K2 sold out????

[k2biker]

Who can tell us more about this merger with Iron Horse / K2? I just spoke with the customer service manager at World Wide Cycles and was informed that they will not honor any Pro-flex warranties and that all warranties are valid from the original purchase date.

For example, I bought a '95 Pro-flex 755 brand new and it carried a lifetime warranty.  Well, 3 years ago I found two cracks in the frame.  K2 honored that warranty and replaced the frame at no charge.  Now, with this merger, WWC would not have honored that because the orginal purchase date was more than five years ago.  

I'd be interested to see what others know and think about this matter.  Will this affect your fervor for riding, building, promoting K2?  I have (3) K2 frames at home -- a 98 Beast, a 99 Evo, and an 05 Zed 4.0.  I was about to build the Evo (it's basically brand new -- ridden 5 times) but I may now keep it under alarmed glass as a reminder of times gone by and wait for the highest bidder!

Now open for discussion......

Charles

**this posting was originally on mtbr.com under the K2 owners forum  http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=207210**

World Wide Cycle Supply and K2 Bike

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Hello all,

World Wide Cycle Supply, the owners of the Iron Horse bicycle brand, licensed the K2 Bike brand from K2 Sports last fall. In addition to myself, three other people who were directly involved in the development of K2 Bike at K2 Sports are still actively guiding the direction of the brand now under WWCS.

It is important for everyone involved that the identities of the Iron Horse and K2 Bike brands stay separate and distinctly different. The two brands' characteristics appeal to different types of riders and consumers, which is a prime reason why WWCS was interested in K2 Bike. You won't see any DW-Link equipped K2 Bike models in the future, and you definitely won't see any Iron Horse Razorbacks!

It's not viable to build Razorbacks anymore due to the custom pull-shock design that it's based on. Noleen no longer exists as a bicycle suspension supplier, and Fox is no longer making their custom Float shocks for the Razorback design.

The 2006 K2 Bike Apache frame design could be thought of as a modern, longer-travel successor to the Razorback that uses standard shock mounting hardware. See other threads in this forum positive feedback from previous Razorback riders who have made the switch.

Regarding service parts availability for Proflex and K2 Bike designs, we'll try to keep everyone riding and smiling for as long as we can. Keep in mind that the older a bike gets, the less likely parts will be available to service it - true for nearly every bike company.

I'll see what we can do to help the Razorback owner in the other post, and reply to him there. As others have noted on this forum, Tom B. of WWCS has been very helpful in taking care of many others who needed help and parts to keep their old bikes running smoothly.

Regards,
T.K. Malone
K2 Bike
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[jimbo]

Not surprising.  I always tell my clients to buy the name or assets only.  Never buy the stock.  If you buy the stock then you also buy the liability.

However what that means is that there is a company out there that still has the liabilities.  The issue is whether the old company has the resources to honor any liabilities.

[rapiddescent]

I'm in touch with TK by the way and I am trying to develop a plan to be able to continue to get parts out for proflexes.

It seems that the proflex parts didn't make it over when K2 sold the bike business.  As I see it (apart from cracked frames) the frames only need replacement elastomers (or coils) and gear hangers over time...

callum
rds

[kiwi]

we(proflex wc owners) will need pivot bearings and strut bearings,the forks use crosslinks bits dont they ?