A black day for Blackspire?

No. Not something I'd consider getting into.

Pretty sure I had one of their crowns/arches so that I could run a Gazzi 3.0 tire in my Marzocchi fork...

Sucks.  Been running their TrailX, Der Guides and chainrings on various bikes for the past decade.  In fact I just built my latest bike with a TrailX 2.0 guide and oval NW ring. 

If someone buys theit TrailX and TrailX 2.0 guide set I'll buy a few off you. Same with NW 104 BCD and NW SRAM DM rings.  30-32t round or oval.

Bought a box of 18 big slim pedals. If anyone needs pedals LMK.

I still remember when Dave Weagle claimed they made everything in Taiwan... "There's a Vancouver in Taiwan? I had no Idea" was his quote when someone said their stuff was made in Delta.. It was the quote in my old sig..

Ha!  

I wonder where he had all his Evil frames that were always breaking made.

I found an old Blackspire bashring  in my old parts bin yesterday evening. I probably got it about 20 years ago. 

It had a rather loud MADE IN CANADA marking on it. Pretty cool!

It was all dirty and sad, so I cleaned it up very well and put it back in there. :)

Posted by: FthisNewForumIsAnnoying

I still remember when Dave Weagle claimed they made everything in Taiwan... "There's a Vancouver in Taiwan? I had no Idea" was his quote when someone said their stuff was made in Delta.. It was the quote in my old sig..

he also never won a lawsuit....

Posted by: FlipSide

I found an old Blackspire bashring  in my old parts bin yesterday evening. I probably got it about 20 years ago. 

It had a rather loud MADE IN CANADA marking on it. Pretty cool!

It was all dirty and sad, so I cleaned it up very well and put it back in there. :)

Twenty years is a good term. Considering that there won't be any new ones, it's better to preserve :)

I didn't realize Blackspire still made such a variety of stuff until I saw all the Facebook Market place ads of people trying to flip boxes of the stuff that they purchased at the sale.

Blackspire were one of these brands that always made decent enough stuff and local, yet due to a seemingly lack of marketing were off most people's radar and weren't deemed 'cool'. 

Blackspire chainrings were great for Shimano cranks back when front derailleurs were a thing. They'd just bolt on to any Shimano crank, whereas Shimano wanted people to stick with the exact model of Shimano ring for the crank, and if you wanted to install another Shimano one (i.e. the one that you have in stock....), you had to file down the ring tabs or crank spider.

Posted by: trumpstinyhands

Blackspire were one of these brands that always made decent enough stuff and local, yet due to a seemingly lack of marketing were off most people's radar and weren't deemed 'cool'. 

I think it goes beyond just a lack of marketing or the cool factor--its just hard to make money in the industry. I'll group Blackspire together with eNVy, Straitline, and let's say Kooka. Local, decent/boutique level gear, and none of these exist today making MTB components. I think it goes to show how hard it is to penetrate into the MTB market and become a sustainable player. These guys all made quality parts that helped solve a problem in the sport at the time, but as the industry grew and innovated these companies ran out of steam to continue on in an economically feasible manner. 

You can probably put Syncros in a similar boat as well. They are an established brand again now, but only after several ownership changes and share nothing from the og Syncros aside from the name. 

I give tons of credit to a company like OneUp for being able to continue to evolve, problem solve, and create/recreate a niche for themselves in a crowded marketplace. A company who's singular focus was expander cogs, when the SRAMano engineered and surpassed what OneUp were able to offer I would have thought that was nail in the coffin time.

^Yep I agree with that too. As much as I try and support the little guys, part of me thinks that the industry would be healthier if we went the way of Moto and had far less brands and choice. So many brands come and go.

That said, brands that manage to create 'stoke' these days seem to be fairing better. NSB are a good example of a brand that seemed similar to Blackspire for ages, just existing and creating useful consumable parts, but recently expanding into new lines and having a much bigger marketing presence. Chromag wouldn't be were they are today if they were based in Edmonton and never created a buzz around the brand. Wasn't (isn't?) Straitline an engineering company that made bike parts more as a passion project, like Dark Cycles, and on a different scale Thomson? 

I'd say OneUp became a success initially because they found a good niche that saved people a lot of money, and with good marketing became a 'brand of the people'. These days they sell much better functioning products, sell at similar pricing to competitors, yet successfully maintain the same image. Plus have significant financial backing ;)

Posted by: UFO

I give tons of credit to a company like OneUp for being able to continue to evolve, problem solve, and create/recreate a niche for themselves in a crowded marketplace.

For anyone who wants to be successful in pretty much any area, this would easily rank in my top 3 factors/attributes. People or organizations that can't/won't do that, even large ones, tends to die.

Posted by: UFO

Posted by: trumpstinyhands

Blackspire were one of these brands that always made decent enough stuff and local, yet due to a seemingly lack of marketing were off most people's radar and weren't deemed 'cool'. 

I think it goes beyond just a lack of marketing or the cool factor--its just hard to make money in the industry. I'll group Blackspire together with eNVy, Straitline, and let's say Kooka. Local, decent/boutique level gear, and none of these exist today making MTB components. I think it goes to show how hard it is to penetrate into the MTB market and become a sustainable player. These guys all made quality parts that helped solve a problem in the sport at the time, but as the industry grew and innovated these companies ran out of steam to continue on in an economically feasible manner. 

You can probably put Syncros in a similar boat as well. They are an established brand again now, but only after several ownership changes and share nothing from the og Syncros aside from the name. 

I give tons of credit to a company like OneUp for being able to continue to evolve, problem solve, and create/recreate a niche for themselves in a crowded marketplace. A company who's singular focus was expander cogs, when the SRAMano engineered and surpassed what OneUp were able to offer I would have thought that was nail in the coffin time.

I went to B.C.I.T. with the son of the owner of Straitline, he had the most tricked out DJ bike to commute in with lol. At the end of the day you've got a machine shop with the best of the best mills/lathes. Are you going to use up spindle time making stems or aerospace parts? It was a passion project that never went anywhere for good reason.