Terry partners with ASI for expanded bicycle line

Terry Precision Bicycles announced this week that it inked a license agreement with Advanced Sports, Inc. (ASI) to distribute an expanded line of women's bikes. Once the pioneer of women's-specific geometries, the company has been more successful with its clothing line in recent years than with its bicycles.

New owner and CEO Liz Roberts is looking to change that, and believes the agreement with ASI will put the company back into a leadership role for women's bikes while maintaining Georgena Terry's original concepts.

"The agreement is a licensing agreement that gives them the right to manufacture bicycles for us as well as distribute them. They'll become our sourcing, manufacturing and distributor - globally." said Roberts.

"Terry was founded in the bicycle business, Georgena's first product line was the original women's specific bicycle. In the past years we've let that lapse.

"Most of our sales currently come from apparel. When I acquired the company back in April, I strongly believed we needed to stay alive in the bicycle business. Because Terry's brand is about cycling, and if you let the hard goods lapse, you can become like any fitness apparel company.

"The relationship with ASI allows us to quickly and on a fairly large scale get back into the bicycle business. They have a strong distribution network, and have an established network of dealers that they work with. As they introduce the Terry bicycle alongside the Fuji bicycle, for example, we hope that opens the door for us to come in with our apparel line."

ASI, which produces bicycles for Fuji and Kestrel among other companies, will manufacture the machines as well as providing a tie-in with Robert's vision for convincing independent bicycle dealers and other sports retailers to merchandise Terry's clothing and bicycles as a complete lifestyle package.

"The bicycle and the apparel play off of one another. It all needs to be presented together to create a lifestyle statement. I think Terry can be a defining lifestyle brand for women's cycling."

The line is geared toward the recreational female cyclist and will offer three levels: the performance "Tailwind", which is an Aluminium/Carbon frame spec'd out with a Shimano 105 mix, the "Susan B.", an all-Aluminium fitness hybrid with Shimano Deore mix, and the "Symmetry", a fitness machine available with flat bars or drop bars with a Shimano Tiagra group.

"We will be introducing a carbon bike in 2011, but we're not aiming at the elite, competitive athlete. Our focus is and has always been on fit and comfort for women looking to have an active, healthy lifestyle."