Rumor check: Diamondback says it's healthy, not going away

Rumors suddenly began to swirl last week — including some sloshing into SNEWS® offices — that Diamondback was in deep waters and was going bankrupt. We raised an eyebrow, knowing that Diamondback was owned by bike specialist Raleigh America, which was doing well.

Still, we checked in with Steve Lindenau, Diamondback president, who knew exactly why we were calling, noting he’d himself gotten a dozen or so calls the end of last week.

“The big picture is, fiscally we’re fine,” he said. “And we’re moving forward.”

Diamondback will be back at the Health & Fitness Expo this July in Denver with new products and a few adjustments to its line, he said.

This is not to say that business has been great, he added. Of course, we at SNEWS® know the fitness business hasn’t been super-duper many places or for too many.

“Our business internationally and in Canada is phenomenal,” he explained. “The U.S. business has been tough. It’s down. It’s just tough now for the value-oriented price point.”

Diamondback has laid off a couple of employees and cut a few costs too because of the current market, which may be one reason the rumors started, he said. But its parent Raleigh will have record profits this year — much higher than projections.

“It hasn’t been a great year for fitness,” Lindenau said, “but we’re not going out of business.”

SNEWS® View: Very few companies are leaping around in joy over profits and sales in the last couple of quarters. One layoff or cut in orders and the next thing you know, the rumor mill gets ramped up. We fully expect Diamondback is not going anywhere, but is simply responding to the current economy.