VITESS WHITE PAPER 2.0
Toronto, Canada: 29-March-2010
THE BIRTH OF A NEW BICYCLE MANUFACTURER
The DNA of a company is often rooted in its early stages of life. Events, relationships and
decisions shape the evolving business strategies but the initial vision often remains relatively
unchanged throughout the firm’s development. The following time-line provides insights into a
series of events that led to the birth of Vitess and the engineering, industrialization and market
launch of the Vitess carbon bikes and wheels.
Need for Speed
1990’s
- Julien Papon grows a passion for speed: fast cars, bikes and bicycles – the number of
wheels does not matter as much as the feeling of speed. From go-kart racing to upsizing
his bike’s engine and fine-tuning its gearbox, to relentlessly upgrading his MTB’s
components and improving its settings for the specific terrain of his Auvergne region’s
volcanic trails: it is all about going faster. He semi-competitively races MTB in Auvergne
(France) and he is an avid road cyclist. He absolutely loves ascending … and even more
so, descending the trail of the Puy-de-Dôme, the symbol of his region (any water-lover
will know Volvic-branded bottled water – this is the volcano on its label) and also one the
most famous étapes of the Tour de France, a generation of riders ago,
The Automotive Years
1999 - 2006
- Graduation from Ecole Nationale d’Ingenieurs de St-Etienne (M.Sc. mechanical and
structural engineering) and Ecole Centrale Paris (M.Sc. in management of industrial
systems),
- Goes through the Professional Engineer certification process and gets accreditation as
per Canadian regulation,
- Spends 7 years at a large Automotive Supplier and ends up heading the manufacturing
engineering operations for NAFTA:
- $100M+ in capital investments,
- Leads a team of engineers located throughout Canada, US and Europe,
innovating in advanced manufacturing process (laser welding, high-speed
stamping, precision molding …), product engineering and program
launch,
- Starts-up manufacturing plants for Honda/Acura, Chrysler, GM, BMW,
Ford, Audi and many other car companies,
Building blocks
2007 – Mid 2008
- Graduation from Kellogg School of Management and Schulich Business School (MBA),
- Runs an industrial equipment engineering and manufacturing firm,
- Advisory and deal sourcing for Foreign Direct Investment and Private Equity firms,
Prelude
June-September 2008
- Development of branding and distribution plan for a premium brand of carbon road bikes
in Canada and US,
- In-depth market research and competitive analysis (marketing, distribution channels,
engineering capabilities, customer service delivery, potential market positioning…).
- The project is not pursued because of supply issues. The lessons learnt and conclusions
are great: a major market is underserved but it will take a different type of bike
manufacturer to succeed: one that is built and run like a premium car company. Starting
from scratch with game-changing rules and an innovative approach to market is the way
that is chosen.
Research
October-Feb 2008
- The project is rebuilt around the concept of a stand-alone company with full control over
engineering, strategic partnerships, branding and market development.
- Analysis of industrial strategy with a team of advisors and “make or buy” decision for
carbon fiber processing → Outcome: strategic outsourcing for frame carbon processing,
(See Vitess White Papers 5.0 and 6.0 for more info)
- Analysis of carbon processing options and preliminary mock-up with tool & die specialist
Norbert Papillon; a French expert in the design, build and validation of tooling for the
automotive and aerospace industries, with a specific know-how in composite material
processing. → Outcome: Hand Wrapped Technology is preferred, (see Vitess White
Paper 6.0 for more info)
- Analysis of carbon fiber raw material and pre-selection of supply sources with material
specialist Florent Girard; a PhD in material engineering turned entrepreneur and founder
of a leading polymer and composite material engineering and trading firm → Outcome:
mix of Toray/Mitsubishi HM and VHM carbon fiber is preferred, (See Vitess White Paper
5.0 for more info)
- Initial product engineering for the frame-set based on market research data and
engineering & manufacturing choices,
- Review and short-listing of carbon processing sourcing options: discussions engaged
with 35 Taiwanese and Chinese companies (including Giant, Merida, Ideal, Martec,
TopKey, Karbona, ADK, EVO, X-Pace, Gigantex, etc…); based on our needs, only 10
were selected for an on-site audit - all 10 are carbon processors and none are trading
firms, which some bike companies still use today (See Vitess White Paper 5.0 for more
info).
