US carbon component manufacturer Edge Composites announces a change to the company name. As of 1 September 2010, Edge will go by the name ENVE Composites. Edge cites European trademark issues as the reason for the change.
Edge branded components will be sold through the end of 2010. The new name and associated collateral will be introduced at Eurobike. Ownership, management and staff will remain the same.
"When we started the company three years ago, we were focused mainly on gaining a foothold in the domestic market,” said Jason Schiers. “We were engineers, designers and cyclists, and frankly, we didn't consider checking for trademark registrations outside of the U.S. Obviously our reputation overseas has outgrown this mindset and it has become an issue recently."
Schiers said that Edge had the opportunity for a licensing agreement in Europe but opted against it.
"We have actually established a great relationship with the current trademark holder in Europe,” he said. “Regardless of the fact that there will be no license agreement between us, there is a strong likelihood that we will discuss a future collaboration."
Edge chairman Paul Lehman cited a confluence of factors affecting the decision, primarily the opportunity created by recent developments in engineering.
"In the past few months we started construction on a new 20,000 square foot state-of-the-art composite facility and are announcing a major partnership with one of the top aerodynamic specialists in the world that we collectively believe will change the way bicycle wheels are designed,” said Lehman. “So much great stuff has happened that we really feel like we are a new company and so, what better time to launch a new name to go with it?"
The company plans to move in to a new 20,000 state-of-the-art facility by late fall of this year; the move will be made under their new ENVE name.
"We are committed to manufacturing wheels in the United States and given our tremendous growth and all the new products we are introducing in the coming year, there was just no way around the fact we needed more space." said Schiers. "Plus the new building gives us something we could never achieve with our existing space - a facility specifically designed to manufacture and design carbon wheels and components."
ENVE's new facility has plans to include a state of art machine shop with multiple CNC machines, a separate lab for strength, durability and heat testing and a full locker room facility for employees to clean up after enjoying lunch time rides on some of Utah’s finest roads and trails just minutes away in the Wasatch mountains.
