BikeBiz March 2016 by Future PLC

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MARCH 2016

ISSUE 122

ISSUE 122 MARCH 2016

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E V E R Y O N E

p9 Assisting e-bike sales What do the biggest players in the e-bike market think is holding the sector back? We werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sure, so we asked them

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p13 Core review New products, new brands and new carpets at Core Bike. You didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t notice the new flooring? Never mind. It was mostly about the new products anyway

p27 Fast track your sales We drive sensibly to Silverstone and do a lap of the Bike Place Show for our review, starting on page 27

Double Dutch The story of how one couple took London by storm with the humble Dutch bicycle...

p55

p43 Media Darlings

p22 London calling

p59 Byte-sized guide

p71 Bike Shop Tools

We speak to the mags and sites speaking to your customers

Some ExCeL-lent bikes and P&A from the London show

We present the cycle computers available to the market

Citrus-Lime on the virtues of supplier and shop cooperation

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NEWS

ATG to offer e-bike training AIMING TO assist bike shops with the burgeoning sector, ATG Training is to give mechanics training in setting up and repairing electric bikes. The firm is also to help with understanding of specific standards and legal aspects. ATG’s Stephen Smyth told BikeBiz: “From a mechanical perspective there is still a lot of hesitance towards working on an e-bike as although fundamentally it is the same as a regular bicycle the motor and battery are not something that shops have historically dealt with. “At ATG Training we aim to assist the cycle shops in understanding the nuances of the electric bicycle by giving mechanics the confidence to set up and repair a broad spectrum of e-bikes along with an understanding of the specific standards and legal aspects that apply to them. We hope that by increasing this understanding, shops will be more inclined to stock and sell electric bikes helping to introduce a new wave of

EDITOR’S COMMENT E-BIKE LOOPY

people into cycling and turning the UK into a true cycling capital of the world.” The firm emphasised the potential of electric bikes in changing the make up of the UK’s cyclists from predominantly sports-centric riders to everyday, utility

“We aim to assist cycle shops understand the nuances of e-bikes.” Stephen Symth, ATG cyclists: “The UK is besotted by cycling. Victories from Chris Froome, Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Bradley Wiggins and Evie Richards have strengthened local club cycling scenes. But cycling in the UK is still quite a niche hobby. Our European neighbours see cycling as less of a hobby and more of a way of life.” www.atg-training.co.uk

TERRY BOWLES TERRY BOWLES passed away in his sleep on January 20th after a two-year battle with Motor Neurone Disease. Terry Bowles started in the bicycle business with Madison in 1988. In 1997 Madison was taken over by H Young Holdings, and Bowles became CEO of the plc’s sports and leisure division. He left in 2006 and started a consultancy business, Doubtnot Business Consulting. In this capacity he advised bicycle companies such as Fisher Outdoor Leisure, and others from outside the industry. He was also the retail and marketing advisor to the fledgling Boardman Bikes created by Alan Ingerfield and Chris Boardman.

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WE HERE at BikeBiz Towers have been running an e-bike section in the mag for years. Frankly, we were in danger of running out of ways of saying “this be the year of the e-bike” and with the benefit of hindsight, we would have run a few more articles along the lines of “another year of slow growth ahead of e-bikes” – although that’s not such a catchy headline, come to think of it. Things really, genuinely, started to get a bit exciting when household names dipped their respective toes into e-bikes. Names like Bosch, Shimano and an Accell-backed Raleigh certainly made us sit up and notice. It wasn’t just us either, as now we can see many of the biggest names in the British bike business taking steps to service the electric market, joining the smaller firms who have been keeping the sector alive over the years. Now, in 2016, could this actually be the year? Either way, we’ve thrown caution to the wind and decided to go electric bike loopy this month. We’re asked e-bike brands for their take on the market (p.9 and 10), provided a product overview of the sector (p.51 and 52), got plenty of e-bikes in our many many pages of show coverage and we’ve a few news items on the sector – including ATG’s e-bike training and, overleaf, words from one of the biggest brands in the e-bike business – Bosch. Frankly, it’s been a break from talking about the Wiggle/Chain Reaction news we broke on BikeBiz.com. Even though we were confident in our sources, I confess I breathed a sigh of relief when the news was official two days later. There is more on that story over the page and on p.74. jharker@nbmedia.com

Later he became chairman and then CEO of Design Objectives, one of Europe’s largest suppliers of arts and crafts materials until his forced retirement in 2013. His family requested that anybody who might have sent flowers to his funeral instead donate money to the Motor Neurone Disease Association. www.mndcommunity.org/ givinginmemory

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NEWS

Bosch: “E-bikes are conquering new audiences” Bish, bash, Bosch: The market is widening, e-MTBs have enriched cycling – but shops should do more, says firm advertising and marketing to get the e-bike segment to resonate with buyers and grow the market to its full potential. Good service provided by dealers is a decisive plus for end customers and thus crucial to the e-bike business. Therefore Bosch eBike Systems offers in-depth training for dealers who meet the criteria mentioned above. In Great Britain for example,

“Good service from dealers is crucial to the electric bike business.” Bosch spokesperson

BOSCH HAS hailed a shift in the age of the typical e-bike customer and has hinted at greater online connectivity in the saddle. The household name and key industry player has also called on shops to step up marketing efforts to grow the market “to its full potential”. Speaking to BikeBiz, Bosch eBike Systems called on policymakers to invest in cycle infrastructure to pave the way for more e-bikes, including secure storage and space for the “often higher speeds” of pedal assisted bikes. A spokesperson for the brand told us: “The e-bike is conquering new audiences. Bosch eBike Systems characterises this development decisively: the product lines are aimed at different

target groups such as young professionals, families, sportive bikers, but also for elderly users and their needs. “eMountain biking has enriched the sport by adding a new discipline.” Demand for increased battery capacities and smaller drive trains are being funnelled into product development, Bosch said: “Another promising field is the desire of eBikers to be connected with the online world. The all-in-one on-board computer Nyon offers modern and comfortable solutions for e-bike riding, navigation and route planning, fitness functions and more. Also, eBikers will look out for more integrated functions such as automatic shifting, for

Executive Editor: Carlton Reid carltonreid@mac.com

Design: Dan Bennett dbennett@nbmedia.com

Editor: Jonathon Harker jharker@nbmedia.com

Sales Manager: Richard Setters rsetters@nbmedia.com

Staff Writer: Kieran Howells khowells@nbmedia.com

Production Executive: Elizabeth Parker eparker@nbmedia.com

example with the eShift integrated shifting solution.” “Bosch eBike Systems takes great pride in shaping the e-bike market with its ideas and commitment to the industry. The Product Division has developed into the leading European eBike component manufacturer as well as the world market leader in the premium segment. More than 60 bicycle brands rely on the market leader’s perfectly coordinated systems. We are proud of this success. But this at the same time is a commitment for the future.” E-BIKE DEALERS MUST STEP UP MARKETING The brand added: “E-bike dealers should step up their efforts in

