BallReviews
Equipment Boards => Lane #1 => Topic started by: AlonzoHarris on January 10, 2017, 11:08:42 AM
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What caused the market drop that Lane#1 went through? Circa 2006 they were pumping out what appeared as desired equipment. I picked up the Dirty Bomb and Hybrid Dirty Bomb. I stopped bowling in 2007 and didn't return till 2015 to see that perception has gone to the way side.
I still use my 2005 equipment. I believe mine are Brunswick poured PK18? Coverstock or variations of it.
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I'm no Lane #1 expert, but.....................
Many people who loved and used them were from the era when Lane #1 was a Brunswick poured product using Brunswick covers.
When that came to an end, Lane #1 went over to Columbia300 covers. The nature of the ball reaction seemed to change, and some didn't like them as well as before, so they went elsewhere.
Then, Lane #1 came out with some balls that just didn't seem to hit the mark. Shortly after that period, Columbia300 got bought out by Ebonite, and the Lane #1 relation with Columbia300 came to an end.
Looking to another ball manufacturer, Lane #1 ended up being poured by 900Global in the old Columbia300 plant in San Antonio, Tx. But, as luck would have it, 900Global started having some cover issues right about then, and got a reputation for their covers cracking.
Lots of people did not want to pay a premium price for a Lane #1 ball being poured by a company using the same covers on their stuff that was priced about 1/2 as much as the Lane #1 stuff. Afterall, why pay $275 for a ball with about the same cover as a different ball you could get for $150?
Lane #1 lost a lot of their market share in all of this I think. The last ball they came out with, they priced at $309, and I'm pretty sure that did exactly ZERO to help them get any marketshare back.
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Ah so hit a downward spiral of bad luck in the coverstock department and couldn't hold on basically. $309 is a bit ridiculous, especially when trying to regain some traction.
Did the Brunswick pouring end for them when Brunswick moved to Mexico?
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As far as anybody knows, the last thing Richie said was that Lane #1 was fine, but nothing has come out in a while, and there were rumors for a while that he was looking around for a buyer.
He denied those rumors, but I haven't heard anything much since then.
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Did the Brunswick pouring end for them when Brunswick moved to Mexico?
Happened before then, if I remember correctly.
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Lane 1 was always something of a niche company. Those that liked them, REALLY liked them and were very loyal in their following. At the same time, there were always those who never believed the extra cost was justified. In the end, as Juggernaut said, many of the loyal followers, myself included, left after Brunswick stopped pouring for them. For whatever reason, the balls just didn't seem as good after that.
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Did the Brunswick pouring end for them when Brunswick moved to Mexico?
Happened before then, if I remember correctly.
It happened when Lane#1 stopped paying Brunswick for balls made. The debt got too large and Brunswick stopped making their balls.
Lane#1's cores matched up well with Brunswick's resins, supplied by Bayer.. Lane#1's cores virtually NEVER matched up with Columbia's and 900Global's resin supplier, BASF. There were few good balls for Lane#1 after Brunswick for the general bowler. A few were loved by a very few bowlers and there sits Lane#1, now, out in the cold ... pity.
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personally they got away from what took them to those heights granted the move to another coverstock was a big part but there are other things that took people like myself away, people who sold a ton of balls that kind of got hung out, I didnt lose anything but at the end of the day didnt like what took place a lot of factors lead to where they are now. got mad respect for Richie but............................I'll just leave it at that
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Chuck leaving Lane 1 was also a factor. After he left, their customer relations/service went south bad and never came back.
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Richie tried to sell to the big brands recently, but nobody was interested. My understanding he is now looking for someone to pour for him... Richie is very confident in his product, sometimes to a fault. The price has never warranted the ball ability..
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Lane #1 used to sell Bean's Secret Sauce. Who does now?
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Lane #1 used to sell Bean's Secret Sauce. Who does now?
Beans sold or leased the product or the rights to make and sell the product to Lane#1. As far as I know, they still have it. You'd have to query them about it unless someone else here knows.
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Lane #1 used to sell Bean's Secret Sauce. Who does now?
Beans sold or leased the product or the rights to make and sell the product to Lane#1. As far as I know, they still have it. You'd have to query them about it unless someone else here knows.
It does seem to still be on their web site:
http://lane1bowling.com/products/accessories/index.html (http://lane1bowling.com/products/accessories/index.html)
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Lane #1 used to sell Bean's Secret Sauce. Who does now?
