Speculation is rife that Canadian mountain bike component makers Race Face have closed their doors. According to UK industry website BikeBiz, staff have confirmed the business is in the process of being liquidated.
There's no word yet on the company's website or Twitter feed, and we've been unable to contact UK distributors Silverfish for comment.
However, a poster claiming to be John Pentecost, Race Face's marketing communications manager for protection and components, wrote on the Ridemonkey forum: “We've been told the company is going to be liquidated, and 90 percent of us are unemployed as of next week. They'll keep a few people on to assist with the liquidation.”
According to Canadian website NSMB.com, Race Face went into receivership some time ago after running into financial difficulties. The company were unable to reach an agreement with their creditors so, on Thursday, the receiver decided to shut down the 18-year-old business and lay off the majority of the 60-strong workforce – 30 in Vancouver, Canada and another 30 in Asia.
Reasons for Race Face's apparent financial difficulties are unclear. The order book was reported to be strong and only last month they announced they'd signed a two-year sponsorship deal with freerider Aaron Chase. Known for their cockpit kit and CNC machined cranks, the company are big players in the OEM market, supplying bars, stems, seatposts and suchlike for complete bikes from many big brands.
Speculation spread like wildfire via Twitter and online forums after Chris Armstrong from WhistlerMountainBike.com tweeted "Rumors confirmed. Race Face is closing their doors" late on Friday. If the reports are true, the next step is likely to be the sale of either Race Face's assets or the entire business, which began life as an offshoot of Rocky Mountain Bicycles,