Content Director: Andrew Wooden awooden@nbmedia.com Sales Director: Mark Rankine mrankine@nbmedia.com Managing Director: Mark Burton mburton@nbmedia.com

training in Uxbridge, England, and Motherwell, Scotland, took place in the past dealer training period. Technical advisor for the UK is Mark Haylett, who advises and trains bicycle dealers in maintenance, service and sales on behalf of Bosch eBike Systems. A good relationship between manufacturer and dealer is fundamental for the overall e-bike market: Quality and safety are ensured not only by standards in the development and manufacture of eBike systems; dealers also contribute to both by advising and training eBikers. “Moreover, in 2016 a regional marketing manager will start his work and strengthen the marketing activities of Bosch eBike Systems in the UK.” www.bosch-ebike.de/en

Editorial: Saxon House, 6A, St. Andrew Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire. SG14 1JA Tel: 01992 515 307 BikeBiz is mailed FOC to 4,000+ trade addresses every month ISSN 1476-1505

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NEWS

WIGGLE PROCEEDS TO CHECKOUT The ‘biggest deal in bike trade history’ sees a dominant online player emerge. But what does it mean for the market...?

FOURTY-EIGHT hours after the news broke on BikeBiz.com (on Feb 10th), Wiggle confirmed it was acquiring Chain Reaction Cycles in what is possibly the biggest deal the cycle industry has yet seen. The seismic move impacts the global bicycle business, with both online retailers enjoying significant sales beyond the UK – CRC has a third of sales outside the EU. Together the two companies are thought to be worth over £300m, which means they are – combined – as large as Halfords’ bike division. The news broke the day before the London Bike Show opened its doors and was the talk of the show for most bike traders. For many of those that BikeBiz spoke to during the course of the show, the news was entirely unexpected. Both online giants have roots in local bike shops; Wiggle began as an off shoot from Butlers Cycles in Portsmouth. Wiggle was sold to current owner Bridgepoint Capital BIKEBIZ.COM

for £180m in 2011. Chain Reaction began as a small bike shop in Ballyclare in Northern Ireland. The website launched in 1990. The bicycle industry is currently questioning what the move will mean for the market and for employees at both firms – CRC employs more than 600 people while Wiggle staffers number 444. The trade has been split on how the move will affect prices now that they are no longer, technically, in competition – both have been criticised for driving prices down in the bike market. BikeBiz executive editor Carlton Reid, who broke the story, examines the implications in detail in his column (on page 74 of this issue). Wiggle CEO Stefan Barden will lead the combined company. In the official announcement days after BikeBiz broke the news, he said: “In the global online retailing marketplace in which we operate, there is a compelling industrial

“There is a compelling industrial logic to coming together to become a stronger force.” Stefan Barden, Wiggle

logic for our two businesses to come together to become a stronger force. “We have long respected Chain Reaction Cycles as a business and share its values and commitment to delivering the best possible price and first class service for its customers. Like us they have a deep seated love of cycling.” Chain Reaction Cycles MD Chris Watson said: “This is an exciting new chapter for the Chain Reaction Cycles brand. Since the business started in 1984, we’ve grown strongly from our mountain bike origins in Northern Ireland to meet the needs of more MTB, BMX and road cyclists across more countries.” He added: “Coming together with Wiggle is a great way to continue that growth, as a global force in cycling and a leader in technology, ecommerce and, of course, innovation.” www.wiggle.co.uk www.chainreactioncycles.com BIKEBIZ MARCH 7

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INDUSTRY OPINIONS

What’s holding back e-bikes? We grill the trade on the key technologies and drivers in the e-bike world, and what exactly is required to speed up UK adoption. Jonathon Harker asks the questions…

What has been the most significant recent factor or change in the world of e-bikes? New technology? Greater acceptance in the industry? “New technologies and better designs are helping to fuel the boom in e-bikes, combined with a growing consumer awareness of their health, environmental and convenience beneﬁts. As a technology company, Gates is impressed with how far the designs have progressed. Brands such as Heisenberg and Grace and Kalkhoff and Biomega are making high-performance electric bikes with lowmaintenance components such as Gates Carbon Drive and motor systems and batteries that are fully integrated into the bikes’ designs. These are e-bikes that people can feel proud to ride thanks to their improved aesthetics. “In addition, performance technologies such as Bosch mid-drive motors and belt drives mean these modern electric bikes perform to top standards and function with the reliability of motos or automobiles. People who use electric bikes for commuting to work depend on reliability. Gates is BIKEBIZ.COM

Volt says dealers are accepting that e-bikes are here to stay

likewise highly impressed by the launch of the UK brand Gtech’s e-bike. “This is a hugely successful consumer electronics brand known for its vacuum cleaners. For this respected brand to launch an e-bike is a statement of confidence by a major UK manufacturer about the future growth potential of this category.” PAUL TOLME, Media and PR Gates Carbon Drive “There have been some great shifts in design in the last five years, significantly a move away from throwing a motor and battery at a regular bike, or shaving weight from a moped lookalike. We’re now seeing true e-bike archetypes enter the market, of course we’ll happily borrow the principles laid out by our none-powered and petrol based brethren, but where we take it, is its own path: an e-bike designed purposefully and specifically to be an e-bike.

“We’ve also realised that some of those niche bikes, whether they be long travel or fat tyred benefit hugely from the extra power, no more compromises. “E-bike system tech has been great for several years now, what’s different is the system-brands that are involved. Bosch, Yamaha etc. are infinitely more recognisable to the potential e-cyclist and promote a huge level of consumer confidence (and of course retailer confidence). With them comes knowledge and a back-up level that aspires towards a level consumers are already used-to from other industries.” RICHARD DOBNEY, Haibike Brand Manager, Raleigh “E-bikes had a bit of a false start six or seven years ago. There was good interest but at that time there were no serious or reliable manufacturers of motors, etc, that the industry could get behind and trust.

