Craig Calfee's side of the story

IMHO Fast Freddie did the correct thing and I would
support him in this and coming from me this has to
be a pretty profound statement.

IMHO there is one (1) and **ONLY** one issue here, and that is to
determine if the players each abided by their original agreement. The
nice thing about legalese is not that it is readable, but that it is
precise. I can't help but wonder if each person here correctly
understood the position of the other when they made their original
agreement. Who contributed 'what' and who did the most work, etc,
shouldn't enter the discussion until that question is settled.

About Craig's side of the story, we don't know how much he felt he had
to make on the bike. Was this ever addressed between the two? If it
doesn't pencil out.. then it doesn't.

Is it realistic of Fred to feel he can make $X from one model of
bicycle? Does an 'independent sales rep' make a good living off of
one model of one brand of bike in a small niche market? I don't know.

Who broke the agreement? Tick-off, disappointed, feeling
double-crossed is no justification for breaking an agreement. Whether
the original agreement was fair to Fred, or if he was worth more is no
longer an issue once they make an agreement. People need to honor
agreements. I have been in my share of broken agreements, as the
breakee, and it isn't honest, fair or pleasant.

I can't help but wonder if Fred originally anticipated that Craig
would see him as another of the 'rest of my employees', or if he saw
himself as a partner with equal rights. I think maybe hurt feelings,
misunderstandings and egos are as much the problem as money, but what
do I know? Everybody else was taking a whack at this so I thought I
would too.

"EVSolutions" skrev ...
I wonder if Fred and Karl have checked out the chap in Poland working in CF
that Mikael Seierup introduced ARBR to last year. Might give the 2 a good
excuse to take a european working vacation. Shipping would be a bitch, but
labor costs are lower and it opens up the American designed bents to the
european bent community.

That would be Kamil Manecki from Velokraft. While the idea has some merit
I think he has enough better designs of his own to occupy his time.
I'm sure there are others around though. Poland has been one of the pioneers
in composite design for a long time (AFAIK) with their gliders and whatnot.
And the wages and such are still fairly cheap.
There still is that nasty Atlantic Curse though.

Personally I would probably look at a Ti-Rush before considering something
like a Stiletto. Almost same weight (or mass) and a proven trackrecord with regard
to durability etc. plus the design is classic.
For now I'm quite happy with my TE-clone. But I need an Alleweder. ;-)

Mikael