Mass Rider Layoffs As Pon ‘Pauses’ GT Bicycles

somebody has to step up and offer Wyn a post race interview gig.

Pinkbike should be trying to snap him up and take on WynTV for 2025 onwards. Maybe even evolve the format and get him teamed up with Cathro.

But if Pon have any sense they will slide Wyn (and Brage) across to SC or Cannondale sharpish. Probably SC, as they actually have a DH bike.

All the bike brands they own

I’d forgotten that Pon own Focus & Schwinn. They definitely have bike brands to spare, don’t they.

its got enough recognition that its surely worth flogging some catalog frames with the GT brand on them and making a few quid?

This was the case in the early 2000’s when GT was sold to Pacific cycles, GT bmx’s were then to be found in Walmart with all the other POS bikes

GT have has so many owners since Gary Turner sold up in 98,  in the BMX world GT has been seen as a low end brand ever since

my last GT was a 1994 GT Fueler

History of owners

1998 bought by Schwinn

2001 bought by Pacific cycles

2004 Dorel industries

2021 Pon holdings

GT also owned the following bmx brands at one point or another

Powerlite

Auburn

Robinson

Dyno

Given the recent heavy discounting at Santa Cruz and Reserve

I think this is normal for this time of year, best time to buy a Santa Cruz.

In the shadowed annals of Middle-earth, amidst tales of valour and despair, there lies an ancient prophecy, whispered by the winds through the forlorn forests and echoed in the caverns deep. It speaks of a time when the fate of realms would hang by the slenderest thread, woven not by the hands of elves or men, but by the capricious whims of sponsorship.

In the days of yore, when the world was still young, there came forth a rider of great renown, Hans Ray, whose feats upon the rugged peaks and treacherous trails were sung by minstrels and etched into the very stone of the earth. His steed, a noble contrivance of metal and wheel, bore the sigil of GT, a house of craft and innovation. Together, they conquered mountains, bridging the chasm between the realms of possibility and dreams.

Yet, in the shadows lurked a portent, a grim foretelling of doom and despair. It was said that should the bond between Hans Ray and the House of GT be severed, a darkness would descend upon the world of mountain biking, casting it into oblivion. The trails would grow silent, and the thrill of the ride, once a beacon of joy and freedom, would wither into forgotten lore.

As the prophecy unfolds, the absence of that storied sponsorship becomes the herald of calamity, echoing through the lands. The wheels would turn no more, and the mountains, once alive with the pulse of adventure, would stand in mournful silence. The end of mountain biking would be but the beginning, a harbinger of a greater end.

For in this dark vision, the unraveling of the cycling world would set forth a chain, a dread domino of despair that would spill into all corners of existence. The earth would tremble, the skies would weep, and the stars themselves would flicker and fade, as if retreating from the ruin wrought by broken ties and lost dreams.

Thus, the prophecy warns: when the wheel ceases to spin, and the rider is forsaken by his steed, a shadow shall fall, and the world, as we know it, shall follow into an unending night.

“I think this is normal for this time of year, best time to buy a Santa Cruz.”

Nothing normal about the depth of discounting, the number of models discounted, or the duration of the discounting for Santa Cruz or Reserve. Real distress signals.

Just found this history of the company which was written in 2008. When GT was already 36 years old.

https://sidewaysandfallover.blogspot.com/2008/07/history-of-gt-bicycles.html

It’s very detailed, I haven’t read it all I’m still at work.

Pon has become a bit of a graveyard for bike brands. Santa Cruz and Cervelo are run as proper bike brands with R&D, Marketing, etc. Cannondale and Focus seem to have some money thrown their way but not enough to enable them to really compete in the market place like they previously could. GT, Schwinn, Mongoose, Gazelle and Caloi are very poor versions of the brands they used to be. I wonder what the strategy is at Pon?

 

GT bikes were a dream bike when I started,   but more recently they seemed a much less attractive package.

The RTS and the LTS were hugely desirable but way beyond my reach.  More recent models have failed to catch my eye and more importantly my wallet.

Given the recent heavy discounting at Santa Cruz and Reserve
I think this is normal for this time of year, best time to buy a Santa Cruz.

To be honest I can’t remember Santa Cruz every being discounted. They used to sell everything they could make at full price or near enough. In the glory days of the Syndicate you couldn’t move in Sheffield for Santa Cruz bikes.

I picked up some Reserve wheels this year but I thought the discount was related to the DT Swiss hubs being updated. I’m happy with stone aged 350’s.

GT bikes were a dream bike when I started,   but more recently they seemed a much less attractive package.

The RTS and the LTS were hugely desirable but way beyond my reach.  More recent models have failed to catch my eye and more importantly my wallet.

I bought my first ever MTB magazine in the summer of 1996 and that month’s bike check was Steve Peat’s LTS-DH. My teenage eyes popped out of my little head. Plus all the MBUK team were riding them, then the STS and LOBO were things of beauty.

I still never got one because I was skint. By the time I could afford to buy my own bikes they were fizzling out a bit.

 

For me, I can sum up GT thus:

1) Wyn Masters’ excellent race coverage and privateer awards etc. This makes me possibly want to buy one – especially a cheaper gravity bike as a second bike.

2) Lifetime support of Hans Rey. I can appreciate it from a slightly non conventional sponsorship arrangement, probably won’t make me buy a bike.

3) The Athertons and Martin Maes were on them for a while, was it between commencal and trek? Was probably a (comparative) low point in the Athertons’ stellar careers, either that or it all just blurs into one.

I said something similar when Kona were in trouble, and when people were incensed that Ford had called the new electric car a Capri – something you lusted after decades ago which was good in its day but would be utter shite by modern standards, is no way to base your modern purchases or race team aleigances.

Hope they pull through, it would be sad to see them go. I always lusted after a Pro Performer in the BMX days but was well beyond my means.

Had a string of MTBs in the 90′ s though – Timberline, Zaskar, LTS, STS and recently bought a very tired LTS 2 with intention of resurrecting it (been sat in the garage for about 9 months!)

Would agree that they don’t seem that desirable these days (apart from the Fury)

I think this thread provides a great summary of the problem. Everyone wanted one 20 years ago and now no one does. Everyone had a rose tinted recollection of some of their classics. Alas investors dont care about rose tinted history, if no one wants to buy one then its either scale it down or throw money at it. PON have clearly chosen the first option.