Now with several large and well-known brands, especially Shimano and its STEPS system, getting behind the development of mid-ship motor designs, the acceptance, technology and reliability is much better. A clear deﬁnition of the bike categories e-bikes fall into and speciﬁc functions and features for these categories have also helped bike manufacturers produce a range of e-bikes, rather than just the odd model. However I think it’s important to realise that this is just the beginning of e-bikes and the potential is huge.” MARK GRESHON, Shimano senior brand manager, Madison “The biggest change we’ve noticed has been the attitude of conventional bike dealers. In the last year we’ve seen a really positive move in bike shops embracing the technology of e-bikes, whereas historically the general norm was to shy away from them.

I think it’s become apparent to conventional dealers that e-bikes are here to stay, and they fulﬁl a requirement that sit comfortably alongside the range of nonelectric bikes they already sell. With the technology on premium brands like ours now at a level which guarantees reliability and incredible performance, and demand in the UK skyrocketing, dealers are now seeing the positives of selling electric bikes. Shimano’s entrance into e-bike motor production was an exciting progression in the market, and now with the latest generation motors they’ve become, in our opinion, the strongest high-end motor contender. A manufacturer which has focused primarily on producing quality bike component since the 1920s has a lot to live up to when launching a new product like this. We were very happy to partner with Shimano in the production of some of our e-bike models, and we’ll be launching a number of new Shimano STEPS models throughout 2016. As always we continue to push forward the boundaries of technology and this year we’ve launched a new drive system for our rear motor bikes which delivers the most intuitive electric cycling experience we’ve ever experienced. LYLE METCALFE, Volt Bikes BIKEBIZ MARCH 9

INDUSTRY OPINIONS

What’s holding back e-bikes? Is there one factor that would speed up the adoption of e-bikes in the UK? “As a US-based company that is seeing its largest growth in European markets such as Germany, The Netherlands and Denmark, it is apparent that nations with good cycling infrastructure and laws and regulations that support cycling for transportation will remain on the leading edge of this trend. Countries like the UK and the USA where bikes are still primarily considered tools for recreation and fun and ﬁtness rather than for daily transport could go a long way toward improving the efﬁciency of their transportation networks and speed up the adoption of electric bike use by supporting better cycling and e-biking infrastructure, bike lanes, urban bike parking and the like.” PAUL TOLME Media and PR Gates Carbon Drive “The cycle industry is, of course, great at selling cycles to cyclists, but with e-bikes there’s a tremendous opportunity to extend that customer base and sell to people of all ages who haven’t necessarily been keen cyclists in the past. Every single person who buys an 10 BIKEBIZ MARCH

Dobney claims e-bikes make biking accessible for everyone

Richard Dobney, Haibike

e-bike has a completely different and personal reasoning for doing so. When someone decides to get fit, leave the car at home or take up cycling as a hobby, that’s a very particular change in mind set. What e-bikes do is open that choice up to virtually everyone. Cycling is now easy, fun and attractive to the 95 per cent who shudder at the thought of struggling into a headwind or keeling over at the top of the first hill for the first time. “I guess what I’m saying is the people who walk into your bike shop are already engaged in cycling, so what we need is to reach out to the people sitting at home and at Raleigh we’re here to help you to do just that. “Once we set aside our preconceptions on regular bicycles and who buys them, we’re starting from scratch with a product that truly changes lives.

“When was the last time a consumer thanked you for improving their life? Sounds melodramatic? Speak to an e-bike dealer; they’ll have countless anecdotes that are genuinely heartwarming.” RICHARD DOBNEY, Haibike Brand Manager, Raleigh “The recent changes to bring UK legislation in line with the rest of Europe have helped but I think there is a lot of confusion between power assisted e-bikes and ‘twist and go’ bikes. Many people, including consumers, outside of the bike industry don’t really know what an e-bike is so it’s our job to help educate them. We need to get more focus on e-bikes in mainstream media while being clear of the beneﬁts an e-bike provides. I think that test rides and demos are a must so consumers can get a

genuine feel for what an e-bike can provide; I’ve yet to see someone try an e-bike for the first time and not smile. It’s also important not to pigeon hole e-bikes to a specific category or cause. We should let the consumer choose what they want an e-bike for which can be everything from mountain biking on technical Alpine trails to commuting to work each day to a weekend ride with family. “As with any new technology, brands need to do as much as possible to give consumers and dealers confidence in the product. Shimano for example, has introduced an Express Warranty Service in the UK, which states to anyone that

buys into Shimano STEPS that not only are we 100 per cent conﬁdent in the product, but if anything should fail, it is completely covered under the warranty. Once people experience e-bike technology, they will instantly see its appeal, so it’s a case of convincing them to take that ﬁrst step.” MARK GRESHON, Shimano senior brand manager, Madison “The market is growing rapidly at the moment, however we’re still well behind our friends on the continent. Ultimately growth seems to be very much based on public awareness, the more people using them the more people see them and take an interest themselves. Government investment in the cycling industry, including new cycle lanes, employee tax incentives etc have all helped to move the e-bike industry forward. Maybe the government could launch an employee battery replacement subsidy for e-bike buyers, or increase the tax free allowance for Cycle to Work Scheme to £2,000 for employers without a consumer credit licence.” LYLE METCALFE, Volt Bikes

JOIN THE DISCUSSION @BIKEBIZ.COM BikeBiz wants to hear your opinion on the big topics in the bicycle industry, whether you’re a shop, distributor, brand or something else. To join the discussion, email BikeBiz@nbmedia.com BIKEBIZ.COM

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CORE BIKE

iSSi's eye-catching colourful pedal range

Buff's head/neck-wear in a 'Frozen' design

TOP DRAWER, FROM CORE Every year Core seems to have no trouble packing in 1,000-plus bike dealers and showing them the latest from a wealth of brands. Jonathon Harker reports from Whittlebury Hall… FOLLOWING UP its Core Bike Live debut, Moore Large was at the show for the first time with its vast array of brands, including new signing Sako 7, seeing stock sold through before Christmas, with more arriving this month. Bobbin is increasingly looking like a jewel in the crown and has a whole new range, with colours that closely follow the likes of Farrow and Ball rather than the leaders of the bike world. Birdie is now available with an eight speed Nexus hub (formerly three) and BIKEBIZ.COM

comes in teal and mushroom grey. Brownie is Bobbin’s bestseller (7,000 units sold last year) and there’s now a lighter alloy version that comes in four colours and retails at £375. London is seeing a singlespeed resurgence, particularly in new tech quarter Shoreditch, with dealers requesting them to meet demand, we hear. Bobbin’s version includes a flip-flop hub on a charcoal, off-black, frame (three sizes, £380). Bobbin has also come up with a Japan-inspired Metric. The

lightweight, diminutive 20-inch ride (£450) has fast one-inch tyres and a high seatpost, plus a front rack as standard. Bobbin’s Cambridge team up was showcased at Core too – which promises to make full use of the university’s not inconsiderable brand. More bikes are on the way in the range. They’ve been no slouch on accessories either with four wicker baskets in the range now (£27 to £35) and there is more coming up in summer – and maybe a new bike or two, too. Bobbin said it prides

itself on bringing new customers into bike shops, not just the same cycle customers. Suntour has three new products for 2016, including the overhauled Durolux, available in March. Featuring quick service ports that make it easy to maintain, its stanchions have increased from 35 to 36. There are major changes inside in the revamped Durolux. Elsewhere, Alpina has updated colours in the range and the eyewear is now in stock and Peugeot’s commuter e-bikes are BIKEBIZ MARCH 13

