Factory Visit: A visit to Pivot Cycles in the USA

It’s a typical case of self inflicted liability. During the morning we were warned, not to take the desert too lighthearted. Now as I stand here, I’ve stopped sweating. No water left in my Camelback or body. The sun is burning, my eyes too, I try to concentrate. The light shade of a cactus offers protection, while I’m waiting for the group. Part of the group has already decided to go back. Why the hell didn’t I join them? The desert doesn’t seem to end. How long will this last? That is the question, that becomes more and more urgent with every meter.

The story starts 700 miles from here. Relieved, I enter the small passenger airplane in Monterey, California. A holiday-like road trip with Pivot-Cycles founder Chris Cocalis and marketing manager Lisa Cramton from the Sea Otter Classics to the airport was only the beginning of an exciting trip to Phoenix, Arizona, the Pivot Cycles headquarters.

Pivot Cycles is located in an industrial area of Phoenix. Here one can find the prototype workshop, the offices for development, as well as the manufacturing and storage department inside the unassuming building.

Chris Cocalis is head of the 2007 founded bike company, a man who looks back at a long history in the biking industry. At a young age, Chris made the difficult decision to end his studies after his degree in accounting and chose life in the bike business. He started with self initiated projects, the management of several bike shops, as part of the US Cycling Federation he went to a mechanics workshop. He started Titus Bikes with investors and gained lots of knowledge in the process. Over the years he turned into a real frame specialist as well as designing, developing and welding on his own.

Today one can find 34 employees working for Pivot Cycles. Several distribution channels make it easy to acquire Pivot bikes in over 30 countries.

Our company statement is “Performance Redefined” and this really drives our entire philosophy. We are always looking for ways to make the bike better. That may mean lighter, faster, stronger, better handling, more capable and of course a combination of all these things. In the end, we want our bikes to allow riders to have more fun and give them a higher level of capabilities when riding their Pivot.

Pivot is very honest: “My favorite bike is always the next one I finish”. This is what Chris Cocalis would say while walking through the holy halls. Or sometimes he would ask himself: “When does it end? Will there be a day when I wake up in the morning thinking we can’t make this any better?”. This hasn’t happened so far, which of course is due to the bike industry’s dynamics and progressiveness in construction.

Daniel Limburg, a very friendly and funny guy, a real man of principles. He only works with the contemporary model range unlike the developers. He is really keen on ensuring the products meet his own demanding requirements, and making sure that every selling argument is really true.

R&D and bike development.

So it’s no wonder that Pivot uses lots of energy when creating a new bike. Pivot focuses on performance, as well as on simplicity and long-lastingness. Development, prototyping and laboratory tests are all done in the USA.

The assembly & shipment of Bikes.

Sales & Marketing

Pivot Bikes are popular around the globe. The Phoenix headquarters coordinates all distribution channels as well as all dealerships. Shock Therapy is the distributor in Germany.

Testrides on the trails around Phoenix.

The terrain is a mixture of sand, stones and rough steps. 29ers can show off their benefits in roll-over performance, as well as offering more traction up – and downhill in sandy corners.

We went onto the trails the next day. 8 in the morning – that was the time we planned to start our trail, but of course we failed with sticking to that. We eventually started at 9am: A tour with torture. The 30 km long lap created plenty of difficulties one couldn’t have seen beforehand.

If you crash and you have the choice between a nice looking green fuzzy bush and a pile of rocks – pick the rocks! There is nothing friendly here. They all have thorns, they all have spikes. It will destroy you and most of them have also got some kind of poison inside.“ This was our guide Chris Cocalis’ friendly greeting speech. He was right, which we noticed with our own body later on.

A small bike defect, a little adjustment and definitely not enough water. There is almost no shade in the desert and the sun is burning constantly. As a result? Trembling hands, light nausea and the weird feeling of blacking out. Concentration and strength becomes less and less. So it was no wonder that a few questions started to arise: Why am I doing this? Mountain biking in the desert? Should I have a different bike, and on and on… All these were excuses of one’s own ego, mistakes and weaknesses. In the end I decided there has to be a limit, but I motivated myself with following words: Not here! Motivating words by the group! Support and team work! That is important and essential under the tough conditions: Because every break in the dessert increases body temperature and dehydration.

And then the turning point arises: Part of the group has already decided to go back home. An empty Camelback and great thirst made it more and more difficult to complete every meter of distance. I turned into energy saving mode, concentration was at its lowest. But stopping was no option, because this would’ve made everything far worse. Speed comes with wind and coolness – so: full throttle until the limit.

Exhausted and happy we arrived at the starting point, a roofed place by the side of the “city park”. This offered shade, cold water and a break. I haven’t been so happy in my life before.

Barbecue in the afternoon and a new lap in the evening – including an impressive sunset.

Concluding one can say that it was a brilliant trip with interesting discoveries and long lasting impressions. Although Pivot is a pretty young company, they’ve managed to play in the same league as Yeti, Ibis and Santa Cruz. With high expectations of performance and technical design, we look forward to exciting new products in the future. We should respect the guys at Pivot. Phoenix is tough: Whoever decides to ride a bike here, really has to be made of strong stuff. Spiky cactus’s, edgy stones and hot temperatures, as well as hot sun are soon forgotten, when one enjoys the rough trails full of flow.

Text & Photos: Robin Schmitt