- Merida Bikes
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Merida Industry Co., Ltd (MIC) Type Public Industry Bicycle manufacturing Founded 1972 Headquarters Yuanlin, Changhua, Taiwan Products Bicycles Website www.merida-bikes.com 
Merida Crossway
Merida Industry Co., Ltd (MIC) is a Taiwan based bicycle design, manufacture, and sales company. It was started in 1972 as a small contract shop under a Japanese bicycle parts brand, by current chairman D.H. Ike, Tseng. Merida has expanded to the US and Europe and is now a global player in bicycle design and manufacturing. It was valued at $185 million US in 2007 making it Taiwan's 15th biggest company[1].
Merida manufactured bikes for U.S. brands including Centurion and DiamondBack in the 1990s, and was subsequently known for producing mass-marketed bikes. In later years, Merida has started to work its way into the high-end market with designs such as the Ninety-Six[2].
In 2001, Merida bought 19% of Specialized for a reported US$30 million, although its CEO and founder Mike Sinyard remained majority owner.[3][4] In January 2009, the company issued a voluntary recall on their Freeway CT03 and R3.0 folding bikes. The issue lay in a bad implementation of a patented locking mechanism that would fail when forced.[5]
Merida is a sponsor of the Multivan Merida Biking Team, with athletes such as Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå, and of bicycle racing events such as the TransUK and TransWales mountain bike races.[6]
Merida also manufactures the frames and forks for Halfords' Carrera range of bikes. They also own and manufacture Boardman Bikes.[7]
References
- ^ [1] Branding Taiwan
- ^ [2] German BIKE Magazin Milestone award 2008
- ^ http://www.bike-eu.com/news/680/correction-merida-buys-49%25-of-specialized.html
- ^ "Merida buys not 49% but 19% of Specialized". Bike Europe. 2001-08-07. http://www.bike-eu.com/news/679/merida-buys-not-49%25-but-19%25-of-specialized.html. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ van Schaik, Jan-Willem (January 27, 2009). "Merida Recalls Folding Bikes". Bike Europe. http://www.bike-eu.com/news/3253/merida-recalls-folding-bikes.html. Retrieved Feb. 10, 2009.
- ^ Skinner, Matt (February 25, 2009). "After 7 days and 550km of riding with 15,500m of climbing the Merida Bikes TransWales 2008 is over". Bikemag.com. http://bikemag.com/features/onlineexclusive/8-25-08-results-merida-bikes-trans-wales/. Retrieved Mar. 9, 2009.
- ^ "Who Makes What". The Inner Ring. http://inrng.com/who-makes-what/. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
External links
Categories:- Cycle manufacturers
- Taiwan brands
- Taiwanese company stubs
- Cycle manufacturer stubs
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