# Pedro's USA going out of business?



## jeff (Jan 13, 2004)

Has anyone else heard this rumor?


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## periwinklekog (May 16, 2009)

As a buyer for a bike shop I have not been able to get a live human being on the phone at Pedro's for months. Messages and emails are simply not returned. My wholesale reps tell me they suspect Pedro's is going under but have no definitive details. At least a couple intimate that they expect an annoucement to be made at Interbike next month. Suspicions range from buyout/reorganization under new owners, to hostile buyout/burying of company by rival tool maker. It doesn't sound good, and now there isn't a wholesale distro with stock of Pedro's most popular products anywhere in North America.

It's a bummer. I recently upgraded to Pedro's newest repair stand, a model that borrows heavily from Ultimate in design and is VERY heavy-duty and well-built. It will suck if I can't get replacement bits several years down the road. I also really like Pedro's synthetic, biodegradable lubes, and it will be sad if I can't get these in for our customers.

Here's hoping for a good outcome.


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## Boy named SSue (Jan 7, 2004)

My vote for worst product of the 90's: The Pedros milk lever, a one-time use tire lever. Sweet.


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

Boy named SSue said:


> My vote for worst product of the 90's: The Pedros milk lever, a one-time use tire lever. Sweet.


Seconded. I mean, WTF???


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## mtnbiker72 (Jan 22, 2007)

That would be disappointing mostly because their promotion of environmentally conscious products. There are others that make great bio products but Pedro's was kind of the leader.


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## KDXdog (Mar 15, 2007)

I found that the Original Milk levers made a great vinyl siding tool when replacing panels on my house.

Say it an't so Joe!

I've always supported Pedros, starting when the 2 originals would show up at local races and lube up anyone's chain for free, gave away plenty of free samples too!

I'm still using an original recycled inner tube seatbag, the all rubber model. I guess they "upgraded" those at some point added fabric, and had them made overseas...

HARPOON/Pedros ran a great weeknight fun ride series years back, and yes THOSE samples were fantastic!

oh well, another New England Bike Co down the river...could it be the curse of MB?


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## Boy named SSue (Jan 7, 2004)

Oh, and I bought a set of Pedros cable cutters about a year ago that already went bad. My Parks (which I forgot at my mom's house and need to get back) are about 15 years old and are no worse for the wear.


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## sandmangts (Feb 16, 2004)

I like the lubes and cleaners alot. Pedros Ice wax lube is good for dry climates and lasts a bit longer than white lightning although you have to scrape it off your derailler pulleys. If it is true it is just another symptom of the craptastic economy.


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## utahdog2003 (Jul 8, 2004)

Boy named SSue said:


> Oh, and I bought a set of Pedros cable cutters about a year ago that already went bad. My Parks (which I forgot at my mom's house and need to get back) are about 15 years old and are no worse for the wear.


Have to agree...Pedro's stuff has never been worth the effort IMO. I don't want to wish ill will on anyone or any company, but....meh.


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## mainlyfats (Oct 1, 2005)

Boy named SSue said:


> Oh, and I bought a set of Pedros cable cutters about a year ago that already went bad. My Parks (which I forgot at my mom's house and need to get back) are about 15 years old and are no worse for the wear.


I think I've had a set of Felco cutters since 1988. The only Pedros tool I've ever owned is a wall-mounted bottle opener I don't think I've ever used.

Lusting a bit after their master tool kit though: Nice tool kit | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

If these start showing up on clear-out lists could someone who works in shop PM me?


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## Z-Man (Apr 25, 2005)

*Shizzz!!!*

...I just sent in my torque wrench 2 weeks ago and haven't heard anything back. When I called 2+ weeks ago about sending it in I talked to a person but haven't had a response in my last 2 calls....


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## -Anomie- (Jan 16, 2005)

I just checked the floor plan for Interbike (starts in 10 days) and Pedro's does not have a booth this year, which would be the first time they aren't going to Interbike since I started going 7 years ago. Not looking good.

FYA on cable cutters: Buy a Felco cutter, they're expensive up front but in the long run you'll save money. I've used mine professionally (as in full-time bike shop wrench) since 1995 and it's still going strong. Pedro's were a cheap imitation of Felco cutters good for a year or two, Knipex are ok, good for a few years, Park and Shimano are only good for a couple of years, and anything else is crap.


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

uh oh. I use their tire levers. time to stock up!


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## iamkeith (Feb 5, 2010)

Definitely sad if they are defunct. I've persoanlly been afraid to use their lubes though, ever since the 90's when the "synjection" grease stained all of my grease guard fitted bikes permanently pink! Ahhhh, just reminiscing....


