June 15/01 1:11 am - More Bell Sports Updates, World Cup DH #2, Atlantic Track Volunteers Needed

Posted by Editor on 06/15/01
 

Bell Sports Canada Update

We have had the chance to speak with John Vandenburg, National Sales Manager for Bell Sports Canada, and he was able to confirm that the information in our earlier report (10:15 am today) was entirely correct. Mr Vandenburg was also able to fill in some details:

- Bell Sports Mass (serving the mass market) in the U.S. did not meet projections, which contributed to the company overall having a dismal fourth quarter in 2000. Bell Sports Canada has actually exceeded all sales projections, however, for the company as a whole it was necessary to reduce expenditures, and BSC is a sizable operation whose closure would offer immediate operating expense relief. Mr Vandenburg wanted to stress that Bell Sports "is NOT going out of business".

- Bell Sports will be refocussing on its core products - helmets. This means Rhode Gear and Hydrapack will be discontinued, the Blackburn line will be reduced to pumps, mirrors and racks, and Vistalite will become only flashers and headlights (all higher end systems will be discontinued). Thus, Bell and Giro (including Giro Wintersports) will continue, as will Co-Pilot strollers.

- All current stocks of discontinued lines have been discounted to dealers, and Mr Vandenburg says that the orders are "flying out of the warehouse". The sales reps, inside staff and current Canadian distribution center will be in operation until September 28th.

- As stated in our earlier posting, 85 staff will be let go, in Canada and the U.S. Mr Vandenburg has been offered a position with the U.S. head office, and is currently making a decision about relocating his family to California.

- We also spoke with Rock Shox's Rene Cormier, Communications Manager, who expressed disappointment at the news. "Bell Sports Canada has been one of our strongest international partners, and they will be hard to replace." Rock Shox is holding meeting to determine what their future strategy will be in Canada, and hopes to have preliminary plans in place by next week.


Report From World Cup DH #2 - Vars, France

Hi, just a quick note from Vars, France. The DH course here is "easy" as most riders put it, but they also say that it is fun to ride and you can't make any mistakes because the times will be so close. Cedric Gracia is testing the dual course as I type...it needs a bit of work but it looks promising. Periods of hard rain rolled in today, and is expected to continue throughout the weekend. If it rains, I have my money on Gracia to win both the DH and Dual.

Cheers from France,
Warwick Patterson
www.MTBFilms.com


Volunteers Needed for Dieppe Track
Courtesy CCA

The construction of the velodrome is going well (www.atlanticcyclingcentre.com/Construction.htm), but we will need the support of many volunteers. We will have a major work day on Saturday, June 16, starting at 9:00 am. Everyone who want to give a little bit of their time is welcome. We will also welcome your help in the following days.

For more details, contact the Centre's office at 877-7809.

Besoin de bénévoles

La construction du vélodrome avance à grand pas (www.atlanticcyclingcentre.com/Construction.htm), mais nous aurons besoin du support de nombreux bénévoles. Nous ferons donc une foire aux bénévoles le samedi 16 mai 2001 à partir de 9 h. Tous les gens voulant donner un coup de main par la suite sera aussi bienvenue à chaque jour.

Pour plus de détails, communiquez avec le bureau du Centre au 877-7809.