The Upside of Santa Cruz Praxis Founder David Earle
In the past he had been an integral part of many of the most well known R&D teams in the industry – Member of the original Bontrager Cycles, Sr. Design engineer at Specialized, Director of Engineering at Santa Cruz Bicycles, and many other individual R&D ventures for well-known industry projects.
It was time to branch out and focus on something that he had been working on for years: Drivetrain Components.
With his extensive expertise in metals and manufacturing, David Earle launched Praxis Works with the goal of creating a unique brand along with a design and fabrication firm. With headquarters in Santa Cruz, CA and offices in Taiwan, Praxis’ sole purpose is to provide customers of all types with exceptionally designed drivetrain components that offer great performance and value. Their innovative manufacturing methods, combined with the in-house engineering team and testing facilities, make Praxis Works a new force in the cycling industry. You have no doubt seen Praxis drive chains and parts on bikes from Giant, Specialized, Ibis, etc. And in over 2,000+ US bike shops.
We learned that 2020 gave David both unique challenges as well as a positive upside. With employee safety in mind, a number of employees in California had to be furloughed in March. But within weeks, they were all brought back to full time using a business structure that mixed work at home with a shipping department that functioned like a cleanroom - In April, the worldwide sales of bikes including e-bikes skyrocketed to 75% of projections. Praxis easily hit their 2020 projections with their factory running at more than 100% capacity. Some supply chain issues kept their growth from exceeding projects. But overall, business faired well during 2020.
And there was an upside.
David being lucky enough to have residence in both USA and Taiwan has been able to weather COVID times in the relatively untouched country of Taiwan. Where he lives with his new wife. Overseaing the Taiwan operations as well as manufacturing.
