December 11, 2013 (Cochrane, AB) – An amicable settlement has been reached in the name dispute pitting a local bike shop, Café Roubaix against Specialized Bicycle Components, an industry giant based in Morgan Hill, California.

Mike Sinyard, the founder and chairman of Specialized, flew into Calgary yesterday evening and drove to Cochrane (18km west of Calgary) this morning to meet personally with Dan Richter, the owner of Café Roubaix. Specific details of their conversation were not released, but the conflict is now resolved.

“I’m here with Mike Sinyard,” explains Richter in a video posted on the Café Roubaix Facebook site with the two men standing together in the bike shop. “We came to a great conclusion to all these last couple of days of excitement.”

“I just want to say a big apology for this whole thing that got out of line,” says Sinyard on the video. “I take full responsibility for it.”  Sinyard explained that the legal action against Café Roubaix happened in the context of trying to be ward off fake products in the market. It was primarily Café Roubaix’s branded wheels (visible in the background of the video) that set off the tempest. “You can proceed as you like… I started out the same way you did,” concludes Sinyard.

The video ends with Richter accepting Sinyard’s apology and the two men hugging.

Meanwhile, Stephanie Genuardi, the Marketing Communications Manager at Advanced Sports International (ASI) contacted Pedal adding that “Pat [Cunnane, the CEO of ASI], Mr. Richter, and Mike have been in conversations all day. Happy to report that they are all in alignment, that a resolution is being reached, and that Mr. Richter can continue to use the Café Roubaix name for his shop and hopefully prosper from the remarkable outpouring of support from the cycling community.”

Sinyard has sometimes been described as “the Steve Jobs of cycling.” He began importing bicycle components into California in 1974 at the age of 24. According to Wikipedia his company had estimated revenues of $500 million in 2011.

Watch the video here.