At Cane Creek we like to say that product is #1. I have worked for a company that was the best at marketing, another that had the best sales team, and a third that prided itself on its engineering prowess. There are also successful companies that are operationally excellent or have some other core competency that gives them a competitive edge. And then there are the companies that say Product Is King but may not actually behave that way. So how can one evaluate a company’s product focus? I would suggest that quantity and quality of its product introductions would go a long way to answer that question. Or said another way, the quality of the quantity. 

From 2016 through 2024 Cane Creek introduced 102, yes one-hundred two, new products. To be fair, 52 of those products were limited editions or line extensions. But the remaining 50 products were major overhauls or completely new products. That is averaging more than five new products and over eleven total product introductions per year. I put that record up to any company in the bike industry, pound-for-pound as they say in boxing. So that’s the quantity portion of the answer. 

To come up with the other half of the answer, we should define what we mean by “quality”. At Cane Creek we talk about creating premium alternative products that provide real benefit that riders value. There’s a lot there to unpack. Premium does not always mean expensive. A product can be premium by being best in its price class. Our new GXC stem retails for only $69. But it is premium when you look at it because it blows its competitors out of the water with its refined and polished finish, modern shape and proportions, stainless steel hardware, and light weight. Those very same quality features inherently make it an alternative to the mainstream heavy sandblasted matte black stems with hardware prone to rust. As for benefits, our goal is to solve a problem or provide a different benefit than what is already available. Our eeWings are a good example. Riders liked the light weight of carbon cranks but not the risk of breakage. So we set out to solve that dilemma and ended up with a welded tubular titanium crank. To this day there is no crank that is lighter and stronger. We think light, durable, stiff, corrosion proof, and a finish that can be re-freshed easily are real rider benefits. 

The GXC stem and eeWings are on opposite ends of the mentioned time-period and are on separate ends of the price continuum as well. Here are some other samples that speak to the quality of the quantity. In 2017 the patented ViscoSet was introduced. It is still the only headset with a compact and inexpensive mechanism that eliminates speed wobble. That year also saw the introduction of the Helm fork that offers travel adjustment that is still not seen in the market. In 2018 we overhauled our 40-Series headset with all-new Zn40 bearings that are very economical but have corrosion resistance that rivals stainless steel. That same year saw our first eeSilk seat post and the previously mentioned eeWings. The former noticeably mutes impacts from the road in a tidy package that has almost no weight penalty, the latter is well… the best. Along the way we did a complete re-design of the bestselling Thudbuster, including tool-free spring changes. A couple of years on came the first tool-free fully adjustable shock called the Kitsuma. Then the eeSilk stem was launched with a unique CS feature to reduce its movement when on smooth surfaces or when out of the saddle. Oh, it also weighs less, is much easier to change springs, and sports a more premium finish than its competitor. More recently came the world’s first gravel fork, the Invert, and the first air-charged coil shock known as the Tigon (patent pending). Both deliver rider benefits that are unmatched.

So there you have my case for pound-for-pound product champ. But I’d prefer that you don’t take my word for it. There is absolutely no better way to determine a product’s worth than to try it out. Regardless of what you see and hear on the internet, no one can determine the best product for you more than you. Our products can be found in dealers around the world, and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can contact us directly at support@canecreek.com.