Several team managers experienced a very rude awakening this morning indeed. Their email inbox contained a letter from Dan Plitman, founder of Bici Imports, informing them that Bici Imports, LLC has filed for bankruptcy. Not only would their clothing not be produced, their deposits/payments would not be refunded.
Clearly, this is hitting the local racing scene very hard. Off the top of our heads we can count 7-10 local teams that were using Stelvio Teamwear, Bici’s team kit brand. These and other teams will have to scramble to get their kits produced, not to mention allocate more money in their budgets. Those with bigger budgets will move on, racing in last year’s kit in the early season. Teams with smaller budgets will be endangered. In many cases team managers have fronted the money for the clothing orders. Without goods to show, they will not be reimbursed.
Check back for more details. We’ll be posting more info as soon as we find out more.
Updates: Dan Plitman has declined to comment.
Also, some teams paid with Amex or Visa, and may get their money back with their buyer protection programs. So the moral of this story is, when in doubt, charge it!
We’re at least as legit as this guy. But we’re not male prostitutes.
We don’t believe in censorship, so we have no control over the comments below. That or we’re too lazy to moderate the discussion, so we didn’t ask our programmer to give us the ability to edit the comments. In any case, the comments below do not reflect our opinions!!
——————–
This is really a disaster for a lot of NYC teams but I don’t think it was done intentionally. Just a case of gross mismanagement.
This is sad news. I know Dan was trying both to make his business a success and also support local/regional cycling through his team. I wish it had worked out better for everyone.
I’m not sure how one takes in money just weeks prior and then all of a sudden is broke……the goods weren’t ordered, where is the money? This is a sad day…..many, many people locally here in NYC are out money on this…..
We had switched apparel manufacturers to promote a local supplier and, well, you know the story. What’s worse is that I believe that we paid only 3 weeks ago, and had to pay the entire amount. If my own business was on the brink of bankruptcy, I would not be taking money from any potential clients without knowing that I could deliver.
Julie Upton
It’s a fragile business, this cycling thing. To all fellow CRCA members, let’s do our best to help those who are left short on resources this year, however we can– at bare minimum by being supportive. Our team dodged a bullet but we feel your pain. –SR
Steve, you’re looking like a genius right now.
Steve, you’re looking like a genius right now.
It’s a fragile business, this cycling thing. To all fellow CRCA members, let’s do our best to help those who are left short on resources this year, however we can– at bare minimum by being supportive. Our team dodged a bullet but we feel your pain. –SR
Does anyone know of a full list of sub teams that were sunk by Plitman’s incompetance / crookedness ?
Aquafina, VisitBritain, Merril Lynch – who were the poor others who decided to help out a local guy trying to make a buck only to get stiffed ?
Possibly Next, Senor Swanky’s, Radical Media, Moneygram, Bennett’s, and less locally, possibly Hampton Velo, Tam…
Although this doesn’t solve the money issue, we’ve had great luck with Verge thus far– though their earliest delivery date on order placed today is in May. Ben Harper there is worth a call at 800-536-0160. Also, Greg Rotbart at Squadra/Castelli may be another good resource at 760-431-0870. Outstanding service in pursuit of our order though we went with Verge. Any questions, feel free to email me. — Steve Rosenblum (formerly CRCA/Velo Classic Tours) SkylineCycling@hotmail.com
Have to second the Verge recommendation–great service, great clothes.
has anyone tried Hincapie Sports – they seem very helpful on the phone – anyone tried their product ?
Verge is good and Hincapie is good, both in quality and service. I just got some Hincapie stuff that I think is slightly higher quality than my Verge stuff from several years ago, but both are good for sure.
I have been involved in the cycling community since the 80’s and cycling has always been my passion and my love. I left a promising career in the technology consulting business to pursue cycling a second time around and I started Bici Imports with a friend from Italy. I never had any intention on working for no pay (yes, this is what it’s like when you are starting a company) and going out of business. We delivered clothing to many teams and last year, when our supplier screwed us, we made $25,000 in concessions to our clients, who we always put in first place and still delivered everybody clothing. I have supported the sport as best that I could while growing the business. In conjunction with some other issues, my partner grossly mismanaged the Italian side of our business creating a hole that was not possible to get out of. As the face of Bici Imports that you have encountered, I take full responsibility.
