company and acquisitions were a part of that strategy.
“Bringing together complementary businesses that offer premium brands to the bicycle industry
is part of our strategy in growing the Hayes Bicycle Group division.” said McNally. “These first three
acquisitions do that.”
“As an engineering performance company with 60 years of experience in design and manufacturing, HB Performance Systems delivers a superior level of engineering expertise and product
manufacturing excellence, which it will now do for Manitou products,” McNally added.
Answer Products was founded more than 30 years ago. Its principal product line is technically
advanced suspension forks utilizing air, hydraulic, or coil-spring damping systems.
HB Performance Systems and Answer Products are not recent acquaintances. The two
companies have had a business relationship since 1997 when they worked together to create a highperformance
mounting system for brakes on a bicycle’s fork. It became known as the 74 Post Mount and
is one of two ways most disc brakes are mounted today in the bicycle industry. The two companies also
joined forces and developed fork and disc brake testing procedures that became the foundation for the
current industry test standards.
Chris Smith, director of global sales & marketing for HB Suspension Products (formerly with
Answer Products), believes this is a good move for the bicycle industry. “The ability to design brakes,
wheels and suspension components simultaneously, with the focused vision of improving compatibility
and performance, allows for the development of truly innovative product,” he said.
Hayes Bicycle Group was formed in 1997 and entered the bicycle market with a disc brake under
the name Hayes Disc Brake. It followed the same breakthrough design and performance strategy of its
parent company at the time (Hayes Brake). The revolutionary products that this group introduced set a
new standard for hydraulic bicycle disc brakes worldwide.
In 1997, Hayes Disc Brakes were sold through three U.S. and six international distributors. In
2006, 120 worldwide distributors provide Hayes Bicycle Group products to customers in more than 50
countries. More than 200 worldwide bicycle original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are supplied by
Hayes Bicycle Group. Its products are well known and respected in the mountain bike market. Hayes
Bicycle Group provides products for all segments, especially freeride, gravity and recreational.
HB Performance Systems Inc. was started in Milwaukee in 1946. Since 1969, the corporate
headquarters has been located in Mequon, Wis., where it employs 350 people in its 155,000 square foot
modern manufacturing facility. It also has an additional 50,000 square foot facility in Milwaukee where
Sun Ringlé North American operations are based, and manufacturing and sourcing facilities in Taiwan
and China. It uses a lean enterprise system for manufacturing and assembly, and is supported by ISO
9001:2000 quality controls and the latest Advance Product Quality Planning (APQP) techniques. The
company’s many years of experience and development in the field have led to a comprehensive range of
products for recreational, construction, agricultural and military vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, as well
as other types of mobile and stationary equipment.