CORE BIKE

The Omnium trainer folds up nearly

Buff's junior knitted range in varying styles

Lezyne's specially designed shop pump

Fresh frames from Eddy Merckx, via 2pure

X-Bionic

The ism PN 2.1 is brand new for 2016

Colnago sits in Windwave's portfolio

now available, with the e-MTBs on the way soon. New Moore Large signing O’Neal holds lots of stock in Europe, so is quick to respond to dealers. Soft goods will be available first, but there are plenty of MTB helmets on the way, the full face range using O’Neal’s own moulds. Independently tested IPX foam is used in the line-up and the brand has its own grass roots programme. Lake has new MTB footwear (the sporty 168 and enduro-focused 180) while the high end 402 shoes are customisable now. Lake’s Hyper Grip Ice-lock keep the shoes rooted whatever the surface. There’s lots in the pipeline for knog and there’s improved tech in lights like the Mini Blinder. The 14 BIKEBIZ MARCH

brain design on the Pop is classic knog but under the hood the brand has taken on board four years of feedback. The lights are USB chargeable while the light range has now incorporated COB (Chips on Board) tech. Square lights have a better visual impact for long beams, they say. The new Blinder will be in stock July/Aug and is knog’s biggest selling light. The Pop lights were inspired by a trip to Central America, we hear and there’s a new lock that will be coming in soon. For A/W 2016, Buff has new children’s hats in the range, including a stylish set of knitted hats, including a number of bobble hat variants and of course a vast licensed range that takes in some

films you may have heard of – Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Frozen. The junior knitted range is available already. In the short term, S/S will include a broader line-up featuring Buff’s Insect Shield. Could Buff be considering a gloves range? If so, you heard it here (probably) first (if not, forget we mentioned it). Citrus-Lime’s cloud-based EPOS system means that you can keep tabs on the shop, including stock, wherever you are. The firm’s reports are cloud based and access is easier now too. The Citrus-Lime system is now fully responsive, so bike shop sites will adapt to any size screen. Finance options and click and collect functionality is coming in too. The firm is keen to support

dealers in other ways too. Now offering what they’re calling a marketing services consultancy, Citrus-Lime wants to help shops make the most of the system and the potentially useful data that it provides for dealers. The firm also offers a site framework for a nifty custom bike builder for bike shops. i-BikeShop and Seanic share a room at the Core show and both have partnerships in the works that we’ll be able to talk more about in the near future. Until then, the former has been busy revamping bike shop sites to be responsive to mobiles and tablets. Travel times to shops have increased, BikeBiz is told, so the importance of having a shop window in the form of an BIKEBIZ.COM

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CORE BIKE

Kinesis, via Upgrade

Extra UK's new signing Orange Seal

Tifosi, via Chicken

Buff's no doubt lucrative Star Wars collab

Bobbin's gold helmet is a big seller in London

Lezyne's new GPS range includes a 'mini' model

ecommerce website has never been more important, with consumers spending time researching products and checking whether they are stock before they set off. The most successful bike shops probably update their sites at least once a day. Updates include a workshop module providing service reminders and helping maintain valuable repeat business. Cloud-based reports mean that shop owners and managers can access the system from anywhere in the world and developments are customer driven. Glow worm (via Ison) has added self-contained lights to its line-up, including a 1300 lumen light for the trail (CX Trail), with three settings, and a 900 lumen version (CX BIKEBIZ.COM

QRings unique oval chainrings

Urban), with two settings, for the city environment. Both USBcharged, there’s a button remote and have a charge capability while out and about too. The CX Urban retails at £99.99 and the CX Trail at £134.99. Halo’s Vapour rim now has wider rim options (35mm) in 650B or 29er options. Boost hub versions are in the works and Halo hub adapters are on the way too. A set will retail at £300. Back to lights and the ORP comes with a dual-decibel horn. As featured in the likes of GQ, it’s £9.99 for the light and £14.99 for the ‘Remorp’ remote switch on the handlebar. TSG’s commuter helmet, Status, comes in a fully reflective version,

with LED integrated light and ratchet system (£99.99) or a touch less for the non-reflective version (£64.99). Out at the end of Feb, the Status comes in four colours. The Seek (£44.99) is a MTB entry level offering from TSG, coming in three colours. Morgaw has three saddles that are new, for road, cx and enduro (the latter with a more padded nose). Elastomer absorbers will be available, as carbon or aluminium rail options. Cleverly, the Polish brand’s saddles have a bit of play, for extra comfort in the saddle. Aluminium versions come in £90 and the carbon at £120. 2pure had a bigger room at this year’s Core, featuring new brand iSSi – an IBD exclusive. There are

SPD options (circa £49.99) and trail pedals at £59.99. Expect sealed bearings, road offerings and cross options too. Staying with the new brands, Slovenia-made Unior is a comprehensive range with considerable pro team presence and a very positive dealer reaction already, 2pure tells BikeBiz. Eddy Merckx has brought out a steel bike as part of its heritage line. The Roubaix70, so named – like the rest of the heritage range – after a key moment in Merckx’s racing history, uses Columbus steel and carbon fork. The Strasbourg71 is a gravel bike with more relaxed geometry, fatter tyres and is ready for commuting as well as racing. More models of note include the BIKEBIZ MARCH 17

CORE BIKE

POC's Fondo road apparrel

Citrus-Lime's custom bike builder

DMR celebrating in style

Integrated light action with TSG

Lapierre's new 2016 Raid FX+, full suspension

New for 2016: Vittoria's new graphene tyres

womens race bike Milano72. 2pure is looking to expand dealer base. The natty Omnium is a favourite of Germany’s national team and highly portable. This trainer folds up very small and is an ideal cyclocross warm up (£349). Onto POC which has a Fondo female range cut for the sportive rider. There are matching gloves and jackets in that new line, alongside toe covers, eyewear and a £99 light jersey. Tifosi’s aluminium sub-£1,000 model for gravel and road was at Core (via Chicken CycleKit) and the brand has stepped into disc brake versions for the first time (£1,500). Vittoria has introduced Graphene into the range, including the Corsa Speed, while the popularity of 18 BIKEBIZ MARCH