Many teams have been affected by this closure and I can honestly say that nobody feels worse about this than I do. I hope that once we liquidate our assets we will be able to return some money to them.
People chose to work with our company because of our products and our service. We were probably too accommodating in some cases which hurt the bottom line. Some of the teams will be able to dispute their charges with credit card companies and get some of their money back now. I also called upon Rich Hincapie from Hincapie Sports because I not only feel that they make the best product around, but because I know that Rich is a good person at heart and he would try and help teams the best that he could.
It did not become apparent until January 28th that we had problems and then we did not know for sure if we would file for bankruptcy until February 4th. I tried many options to figure out how to get the teams their clothes or their money, but I was unsuccessful. Many of you have used the words, scam, crooked behavior etc… Those of you that know me know this could not be further from the truth – I conduct myself and my business with integrity. For the few of you that run your own businesses, I hope you never have to shut down involuntarily.
Finally, let the record show that I was asked by Andy Shen if NYVelocity.com could post the email I sent to the teams and I said no.
That email was between me and the teams. I also chose not to write a response, not knowing that they were going have fun writing a short article and calling the event “Black Tuesday”. However, I did respond to a legitimate news source today, Bicycle Retailer, who will be writing their own story about the misfortunate event.
Obviously a lot happened here and some of us were more affected than others. I’m certain, however, that there are quite a few of you who Dan bent over backwards for and helped out more than he should have.
To say that he’s absent of culpability is not true, but maybe if he spent less time helog out local teams and more time actualy making money he’d be better off and you’d still be complaining because a lot of other clothing out there didn’t match Stelvio. I also know that Dan was unaware of many of the problems until last week. Maybe he should/could have been more aware of his other half, but maybe you all should go looking beyond NYC…
just one question that is the hardest to answer……how does a company file for bankrupcy when they are at a point in their business season when they take in the most cash?
It would be like Toys Are Us going out of business in the middle of December……..
An answer to that question would go a long way…..
Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:26 pm Post subject: bici imports
——————————————————————————–
My sympathies with all those inconvenienced or shortchanged by Bici Imports. Dealing with reps of overseas manufacturers can be hazardous.
If you are not already familiar with VOmax, let me introduce our company. We are a Massachusetts manufacturer of cutting edge sublimated cycling apparel. We have been in business 22 years, have a 100% on time delivery history, have twice as many products as Verge or Voler, are technologically proficient and are very easy to work with. While our marketing isn’t flashy, professional buyers always choose us because of the great value, consistency and reliability of our products and company. Our design and sublimation processes are the most technologically advanced of anyone in the industry. Check us out at http://www.vomax.com or call any one of our great customer service folks at 800-530-9740
Before you go ascribing evil intent, maybe you should take a step back and ask yourselves some basic questions.
I find some of the comments here a bit off. Are some people so self absorbed or naive that they can only see how this affects them? Oh yeah- and let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is something that we do for fun – a hobby of ours. No one I know is making a living doing this but that was exactly what Dan was trying to do and this was a huge chunk of Dan’s life. How do you think your losses compare to Dan’s? Has anyone thought about that? He has poured his life into this for the past two plus years, I think it is fair to say that he has lost more than all of us combined.
Do some of you really think that Dan has enriched himself at your expense? Those of you that do – have you seen his apartment/office/warehouse in the South Bronx or are you just spewing venom? To me, and of course it is just my opinion, someone who “scams†people does not live and work in a 600 square foot space in that area.
Do you think that it is fair to characterize giving Dan business as “helping out a local guyâ€? So now some of you are going to portray giving him business as a charity case. Wow – I ride among such noble cyclists – give me a break! We gave him business because he gave us the best prices, the best quality, the lowest minimums and great service – not because he was a local guy.
