Giant files lawsuit and recruits top Stages Cycling staff as power meter brand closes down

Four prominent Stages Cycling team members have joined Giant, after the latter filed a lawsuit, with Stages Cycling reportedly closing operations and laying off all staff earlier this week.

On Tuesday, news - first published by Escape.CC - emerged that power meter brand Stages Cycling had laid off all staff members and closed its offices in Boulder. 

On February 12, Advanced Intelligent Perpetual Solutions (AIPS), a subsidiary of Giant, filed a suit in Oregon, against Stages. As reported by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (BRAIN), the suit comes after the Taiwanese bike brand - which also manufactures power meters - agreed to acquire a majority share in Stages in January 2023, with negotiations falling through in May. BRIAN states that Giant is suing Stages for $14 million in allegedly unpaid invoices. 

Four Stages Cycling employees have posted job moves - to Giant - on LinkedIn.

According to LinkedIn, Pat Warner, who was Senior Vice President of Product Development at Stages, became VP of Product R&D at Giant as of March 2024. Paddy Murray, VP Global Marketing at Stages Cycling until December 2023 joined Giant as VP Global Sales and Marketing in February 2024. 

Announcing the move, Murray wrote: "In my new capacity as VP Global Sales and Marketing, I'll be spearheading the launch of a groundbreaking indoor cycling division SPIA Inc, reuniting with some of the most brilliant product and engineering minds in the bicycle and fitness industry, Pat Warner Eric Golesh & Andy Lull. It's truly a special opportunity, and I can't wait to dive in and bring our innovative plans to life!"

Andy Lull, Product Development Director / Senior Mechanical Engineer at Stages until February 2024  joined Giant as Principal R&D Engineer in March 2024 whilst Product Development Director at Foundation Fitness - which launched Stages Cycling - became Principal Engineer at Giant in February 2024. 

The Stages Cycling website is still live, however almost every product is currently listed as out of stock. Cycling Weekly reached out to the Stages support team via email, and received an automatic reply reading "this person is no longer with the company. For accounting and other administrative communications please send email to: Administration@stagescycling.com."

Stages has not been able to comment on the situation and cause of the company's closure, when asked by Cycling Weekly on Wednesday. However, many major brands within the cycling industry have suffered from cashflow issues following the COVID-19 boom. UK distributor Saddleback was not able to offer any comment, however, a spokesperson did say that warranty claims would be covered "as we still have stock here", they added that they would continue selling stock already on the inventory.