# Is Swobo out of business?



## MoreCowbell82 (Jan 13, 2011)

Emails are bouncing back from swobo.com, and image links on the site are broken. Anybody know?


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## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

Works fine for me.


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## hksigman (Jul 24, 2011)

Swobo's not dead.. It's in transition again. Keep your eyes peeled to the site and to their Twitter account. As soon as it's up and running, I'm sure it will be hollered from the roof tops.

This was a message posted on their facebook forum on July 16


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## jrm (Jan 12, 2004)

*Sucked up by Santa Cruz Bikes*



MoreCowbell82 said:


> Emails are bouncing back from swobo.com, and image links on the site are broken. Anybody know?


ordered and received a hanger for my Crosby and it came from SC.


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

FWIW Backcountry.com bought up a bunch of Swobo's inventory and is currently selling it on their one-deal-at-a-time websites, like Bonktown or Steep-and-Cheap.


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## westpenncyclist (Mar 1, 2011)

I'm very curious to know how you ordered a Crosby hanger. The Swobo website is glitchy and there's no means of ordering from it. I'm not even sure why it's still up.

I bought a Crosby frameset in April 2011 (quite possibly the last one). At the time, I was told Swobo was out of the hangers, but that they'd have some available in May (even if they had to be CNC'd in-house). The promise that the hangers would eventually be available was the reason why I bought the Crosby frameset because if I had wanted a S/S specific frame, I would have chosen another brand.

Anyway, when I called again in May, I was told by the same Swobo employee who sold me the frameset (Garen Becker) that they had decided not to CNC the hangers in-house, but that they ordered a boat load (literally) from their Asian supplier. He said they would be available in July. During the course of the conversation, he also told me that Santa Cruz Bikes was reducing the Swobo bike line. But I got the sense that they were closing out their inventory which made me a bit skeptical about ever getting a hanger for my Crosby.

Nonetheless, I tried calling their phone number in mid-July, but discovered it was no longer in service. I then tried calling Santa Cruz and was given an option of leaving a message in someone's voice mailbox. One of the choices happened to be the same guy who had previously sold me the Crosby frame (and who had told me the hangers would eventually be available).

I never got a response to my voicemail, so I began researching an alternative and found a website called bicyclederailleurhangers.com. The guy who runs the site (Garrett Wilson) agreed to CNC a custom hanger to fit my Crosby (minimum of two). I sent him my S/S dropout to use as a template, and a picture of the hanger from the Swobo website. He did it for the same price Swobo had charged for their hangers. His craftsmanship was excellent and I'm very happy with the functionality of the hanger.

I'm still peeved about the unprofessionalism of the guy from Santa Cruz/Swobo who never bothered to return my call. If I had known that Swobo would become an unreliable supplier, and that it was going to become such a hassle to get a hanger, I would have bought something else (probably a Gunnar Fast Lane with their custom sliding dropout). The whole ordeal makes me hesitant to deal with Santa Cruz Bikes in the future.

I must say, though, that since I now have a hanger, I'm very pleased with my Cosby (despite a couple of minor design flaws that I won't elaborate on here). It handles extremely well, even on singletrack.



jrm said:


> ordered and received a hanger for my Crosby and it came from SC.


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

westpenncyclist said:


> I never got a response to my voicemail, so I began researching an alternative and found a website called bicyclederailleurhangers.com. The guy who ran the site (Garrett Wilson) agreed to CNC a custom hanger to fit my Crosby. I sent him my S/S dropout to use as a template, and a picture of the hanger from the Swobo website. He did it for the same price Swobo was charging for their hangers, and his craftsmanship was excellent.


This is fantastic. That's a huge + for bicyclederailleurhangers.com. If you get a chance, go post over on the "Where are the Best Deals" thread - it's sort of a deals thread mixed with reviews of online vendors, and I'm sure other people would want to hear about it!


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## jrm (Jan 12, 2004)

*I guess i was lucky*

b/c i really didnt have any trouble getting a derailluer hanger. I think i should get a spare.


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## westpenncyclist (Mar 1, 2011)

What number did you call and with whom did you speak? The number listed on Swobo's website is out of service, at least it was the last time I tried to call it.



jrm said:


> b/c i really didnt have any trouble getting a derailluer hanger. I think i should get a spare.


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## hksigman (Jul 24, 2011)

According to their facebook forum, they have separated from Santa Cruz and relocating to Colorado and should be up and running shortly

"Swobo is alive and kicking, taken over this past July by a bunch of hard-core enthusiasts that just couldn’t stand to see it die. I thought about boring you with the crazy story how it all came about, but I’ll leave that for another time and a few beers. Bottom line is we’re no longer a part of Santa Cruz Bicycles and back as an independent brand.

Good enough to say also that we’re a small team 100% focused on driving this brand to where we (and hopefully you) think it should be: kick ass urban bikes and clothing/gear.

Right now the task at hand is getting this beast back on its feet and moving about. We’re starting small, but we’ll get there. Web store will be off line for a while but will be back as soon as new product starts rolling in. "


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## El Salt (Oct 18, 2004)

hksigman said:


> Web store will be off line for a while but will be back as soon as new product starts rolling in. "


Ahhh, that explains it. I knew they were moving and all the rest, but was looking to place an order (LOVE the shorts / liners).

I'll just have to keep checking back with them.


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## Vlad (Feb 7, 2004)

Is Tim Parr still involved?


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

This the 3rd go round for Swobo? I recall the brand 10yrs ago and then they seemed to disappear for awhile.


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## jrm (Jan 12, 2004)

*According the Swobo FB Group*

there are others searching for dropouts. Theres mention that theyll be back in production in 02/12? I need one soon.

Log In | Facebook


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## mort30 (Mar 16, 2008)

I have sent 2 emails and a message on FB to them. No response



Just received a response last night. Someone is home:thumbsup:


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## Swobo (Jan 16, 2013)

Someone is indeed home. We're back up and running, though basically a new company independent from Santa Cruz. Vlad; no, Tim Parr is not involved. Pared down quite a bit, but we'll keep adding products if we like them.


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

Swobo said:


> Someone is indeed home. We're back up and running, though basically a new company independent from Santa Cruz. Vlad; no, Tim Parr is not involved. Pared down quite a bit, but we'll keep adding products if we like them.


Great news - congrats to you guys! Good luck in 2013.


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## jrm (Jan 12, 2004)

*Hey*

will you be offering the Crosby?


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## Swobo (Jan 16, 2013)

No, the Crosby is out, but we will likely introduce a new CX model in the future. I see a number of people asking about derailleur hangers for that bike (also the Baxter). We did not get any replacement hangers from SC, as the box of them that they had made were actually left side hangers. OOOPS! I also see that some folks have gotten a hanger/dropout from bicyclederailleurhangers.com. We have a Colorado company, derailleur-hanger.co making dropout sets for those bikes as well.


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## jrm (Jan 12, 2004)

*oh new offering?*

Cool.


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