I know it is easy and convenient to project blame but has anyone considered that before you give money to someone for future promises, an inherent judgment is made as to the business risk involved? I mean do you think that maybe we should have known better or possibly suspected that this was a possibility? Yet did anyone ask that that the money be specifically allocated to the production of his or her order? Many of us knew or suspected that Dan’s business was not doing great and that he was looking for more investors. I realize now that it was stupid of me to not to ask “what if†but hind-sight is, as they say, 20 -20. However, I will not compound my mistakes by acting like an irresponsible child and denying my responsibilities in this debacle. A lot of you guys need to take a long look in the mirror, take responsibility, and grow up.
Yeah, but wheres my money at?
Idiocy abounds.
Julie Upton’s point hits the nail on the head.
If a business has cash flow problem and is supposed to be run by management that have integrity, it simply does NOT take in money nowing it’s in a hole, make promises and then leave a client in the lurch.
Bibless in Bayridge
So Bibless, you mean that when a business has a cash flow problem they should just close shop? Or get a loan from a bank if they can, but not take customers? Without knowing the details of what happened, that seems rather simplistic. A lot of companies would go out of business quite quickly like that. I guess that’d be good because they’d go out of business sooner rather than later…
When a company takes money for an order in November – never actually places the order with the manufacturer- then 2 months later after many false promises (or shall we come right out and call them lies ?) he then takes another order and demands 100% cash upfront – then declares bankruptcy a week or two later – that isn’t a cash flow problem – that is deceit and incompetance at best – theft at worst.
If you are going to rip a guy calling him a thief at least use your name!
As I said, I run a business as does my husband, Craig. If we could not deliver our services, we would not close up shop but we WOULD tell our potential clients upfront that there could be issues, etc. to make them aware that while we may give them a break, we aren’t a 100% sure thing.
Craig and I are firm believers that bankruptcy filing is the easy way out. That we would work to the bones before we ever would consider filing for bankruptcy. There are a lot of deep pockets in CRCA that maybe could have helped from a financial/marketing/ strategy to see if there could be some other options to help these teams get their goods for this one season. In fact, we would have easily paid double the price in order to at least get this season’s apparel and to help with cash-flow.
In hindsight, I can see the many poor business on Bici’s part, but feel so strongly that Dan should not have been taking his “friends'” money knowing that he was going bankrupt. Many who have worked closely to him know that he knew he was in serious financial problems many months ago.
And just an FYI, I think I was offered significant funds (10-20K I believe) from Dan just a few months ago as well as getting all apparel for free to add a female cyclist to my team that he said had “huge” potential. I declined the offer but often wondered where he was finding that kind of cash to back a woman cyclist. Maybe the business was doing better than I thought, I concluded!
I do not think that he did anything intentional, I just think he has poor money management and marketing skills and wasted money on frivolous items.
Julie Upton
RORR — do you know this to be true? Do you actually know that Dan never placed an order with the manufacturer and that he was lying to you? If so, then you are right in how you are characterizing Dan. Those are serious accusations. (In fact they are libelous if they are not true). So please I would like to hear it clearly from you not not as a hypothetical statement (and thus innuendo): did Dan actually do these things or are you just speculating/venting? And Julie, I have to laugh at the phrase bankruptcy is the “easy way out.” It sure doesn’t sound easy to me.
Our Sponsor Champion System wants to make your clothing if Bici failed to provide you with your kits. They are quick,great, and very inexpensive. Call me 917.940.5099.
http://www.champ-sys.com or my site at http://www.champsysracing.com
Ray
JT, why are you defending the indefensible?
Thousands of dollars have been lost, kits have not been procured – these are the realities of this fiasco.
Bibless, I’m not defending Dan. I don’t know the whole story. Without knowing the whole story I would *speculate* that Dan is a bad businessman. But there is a big difference between someone being a bad businessman and being a liar/unethical. Liar and unethical are pretty strong terms, so just because people are pissed off that Dan screwed up and lost their money doesn’t mean that they can say stuff about him that isn’t true. If they know it’s true that he cheated or lied or whatever, then please tell. But it’s bad to just say stuff like that just because you’re mad at Dan. PS — I have no financial relationship and am not even friends with the guy — just an acquaintance. I have met him and talked to him at races and have admired his attempts to put together elite teams in the region. Too bad that is down the tubes too.
