First Off....

I've got to express to you how stoked I am to be making bicycle components again.

Now, let me explain to you what I've been doing over the last few years.

When the "salad days" of American bicycle component makers were coming to an end in the mid 90's, I started looking for work in the industrial design & product development industries. As the years progressed I saw more and more of my income coming from non-bicycle related design work. And That was just fine with me, seeing how the bicycle component industry had for the most part shifted towards quality low-cost Asian components and I refused to have my bike parts made overseas.

Then came 9/11 and design business just STOPPED!

So once again I looked towards bicycles, but this time as an art form...Thus the 25th Anniversary Cruisers. I had wanted to revive the cruisers for some time, but knew that there was no way that I could cost effectively manufacture them. So rather than going for quantity...I went for quality!

I'm sure that the lucky few people that had the opportunity to purchase one of the 25A cruisers will attest to their technical prowse, quality workmanship, and EXTREME cost (complete cruisers averaged $5k each). But even with the high price, the income from the cruisers was just a fraction that I could make doing industrial design work, not to mention the bikes were VERY time consuming...Making sure that each cruiser was a rideable piece of art.

Not easy decisions

In 2003, As I was preparing for another run of bikes people started contacted me again for design work. One potential client was the Guru of a technology that fringed on all of these fields: Aerospace, Scientific, Medical, & Hot (radioactive) industries, and he had A LOT of really technical projects for me...Honestly too much to handle AND continue making a go of Cook Bros. Racing at the same time. That was when I put Cook Bros. up for sale.

Some prices are higher than just money!

COOK BROS. RACING PARTS MUST BE MADE IN AMERICA...#1 condition of sale.

I've had several interested buyers over the last seven years. Of course there were the dreamers & lookie-loos, they were the best group of all because they understood the legacy of Cook bros. and wanted to pick up the flag and run with it (but sadly didn't have 2 nickels to rub together). Then there was vintage and nostalgia guys that were really just interested in the name & logos so they could have lord-knows-what made in Asia and pawn it off as some part of American bicycle history. Then there was the group that I downright hated...The suits that that thought I was some "Podunk" bike geek that they could swindle out of a classic old bicycle company for pennies on the dollar. All the potential buyers of CBR shared a common misunderstanding... I WANTED to sell CBR...But I didn't NEED to sell Cook Bros. Racing!

So I didn't, and that's a GOOD thing.

Because, honestly I miss making bike parts and feel the need to get back to my roots! As you peruse the pages of the new CBR web site, you will see that my current offering is Bonz crank arms 175mm long and 4 sizes of single rings. Granted not a big product selection, but one that I can manage while maintaining my primary income source...Industrial Design. Hopefully as Cook Bros. grows again, I'll be able to offer more components.

It's been a pleasure getting you caught up & hopefully you'll be needing a pair of cranks soon.

Kind regards

Jack Witmer

PS: don't forget to send me an e-mail so that I can "keep you in the loop"!