Campagnolo’s limited edition clocks and jerseys have taken Chicken by surprise. And onto e-bikes: The Stanforth brothers were involved in the early days of bringing mountain bikes to the UK. They met with resistance back when the market was burgeoning – fast forward to 2016 and they’re doing it all over again, only with electric bikes at EBC, which has also had to overcome a level of resistance. But the barriers are breaking down, says the electric specialist. There’s been a growth of in e-bikes and – appropriately enough – it’s down to mountain bikes, or rather e-MTBS. Blowing away the image of e-bikes as purely for the grey/ over-60s market, electric mountain

bikes have become more desirable in looks and generally too – and it has opened the eyes of consumers and bike shops too. Electric is the sector EBC will stay dedicated to, BikeBiz is told, with the firm helping dealers on demo days and training courses. Shimano has made a difference to shops and consumers alike, EBC revealed, getting traction in the UK market with dealer’s familiarity with the brand and it has begun already. EBC will accordingly bring more Shimano on board in its ranges. Onto product and EBCO has new graphics and has incorporated TransX’s new crank drive. Highlights include the Shimano Stepspowered UCL 70 (£1,899) with Magura HS-11 hydraulic rim breaks.

The UCL 80 is identical but with Bosch (£1,999). Those step through bikes make up 70 per cent of sales, EBC tells BikeBiz. EBC is losing Bergamont but incoming is Corratec – a German brand with a similar execution in e-bikes. An interesting SKU from the range is the Life Bike Alfine (£2,999) which has been developed for the obese market and those that have difficulty exercising. Ideal for rehab centres and hospitals, these e-bikes can potentially help the obese increase their fitness and lose weight. More conventionally, Corratec’s range includes an award winning full suspension e-MTB and hard tail 29er, among others. For spring/summer 2016, Assos has a new mens summer BIKEBIZ.COM

CORE BIKE

Pedros' vast range of bicycle tools

ORP Smart Horns also feature a powerful light

Don't be a dipstick, Rodders. Innovation via Orange Seal

Ghost comes to the trade via Hotlines

Vee tyres

Corrate's e-bikes now come via EBC

performance jersey (SS. campionissimoJersey evo7) with integrated skin foil baselayer, highly breathable mesh back and seamless arms. Among the highlights for women is a summer jersey that uses lighter material is strategic places, while new womens bib shorts use the S7 insert for the first time, for comfort. ISM (via Upgrade) has a new look with fresh graphics. The PN10 is a new tri saddle that is in stock now. Kinesis had bided its time with disc brakes, holding back rather than jumping in and that has now paid off, incorporating Shimano Flat Mount ahead of many others. DMR is celebrating 20 years and has scored some big review scores for the lower priced Axe crankset, BIKEBIZ.COM

which is in stock now. Featuring a 30mm axles, which is showing all the signs of becoming a trend. Billed as a future proof crank with options out of the box to tweak it and it is light enough to get up hill and robust enough for DH. Vee has exclusive new tubeless road tyres, fat bike tyres and more. There’s stock in the warehouse now for the IBD-only brand approached Upgrade and there are good margins. Lezyne has a cool new pump for Taipei Cycle Show, but at Core the it was mostly about GPS – still a huge market, Upgrade says, despite the rise of smartphone apps and a sector that Lezyne is fully committed to. The Mini GPS is now £79.99 but swith the same

margin for dealers and there’s an eyecatching new POS unit. Lezyne has also created a pump that’s just for dealers for £21. Maxxis’ broad range (via Extra UK) is being backed with a marketing budget that will see it sponsor the likes of Pure BMX in a long term deal. Padrone is the road highlights, featuring Dual Compound Tech. Recent signing Orange Seal promises to seal holes ‘at warp speed’. It is the brand’s first official year in the UK, following calls for the firm to ship product over from its Texas, USA HQ. Punctures up to ¼-inch can be sealed thanks to nanite particles. Innovations include a handy dipstick so riders can quickly ascertain whether their fluid

levels are correct. They have plenty of tips on setting up tubeless too. Saddleback has taken on US frame builder Alchemy Bicycle Co and other Core highlights included the new Castelli embrocation range, new saddle models from Astute, more tools and pumps from Silca and the full range of Sidi shoes. Enve’s new S.E.S 7.8 wheelset – the brand’s fastest ever wheel - and the new CX disc wheels and fork were on show, alongside recent-ish signing ROTOR. Ghost’s Asket (via Hotlines) is a 27.5-inch hardtail, with a short stem, wide bars and is internally routed. There’s 130mm travel in front and it is a clean looking ride, with a concealed brake mount in the read triangle. BIKEBIZ MARCH 19

BRAND SPOTLIGHT

Have you got the measure of power meters? The best kept secret in cycling? If so, it’s now well and truly out of the bag. Jonathon Harker catches up with Verve Cycling’s George Galbraith on the power meter market and how InfoCrank will be shaking it up… VERVE CYCLING’S InfoCrank was one of two brand signings for Moore Large at the end of 2015 and was something of a coup – the Derby distributor was the ﬁrst to take on the power meter worldwide. Pinpoint accuracy and making the power market accessible for a wider range of cyclist is part of the InfoCrank philosophy, which is good news for the whole sector. BikeBiz quizzes Verve Cycling’s managing director of distribution, George Galbraith, on what it is bringing to the market…

who wants to improve their cycling is able to have our power meter ﬁtted and then just concentrate on riding their bike. What is your take on the power metre market? Is there plenty of growth potential? The power meter market is a tricky beast. When only half of the ﬁeld at Kona is using power that shows there is a huge potential for growth even at the pinnacle of sport. However my personal

the appropriate Bottom Bracket for your bike and your choice of Chainrings. Both the Chainrings and the BB are supplied by Praxis who is well known for its superior cold-forged products. Our Power Meter has been two years in the making to ensure it is perfect not only in terms of ease of use and affordability but most importantly that it does the job the a power meter should do: Accurately read power data every single time, in every situation.

“Personally I feel like we are the best kept secret in cycling.”

