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Bell/Fox Future?
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That explains why Fox is declining so quickly. 2 new owners within 2 years is awful. My 11 year old son the other day told me he would never wear Fox because that's what old guys wear. Having grown up in the 80s &90s I couldn't believe my ears. But he's right. Nobody under 20 wears Fox.
I'l bet it sucks to be working there. Private equity guys usually aren't worried about a pleasant working environment. They'll load the company up with debt, cut the headcount to only the essentials, and work everyone to the bone to keep up with the new debt payments. Private equity is usually where brands go to die.
I think they're well beyond that point. The downfall of Fox/Shift Racing started years ago, and it really sucks. I have/had good friends inside the company, one of which that had been let go early during all of this. It's sad, how many of us idolized anyone wearing the brand growing up?? Fox was the absolute pinnacle. Although not apples to oranges, but the same feelings when No Fear exited the game. It's a damn shame.
So many things are like this. They change hands, often without us noticing. JT Racing was a big one. But other markets too of course. Mongoose and redline in BMX, etc....
I happened to have a conversation with one of their product development guys recently. Didn’t talk about the working environment, but he seemed to enjoy his role. Seems they still have plenty of passionate people on their team.
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I worked for Moto-X-Fox (ya I'm old) from 79-83 and loved it, Geoff was very customer oriented and just a great person period. Example, I started in the middle of October and was told by Geoff that in December he closed for the week of Christmas but paid everyone, I not starting until late October, would not get paid until the following year if I was still there. Surprise, he still paid me and as a 18 year old kid this was greatly appreciated ! Just good people working there, all rider/racers, and Fox (Factory, see I'm old) was the same, Bob gave me a set of Fox 44mm forks one time (there's a story to that one). But just great people, then the boys sold and .....................it's not been the same, bean counters, their clueless on this industry and it showed.........and continues. A Couple of year later I went to work for Rocky (Tucker Rocky & Turn14 now) same thing, everyone rode motorcycles, they were enthusiast and knew what a counter shaft sprocket was ! Then they sold to a "corporation" and the rest is history as they say and that history is not so good ! Sad for me to see these once, family owned and run businesses, thriving, to suffer under the corporate umbrella of bean counters.
Didn’t Oakley have the same thing happen ?
Having grown up racing in the 90’s I always wore Fox t-shirts…Pacsun and folks who know nothing about moto ruined it..My son had some neighbor kids over the other day one was wearing a Fox t-shirt and all of them knew/loved Deegan.
I still like the Fox moto gear, just don’t wear the clothing anymore.
What do the young cool guys wear now? Asking for a friend
I'd like to know the answer to this as well. Fox is by far still the most seen MX brand I see while out and about with the regular masses. I definitely don't see Alpinestars or Fly or FXR much at all. And if you throw in the MTB crowd, they're really the most seen.
As a 20 year old woman who is a die hard fan of the sport, but doesn’t ride, i would say fox makes the coolest kits, thor being the exact opposite(all though their SD kit is really cool). It sucks that fox is going through this.
I worked at the Tucker Rocky warehouse in Maryland in 1987
Fast house
That answer seems to vary quite a bit track to track. I actually counted while at a race in the spring and during the practice session I counted for FXR outnumbered all other brands combined about 8:1. Only reason I counted is I remember being on the FXR train before they actually gained popularity in the moto world. But other tracks I go to seem to be a bit more variety, with FXR and Fox probably being the 2 most popular depending where I go.
Almost 9 times out of 10 kids want to break style with their parents. Just human nature. As to the decline in quality of Fox Gear it has been blatantly obvious.
FXR is pretty hot across the board right now. The fast kids all wear 7 gear. And Alpinestars is coming on strong.
Gear boots and helmets are all about who will pay the most for the racers to wear it.
Over the years they all have had their time at the top.
A stars as well. Will be Thor if they keep Deegan
Your 11yo is probably right. I've worn FOX non stop since 1985 and probably will do till I can't ride.
Oh, and of course, I don't give a rat's ass about what 11yos think and probably wouldn't be caught dead in what they wanna wear (especially if they dig FLY or RXR)...
🤣
Pit Row
I liked the flexair Fox stuff a few years ago. I wear their mountain biking stuff. Son wears the moto stuff (he’s three). Quality seems fine. It’s always a red flag when VC comes in, but they are there to make money, so passion projects get killed and the revenue generators get the resources.
To me, it’s hard to compete with Alpinestars, where the owner is an enthusiast and they don’t seem to put profit first. This typically works out best for the consumer if they can stay in business.
Through thick and thin (literally) O'NEAL for life here.
Here is the press release…
For the second time since 2022, Fox Racing will have new owners, as Fox Racing and Bell Helmets—along with other brands such as Giro, Bushnell, Stone Glacier, Camelback, Sims and more—were sold to private equity firm Strategic Value Partners.
Here is what Elon Musk has to say about MBA’s – that by and large run these private equity funds……I've seen this many times before. And Geoff Fox plays a fair amount of golf. He's just fine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH6Lum_W-Mk
I see FXR a lot and I'm in the Northeast. But to say Fox isn't trendy anymore would blow my mind. Tons of guys on the track in Fox. I guess I'll out myself as an old guy and say I still think Fox has great looking gear. I don't buy it anymore because it fits me so poorly. I have no ass whatsoever and the pants are so baggy on me. Guess I need to start squatting in the gym lol
This explains where Fox's focus will be going into the future and where they draw influence from. For every dirt bike sold there is 100 high end bicycles sold. Although that industry is going through its own turmoils post Covid bubble bursting. This changed a couple eyars ago, MTB first then MX.
You guys would be shocked to see the paltry sales numbers from Alpinestars, aside from boots of course. I live in an area that has tons of MTB tourists and they are mostly Fox and TLD sort of became an MTB brand also. I have said many a time I would never wear Fox again, but my bro works there so I guess free gear from anyone is acceptable.
If I am spending my own money on gear, at this point it will have to be TLD since Troy owns the company again. Maybe Pete Fox can rest control of Fox again and make it what it was.
Has Prado not got a Fox deal?
Stone Glacier was an amazing brand built from the ground up by enthusiasts too. It'll be interesting to see what happens to them with all this.
If i'm reading the press release correctly, all brands were purchased for around double what they were sold for two years ago. Sounds like all brands are doing well to me.
I have a couple of buddies who were Fox reps, one in the midwest region and the other in Austins territory. Both have since left the company but they saw it coming back in 18 that MTN bikes were coming on strong with sales as the team was having them do both sides bike and dirt. Then Covid catapulted mtn bike sales as well as the E Mtn bikes.
This was pretty neat info I read: Co-CEO's Nyman and Vanderbrink will receive $1.2 million in bonuses upon the completion of Vista’s strategic review. Four other executives at Vista Outdoor were granted $500,000 retention bonuses.
https://thedaily.outdoorretailer.com/news/brands-and-retailers/vista-outdoor-agrees-to-sell-revelyst-the-kinetic-group-to-two-buyers-for-3-4-billion/
Honestly, I'm embarrassed to associate with myself with Fox. Maybe I'm just a fanboi but Alpinestars is the star of the show now.
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