I’m with JT on this and I am a friend. The wild speculation here does no good. However, I do see a lot of other busninesses trying to cash in on this. Quick, fast, cheap…Hmmm, I woner about that.
The truth is Dan may have made some bad decisions, but as LW pointed out, (probably) none of you were in it because he was local. His clothing was the best and I fought hard to keep him on as a sponsor of my team. Yes his offer was still best, but barely. Actually I would have paid more because the clothing was the best.
Here’s a thought, though, you could fix the problem, not the blame. You can blame Dan all you want, but I can tell you he doesn’t have anyone’s money and he definately lost out more than anybody else.
I’ve stayed out of this thus far as I don’t want to get into an internet slanging match and I realise Dan is as devastated as anyone but I find it absolutely incredulous that some people can take the stance that expressing their displeasure at events is libellous but somehow taking thousands and thousands of dollars from local racers and not delivering is what ? – sad news ? unfortunate ? bit of a pity ?
As far as I can see – did Dan mean for this to happen ? Absolutely not – he gave all his time to making the business succeed.
Was it misguided ? Probably – yes. If more money was spent on the kit business and less on a Bici car and sending a team to Ireland for the RAS then both Dan and the various teams involved wouldn’t be in this position.
Did Dan take money for new orders knowing previous orders weren’t going to be fullfilled ? In my opinion highly likely. We placed an order in late 2004 and sent off rough designs (as well as full payment ) which Dan would work on. After the unfortunate collapse of BIci Dan sent our designs onto Hincapie – untouched from the original. This suggests to me that the order was never placed – we know orders for new kit were taken after this date and payment requested in full. When questioned about the order as recently as mid January I was always told – “everythings on schedule” – Do I blame Dan for taking this approach ? – no, but was it a lie – unfortunately yes.
As for LW and CH – who incinuated we are all partly responsible for Bici’s downfall – you are living in a dream world. Some teams did infact specifically use Dan because 1. He was competitively priced, 2. It was good quality 3. He was local. The 3rd factor was just as important – same way VB encourages all its riders to use racelistings rather than bikereg as its helping out another hard working local guy – Charlie I. We also spread the word amongst many other teams both sub and further afield (including Ireland ironically) that Bici was a good provider etc. – was this to line our own pockets ? to make us look better ? – no it was to help a local businessman (and nice guy) try and succeed.
As far as Julie comments about “bankruptcy being the easy way out” I tend to agree. Maybe not in Dans’ specific case – but there are countless examples of companies declaring bankruptcy or filing chapter 11 so that they get a clean slate from the creditors only to set up shop again under a different name – often to then repeat the process again. I’m sure Dan has no intention of doing this but precedents have been set and to the layman like me it does indeed seem like an easy way out.
Finally lets not lose sight of another set of casualties here – its local cycling as a whole. Having seen their sponsorship money disappear into thin air do you really think entities like VisitBritain / Merril Lynch / etc. etc are going to want to expand their activites – junior team / grass roots etc ?
Doubt it.
I’ve got no problem with people saying Dan contributed to big problems among local teams. But phrases like crookedness” and “never actually places the order with the manufacturer” are libelous unless they are true. I don’t know if they are true. Justin, at least you are backing up your statements with evidence.
I never said or implied the local teams are to blame. I think at this point everyone affected and connected need to work together to fix the problem not continue the bashing. Its easy to complain, but its not going to solve anything.
I think I should clarify things – Justin I did not mean to insinuate that “we are all partly responsible for Bici’s downfall” – we definitely are not responsible for Bici (well that is unless you voted for George Bush because the high deficit weakens the dollar which of course hurts the exchange rate which raises the cost for importers such as Bici but ….that’s for a different board)
I simply meant that I feel that I should have looked at the business risk a little bit more closely and realistically and that ultimately it is my money and my responsibility. I also said that hindsight is 20/20 and had I done what I am saying now then everyone today would think that I was a genius (well most people at least).
