xprezo - rip

they've been struggling for a bit, so this isn't terribly surprising, but still a shame to see one of the last canadian built bike co's close shop. i'll lovingly ride my adhoc into the ground.

Passion and a dream to create and handcraft unique products, here in the unbelievably beautiful Bromont, with a team of passionate artisans, what more would you wish for ?
A flexible working schedule, in a motivating environment for a business with great ethics and values, could be considered, by many, an achievement itself.
12 years of hard work, trials and errors, questioning that lead to small victories, we proudly made it. With every summer that passed, we've found ourselves investing more funds and more time to come up with better business plans to seek additional funding, with hopes to reach our somewhat humble goals.
The exhausting pace and never ending days would keep bringing scarce business and limited financial resources.
Despite all the positive feedback of satisfied customers, exploitation costs as well as current distribution and sales models will never make the kid's dream of building unique bikes, here in Bromont, a sustainable project.
Over the past year, potential business partners and investors sent a clear message : the risks and challenges are not worth it.
Looking back, I must admit I may have been the biggest lunatic for trying so hard to produce bikes that were 100% hand made in Quebec. The bicycle industry is a very competitive one and the constant need to come up with new and different standards to lure the customer into consuming more, new products, is it's greatest affliction.
And so I want to thank all those who have trusted us and our products, all the employees, ambassadors, athletes and all those who contributed, directly or indirectly, to making the XPREZO venture such a great ride.
We once dreamed of producing locally crafted mountain bikes, Now it's time to take our passion on a more rational project.
See you out in the trails ;)
Hugo

The bicycle industry is a very competitive one and the constant need to come up with new and different standards to lure the customer into consuming more, new products, is it's greatest affliction.

Accurate and awful. What a shame that Xprezo couldn't make it work. Their aluminum front triangles and chromo rear ends were a great idea, built to last. They probably would have sold more DH frames if their design wasn't straight up single pivot.

so sorry to hear man. i met some people who were passionate about these bikes. i also met the owner of another small(ish) bike company who while excited about their business, shook his head in near fear about the pressure to change and be on trend or fade away. sounds a lot like the clothing industry.

Was this not their 2nd attempt with the business , where they not known as a different company in the 90,s( name slips me ) and had issues and regrouped under this name ?

Was this not their 2nd attempt with the business , where they not known as a different company in the 90,s( name slips me ) and had issues and regrouped under this name ?

Balfa

That's a bummer. Hopefully the guys can parlay that creativity and craftsmanship into something that's economically viable. The full suspension bike market is a tough, constantly chaning model and when it comes down to it the big guys have the infrastructure and the resources overseas. I think locally made steel can and will still have a place for hardtails, urban bikes and bmx tho. In fact I recently rode an aluminum frame city-bike I built up on the cheap and my body may never recover from the hunk of shit. Steel is real it seems.

appalache came after balfa. though i believe was the product of another balfa alumni, jerome.

random: danny hart used to ride these when he was but a wee lad:

Balfa

yeah that,s the name Balfa Annie came to mind after thinking about it longer LOL

Hugo and I were bouncing ideas off each other just a short while ago. I wanted to see him make a 150mm slack 29er and a 160mm version of the Adhoc that was slightly slacker and longer.

He was really trying to get some investors involved to save/grow the brand, but alas, its a hard go.

As much as some people like myself liked the product, as many people were turned off by the look and even the thought of using steel on a bike. Taking a minute to think about the stiffness, durability, and respectably low weight of a steel rear end makes it seem worthwhile. Amongst a sea of broken carbon frames, I'm surprised the idea wasn't more widely accepted.

I've owned 4 Balfas, an Appalache, and 3 Xprezos. This may have been my last from those Frenchies. :(

I wanted to see him make a 150mm slack 29er(

a 29er adhoc would rock.

i think they're rad bikes, but compared to the current flock of plastic wonderbikes, they're a bit unrefined. add the cost of local production and its a tough sell. alas.

Hugo and I were bouncing ideas off each other just a short while ago. I wanted to see him make a 150mm slack 29er and a 160mm version of the Adhoc that was slightly slacker and longer.(

:( Indeed.
8.5x2.5 LT 29er would've been good to see

I still want a balfa 2step

Bummer…we love our Xprezos…still hope I can find a couple of linkage rebuild kits.
Best of luck to Hugo and team.

ah, that sucks. great bikes and very progessive designs. is anyone making production bikes in canada anymore?

i just sold my adhoc but i really grew to like that bike. i think i would have kept it for years if i'd stayed in vancouver

Bummer…we love our Xprezos…still hope I can find a couple of linkage rebuild kits.

i found a website that purports to sell them

http://cyclesxprezo.bigcartel.com/product/rebuild-kits

but you can't actually buy anything. anyone know a source?