After 17 years the original mountain bike disruptor brand has put itself into administration, with Covid, US tariffs and a “key supplier failure” responsible for its financial strife. YT’s phone lines are closed “for staff training”, the website is no longer taking orders, and it’s unclear if, or when, anyone with outstanding purchases is going to get their bikes or their money back.

That is a massive fall for a brand that once booked Hollywood stars Christopher Walken and Vinny Jones to front its marketing campaigns, brought out game changers like the YT Capra, and one of the best electric mountain bikes in the YT Decoy.

Christopher Walken on the YT Jeffsy launch video

This is not an obituary to one of my favourite brands in modern mountain biking though, because it’s not all over yet for YT. CEO Markus Flossmann popped up on YouTube yesterday to explain that YT is now in a period of self administered legal restructure, the important term there being “self administered”.

This means it’s the current management who are in charge of the process of trying to save YT, albeit with the supervision of an auditor or two. This gives YT more power, more time, and more cohesion to shape its destiny.

Don’t for one minute think the creditors won’t be in on this though, it’s those banks – or more likely private equity fund managers – who will really make the call on whether YT gets more money to keep going, or gets liquidated.

Vali Holl is now a “sometimes professional”? Could she just be being modest?

And it’s not looking good for the YT Mob, either. Vali Holl now describes herself on Insta as a “sometimes Professional DH Athlete”, with no mention of the brand at all. Although we might be jumping to conclusions on that one, as Jack Moir, Andi Kolb and Oisin O’Callaghan’s profiles remain unchanged.

However, YT insists it’s business as usual… or close to usual, anyway. “Currently, YT Industries remains fully operational with business continuing as normal during the restructuring process,” it said in a statement. “Customer service and warranty support continue to be available and new product launches are still on track to launch in the coming months.”

The YT Mill in Surrey is also technically still open to go and peruse the range, although it’s not possible to actually buy anything online right now.

What’s happened to YT this week

On Wednesday Markus Flossmann broke the news, with three reasons accounting for YT’s perilous state.

Covid “was the perfect storm” for YT he said, with a “brutal discount war for survival” ensuing after an initial boom time. In order for YT to compete with Canyon, Specialized, Trek and all the rest it’s often lopped hundreds of pounds or dollars from its bikes. I’ve been told that any time a brand sells a bike at discount it loses any profit to be had, do that for long enough and you’re in big trouble.

YT has had other problems too, getting the right parts on one of its new bikes in a timely fashion being the big one. “Earlier this year a key supplier failed us – quality issues and delivery delays – right when we needed them the most,” Markus said. He didn’t name the brand.

Better times for YT, on the Decoy SN 29 earlier this year

Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” look to have been another nail for YT. “At the same time the US market became wildly unstable,” Markus said. “Everything from natural disasters to chaotic trade policies hit consumer demand hard.”

Goods from Taiwan into the US incur a massive 32% tax, and while Trump insists it’s the Taiwanese that pay the reality it’s US consumers who’ve had to foot the bill with increased prices. Instead it seems likely many of them have chosen to vote with their feet and not buy a new YT at all, losing sales from a key market.

It’s a bit more complicated than that though, because the tariffs were actually paused for 90 days and effectively reduced to just 10%. However, they came back into force just a week ago, potentially explaining: why now for YT.

The YT Mill is a brand experience, demo centre, warranty hub, and much more.

What happens next for YT?

Back in August 2021 YT founder Markus Flossmann sold his controlling stake in the brand to private equity brand Ardian, with big plans for growth across Europe and North America.

It was a “strong team, with strategic funding, and a clear vision,” Markus said. “We were ready to take the next big step. I thought, what could possibly go wrong?”

Plenty, as we’ve seen, and I don’t want to get sucked into a rant on why private equity and bike brands just don’t mix. But perhaps the co-founders of YT buy the brand back again? Could it join the list of companies including Chelsea, BHS and Homebase sold for just £1? Could new investors be found? Or could the brand end up broken up and sold off?

The extra investment option would seem most likely, with some debts written off and new investors found. That’s not going to be easy though, with the company ultimately less valuable than four years ago. That could mean fewer bikes, fewer clothing or accessories, and perhaps the retreat from some markets. It also spells trouble for sponsored athletes, who are pre-paid on short term contracts and don’t immediately contribute to the bottom line.

“We are already in discussions with potential new partners and are confident that we’ll be back on track soon,” Markus Flossmann said in a statement.

The Szepter gravel bike was a step into a new market for YT, but perhaps that also diluted its core product. 

If that doesn’t happen there’s a lot to lose, particularly when YT is “just weeks away from a new launch,” Markus says. We understand the new bike launch will still go ahead, despite the business turmoil, something you wouldn’t do if the whole company really was being torched at a fire sale. We’re also unaware of any redundancies at YT, thank goodness, but it can only be a matter of time.

What future for YT customers then? Some are posting emails received from YT onto social media, suggesting their orders are now on hold.

“We regret to inform you that, due to ongoing insolvency proceedings, your order xxx has been put on hold,” one email read. “As your payment was received before the proceedings officially began, it is legally considered part of the insolvency estate.

“At this stage, we are unable to issue refunds or provide further details about the status of your payment. We understand how frustrating and disappointing this situation is, especially without a clear resolution.”

For the future of YT the company we’re all going to have to wait and see what happens too. I’d hate to see it disappear, after forcing the established brands to improve pricing and performance it deserves better than this.