BENTONVILLE, Ark. (BRAIN) — Allied Cycle Works named Drew Medlock chief executive officer, replacing Brendan Quirk, who served in an interim capacity since September 2019.
Medlock has been president of Moots Cycles since August 2017. Before joining Moots, he was vice president of U.S. business development for Canyon Bicycles. Previous to that, he was general manager for bike at Backcountry.com.
Quirk and Medlock worked together at Competitive Cyclist, which Quirk founded and later sold to Backcountry. Afterward, Medlock went to Canyon and Quirk, after a stint as North American president of Rapha, joined Allied.
"Allied is a great fit for both professional and personal reasons," Medlock said. "I'm excited about this opportunity because it allows me to combine everything I've learned in my career about e-commerce with my experience in domestic frameset manufacturing. The added benefit is that now we're just a few hours away from our extended family in Texas and Missouri.
"The company is fully settled into its new factory in Bentonville. The team has done an exceptional job managing COVID-related volatility and has an ambitious strategy and ample liquidity needed for serious long-term growth."
Quirk will return to his previous role as cycling program director for the Runway Group, a Bentonville-based organization founded by Steuart Walton and Tom Walton — part owners of Allied and Rapha— to drive economic development and quality-of-life initiatives in northwest Arkansas.
"Drew and I have had the opportunity to work together for several years — starting in 2006," Quirk said. "His capabilities are incredible, and he'll bring so much strength to Allied in terms of marrying up our product pipeline, digital experience and manufacturing process. We consider ourselves deeply fortunate that he's joining the Allied team."
Founded in 2016, Allied Cycle Works manufactures carbon fiber gravel and road frames.