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

girlonbike said:


> uh oh. I use their tire levers. time to stock up!


They make the best tire levers around! Novara (REI) makes an imitation lever, but it's just not the same.


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## utahdog2003 (Jul 8, 2004)

jtmartino said:


> They make the best tire levers around! Novara (REI) makes an imitation lever, but it's just not the same.


Specialized Pry-Babies from back in the day hold that title.


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

utahdog2003 said:


> Specialized Pry-Babies from back in the day hold that title.


They're not around anymore. Pedro's is still the best one around, IMO, especially for the price and the fact that you can get them in bright colors (which makes them easy to find in the tool box.)


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

jtmartino said:


> They're not around anymore. Pedro's is still the best one around, IMO, especially for the price and the fact that you can get them in bright colors (which makes them easy to find in the tool box.)


I've broken a few including the steel core ones (the tips aren't steel core...go figure) by soma and even though the pedro's look fat, it manages to get under the bead relatively well and I haven't broken one...yet!


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## fervor (Aug 4, 2005)

Yup, pedro's levers are my favorite (and they are neon!) 
I also like green fizz. Seems to work well.
Their chain vise is also a nice tool (though pricey compared to a chain whip). Worth to pick one up on the cheap if possible.


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

And they make this little thingamagig for your bb tool


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## monzie (Aug 5, 2009)

I love their tire levers. And Chain tool. And other things I am forgetting right now. Pour some out for the homies. Of malt liquor, preferably Cobra. Schlitz in a pinch; I can't get fourty's of Mickeys here and that makes me sad.


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## mainlyfats (Oct 1, 2005)

jtmartino said:


> They're not around anymore. Pedro's is still the best one around, IMO, especially for the price and the fact that you can get them in bright colors (which makes them easy to find in the tool box.)


Have you tried the Lezyne forged aluminum ones yet? I got a set late spring and have only used them a couple of times, but man o man are they ever nice.


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

mainlyfats said:


> Have you tried the Lezyne forged aluminum ones yet? I got a set late spring and have only used them a couple of times, but man o man are they ever nice.


No I haven't. I really like Lezyne stuff (I have a pump, tool, and saddle bag made by them) so I'll have to check them out. Their Saber model shop levers look awesome too.


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## bmxcollector (Nov 21, 2006)

Sorry to derail a bit but where do you folks get your shop grade tools?


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## mainlyfats (Oct 1, 2005)

bmxcollector said:


> Sorry to derail a bit but where do you folks get your shop grade tools?


Bike specific? I used to wait for a distributor pro-deal order time when I worked in a shop. Now I wait for a 10 or 20 point off coupon and shop online more often than not.

For non-bike tools I've always favored the shop in town at that machinists shop at. The kind of place where when a green bike mechanic comes in and asks for cable cutters, they are handed Felco's and told to suck it up for their own good! There was/is a great shop like that in Toronto called Atlas Machine.


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## jacdykema (Apr 10, 2006)

girlonbike said:


> And they make this little thingamagig for your bb tool


That little bugger has saved me untold grief on problem BB's. Great tool.

Also +1 on the Felco cutters. They are absolutely amazing. We've had ours at the shop for close to 20 years and they still cut 75,000 times better than anything else we have (Pedros, Shimano, etc.). They also make some other nice cutting tools. I used to work in a greenhouse and we would use nothing else for cutting stock. The owner of the shop just bought his wife a pair of Felco carbon fiber handled pruning shears which were pretty trick.


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## periwinklekog (May 16, 2009)

*pedro's still mia*

Okay, here's what we have so far:

1. No one answers the phone.
2. I ordered a Master Mechanic Case [only] for myself on a shop pro-deal. Only after I contacted Pedro's directly on behalf of my wholesale distributor did they finally send it out -- _18 months_ after my original order was placed.
3. As far as I know, I have snapped up what could be the last dozen cases of Pedro's yellow tire levers in the known universe from the only distributor who had any in stock -- and they were listing them on a specials/closeouts flyer. Our shop is scouring the world for a replacement but so far every other make and model we've tried doesn't compare.
4. Pedro's is _not _showing at Interbike this week, either at the Outdoor Demo OR the show proper. This would be their first absence from the show in years. Rumor had it that there would be some kind of "announcement" at the show but if they're not there the silence from their absence would be deafening in and of itself.
5. From their Facebook page: they held a "cyclocross season kickoff sale" Sept. 9-10. Originallt to be held at their HQ, on the 6th they annouced they were moving it to the warehouse. Cash/checks only, no plastic, no mail-order.
6. Using an old team access code, I checked their pro-deal offerings online. They are out of a lot of stuff. A _lot_. 
All these little red flags are making the robot in my head flail his arms and bleat, "_Danger, Will Robinson.._."
It does not look good.

