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Despite an economy that has crippled many consumer product manufacturers, Intense Cycles USA has held its ground thanks to increasing worldwide demand for its top-of-the-line mountain bike frames made in Temecula.
The declining value of the U.S. dollar has given one of the few companies still building bicycle frames in the United States a second wind, making its high performance bicycles more affordable overseas. Although its domestic sales have suffered, its foreign exports have increased to fill the gap and currently represent 60 percent of the company’s $5 million in annual sales.
“But we aren’t going anywhere fast,” said Jeff Steber, Intense Cycle’s high energy founding president and designer, whose biggest frustration has been an inability to tap expansion financing for small business in this economic climate.
Steber said he and his partner have exhausted all of their personal resources and so can’t take advantage of Intense Cycles’ strong brand recognition in its niche market, especially among downhill mountain bikers.
“We are running out of space. It is like a tight shoe. It is kind of restricting our growth,” said Steber.
Unable to invest in inventory, Steber said the company can’t produce frames fast enough to meet orders from retailers, with the result that customers have to wait up to two months for delivery.
“It seems to me they are selling every frame they make,” said Justin Christopher, director of sales and marketing for Jenson USA, with bicycle stores in Riverside and Corona. Christopher said demand is brisk for Intense Cycles mountain bikes even though they are among the most expensive, retailing for between $4,000 and $6,000.
“They have a good brand image in that part of the market. And that part of the market tends to be intensely loyal,” said Marc Sani, publisher of Bicycle Retailer, a national trade publication for the industry that is published in Laguna Hills.
‘Ferrari’ of bikes
“We are the Ferrari of mountain bikes,” said Steber. He said while many of his customers are well paid professionals, others are mountain biking enthusiasts of more modest means who will do whatever it takes to buy their “dream bike.”
“A lot have a bike on the roof of their car that is worth more than their car,” said Steber.
Steber points out that Intense Cycles is something of an oddity as a company that manufactures in the United States, rather than contracting with overseas factories. It is also a small player that has survived in a fiercely competitive market dominated by larger companies, he said.
Intense Cycles employs 38 people who turn out about 4,000 hand-crafted bicycle frames a year. The frames are sold to retailers across the nation and to distributors in 31 other countries.
The bicycle is assembled at retail shops, where other parts like the saddle, handlebars and gears are added to the Intense Cycle frame, a process that Christopher at Jenson USA said consumes about a day’s work by a shop employee.
seeking a loan
Steber said he has searched fruitlessly for a bank or government loan that would enable him to make the investment required to assemble complete bicycles at his Temecula factory. If he could offer retailers that convenience, he figures he could double or triple sales in a couple of years.
A high school graduate, he thrived in art, woodworking and metal shop classes, Steber got into bicycle manufacturing by way of his interest in extreme sports. He said he liked to ride mountain bikes but thought he could improve on the big balloon tires with suspension systems.
Suspension “put Intense on the map. That forged our spot in mountain biking,” said Steber. He started building bicycle frames in his garage in 1990, then moved to an industrial area of Lake Elsinore, then to Temecula in 2002.
Starting with aluminum tubes, the bicycle frames are designed on computers and cut by computer-controlled machinery.
Then the pieces are forged together by precision welders, some of whom come from the aerospace industry, Steber said.
Intense Cycles builds more than 10 models of off-road bikes, ranging in function from downhill racing to cross country.
Besides turning a profit, Steber said his goal is to provide jobs for his friends and neighbors and to partner with local businesses, such as a nearby company that paints all Intense Cycles bicycle frames.
shopping in china
Steber frequently jumps on what he calls his “soap box” to complain that “built in the USA” is losing its luster as this nation gives up its role in manufacturing to other countries.
“People aren’t being taught to build something with their hands anymore,” he says.
In November, Intense Cycles for the first time will start importing some of its bicycle frame parts from China, he said. He said China is equipped to help Intense produce the carbon fiber composite frames that are growing in popularity for mountain bikes because of their light weight and strength.
After an 18-month search, Steber said he was unable to find anyplace in the US where Intense could buy the carbon fiber composite parts cheaply enough to build frames that could compete on price with the frames of other mountain bike manufacturers who purchase their frames from Asia.
Also Steber said he could not get financing to buy the expensive technology he would need to produce the carbon fiber composite frames in-house.
But with an eye to retaining all of his staff, Steber said he intends to add more than half of the retail value of the carbon fiber composite frames in Temecula where the company will make all of the aluminum attachments and do the assembly.
Reach Leslie Berkman at 951-368-9423 or lberkman@PE.com