Bicycles

Rad Power Bikes Corporate Office

Mike Radenbaugh was just a teen in Garberville, California, when he began making motorized and electric bikes in the family garage.

It took Mike about 6-months of trial and error before he was able to create an electric bike, with speeds of up to 35MPH, that didn’t fry wires or burn out the battery in minutes. He called his creation Frankenbike.

Today, Radenbaugh is the CEO of the Seattle-based company Rad Power Bikes. In 2019, the company had reached $100 million in sales.

The company’s best-selling bike, Rad Runner, retails for slightly less than $1,200, has extra fat, wide tires to absorb shock, and can reach speeds of 20MPH, which means that no license, no plates, and no permits of any kind are required.

The battery pack is no larger than a loaf of bread. It takes about 6 hours to fully charge and it has a range of 20-30 miles.

Despite the booming business, the company was forced to lay off about 100 employees in April 2022.

Rad Power Bikes was also hit with a lawsuit after a 12-year-old girl died from head injuries after she was unable to stop her electric bike.

Rad Power Bikes maintains a corporate office in Seattle, Washington.

Raleigh Bicycles Corporate Office

Founded in 1885, Raleigh Bicycles got its start when Richard Woodhead and French immigrant Paul Eugene Louis Angois, set up a small bicycle shop on Raleigh Street in Nottingham, UK. The company was incorporated in 1888 when the shop was acquired by Frank Bowden. By 1913, Raleigh was the biggest bicycle company in the world.

Raleigh is the oldest bicycle brand in the world. From 1921 through 1935, the company also produced motorcycles and three-wheeled vehicles.

After WWII, the company was best known for making lightweight bicycles that were superior to other brands. The Raleigh Sports Roadster was exported around the world.

By 2003, assembly of bicycles had ended in the UK , and bicycles were to come “from Vietnam and other centres of ‘low-cost, high-quality’ production.” The final assembly takes place in Germany.

In April 2012, Raleigh UK, Canada and USA were acquired by a separate Dutch group, Accell for $100 million.

The corporate office for Raleigh Bicycles in the USA is located in Kent, Washington.

Detroit Bikes Corporate Office

Detroit Bikes was founded by current CEO Zak Pashak in 2011. After losing a bid for office in his native Canada, Pashak took a trip to Detroit, where he saw a future in bicycles for a very urban environment.

The company designs and builds bicycles in Detroit, Michigan, with parts made in Asia. While some companies are selling cheaper bikes, Pashak says that not everyone is interested in the cheapest possible bicycle they can buy. Pashak says that his bikes cost more, but they are better built because they are built in the USA.

The company also makes custom bikes for clients and Pashak says he makes about 150 bicycles every day. This CEO is perhaps one of the few who thinks that Trump’s tariffs on imported goods are a great idea, mainly because his bikes are American made.

The company uses an old warehouse for assembly and design. Headquarters are located in Detroit, Michigan. In 2016, the company lost $150,000 but Pashak believes that the bike industry as a whole is looking up.

Schwinn Bicycles Corporate Office

Schwinn Bicycle Company was originally founded as Arnold, Schwinn and Company in Chicago, Illinois, in 1895 by Ignaz Schwinn and financial backer Fredrick Arnold. Before the automobile, bicycles were common and Chicago was the heart of bicycle manufacturing.

By the early 1900’s, however, bicycles fell out of fashion and sales declined to about 25% of their previous high. Schwinn survived by acquiring competitors and building a state of the art manufacturing facility.

In 1954, the company introduced the “Corvette” bicycle, a style that was so popular, it continued to be made for the next 10 years. In 1963, however, sales for the Corvette hit rock bottom when the Sting Ray model was introduced. The Sting Ray remained the #1 selling bicycle for the next 20 years, however, tastes were changing and people were more interested in streamlined bicycles and, later, mountain bikes.

Schwinn encountered serious problems including unionization of workers, steep inflation, and cheap imports from other countries. In September 2001, Schwinn and GT were sold at a bankruptcy auction to Pacific Cycle.

The company currently sells two styles of bicycles under different names through a variety of retailers, such as Walmart and Target.

Schwinn hopes to win over new customers with the introduction of a new electric bicycle.

Due to the increased popularity of bicycles during the coronavirus, Schwinn created an indoor bike that cost one third of the popular Peloton.

Company headquarters are located in Madison, Wisconsin.

Huffy Bicycles Corporate Office

Huffy Bicycles was founded in 1892 when George Huffman moved his sewing machine factory to Ohio and decided to build his first bicycle. When George’s son, Horace, took over the firm in 1924, he began selling bicycles under the name “Dayton.” In 1949, the company created a children’s bike called The Huffy Convertible. All bicycles afterward were called Huffy.

The company did well in the 1980’s and grew substantially, however, they had trouble breaking out of the entry-level price market with their bicycles. In the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, athletes rode on Huffy bicycles.

By the 1990’s the company was in serious financial trouble and closed their US-based plants. All bicycles were then made in China.

In January 2020, Huffy partnered with the Children’s Miracle Network and will match donations to offer bicycles and scooters to sick childrenand their families.

The coronavirus of 2020 has caused bicycle sales to skyrocket.

Today, manufacturing is still done in China, with the design, development, and marketing all performed in Centerville, Ohio.