Kelly's are not Kelly®
10/19/07 - Over the past year I have received an enormous amount of email from a lot of folks in eastern European countries asking about my bikes -- or rather bikes they thought were mine but are not. The many emails and questions have prompted me to state the facts here on my website. My goal is to keep the public well informed and to prevent anyone from being misled further than they already are.
If you're buying or already own a bike that says "Kelly" on the down tube you might want to check it out because chances are you might be buying a Chinese made knock off. If it bears an apostrophe "s" at the end of the "Kelly" name (Kelly's), you need to know for certain that it is most definitely NOT a genuine US made Kelly®.
According to my research and information it seems that a company called Mama spol, located in Slovakia, began their Kelly's campaign in 2003 by launching a global website which inferred that they distributed all over the globe and were/are a US based company - which was/is in fact not the case. Although they try to lead folks to believe they were founded in 1994 on their "about us" page, it is evident if not apparent where the inspiration for their not so original brand name came from. I stumbled upon their site (www.kellys-bicycles.com) in July of 2005 and could not believe my eyes. Though they boasted to be of US origin, with world headquarters claiming to be Cycle Source Group USA located at the time in New York, (now in Ames Iowa) company owner, Nyle Nims, explicitly maintains that he has never had any relation to or with Mama, or Kelly's other than offering to distribute their bikes into the US big box stores.... Hmmmm?
So let me get this straight - Kelly's claim they are based in the USA, and Cycle Source Group says they aren't.... Does this sound deceptive or confusing to you? So what's the deal -- whom do I believe? I am told that the top selling brand in the Ukraine is Kelly's. The second leading brand is Gary Fisher. WOW!!!! I never thought I would see the day. Too bad Im not getting paid!
Since 1985 when I began making bikes I never thought that I would see the day when someone would actually have the gall or lack of integrity to knock off my brand, but apparently it has happened.
Most people I talk to about this ask me, "well, can't you just hire and attorney and sue them"? Like, uh, yeah, gee, I never thought of that...? I'll just pull a hundred thousand or so out of my back pocket so that I can begin the even more expensive process and painstaking task of MAYBE winning the case and NEVER recouping my loss. FYI, in my extensive experience I have found that good trademark attorneys are not cheap and nobody (NOBODY!) in trademark law works on contingency. Personally, I think its all a big case of bad things happen when good people do nothing.
Just for the record - as soon as I found out about this whole mess in 2005 I picked up the phone and called Cycle Source Group USA and spoke to its owner, Nyle Nims, who claimed to be "just the messenger". After much discussion and diplomacy (on my part) a licensing agreement was on the table until the folks in Slovakia (or so im told by Mr. Nims) walked away in March of 2006. Subsequently, papers were filed with US Customs and US Border Protection to prevent their goods from entering the US. In other words - not only are Kelly's NOT based or founded in the USA - they cannot even distribute into the USA and are deemed as counterfeit because they are an infringement to my brand. The Kelly's Slovakia people have spent a bunch of time, money and effort in successfully and legally registering a poor English translation of the Kelly brand name (Kelly's) in all the countries in Europe that I have sold to in the past 20 years, and a few that I haven't, but the truth is they are not me, and Kelly's are not Kelly®!
The bottom line here is that I have produced 2000 or so bikes since 1985 and have been distributing them all over the globe since then. Many Kelly customers own 2 Kelly's (Kelly's is used as a plural here) and some own even more. If you are one of the 1900-2000 or so persons that I have had the privilege to build a bike for, then you know what owning a true and genuine Kelly® is all about.
If you see a bike that bears anything other than the genuine KELLY® brand logo on the down tube, then you need to know it is not one of mine. In the meantime I think Im gonna brush up on my Russian.
KELLY® FORWARDING INFO
Kelly Bike Co LLC is no longer located at 571 Searls Ave Unit E in Nevada City CA. The new mail forwarding address is: PO Box 709, North San Jaun CA 95960.
Any inquiries can be sent to the above address or via email to info@kellybike.com. We are leaving the phone on as well however we don't check voicemail but once every other week or so.
2006 SINGLE SPEED WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!
8/19/06 - STOCKHOLM SWEDEN - As fate would have it, Sveinung Björköy of Norway rode his Kelly® Deluxe to a 2006 Single Speed World Championship Victory, thus crowning the Kelly® Deluxe a two-time World Champion (2002 & 2006).
"To tell you the truth I was kinda bummed out that we couldn't afford to send Stella and Dorothy to Stockholm, what with all the goings on here at Kelly", company founder and owner Chris Kelly lamented, "so this was indeed a very nice surprise when I heard the news of Sveinung winning on one of our bikes and wearing our colors", Kelly said with a smile. "It's kind of funny how things work out sometimes", he concluded.
Our deepest congratulations and thanks go out to you Sveinung! A job well done!
For more info about the 2006 Single Speed World Championships visit these links:
Pic of top tree:
http://www.velo.se/contents/images/big/1301_m_singlespeed%20VM%2006%20061.jpg
Some more pics:
http://happymtb.org/forum/read.php/1/493687
Article and pics in Swedish:
http://www.velo.se/view.php?id=1174
Official page:
http://www.sswc06.com/