I have not looked a this sight in a while and today I was showing someone the postings and I had to read all the new ones. I realize that a lot of people are hurt, angry etc.. and I wish there was something that I could do in my power to fix the problem, but there isn’t. I am not going to go into all the details of waht went wrong and defend myself to prove that money was not taken with the knowledge that we were going out of business. The only reason I am writing this posting is becuase people can say whatever they want and the inteligent people out there will take it for what it is. Make believe bullshit. All Hypothetical nonsense. No one knows any of the facts and I have never ran my life or my business in any way to make any of you think that I would lie and cheat etc… There is a time and a place where you can be heard. When we file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy you can make your position known and the Bankruptcy court can freely go through all our books. I have nothing to hide. The issue I have is with the comments that people are starting to take as fact. Julie Upton posted that I offered to pay $15-20k to put a very talented rider (a rider that has far more talent then anybody already on her team) on the Aquafina team. I did not offer this money. I specifically asked for her to put her on the team and that I would help with the expenses for her being on the team. That means she would be on the team and have a lot more opportunities available to her. It does not mean that I would send her to a million races and spend $10,000 on her. Plus I figured that once the racing started and they saw how talented she was they would want her to be at the races too and so they would step up and cover her expenses. As far as Justin’s comments. I want to clarify some dates here. Because as you know we do track this information for our records. Justin had pre-paid for his order back in August with the idea that he would use that money for a future order. He started the process of placing his order with us in December and he confirmed it on 1/8/05 via email. The art was submitted to us on 12/23/04 and 12/24/04. Art was forwarded to the company we use for our artwork. Keep in mind that this is the busiest time of year and we received their art right when Italy goes on vacation until Jan. 8th. (On a side note we also delivered 3 team orders in December) They not only do the art, but they also print digital paper for us as well as print film for our traditional jobs. So to say that we were not working on the order is false. Plus I am not going to go into the details of what is involved in producing a custom clothing order, but there are many steps and many things that can be done before actual printing is done and we were on schedule with everything to deliver orders in March as promised. Yes I did forward art to Hincapie and it was not in Illustrator format because I am not able to get any Illustrator files from our design company in Italy since they are aware that we are going out of business and we will not be paying them their final bill either, so obviously they will not be releasing any art to us. (Another side note we also had a job due in Jan. that we delivered). I realize that this posting will only invite some more nasty emails and all I can say is that I am sorry and if it makes you feel better then keep on sending them.
Dan – re-read what I wrote:
“This suggests to me that the order was never placed – we know orders for new kit were taken after this date and payment requested in full. When questioned about the order as recently as mid January I was always told – “everythings on schedule” – Do I blame Dan for taking this approach ? – no, but was it a lie – unfortunately yes. ”
Note the wording – “this suggest to me” – with the facts that were availible to me that was my conclusion. Nowhere did I state categorically that you were not placing orders. Additionally I stated that you told me in mid January that everything was on schedule. And now you claim that I am spouting make believe bullshit and hypothetical nonsense ! – you’ve got some nerve fella thats all I can say.
Matter closed.
Let me clarify something that was misunderstood by my last posting. When I stated, “Make believe bullshit. All Hypothetical nonsense” was referring to all the accusations against me calling me a crook, a liar, a thief etc… All these accusations have no backing, but are just being said out of emotion and imagination. I did not mean this towards Justin or Julie. Since I wrote it in the same posting people might misunderstand what I meant so that is why I am clarifying it here.
From all of this I suggest that all concerned approach this in the Courts as soon as Bici has officially filed for bankruptcy — as Dan says — “When we file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy you can make your position known and the Bankruptcy court can freely go through all our books.”
All of these posts achieve little except massive venting.
You mean Bici hasn’t even filed yet?
HAHAHAHAHA! LOL!
This is an even better piece of fiction than anything Bici may or may not have come up with!
To all – I am sure that this will pass and will eventually be a memory. Maybe even one to laugh at which we all hope. Businesses fail all the time and people make mistakes – sometimes intentional. Just look at Tyco, WorldComm or Enron. Those guys are the real theives.
