BIKING WITH MERCEDES-BENZ
Partnership takes the high-end road
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes-Benz bike.
OK, that’s not quite how the song goes, but there may soon be cause for a locally updated cover version of the Janis Joplin classic — hello, Arcade Fire?
Montreal cycling company Argon 18 is partnering with Mercedes-Benz to offer a high-end road bike that will be in stores this fall.
“It’s a big step for us,” said Argon 18 president and co-founder Gervais Rioux, a former Olympic cyclist and three-time Canadian champion who has been steadily building his company since 1989.
“Mercedes-Benz is a company that makes nice cars. That they would choose to work with us is a big honour. They have had bicycles in their name before, but not bikes developed for Mercedes — they were bikes that already existed and that adopted the Mercedes name.
“This bike will be co-developed with Mercedes, which is what we wanted. In the beginning, they approached us with a request to license our bikes. But as the conversation progressed, they understood that the plan had to involve the two companies.”
Talks between Argon 18 and Mercedes-Benz began two years ago, when Argon 18 took part in a major bicycle convention in Germany.
“They saw our bikes and liked them,” Rioux explained.
The talks led to a four-year bicycle development deal between the two companies for the production of a range of high-end road bikes merging Mercedes-Benz’s “German design philosophy” and Argon 18’s expertise in cycling technology.
The partnership’s first product will be the Mercedes-Benz Style Endurance Bike, to be launched in the fall.
The silver-frame bicycle will feature a silver-black gradient saddle and a specially shaped fork to optimize vibration absorption and control balance.
Two models will be available, initially: the Ultegra and the Ultegra Di2, offered in six different sizes.
Future plans include a more performance-oriented model, integrating connectivity and “performance-software technology,” according to Rioux
“It’s a new way of thinking about bikes,” he said, adding that “when you create projects with other industries, you come up with ideas you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.”
The collaboration with Mercedes-Benz could have a big impact on the future of Argon 18, Rioux opined, and it’s good for their new partner, too.
“It will democratize the (Mercedes-Benz) brand and spread the Argon 18 name.
“We need that; we’re not yet a known brand.”
The Mercedes-Benz Style label was created in 2010 with the aim of “pushing the brand’s progressive design idiom and luxury standards to new frontiers,” according to the company.
“The bike blends perfectly with our sensual purity design philosophy, a marriage of emotion and intelligence,” said Martin Bremer, Mercedes-Benz Style’s senior manager of design creation brand experience, in a statement.
Argon 18 sells 12,000 bicycles per year, in over 80 countries, with 15 models ranging from upscale road bikes to track bikes, triathlon bicycles and competition bikes used in the Tour de France.
The Quebec company is leading the partnership with Mercedes, handling 75 to 80 per cent of the design and other technical aspects of the product line. But there is a good deal of back-andforth, Rioux said, noting that Argon 18 employees travelled to Germany this week for meetings about the project.
You won’t be able to buy the Ultegra at Mercedes dealerships. While there may be display models to tease curious customers, the bicycles will be sold at Argon 18 bike shops and associated retailers around the world, in the $5,000 to $6,000 price range.
The link between the companies could attract customers from both camps.
“People who love the Mercedes-Benz brand will be able to treat themselves to a bike with their car,” Rioux said. “And people who don’t own a Mercedes (car) can still have a Mercedes product.
Early demand is promising, he noted.
“Our clients everywhere have expressed interest. Our distributors have been buying them, and stores are passing along orders. We had a dealer in Geneva, Switzerland, who wanted to buy one right away.
“It’s that kind of a phenomenon. It will bring in people who didn’t know the Argon 18 brand. And they will get to know us — our logo will be on the bike.”
It’s a new way of thinking about bikes. When you create projects with other industries, you come up with ideas you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.