Mountain Biking - Just admiring K2's handiwork..

Kleinmp99 and I were just discussing how nice this bike looks....YOWWW!!

We sure were. Keyword "looks":D

Como se dice, "Turner Stinger"????

Nice lightweight XC bike. Not my cup-o-tea!

L8R

There's a guy at the races all the time with that bike and i see him a lot at the trail. If you want i'll get a ride report on that and see just how it works

Originally posted by PeterG1185
There's a guy at the races all the time with that bike and i see him a lot at the trail. If you want i'll get a ride report on that and see just how it works

Sounds like a plan to me

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
Como se dice, "Turner Stinger"????

Nice lightweight XC bike. Not my cup-o-tea!

L8R

Very true...K2 Licensed the design from Turner...A very nice lightweight bike. Perfect for those long climbs.

Bikes are getting more beefier with more trave which are a lot of funl but when you are doing a very long climb, you still can't beat a light XC bike.

A bit off topic, but where is K2 building their bikes these days? When I was a kid in high school I worked at K2 making skis. They've moved their ski factory to China. K2 was the only large employer in the area. From what I understand, a lot of people were dumped on their behinds when K2 pulled out. I was disappointed in the company, but pulling out of the U.S. seems to be one of the trends of big business.

Companies do what they have to do to survive and thrive. Don't blame K2. Blame the government for not making it profitable to stay in the country.

You're right, EVERYONE manufactuers in China, Taiwan or anywhere that is alot cheaper than here. They are now also moving white collar offices overseas for tax purposes.

It can work in the USA, look at Cannondale, but they also charge a bit more than the competition. Oakley is another example, but they don't depend on a big labor force.



A little off topic so back to the Razorback. I hear it is a great XC bike and the people I know that ride one rave about it.

Just to add a quick note! Cannondale is currently if a financial fiasco. Due primarily to their motorcycle division, but that's another story. Time will tell if Cannondale can survive!

L8R

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
Just to add a quick note! Cannondale is currently if a financial fiasco. Due primarily to their motorcycle division, but that's another story. Time will tell if Cannondale can survive!

L8R

While I personally don't like or even ride canondales (only tested) I would hate to see them go. Every industry needs one weird company pushing the envelope for development to help bring other companies up.

They are selling older versions of the K2 Razorback at ediscountbike. (http://www.ediscountbike.com/edbikestore/showdetl.cfm?&DID=1&User_ID=344621&st=8730&st2=162917936&st3=78575255&Product_ID=341&CATID=1) Not a bad deal. I had a friend that raced this bike for a year as part of a sponsorship deal and loved it.

K2's headquarters are on Vashon Island here in Washington.

[i]

...K2's headquarters are on Vashon Island here in Washington. [/B]

Vashon is my home town. Talking with some of the "homeys" there has revealed that K2 pulled the plug and left a couple of years ago.

Bummer, yet another company abandons Washington. I wonder if their bike division is still in the area?

Originally posted by RacerX

You're right, EVERYONE manufactuers in China, Taiwan or anywhere that is alot cheaper than here. They are now also moving white collar offices overseas for tax purposes.



Unfortunately this is very true. I work in the technology department at a financial institution and they are starting to outsource much of the work to companies in India. Many companies are starting to do this in order to save money so who knows what the future holds.

Originally posted by Joe Pozer


Unfortunately this is very true. I work in the technology department at a financial institution and they are starting to outsource much of the work to companies in India. Many companies are starting to do this in order to save money so who knows what the future holds.

Joe, your experience mirrors my own. I used to work for a large bank back home in Johannesburg (Lotek also worked there) and the decision was made to approach an Indian company to take over some of the core IT systems, in particular, the ATM system (cash dispensers). The company put it's proposal together, gave full cost analyses, were prepared to relocate 50 software developers from Bombay to manage the project, etc, etc. What they could not do was give unconditional service level agreements to maintain cash machine uptime in excess of 99.8%. In short, we'll bill you for a reduced service. The number of people they proposed was laudable for such a project, but when compared to the *two*people who developed and maintain the system, the numbers looked very suspect. The principal involved was cheap labour. We saw some of the CVs involved. Most were educated to masters level. Often, there is no substitute for local knowledge and operating conditions.