Tag: Factor Bicycles

It makes sense that to build bicycles with complete authenticity, the builder should understand what makes a bicycle great, specifically the materials it’s made from and how it performs on a ride.

If your background isn’t in cycling, then you decide one day, without any reason, to start building them, your chances for success will probably be slim or none. In the case of Factor Bicycles, the company’s pedigree and passion for cycling stems from a deep knowledge of materials and bike racing, which have made it a successful brand.

Taiwan, Carbon Fiber, and the Bicycle Industry

Rob Gitelis, who is the current and longstanding CEO of Factor Bicycles, has a strong connection to the world of cycling. For one thing, he began his journey in the industry in 1996 by moving to Taiwan.

Gitelis states, “I worked for the first bicycle carbon fiber bicycle manufacturer in Taiwan,” according to an interview he did with Cycling News in March of 2024. It was the first facility of its kind in the world that mass produced the material.

Later in his career, he owned a factory while still in Taiwan that would supply carbon fiber bike frames to Pinarello, Cervelo, Cinelli, and many other brands. But Gitelis’s connection to cycling goes deeper than that. He was (and still is) a bike rider, specifically a bike racer. He started racing when he was 12.

Racing Bikes and Taking Over Factor Bicycles

While he spent his youth and a good part of his 20s racing bikes, Gitelis states he was never a winning racer or even overly successful. Then, while racing the Tour of Taiwan, he met someone who convinced him that he should focus his efforts more on the bicycle industry.

Gitelis eventually took a job with Advanced Composites which was making golf club shafts and other items from carbon fiber but wanted to make bicycles. While he stopped racing in 1996, he started again in 2011, which allowed him to become a pro in his 40s.

Gitelis says that if it were not for bike racing, Factor wouldn’t exist. Through racing, he learned that many of the bikes around at that time were inferior and he felt they could be made in a better way.

2016 and Beyond for Factor Bicycles

After a long stint in the carbon fiber business, convincing brands like Specialized to make bikes from the material, in 2016 Gitelis became the CEO of Factor Bicycles, which was owned by Founder John Bailey.

Factor and Gitelis began building their own bikes shortly thereafter. The brand gained recognition when it sponsored the AG2R team and Factor Bikes got third place in the Tour de France. From 2019 and some rough years in between through to today, Factor has remained successful.

Gitelis credits Factor’s current success from always doing the right thing, although that might be viewed as not the most financially viable approach, even controversial. Factor has sponsored Amani, a full East African team, women’s teams, and Israel Premier Tech. The team and Factor have received a negative response because of the Gaza/ Israel conflict, but Gitelis says they are just a bike producer and don’t support what is happening there.

Last Thoughts

Factor is a successful brand because of Rob Gitelis’s passion for cycling, carbon fiber, making high-end bikes, and racing. These elements and his vision of what bikes could be are the reasons why Factor continues to be a force in the cycling industry today.

What will the future bring for Factor? It’s impossible to say, as no one has a crystal ball, but Gitelis says the company will continue to make bikes and continue to “do the right thing,” whatever that might be. It’s a nice thing to see a company like Factor that’s not driven just by money. I wish more businesses would do the same.