I was walking Sea Otter's expo, the day before it started, and noted some friends of mine setting up the ABG booth. ABG is American Bicycle Group, the parent for Quintana Roo and Litespeed. (Those friends being Brad Devaney, the brains behind the product, at left above, and Chris Brown, the rest of the brains, at right).

Except I saw another brand there. Remot. As in, "remote". Just, it's got a "macron" over the "o", which is the diacritical mark denoting a long vowel. Which I, as of this writing, do not know how to do on my keyboard.

Remot is a brand built with the economies of high-end Asia, that is, high end carbon manufacturing at prices not that out of reach. There's a version of this gravel bike you see here in tan that sells for $2,300 or so. There's an electronically shifted version for $3,700, if my notes are right.

Why a new brand? I'm going to just give you my take. Litespeed is tied to a particular frame material. Quintana Roo is tied to a use case. ABG has a customer who wants a bike, and neither of its brands could stretch far enough to deliver that bike. Hence Remot.

What's special about this company, in my opinion – what sets it apart from those in its competitive set – is it’s logistical capacity. It imports frames it has made in Asia (as just about every brand does beyond the small boutique builders). It paints and assembles stateside (as almost every brand doesn't) in its own headquarters in Chattanooga. Beyond the ability to see what it is that sits below the paint (a big eye opener in terms of QC), the ability to give the customer just what he wants without huge lead times and a massive investment of treasure in parts gives this company something almost no brand can currently equal.

It also expands the capacity of this brand to explore new sales channels. Like bike fitters (if you're making bikes to order anyway).

Watch out for this brand. However you spell it.