I think Dan has a strong code of ethics and I am sure tried all he could to do the right thing. I just think it’s time to move on and find a solution to the problem and learn from this experience. One key thing is to see how financially solvent a company is. Last year we tried the Asian angle with a company in India, and our ktis all got burned at the facility. Really, I am not kidding. The facility did refund some of our money, not all of it. At that time I wish I had gone to Dan. Our first year kits came out great and we wore them for 2 years, over 100 races.
When Dan said how busy he was, we decided to look elsewhere and we came across a great, reliable and inexpensive resource. Much cheaper and the same quality as many of the local companies, which often ship their order to companies like our main sponsor to sublimate and stitch uniforms. We got lucky and I can say that our kits are wonderful.
If you want to get jerseys quickly and inexpensive so you don’t blow your budget, send me an email so I can get my sponsors US rep calling you. Checkout their site at champ-sys.com. I believe they have rates on their. If not, stop me in the park, or stop me in the street, email or call.
Call me 917.940.5099. http://www.champ-sys.com or my site at http://www.champsysracing.com
Best to all and ride, race safely –
Ray
For what its worth to anyone – Dan Plitman went through all the process, paperwork and payment involved with our ill fated order with me this evening. All I can confirm is that poor business decisions and unfortunate business partners do not a liar or a crook make.
In my opinion (critical statement there) Dan did what he could and certainly as far as VB money was concerned he acted with the best of intentions and NOT in an illegal fashion.
The End
Justin
But where did all the $$$$ go?
How about this NY area clothing/bicycle company, BICI imports. This guy has this company and turns out pretty descent cycling clothing that falls under the name STELVIO. This same guy starts showing up at races all over the East Coast in 04′ in a car that he has stickered up like a real team car with STELVIO all over it. This same guy does team kits for a lot of the local NYC teams-= and there are a lot of them. AND this same guy was talking abut how he was going to have a pro team in 05′ and blah blah. Big talk. Another delusional…… fan. This guy then files for bankruptcy, just today from what I gather, and as a result, all of the teams that have ordered their clothing from him are just plain out of luck. And worse, these teams don’t get their deposits back from the guy and some of these teams even paid in full, and just THREE weeks ago. SHADY. I feel terrible for all of the riders who were looking forward t their new team kits, because now the teams have to find another company to do up their clthing and on short notic. the turn around time for clothing orders is usually a good 2 months at tht least. So if anyone knows someone at a REPUTABLE clothing company that might be able to help out the teams in the NYC cycling community that got burned my a local yahoo, contact CRCA.net. And to the guy that burned so many good people who just plain love to ride their bikes, shame on you.
Champion System Racing is already helping out a couple of teams. I am telling you. Call me, we can get you in contact with our people. They come from the garment industry and know this stuff. They are QUICK, CHEAP, and reliable.
ralba@champsysracing.com – I am not making any money off this plug. Believe me!
Ray
How about this: for future insulting, when you post something here, or on your blog, that goes out of its way to make accusations, make sure to proof read what you post to make sure it does not sound like the rant of a 5 year old who is still trying to master spelling. Or did you actually proofread this before you posted?
We’ve used Stelvio in the past and personally I thought the clothing was OK but not great. Fortunately we had planned to go with Garneau this year until Champion Systems solicited us. The samples provided were better than anything Stelvio ever made and the price is unbeatable. If our kit comes out as good as promised I’ll be stoked. By the way anyone who was burned by Stelvio should show up a the bankruptcy hearing to see if you can recover anything.
So who makes the best clothing?
What’s up?
dan is an unscrupulous businessman and human being. he has no conscience. he is a BIG talker and has nothing to back anything he says up.
for those of you who are trying to see the brighter side of this and that maybe its not as bad as you think it is deep down, dont waste your good natures on this guy. he is what he appears to be – a loser!
I’m considering them and looking for experienced customers.
I heard Champion’s stuff is all from China, is this common? I know one company – VO Max – is all U.S. made, and that’s important to me.
I heard Champion’s stuff is all from China, is this common? I know one company – VO Max – is all U.S. made, and that’s important to me.