- Creation of a 250-point sourcing audit checklist based on QS9000 protocols including
detail review of:
- Engineering capabilities,
- Manufacturing capabilities,
- Product Testing capabilities,
- Raw material expertise,
- Quality Assurance protocols and warranty history,
- Supply-chain & packaging,
- Management of innovation,
- Ability to handle our specific needs,
Strategic partnerships
March 2009
- Visit and detailed audit of 10 manufacturing facilities in Taiwan and China,
- Meet with ISO9001-certified Gigantex (owner of the Equinox brand, sold throughout
Taiwan) in Taiwan, the largest carbon processor of full-carbon wheels and cranks in the
world. (See Vitess White Paper 8.0 for more info),
- Agreement on the principle for our collaboration with Gigantex for the development of
high-end carbon rims re-using some of the Equinox assets,
- Meet and engage into in-depth discussions with Gigantex and their jointly-owned carbon
frame engineering and processing subsidiary (which was not on our short list),
- Detailed review of an R&D project that Gigantex and its frame subsidiary had been>
developing for more than year → Outcome: provides a very good ground as an
engineering starting point for our frame-set, key opportunity: reduce time-to-market
compared to the initial idea of developing a frame from scratch. The base R&D project is
very solid and is in line with our engineering and manufacturing basic needs, it just
needs to be modified and improved upon following our specific guidelines,
- In-depth and specific review of their testing and manufacturing processes,
Back in Canada:
- Sourcing decision: the company retained was not even part of our short-list but it was
the best ranking on our audit score-board. A niche carbon frame manufacturer with an
acute understanding of our business model and specific needs, an R&D project that can
serve as our base of engineering work, and the ability to deliver at the level of our quality
standards.
- Finite Element Analysis based on initial CAD models and preliminary results from
Taiwan. Done in France,
- Brand name selection: Vitess (from the French “vitesse”, which translates into “speed”),
- Preliminary review of partnerships with component manufacturers,
Development
April-June 2009
- Acros GmbH of Germany becomes our OE Partner for head-sets,
- Engineering collaboration between Vitess, Acros, Norbert Papillon, our frame carbon
processor: new head-tube with full-integration of expander-less headset from Acros, new
fork with internal 3k weave, modifications of tube section geometry and carbon lay-up,
integration of internal cable routing, etc…
- Agreement between Vitess and Gigantex for the development of a wheel collection with
carbon rim re-using some key elements of their Equinox line-up, including proprietary
tooling with specific carbon layup,
- Sourcing of 1st generation of hub/spoke combo,
- First round of fund raising completed,
- Tooling kick-off for exclusive Vitess frame-set,
- Business model reviewed and audited by a team from the Schulich School of Business
(York University, Toronto),
- Hires award-winning creative brand consultant Ian Hough as VP of Brand Development,
- Hires Joe Paonessa from creative agency Salt&Pepper for the development of key
brand visuals,
- Hires Leo Wang to facilitate the Asia-based strategic partnership activities and
manufacturing audits,
- Fi’zi:k of Italy (saddles) and Continental AG of Germany (tire mounts) become our OE
partners,
- Air shipment of prototype carbon wheels into Toronto, road testing starts,
July 2009
- 3T Design of Italy (bar, stem, seat-post) becomes our OE partner.
Testing
August 2009
- Lab testing for stiffness (head-tube, bottom bracket, single and double stays) and
preliminary EN14781 on RAW frames,
- Air-shipment of first rolling prototype into Canada (missing internal cable routing and
new head-tube) – start of bike road testing in Toronto: validation of ride characteristics
tracking, stiffness, comfort level,
September 2009
- First Pre-production bike in Canada: start of specific road testing for validation of headtube
stiffness (steering stability) and shifting performance,
- Final lab stiffness testing with new head-tube,
- Refinement of internal cable routing sleeves for improved shifting performance,
- 2nd generation head-set (sealed, low rise) from Acros,
- Shimano Canada becomes our OE partner,
- Project kick-off for a revised Vitess frame-set for a “Super Road Bike” to be launched
mid-2010,
October 2009
- Project kick-off for a Vitess Hard-Tail full-carbon MTB to be launched mid-2010;
leverage our road technology and adapt it to this high-performance MTB application,
Market launch
November 2009
- First Vitess bike delivered – was a pre-booking,
- Opening of Toronto Showroom,
- Air-shipment of first batch of series-production carbon wheels,
- Project kick-off for the second generation of carbon wheels (upgraded hub/spokes
combo, semi and full custom artworks).
You can download the pdf here