Accell Group sells brands- Diamondback, Raleigh, Redline, and more
This happened in the last month and I realized I hadnt seen it mentioned here.
Accell sold the worldwide registrations(besides Canada) for Diamondback, Redline, and more to Regent LP(who owns Mavic). Accell still owns Haibike, the Raleigh brand in the US, and Ghost. https://www.bicycleretailer.com/indu...r#.XWamSOhKhhE Accell sold the Canadian rights for Raleigh, Diamondback, Redline, and more to Canadian Tire. https://www.bicycleretailer.com/indu...n#.XWamTehKhhE A few thoughts- - Some view Raleigh and Diamondback as 'less than' bike shop brands. Having built up half a dozen bikes between the brands for co-workers/friends, I think they are quite good for the money. Each had the fit/finish I would expect at the price paid(or more, really). They are every bit as nice as equal priced or equal spec'd bikes from Trek, Specialized, and Giant. Often times nicer. My '18 Diamondback Syncr MTB was a steal for the price - I can absolutely understand the dealer frustration when they carry Raligh in store and the bikes are offered online direct to consumer for hundreds less. Hundreds wasnt an understatement either. This really did some damage to the goodwill and probably didnt help the brand as viewed by loyal LBS shoppers. - Raleigh and Diamondback really innovated over the last 6 years- they werent just copy/open mold brands. Examples- the gravel bikes from both were different year to year(as the brands progressed in the genre). I think part of why the bikes werent more respected was they cut spec at the crankset and brakes. Mechanical disc on higher level bikes, for example. - Diamondback's Haanjo series progressed into bikepacking, gravel racing, and commuting. - Raleigh worked with local legend Guitar Ted to design the Tamland series of gravel bikes. They also offered the aluminum frame Willard, the short lived but well reviewed carbon Roker, and the genre bending Stuntman. - It will be interesting to see how Regent and Canadian Tire manage the brands. Do the brands become just afterthoughts and fully relegate to big box sporting goods stores? Do the brands get proper design and support and a clearer channel of distribution? |
I remember Raleigh offering some really good deals for touring bikes - hopefully they continue to do so.
The Stuntman was a cool value for a bike too. |
I have a Raleigh Stuntman and a Diamondback Sync'r Pro. Both are well designed bikes with excellent performance. I'd put the Sync'r Pro up against any alloy hardtail sold for twice the money from a major brand, the geometry is dead on, the bike is tank-like in its toughness and the components are all top notch. The Stuntman is a completely unique and useful bike that is exactly on point in today's gravel/adventure market. I've seen tons of custom, extremely expensive and "cool" bikes that mirror what the Stuntman already offers off the shelf.
Too bad neither bike is still sold... Also notable, both of my bikes have proven to be very reliable despite my abuse. |
Originally Posted by Hiro11
(Post 21096479)
Too bad neither bike is still sold...
So many models were just- poof- gone suddenly. Hopefully new owners means working out the shortcomings of the old business while retaining what worked. |
I have a 2017 raleigh CX bike, got lucky and paid $700 new toward the end of 2017, it was a closeout and with cantilever brakes it's less sexy and desirable than the disc brake models, but it's a heck of a deal and for the life of me I don't know why they can get entry level road bikes in the $600-700 range but can't do the same with gravel/cyclocross bikes (gravel is the new hotness so I guess it's a premium).
Anyhow, happy with my raleigh as a tool for my CX racing and a guy on my club dominated on his raleigh last year. |
A few months ago I picked up a 2017 Raleigh Clubman. A "get it outta here" deal at $380, new and unassembled in the box. I didn't really have a need, and my expectations weren't set one way or the other. I gotta say, the bike is pretty nice. Steel frame, Sora 9-speed, eyeletted rims, Clement tires, and Tektro disc brakes. It's built well -- the welds are nice, the paint is very nice and it rides quite nice. It's one hell of a value. I put my B17 on it and have been rolling it around on the weekends. Win!