I would guess that either they're done; or they've been bought by a larger company. 
If the former, I glad I got my Pedro's tool situation mostly squared away (with a few extras on a handful of regularly-used/abused tools) to see me out.
If the latter, I would guess the new owners will choose to dump the tools (most of which were manufactured in the Lifu factory anyway, including most of the proprietary designs) and re-emerge with a narrowed focus on enviro-friendly lubes and solvents.

I'm bummed. Pedro's had a good thing going with their environmental focus and their accessibility at races across the country. I'd guess that's done now, and if it is I'll miss them.
:sad:


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## tl1 (Dec 21, 2003)

*I love those Kawasaki green floor pumps*

I don't know why they work so good while they're so inexpensive but they do and they come with a adapter to fill your balls up (get your mind out the gutter you scamps!).  I just bought a second one, a Domestique pump, when I saw one on sale.


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## unicrown junkie (Nov 12, 2009)

I can vouch for their crankarm extractor. I bought one earlier thus year because I lost my Campy version. The Pedros one has a removable 15mm handle unlike the silly park model where it's welded in. Plus comes with two inserts, one for traditional old school tapered crank arms, the other for?


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## jeff (Jan 13, 2004)

unicrown junkie said:


> I can vouch for their crankarm extractor. I bought one earlier thus year because I lost my Campy version. The Pedros one has a removable 15mm handle unlike the silly park model where it's welded in. Plus comes with two inserts, one for traditional old school tapered crank arms, the other for?


TA. Stronglight ect...?


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## Deuce Bigelow (Jun 9, 2010)

more likely octalink/isis


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## Casquete (Nov 23, 2010)

*why¨¨???*

Does any of you knows why to buy a Kona over a Santa Cruz Bike))??


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

Casquete said:


> Does any of you knows why to buy a Kona over a Santa Cruz Bike))??


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

Deuce Bigelow said:


> more likely octalink/isis


Bingo. It's a superior product to the Park Tool offering (I have both.)


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## unicrown junkie (Nov 12, 2009)

jeff said:


> TA. Stronglight ect...?


 If new TA is different, maybe. But I think the other adaptor may be for new XT, looks to big for Octalink. Either way it works quite well.


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## banks (Feb 2, 2004)

Per Matt B. this afternoon, _"we are moving upward & onward. Stay tuned. All good."_


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## periwinklekog (May 16, 2009)

*Pretty vague reassurance there*

I've been hearing a lot of the same for months with no further details.
Care to enlighten us?


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## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

tl1 said:


> I don't know why they work so good while they're so inexpensive but they do and they come with a adapter to fill your balls up (get your mind out the gutter you scamps!).  I just bought a second one, a Domestique pump, when I saw one on sale.


 I have that exact same pump but Raleigh branded, got it for less than $10 a couple of years ago, still going strong!

I also have the Pedros chainless Cassette thingy, it's a great tool once you get used to it, though it can only do 11T/12T small cogs. This tool:


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## periwinklekog (May 16, 2009)

Word from my distros:

1. Pedro's did not have a contingent at the recent Gloucester CX races, for the first time in ages.
2. Recent "warehouse sale" was cash and carry only, and is likely to have been done to raise severance pay for the few remaining Massachussetts employees.
3. Pedro's pro-deal site for industry workers is down to virtually nothing left, nearly empty of product.
4. I managed to score the last 12 cases of Pedro's yellow tire levers from a distro back east -- but they were the older style with the round "Service" logo, not the newer style with the rectangular logo. 
5. No one is answering the phone at Pedro's HQ anymore.

I am glad to have scored for myself a repair stand, tool case and various hand tools from them this last year. I doubt I'll see anything else. Let the hoarding begin, because I'm pretty sure Pedro's is dead in the water. I just wish they'd say so already and end the speculation, because right now they just look confused and hopeless. So sad.
:bluefrown:


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## KDXdog (Mar 15, 2007)

banks said:


> Per Matt B. this afternoon, _"we are moving upward & onward. Stay tuned. All good."_


Sounds like Kevin Bacon in Animal house.


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## utahdog2003 (Jul 8, 2004)

jtmartino said:


> They're not around anymore. Pedro's is still the best one around, IMO, especially for the price and the fact that you can get them in bright colors (which makes them easy to find in the tool box.)


No, Pry Babies are not made currently, hence the "back in the day" comment. However, lilke most of the retro stuff we love "from back in the day", they are still "around". They are specifically still "around" in my tool kits.

When did 'no longer made' begin to mean no longer around? This is still a VRC board, right?


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