After reading Cannondale's "open letter to the past, present, and future customers" that is on their website - I snapped. I am tired of management's apathy for the motorsports division and e-mailed this to them, in response:

Dear Cannondale,

As a very loyal owner of one of your "motorsports" products (2002 Speed), I am becoming increasingly concerned over the lack of information regarding the fate of the motorsports division. I just read the "open letter" from Mr. Montgomery where he referred to the "cash drain" of motorsports, the motorsports "project", and the "distraction of motorsports". It seems as though the management has turned their backs on all of the loyal motorsports customers and supporters. As an early Cannondale supporter and owner for nearly a year and a half (Speed #72), I am absolutely outraged. Many loyal owners of your product are quite concerned whether they will be able to get parts, service, or warranty work. Your company only seems too anxious to sweep the motorsports division under the rug and forget about it. Many owners of your product have backed Cannondale unconditionally - even through tough times of product recalls, updates, and warranty work. If it wasn't for the loyal Cannondale owners acting as your "salesmen", I don't think you would have sold half as many units as you did. Your advertising and marketing efforts were sparse and half of your dealers were clueless about what they were selling, how to service it, and which part was which. Many, many units were sold as a result of word of mouth, praise, and personal "test rides" from owners like myself. Your management is well aware of the impact of internet forums like atvconnection.com, cannondaleriders.com, and cannondaler.com which also helped to promote the products. In fact, Scott Montgomery used to visit those sites regularly. We haven't seen him around those parts for nearly six months. It wouldn't hurt to drop in and calm (or confirm) our fears with a little information.

How about an "Open Letter" to the motorsports customers of past and present to let THEM know what the FUTURE will be? I am quickly losing faith in a company that I once believed in. Without some type of update from Cannondale management, I can no longer support Cannondale Corporation. I will ALWAYS support the Cannondale motorsports product and vision.

Sincerely,

Dave Walnoha

 

Excellent post. I couldn't have said it better myself. Please post whatever reply you might receive.

--btolenti

 

I received a reply from Scott Montgomery yesterday. I waited a day to post the response until I got his permission to do so. Here it is:


Dear Dave -


Thanks for your e-mail, and for taking the time to tell us of your frustrations. We always appreciate frankness, and we're always grateful for the opportunity to respond.



To be honest, you make some very good points about our recent communications efforts, which do indeed appear to be geared primarily toward our bicycle customers. There are two basic reasons for this:



1.) During this very difficult time it is absolutely critical that our bicycle business maintains its positioning and momentum. A cold, analytical examination of our books shows that Cannondale's bicycle division has maintained profitability throughout our involvement with motorsports, while we were never able to generate a profit with the motorsports division. During this hectic, crazy time when the very future of the company could conceivably be at stake, economic necessity (to say nothing of our lenders and the bankruptcy judge) dictates that we pay greater attention to the profitable bike division and do our best to shore up confidence among our bike dealers and customers. We don't feel at all good about having to make this difficult choice, but our current situation (and a recently reduced workforce) requires us to make these very hard decisions.



2.) Operations of the motorsports division have been suspended, while the bicycle division continues to operate. What this logically means is that we're able to provide more updates regarding the status of the bike division, vs. the motorsports division, and that's why you've noticed more communication on the bike side of things about production staff returning to work, units shipping from the factory, etc. There simply isn't the same level of information to communicate about motorsports because those operations are suspended.



Jim, I apologize if the impression we've given is that we don't care about the motorcycle and ATV customers who have supported us. Nothing is further from the truth. You have been our staunchest supporters, and we will always, always be extremely grateful to you and our other customers.



And please don't think our lack of communication reflects a lack of action on our part. We are still answering tech questions at our 1 800 MOTO USA hotline. We are still shipping motorcycle and ATV parts to assist Cannondale owners and dealers. And finally, we are working feverishly to see that Cannondale Motorsports survives into the future under new ownership, which is probably the best way to honor the commitment and support that you and our other customers have shown us.



Thanks again for your e-mail, for your support, and for your ongoing patience. I'm optimistic that things will become clearer for us all in the coming weeks.





Sincerely,







Scott Montgomery

 

I dont know what to say[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]








Ill just wait and see what happens.

 

http://www.atvnews.com/output.cfm?id=184105

 

Thanks BSB,

That the most news I've heard in a long time.

 

this is what I want to know....

Your name is Dave, Right?


""""Jim, I apologize if the impression we've given is that we don't care about the motorcycle and ATV customers who have supported us. """"""


why in the hell did he call you jim?

 

I ve talked to Scott Montgomery several times in the last few weeks, he and his management team are doing everything they can to move forward. They got themselves in a really tight spot right now. Others would have just bleed the company dry and lined their own pockets. I really believe these guys are trying to do the best thing for their retailers and customers. I have a lot of respect for Scott for answering your letter, I ve done business with C'dale for over 20 years and they are good people.

We will all know a lot more in the next few weeks. I am hearing many rumors and they are not worth posting, when I know anything Ill post it.

 

Well, Shak, as it turns out JCV400EX (aka "Jim") forwarded my post directly to Scott Mongomery also, just to make sure that he got it. I'm sure that JCV added some comments of his own too! Scott sent the same reply directly to both of us and probably forgot to change the "Jim" to a "Dave".

 

I'm impressed.