RENO, NV (BRAIN) — Corsair Bikes is seeking a U.S. distribution partner as the premium freeride mountain bike brand rolls out an international relaunch.
The brand’s complex linkage frames were perhaps most famously ridden by freeride pro Cameron Zink, who won the 2010 Red Bull Rampage aboard a Corsair Konig slopestyle model. Corsair has largely been dormant the past two years but resurfaced at Interbike in September, under the ownership of Taiwan trading company Derhawk International and Reno-based Atomlab, with a new line of Taiwan-produced single-pivot freeride and slopestyle frames and hardtail dirt jumpers.
Distribution is up and running in Europe, South America and Australia, but Corsair has yet to hook up with a U.S. partner—which Atomlab’s Jim Severt attributes in part to past delivery issues. “From the get-go they had really good product, but the brand kind of got beaten down,” he said.
To simplify production and improve delivery, Corsair has scrapped its linkage models for now and is focusing on simpler single-pivot aluminum suspension bikes and chromoly hardtails. Linkage bikes might resurface for 2014, Severt said, perhaps via a licensing deal with an established suspension design.