AMERICAN BICYCLE GROUP rides into future

Litespeed, Quintana Roo maker shifts to Chattanooga location

American Bicycle Group is riding one of the biggest investments in the company’s history into a facility that its chief says positions the maker of road and mountain bikes for the future.

The company that’s behind Litespeed and Quintana Roo bicycles has moved from its longtime Ooltewah location to a production facility just off Amnicola Highway near Chattanooga State Community College.

Peter Hurley, the company’s chief executive, said the new headquarters is about 37 percent larger at 40,000 square feet and houses production, assembly as well as corporate offices.

The timing of the move is right as the high-end bike maker readies for the 2017 model year and preps for what the CEO calls “a shifting marketplace.”

“It’s all changing rapidly,” he said about meeting customers’ needs. “It’s a lot more complicated.”

In the future, Hurley said he sees the company staying more in touch with consumers when it comes to individual preferences such as colors, wheels, and components “so it’s exactly as the customer wants it.”

About $1.7 million was invested into the move to the building, 49 percent of which is owned by the company’s management team while Hurley holds the remainder.

Hurley said the home office, which formerly housed a wine distributor, also will hold warehousing for the company and enables those operations to shift from Los Angeles to Chattanooga.

“Shipping and receiving will expand,” he said as he walked through the space

STAFF PHOTOS BY DAN HENRY Peter Hurley, CEO of American Bicycle Group, stands in the showroom at its new location off Amnicola Highwa. The company makes 30 different models between its two brands, ranging in price from $1,800 to $10,000.

Zack Pendergrass applies labels to a 2017 Kuiwa at American Bicycle Group.