It seems like one of InfoCranks unique selling points is the fact it doesn’t need re-adjusting once it is ﬁtted… Not only never adjusted, it never needs calibrating. Batteries are user replaceable and are easily found. Never calibrating is a big point when you look at the impact of data accuracy versus human performance. Without accurate data an individual can improve, but only with baby steps. Given accurate data athletes of all abilities can take strides forward in their riding. So yes, never needing readjusting or calibrating are key unique features but the main one is that the InfoCrank is the most accurate power meter available on the market and that the accuracy is repeatable every time.

observation is that as many people are put off using power due to bad experiences as join the market as new customers. The biggest challenge to any product entering the market is educating the public on why to use a power meter, its benefits and why those benefits are worth the financial outlay. A traditional cyclist finds it very easy to justify the cost of a £1000 set of wheels as they look nice and they are a recognised bike upgrade, however a power meter is still relatively new to the masses so ours is really an education process first and foremost.

Do you think that will lure in less technically-minded customers? We aim to make the crankset easy for any level of bike user. Anyone

What’s the pricing range for InfoCrank? The package is priced at £1,149. This is the Dual-Sided power meter,

20 BIKEBIZ MARCH

The InfoCrank retails at £1,149

George Galbraith, Verve What’s the reaction been like from dealers? Bike shops have been taking really well to the product and we are delighted with the work our distributors are doing to help that process. We have been heaped with requests to come into stores to demonstrate the product in the evenings for customers, which we are more than happy to do. We believe ﬁrmly in working with local independent stores and helping them in any way we can. I personally have visited every one of our dealers when they join us and help educate them on the product, how to get the most out of it and how to sell it. Is it true that Moore Large is the ﬁrst distributor in the world to

carry the InfoCrank? That’s quite a privilege… Yes it is true. We have previously been operating a direct sales model in many countries and we recognised the need to bring in the experts on the ground to help the product reach its potential. We spoke with many different distributors and judged Moore Large to be the best option to pursue. Their enthusiasm and vision for the product matched are own and that was really the key characteristic we were looking for. Dealers should call their local Moore Large Rep ASAP. We already have a nice network of dealers coming together that we will continue to grow throughout this year but when that gets to capacity we will respect our dealers territories. Personally I feel like we are the best kept secret in cycling. Our power meter is the ﬁrst in the market place to achieve accuracy levels that under EU law allow it to be called an instrument. No other product can get near us on accuracy and they are a million miles away from us on consistency. This comes back to the whole purpose our business exists, to help people improve their cycling ability – simple. We will not bring a product to market unless it actually does what it is supposed to do and help athletes perform better. It’s a principle that our engineers believe in, cutting out the marketing speak or to put it another way BS – Bicycling Science. b2b.moorelarge.co.uk BIKEBIZ.COM

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LONDON BIKE SHOW IN PICTURES

22 BIKEBIZ MARCH

BIKEBIZ.COM

LONDON BIKE SHOW IN PICTURES

1. Shand’s Stooshie is joined by the Stoater.

2. Boxer’s unique UK-made cargo bikes have leather interiors and Landrover Defender headlights. 3. Flare Rider is bringing in more men’s clothing due to popular demand.

4. New women’s apparel brand Nakeid. 5. Anthony McCrossan on Q&A duties. 6. Why haven’t you got a rear light too? That’s the question Blaze was sick of hearing, so it created the Burner, which went on to smash its Kickstarter target. 7. Show punters take on the Street Velodrome.

8. Adjusting your saddle while riding? With Flexcy, riders can change seat angles without having to dismount. 9. See 12.

10. A hopeful attempts the Topeak challenge. 11. Suit bag Henty’s expanding backpack line. 12. Athens bike shop VCA has launched Spray.Bike with a huge range of powder coat paint sprays. Using stencils (or a string vest, picture 9) you can create some nice effects. 13. Fierlan’s female-focused bike apparel range is available via NEOS.

14 & 15. The Lios Nano carbon folding bike caused such a stir at ExCeL it has been invited to June’s Monaco Bike Show. This high end folder weighs 8kg and comes in a Superlite (£3,250) and Performance (£3,500) version. It uses a Gates belt drive. 16. Dassi has come up with what it says is the first UK-made carbon bike. F1 tech has been used on the ‘over engineered’ frame.

17. Kinesis GTFI on the Upgrade stand. 18. LiteLok’s clever flexible (and light) locks are Sold Secure Gold rated. 19. Fabric’s air cushioned Cell saddle. 20. Cycle of Good’s tube recycling wallets are made in Malawi.

BIKEBIZ.COM

BIKEBIZ MARCH 23

LONDON BIKE SHOW IN PICTURES

21. Brainy Bike Lights use science and an eyecatching bike symbol to stand out.

22. Nakeid’s fitness tracker can be inserted into the brand’s own apparel. 23. Portugal’s Orbita is aiming at the UK market. 24. More cargo bikes, this time from Babboe on the stand of London Green Cycles.

25. Mini Cooper on the Velorution stand – another brand dipping into Gates belt drive tech. 26. Detail of Blaze’s magnetic bracket for the new rear light, Burner. 27. If Lizzie Armistead rode your brand’s bike, you’d make the most out if it too. 28. Singular Cycles.

29. An e-tandem prototype, the Helios STEPS, from Circe Cycles. 30. The busy Specialized stand showed off the new Venge and, for the public, was the first time it had been seen in the flesh.

30 24 BIKEBIZ MARCH

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THE BIKE PLACE

Kask’s new Rex helmet

Chris King Griplocks

Early Rider has belts throughout

The newcomer LED Lenser

The handy and colourful RidePac

USE’s world record-starring bars

PIT LANE BRIEFING Packing in big name bike brands and quirky new names alike, the Bike Place continues to bring in the punters. Jonathon Harker was one of those, and here are some of the products he spotted…

SILVERSTONE-SET trade show the Bike Place is now into its sixth year. The drive to the Wing building home of the exhibition is no less circuitous today than it was back in 2010, but the show itself is much different, with dozens of exhibitors big and small now taking part in an event that really requires at least a day to get around properly, which may present a challenge to the resource strapped. Claiming one of the entrance spots on the Bike Place show trail, Fisher Outdoor Leisure was the first ports of call for many visitors, who would no doubt have spotted Early Rider’s New Trail 16-inch trail. This flat bar, knobbly tyre-d bike has an aluminium frame and – like the rest of the Early Rider range – a belt drive. There’s plenty of momentum in the kids market, Fisher tells BikeBiz, noting the big brands ploughing in to take advantage. Sea Sucker was showing off its BIKEBIZ.COM

compact Hornet offering, which comes with a handy zipped carry case and two vacuum cups to hold the handlebars of a bike on a car or van. Straps attach the bars to the universal cups – dealers don’t have to stock umpteen spares for specific car brands. Look’s 765 is keenly priced at

it’s still adjustable for customers and can be stacked right up. With 2016 set to be a big year for the track, the Look 796 will probably play a starring role in Rio. Fisher promises marketing back up too, with 25 demo events booked in for spring alone. The brand, it stresses, is for in-store pick up only.

