.
.
.
#Cannondale #PonBike #SantaCruz #Cervélo #BicycleIndustry #CyclingNews #BikeJobs #Connecticut #California #BusinessConsolidation
Source link
Cannondale is shutting down its Connecticut operations after more than five decades and relocating those activities to California, the bicycle manufacturer told employees and dealers on October 21, 2026. The decision ends the brand’s longstanding physical presence in its home state and marks a major restructuring of its North American business.
The California operation will be centered in Santa Cruz, placing Cannondale closer to two sister brands, Santa Cruz Bicycles and Cervélo, both owned by Dutch parent company PON.Bike. The plan calls for operations related to the three brands to be consolidated. Rather than maintaining separate outside-sales structures, reps will serve as a single point of contact for Cannondale, Santa Cruz and Cervélo.
Cannondale said the goal is to simplify work for bicycle retailers and make it easier for them to work with Cannondale while accessing more brands from the PON.Bike portfolio. At the same time, the company emphasized that the consolidation does not mean merging the brands themselves. Each will continue to operate with its own identity, product lineup and direct relationships with riders.
Internationally, Cannondale’s global headquarters will move to Woudenberg, the Netherlands, where the company already maintains its European headquarters. Its global research-and-development and engineering functions will remain in Freiburg, Germany. The announcement therefore combines a consolidation of sales and operations in California with a relocation of corporate leadership functions to Europe and continuity in Germany for technical work.
The restructuring will have a substantial employment impact in Connecticut. According to Velo’s sister publication, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, Cannondale filed a letter with the Connecticut Department of Labor stating that 143 workers could be affected. In the letter, signed by Maggie Lansdale, global vice president of People for Cycling Sports Group—Cannondale’s business unit within PON.Bike—the company said the entire office would close and nearly all employees would be affected.
The Connecticut closure is expected to occur over the next six months and be final by mid-2027, although some workers will remain employed through 2027. The announcement did not provide details about severance, reassignment opportunities or the extent to which affected employees might transition to California or other PON.Bike businesses.
Cannondale has been based in Connecticut throughout its history since it was founded in 1971, so the closure represents the end of more than 50 years of operations in the state. The company’s ownership structure also changed in 2022, when PON.Bike acquired Cannondale after the brand purchased Dorel Sports and all of that company’s bicycle brands, including Schwinn.
The broader plan reflects PON.Bike’s strategy of bringing its US brands closer together operationally while preserving their individual identities. For retailers, the immediate change is a unified sales contact for three brands; for employees, it means the loss of the Connecticut office and potential cuts to 143 positions. The move to California, new Dutch headquarters and ongoing German R&D center will reshape how Cannondale is organized going forward. Together, the changes represent a significant consolidation of corporate functions, employment and dealer support across several countries within PON.Bike.