[/quoteLane #1 still sells it, only place you can get it as far as i know
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As a cusumer I feel there was zero innovation past the hybrid dirty bomb...Maybe that's what happened. Regardless of who poured em.
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Thanks to all for the replies and thanks to NeverLearn for the link.
Another quick question: If I remember correctly, the Secret Sauce was supposed to be able to polish urethane balls easily?
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Thanks to all for the replies and thanks to NeverLearn for the link.
Another quick question: If I remember correctly, the Secret Sauce was supposed to be able to polish urethane balls easily?
Yes, only the old true urethane are very hard to polish; newer ones are probably part resin, part urethane, like the Blue Hammer; it is very easy to polish.
I'd save Secret Sauce for the true urethanes.
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What was the last ball lane 1 made with Brunswick? I had a uranium solid that worked well for me.
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What was the last ball lane 1 made with Brunswick? I had a uranium solid that worked well for me.
I'm thinking the Solid Cobalt Bomb, but I could be mistaken there.
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Did the Brunswick pouring end for them when Brunswick moved to Mexico?
Happened before then, if I remember correctly.
It happened when Lane#1 stopped paying Brunswick for balls made. The debt got too large and Brunswick stopped making their balls.
Lane#1's cores matched up well with Brunswick's resins, supplied by Bayer.. Lane#1's cores virtually NEVER matched up with Columbia's and 900Global's resin supplier, BASF. There were few good balls for Lane#1 after Brunswick for the general bowler. A few were loved by a very few bowlers and there sits Lane#1, now, out in the cold ... pity.
I thought the main reason Lane 1 left Brunswick was because Richie want the Lane 1 ball to be made in the USA and not Mexico.
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bltbyj,
You could be correct, but all the stories I've heard were different.
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I loved my pearl cobalt bomb. GREAT ball that inspired me to try some of their other stuff. Over time I had a Red Death, Blue Death, Time Bomb, Buzzbomb/R, and a Chainsaw. I disliked all of them, and truly hated the Time Bomb and Chainsaw.
It was hard to justify that the cost was worth it after so many stinkers (luckily I buy used often).
On a side note, it always struck me as odd that their big claim was that diamond cores hit 20% harder, but most of their cores weren't diamonds. The science behind the 20% claim was debatable anyway, but it was completely null and void once you modify the diamond shape.
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Did the Brunswick pouring end for them when Brunswick moved to Mexico?
Happened before then, if I remember correctly.
It happened when Lane#1 stopped paying Brunswick for balls made. The debt got too large and Brunswick stopped making their balls.
Lane#1's cores matched up well with Brunswick's resins, supplied by Bayer.. Lane#1's cores virtually NEVER matched up with Columbia's and 900Global's resin supplier, BASF. There were few good balls for Lane#1 after Brunswick for the general bowler. A few were loved by a very few bowlers and there sits Lane#1, now, out in the cold ... pity.
I thought the main reason Lane 1 left Brunswick was because Richie want the Lane 1 ball to be made in the USA and not Mexico.
As far as I have learned (AFAIHL), Richie skipped out on Brunswick owing them a ton of money. I assume he did that to avoid paying them, probably the most expensive cop-out in history, given how well his cores matched up with Brunswick coverstocks.
As P. T. Barnum implied, a fool and his money are soon parted.
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Did the Brunswick pouring end for them when Brunswick moved to Mexico?
Happened before then, if I remember correctly.
It happened when Lane#1 stopped paying Brunswick for balls made. The debt got too large and Brunswick stopped making their balls.
Lane#1's cores matched up well with Brunswick's resins, supplied by Bayer.. Lane#1's cores virtually NEVER matched up with Columbia's and 900Global's resin supplier, BASF. There were few good balls for Lane#1 after Brunswick for the general bowler. A few were loved by a very few bowlers and there sits Lane#1, now, out in the cold ... pity.
I thought the main reason Lane 1 left Brunswick was because Richie want the Lane 1 ball to be made in the USA and not Mexico.
As far as I have learned (AFAIHL), Richie skipped out on Brunswick owing them a ton of money. I assume he did that to avoid paying them, probably the most expensive cop-out in history, given how well his cores matched up with Brunswick coverstocks.
As P. T. Barnum implied, a fool and his money are soon parted.
Bowling history is full of business people making dumb decisions (though that one lacks ethics as well which is double stupid and always catches up with you eventually). See also Faball going in debt to buy a plant in Utah to make only urethane believing reactive balls to be a fad.