Dozens of exhibitors big and small are now taking part in an event that requires at least a day to get around properly. £1,799 and marks a move by the brand to appeal to a wider customer base. We’re assured there is a good margin on the monobloc carbon endurance bike. The 675 has seen a price drop too, down over £100 while the 796 was causing a bit of a stir. Sporting a 25mm headtube width that pushes UCI rules about as far as they’ll go,

Sharing that entrance space to the Bike Place is CSG UK, with Cannondale taking up much of it with its nine new frame platforms – a record for the brand. It is planning on covering all the bases and sales are up, BikeBiz was told. The bikes have mostly been seen by the trade before at CSG’s summer show, but we did glean

more nuggets of information – like the bread and butter bike of the range, the Synapse, gets the most staff purchases, which is a metric the team keeps its eye on – and a few quirky models like the stars and stripes custom edition of the CAAD 17. GT’s limited edition 25th anniversary Zaskar (“25 years of good times”) was displayed alongside one of the original US-made Zaskars. The growing Fabric line-up has added fresh saddles, including the air-filled CELl, using air-sprung tech with hexagonal pockets of air to distribute weight evenly (£49.99) and there’s a new tri saddle at a low price – the steel rail version at £49.99 and the ti rail hitting £69.99 – with a hooked back and front for ease during transition. There’s durable tape too which doesn’t require adhesive, starting with the Knurl at £17.99. Watch out BIKEBIZ MARCH 27

THE BIKE PLACE

Frog Bikes off-road tyre

BOS’s new Dizzy forks

Bickerton Pilot RRP £379

The Gore-Tex 7Mesh Revelation

Dirt Wash’s SOS Essentials kit

‘The original’ Cadence denim wear

for bar plugs as well. You may have caught Fabric’s Chamber tool at CSG’s summer show, but if not it’s a multi-tool bearing an intended resemblance to a Magnum bullet chamber, with 13 tool functions for £29.99. We first heard that CSG is taking on distribution for Sombrio last year and stock will be in at spring. How light can you make a fat bike? Charge has taken a stab with a pet-project, giving the Maxi a titanium revamp. However the brand is best known, of course, for taking the jargon out of bikes with a super simple line-up matched with straightforward marketing, reaching those who don’t live in the cycle trade. There are five models available per category (of which there three). KS’ Zeta – via Jungle Products – is a super short (50mm) dropper, which is cut to length for a clean 28 BIKEBIZ MARCH

appearance, for cross and road. It’s available in 30.9 to 50mm (£300) and 31.6 to 50mm (also £300). KS’ entry level E10 starts from £125. BOS has a new 650B fork – the Deville AM enduro fork – which has been designed from the ground up, with a 140 and 150 version (£850). TRC is now standard on the forks.

up turnaround times for dealers. Niner’s new Rocket flagship features 100mm travel and the Boost standard, with completes starting from £4,199. Santa Cruz’s V10 now comes in blue and the High Tower (which launched on the Tuesday of the show) is a carbon model in 29er

How light can you make a fat bike? Charge has taken a stab, giving the Maxi a titanium revamp. The Deville FCV is the flagship, stopping excessive damping but with lower pressures on the forks, so it’s more stable for hard riding. At a grand, there are 140, 150 and 160 versions. The Kirk is a new enduro shock, with a new body, new damping all for £580. Aside from product, Jungle is now doing all the warranty on BOS, speeding

and 27.5+ options. Jungle says that MTB on the up and has had reports of shop workshops doing more. Jungle also revealed that its chums at Stif are launching an own-brand bike at the end of the month and it’s going to steel hard tail. Wildoo’s Ride Pack is targeted at café-calling cyclists, all of whom

have cash, phone and keys to negotiate while on the road. The Wildoo-owned brand is made in the UK (in Milton Keynes, to be precise) and started selling in December. With more stock now arriving Wildoo is able to push the range, but still aiming to grow organically and maybe – we’re told – with a distribution partner. Wildoo also brings Phone Pac and Musettes with custom options and new designs (Le Peloton is the biggest seller). Kiddimoto’s U Zoom is a three-wheeled scooter (whisper it) that launched at Toy Fair at the start of the year. By the time you read this, there will be flashing wheel options, we’re told. The firm has also got some junior-focused new accessories to complement the U-horns, gloves and the like. It was Kiddimoto’s first time at the Bike Place and they met a lot of BIKEBIZ.COM

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THE BIKE PLACE

Kiddimoto‘s most popular designs

Bern keeping it light and airy Oxford’s new Alarm-D lock

Nutrixxion’s bar range

Reid’s Classic Singlespeed

new customers, they told BikeBiz. Oxford isn’t new to the cycle security game, but they have come up with something a bit different and inspired by their motorcycle arm. The Alarm-D is a Sold Secure D-lock that comes with a 120db alarm. It’s tamper proof and one beep signifies the alarm is set. There’s a movement sensor, a warning alarm and you don’t have to activate the ear-splitting alarm if you’d prefer not to. Is Oxford the first to do this at a Sold Secure level? We’ll let the lock brands duke that one out, but it’s something that’s far more common in the motorbike world. The cycle version has been in development for some time and comes in three sizes, with extenders. In other Oxford lock news, there is a new Shackle 14 – at Gold Sold Secure level. It’s available this month in two sizes (£44 to £54.99). Oxford is BIKEBIZ.COM

also launched new waterproof luggage options, with 100 per cent welded construction and reflective high vis detailing. The 12L bag has been added to the range (£34.99) and the line-up uses lightstraps. There were also Metro helmet samples at the Bike Place, with integrated and removable LEDs, dial adjustment, subtle branding and an RRP at £34.99.

out, including a long-awaited ceramic lube. Frog is coming up to its third birthday. You will probably have seen it is setting up a factory in Wales and that comes off the back of a strong 36 months so far. Now with 390 dealers (200 in Europe) the firm really benefitted from the Team Sky team up, launched at Eurobike in 2014 and accounting

