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Chris Clinton named president at reborn American Classic

Published December 8, 2021

A version of this article ran in the December 2021 issue of Bicycle Retailer & Industry News. 

SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. (BRAIN) — American Classic is back, first as a consumer-direct tire brand, but wheels — and dealer sales — are on the horizon, the reborn company’s new president, Chris Clinton, told BRAIN.

Clinton, a veteran of the Challenge and Duro tire brands, as well as Bontrager and Sachs Bicycle, was recruited this year to lead the brand, which had shut down in 2018

American Classic, founded by Bill Shook, dates to 1982. The company was first known for its lightweight aluminum bottle cages, seatposts, and hubs; by 2018, its business had evolved to focus on manufacturing its own wheels, including hubs and rims, in its Taichung, Taiwan factory. The company was headquartered in Florida.

Despite a move into lower-priced OE wheels, poor cash flow and softening sales led to the closure, the company told BRAIN at the time. 

After the closure, a group that included former American Classic factory general manager Cavan Lee acquired its intellectual property. With close ties to a Taiwanese tire manufacturer, its first product this time around was a line of road, gravel, city and e-bike tires. 

Clinton joined the company on October 1.

“The owner group (that bought the American Classic IP) owns a tire manufacturing plant, and also purchased a lot of what was American Classic’s wheel production business. They brought in Cavan, who had run American Classic’s production on the wheel side for over a decade,” Clinton said.

“Because the tire factory was up and running, they could more quickly get a tire line ready to go and out on the market than they could the wheels,” he added.

American Classic launched the tires this fall, first with sales on Amazon, and then via the company website as well. The performance tires are priced aggressively, starting at $30 retail for its fastest road tire, the 120 tpi tubeless-ready Timekeeper model. Its most expensive models are gravel tires that retail at $35.

The American Classic tires also include a road-hazard replacement policy, allowing consumers to buy a replacement tire at 50% discount if their tire fails on the road. The tires also have a 2-year warranty against manufacturing defects.

Clinton said now that the brand is getting quickly re-established through online sales, he is now setting up wholesale dealer programs and international distributors. The company will decide on a market-by-market basis where to use distributors and where to sell direct, he said.

Clinton said American Classic will likely return to the wheel business in 2022. He said company managers were in discussions about whether the product line would include some legacy products or start fresh with brand new wheel designs. He said there were no plans to resume production of repair parts for older wheels.

Bill Shook is consulting with the relaunched company on engineering issues, Clinton said.

In a statement, Shook said, “when I founded American Classic in 1982, I sought to engineer the lightest components for road racers. It was important to me that American Classic’s new owners shared that same sense of innovation. I look forward to seeing the American Classic name on tires everywhere.”

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