[CR]Licensing agreement between Huffy and Raleigh? Haven't a clue!

(Example: Humor)

From: "garth libre" <rabbitman@mindspring.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 18:29:08 -0500
Subject: [CR]Licensing agreement between Huffy and Raleigh? Haven't a clue!

I can understand why Raleigh would license its name to Huffy for increased profits, but wouldn't Raleigh suffer undue damage if Huffy started putting the Raleigh name on gas pipe, ugly trash? If Huffy wanted to break into the up-scale lightweight biz, then why not just invent a new upscale name and market under that. By the mid 80's, Raleigh was already starting to show signs of becoming insignificant in name recognition for those seeking a lightweight race machine, or even a trendy touring model. When I was looking for a new race bike in the early 80's, I rode everything I could in the many San Francisco stores, but I never even came across a single Raleigh model anything. There were Schwinn, Lotus, Centurion, Fuji, Sikai, Shogun, and Bianchi and others in the mid price group, and a handful of super bikes made by Japanese and Italian manufacturers, but no Raleigh shops on the scene. It seems by the mid early 80's a manufacturer needed a complete line of race bikes and touring bikes in all price steps. Huffy had only the worst reputation, and that's the price you pay for selling your wares to Sears and K-mart. At least Raleigh died a noble death, after a brave fight in the late 80's to be recognized for being a fine manufacturer. Many people even consider their current line of race bikes to be the best value around, I believe this just may be true for those looking for a great value on a 105 or Ultegra aluminum model. (OT final sentence) Garth Libre in Surfside Fl.