A copy of Cannondales "Open" letter to investors .

[Wickedfinger]

This is from Cannondales official websites investors info page ...

To our customers; past, present and future -

As you may already know, Cannondale announced on January 27th our plans to file to restructure our company under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. We also announced that we have suspended the operations of our motorsports division. We took this step in order to facilitate a financial restructuring that will eliminate the continuing cash drain associated with the motorsports division. While we complete the restructuring through the Chapter 11 process, our bicycle business will continue to operate without interruption. In fact, we are shipping bicycles and other cycling products, and we are servicing warranty issues, on a daily basis.

It is critical that you know that our bicycle division is not going out of business. Our goal is to preserve and strengthen our core bicycle business so that we can continue to produce innovative cycling products, just as we have throughout the duration of the motorsports project.

For our customers and dealers, our intention is that the filing will hardly be noticed at all. We have received a commitment for substantial post-petition financing from our lenders, and we expect this interim financing, which is subject to Court approval, to provide adequate funding for all obligations incurred after the filing, as well as our ongoing operating needs during the restructuring process.

We hope that the only difference you'll notice will be an anticipated improvement in our performance. With our interim financing in place, we're actually in a better position to order parts from our suppliers than we have been in recent months. As a result, we're looking forward to smoothing out our production and delivery of bicycles. Without the distraction of motorsports, we'll also be much more focused on bringing new, innovative technologies to market.

Many companies that have filed for reorganization - including Harley-Davidson, Macy's, and Toys 'R' Us - have strengthened their businesses and are performing very well today. We're very hopeful and optimistic that ours will be a similar success story. In the meantime, our plan is to provide our customers and dealers with the best possible service and support.

Thank you for your understanding, and for the many, many messages of support we have received.

Sincerely,




Joe Montgomery
Founder & President

... This is sad and it sucks - but I had an idea about this a few months ago when Team Nac's switched back to R's and LTZ's. The problem is ..... who's next???? - I say Arctic Cats or Bombardier's atv lines.

[ATCRYDER]

We took this step in order to facilitate a financial restructuring that will eliminate the continuing cash drain associated with the motorsports division

Yep. As we all figured.



...I dont think theres a "who's next?", Tejas. This whole thing makes me compare C-Dale to Tiger more and More. They tried a concept, did good for a little while.....and then the #'s started to show.

...Jsut think @ what those $12K C-Dales are gonna be worth in 10 years though :bounce

[Big Darn Mike C]

what are all those guys that threw down all that money for a C dale going to do when they need factory parts for their machines? Their are plenty of Cannondales out there, plenty around here anyway. Thats too bad, I think those are awesome machines and if i were a rich man I would snatch them all up right now.