-Kedosto |
Having the brands owned differently in Canada versus the rest of the world seems an odd thing.
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I always really like those, idk what the right term is, "budget premium" brands like Raleigh/Fuji. I think Jamis is in a similar price bracket. You could really get some fantastic bikes at great prices with them if you can stomach not having a "desirable" name on the seattube (I remember a Raleigh touring bike being the apple of my eye a few years back...)
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My wife’s Airen was a steal. I’ve always kept an eye on their hardtails, just for when that day comes I can actually justify getting one.
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They had some nice bikes period. I bought a Raleigh kids model a couple years ago because it was a clean design that wasn't saddled with a brick-heavy suspension fork. Worth every penny.
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Originally Posted by JonathanGennick
(Post 21098176)
Having the brands owned differently in Canada versus the rest of the world seems an odd thing.
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Originally Posted by alcjphil
(Post 21098748)
Canada is a unique country when it comes to distribution of consumer goods. Think of a country that is basically thousands of miles long and only a couple of hundred miles wide
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The OP brings up a lot of good info.
Accell really dropped the ball.I do not know what their plan was if any.Was it to become a online sales only store? Because they burnt many bridges with the LBS.They had some good deals, but the LBS sometimes could not even buy the same bike for wholesale for what it was selling online. I really like Raleigh bikes for the price and quality.I agree with the OP,they really could have done good if they went the LBS route. Raleigh offered that online discount back in 2017 and you could get the Merit 3 with 105 for $750 . Plus they had other deals. And once Raleigh had a fire sale on Amazon I could not help myself to buy a few more bikes. As I really like my Redux 3,Tamland and Roker. |
Originally Posted by Leinster
(Post 21098482)
My wife’s Airen was a steal.
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Will they make higher end Redline BMX bicycles?
i hope they keep some quality with the Diamondback/Raleigh machines. |
Originally Posted by Leinster
(Post 21098855)
You mean it’s just like Chile.
In many ways, yes. However,a large E-W nation has a constant weather zone, whereas a large N-S nation will have a large variance in temperatures at the same time. I worked in a brick and mortar that sold Accel Raleighs. We sold a lot of 400-500 hybrids, but it was difficult moving anything more expensive. Many people would ask, "Is Raleigh a good brand?" We didn't really mind the mail order aspect; we would direct clients to ship the bike to us so we could build it up. Raleigh would then pay us for the build. Client got a well assembled bike and didn't have to worry about staying home for shipping, and the shop made money on a very easy assembly. |
I'd like to see the Diamonback road bike designs of around 2014 continue or evolve. They did some nifty stuff in a reasonably priced bike. A friend gave me a Diamondback Podium 5 carbon fiber frame that was too small for him. Might be a tad small for me -- looks like a 54cm or 55cm and I usually ride 56-58, but I can make it work with a longer stem.
I didn't have time to inspect the frame for a few months so it sat in a corner. But recently I began inspecting it to be sure the fork, steerer, etc., were all good and noticed the internal cable routing. At first I was dreading building that bike back up but it turns out Diamondback designed the frame to make it as easy as possible to re-cable the internal routing. No need for magnets, vacuums, twisty-cable-snagger doodads, etc. Fresh cable routed right through, no hassles, no drama or cussing. I don't have much else to compare with. My only other carbon fiber road bike is a '93 Trek 5900, which is just a conventional diamond frame in a carbon fiber sorta-monocoque design (rides pretty much like my steel road bike, but lighter and a bit stiffer), so any more recent carbon frame seems like a rocketship to me. But Diamondback seems to have resolved some of the usual pesky stuff with clever engineering in a reasonably priced frame that appears to be excellent quality. I don't have access to diagnostic imaging (I think a friend does at work where they build carbon fiber aircraft bits and bobs), so I'll just have to assume it's good on the inside too. I haven't read any negative reports of a pattern of problems with Diamondback Podium frames. I think the only complaint I've read is about the FSA headset, but that's easily replaced and I don't see a problem with it myself. |
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