NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia (BRAIN) — Wanting a pair of Race Face’s carbon Next cranksets has been a long, very long wait. It didn’t matter if you were a rider or an OEM, you took your place in line and waited.
That’s all set to change in March when the company brings its new carbon press and cutting stations on line. While the additions double the company's manufacturing power, Race Face president Chris Tutton said the changes will more than double its output.
“To switch between manufacturing the light or freeride cranks requires us to swap tooling, which slows things way down. Running two lines allows us to run both cranks in production at the same time if we want, which is a huge boost,” Tutton said.
The superlight $600 carbon cranks have been a hot aftermarket product for the company, but where things really came to a head was the success Race Face had selling 2013 Next cranks to OEM customers.
“There was no way to go out and sell Next to bike makers without having the production to support sales. And we were slammed with interest in both the cross-country and freeride versions from our OEM customers, so we have been planning this for a while,” he added.
Tutton expects the aftermarket wait to be cut, but given the OEM calendar much of the initial boost in production is heading to bike makers, with aftermarket getting its due when the riding season heats up.