Oxford isn’t new to the cycle security game, but they have come up with something a bit different.. This was Oxford’s second year at the Bike Place. Weldtite has been showcasing its SOS essentials kit, ideal for holidays and containing two clean downs and retubes for £6.99. Taipei is the place where the brand will be bringing a few key new products

for 25 per cent of business. Doing research in the kids market made a huge difference to the firm, it told BikeBiz. Because of the grounding it discovered that the width of the pedals and bike made a huge difference to pedal efficiency – and how easy it was for children to ride

the bikes. Other learnings included that kids turn rather than lean, so Frog made its bars shorter so they stay within reach. The bikes all come with road or MTB tyres (there’s a new MTB tyre in the works) and Frog said it has sold 70 to 80,000 units in its lifetime. LED Lenser is a fresh name for the bike trade, but the company has a background in supplying the police and ambulance with lights, so they know a thing or two. There’s a variety of product with good margins, we hear, including a powerful 2,000 lumen XEO19R – a headlamp (with a helmet mount) that retails for £250. Bolle’s helmets, first launched at the NEC Cycle Show last year, dropped into stock at the start of this year. The range includes The One, with road and MTB helmets under that name and they come equipped with two linings (for summer and winter). For eyewear, BIKEBIZ MARCH 31

THE BIKE PLACE

Bob Elliott’s FLR trainers

SeaSucker

Cannondale’s custom paint job

A true household name: WD-40

Cannondale‘s Zaskar frame

Bolle’s flagship 5th element is new this year, with a maximised field of vision for cyclists and optimised fit thanks to ‘B-Shape tech’. Cadence apparel says it was one of the first to get denim into cycle-ready wear and will be adding more of the blue stuff to its range, available to the trade via VAM Performance. There’s been a flurry of stock shifting in the fleece department, the firm said, with items like the Nolan hooded fleece well placed to take advantage. VAM is looking for more dealers to take on the Cadence range, VEL’s accessories – own brand of Cooke Components – include a few quirky offerings, including a coat hanger made of bike parts. More conventionally, there is a new schrader/presta pump and bottle cages in an incredibly wide selection of colours, hoping to cash in on the colour matching conscious consumer. 32 BIKEBIZ MARCH

German wheel brand Veltec prides itself on hand built products, supplying 200 German retailers, but not so many over here – yet. Its alloy carbon wheelset 4.5ACC is £200 cheaper than the full carbon, we’re told. Reid is making gains globally, with new distributors in Iceland, Hungary and Ireland. Very busy in

BikeBiz’s own Rich Setters gets fitted with SQ Lab

– it’s an easy change, open loop tube where you don’t have to remove the wheel to change it. The Highlander is now forged from a harder dual-compound and there are tyres developed specifically for road disc bikes. The firm is also working with Empire OEM. Nutrixxion was a signing announced just weeks before the

German wheel brand Veltec prides itself on hand built products, supplying 200 German retailers. its Australian and New Zealand heartlands, the brand’s new lines include the Blacktop, the women’s Urban X1 and fat bike Boss. The vintage line, including the Esprit, has been strong performer, we are told. It’s not new, but Rubena’s Gaadi tube is still well worth a mention

Bike Place by FLi. The range incudes savoury bars (including a coffee flavour) as well as sweet. Nutrixxion has swerved fructose sweetner and the full range includes Force Gels, Salty Nut Energy Bar and XX Nytro Shots. Bickerton’s Pilot comes in a 16-inch version at a highly

competitive price point of £379. The entry level folding bike is in stock now and is the latest from the brand which relauched in 2012 after a 20-year hiatus. It’s now available in 14 countries. Also via 2x2 is Land Rover, hitting that entry level price point with models ranging from £599 to £999 and of course a house hold name that won’t scare newbies. Bike shop stalwart GT85 is to get a range extension – ‘For Professionals’. It’s been in the works since the WD40 takeover and will be shipping in March. Brand rep Martin Hawyes may have been pulling our leg, but he told BikeBiz that the smell of GT85 was actually put into some of the products. Sponsorship of riders is in the works and the range is set to grow, we’re informed. PDW – Portland Design Works – is all about keeping things simple and urban focused, but there’s still BIKEBIZ.COM

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THE BIKE PLACE

Bike parts reincarnated

GT’s Zaskar LE

New offerings from Solo...

room for a bit of quirkiness like the newish Owl cage. More conventional are the 200 and the City Rover 400 Lumen headlight. USB chargeable, the lights are simple. PDW his now distributed by Ultrasport Europe, as is Bern. The helmet brand’s FR1 is new and a departure from the usual line-up. The MIPS helmet comes in two sizes and isn’t as low as typical Bern fare, so it remains comfy even when you bend forward. It comes in four colours. Finally, Ultrasport has picked up light brand Lucetta, which you may have seen at Eurobike last year. The lights are activated via a strong magnet. 7 Mesh has a new collection that includes the Corsa jersey – a soft shell, seam sealed rain jersey. Lighter and more breathable, it is pitched as a versatile autumn piece. The Outlow jacket features breathable with double woven 34 BIKEBIZ MARCH

PDW’s quirky ‘Owl Cage’

...In a range of colours

fabric both sides, for £180. For Fall ’16 there will be a mark II Bib (mark 1 in 2014) and will include a raised back, a cleaner finish and a floating chamois. Bob Elliot used the show to refresh dealers with its wider range, including the brand new FLR f.35 III road shoes. USE, meanwhile, had the R1 Aero Wing Handlebar on

Tried and tested: GT 85

Liteville is a Bavarian brand and there’s a fair bit of uphill cycling to be done there, so bigger wheels are in favour with the brand. The latest models will be arriving in April and May. Solo is broadening its range so it’s more head-to-toe than it ever has been. It includes bib shorts (£89.99) with a super comfortable

Liteville is a Bavarian brand and there’s a fair bit of uphill cycling to be done there. show, revelling in the fact that the aero dynamic, UCI-approved bars were used in those recent hour record attempts (retailing at £649). Liteville, via Oneway Distribution, showcased its 101 and 601 frames, as well as SQ Lab and its seat bone measuring POS for shops, which now comes within the portfolio.

chamois, and a jersey in three colours at £50. There are two new jackets – the Wind Jacket is a new waterproof offering, sporting lightweight breathable C-Change fabric by Schoeller, in two colours at £150. Evolution Imports has an unusual D lock that can be taken apart in

four pieces for easy transporting. It’s in the process of getting a Sold Secure rating – they are hoping for gold, of course – and there are three shackle lengths. Cane Creek is getting more turquoise into the range after a popular limited edition and there are new Boost hub shell designs with wider flanges – stock will be arriving shortly, if it isn’t already in by the time this mag lands. The latest from Chapeau’s stylish line (via Velobrands) will be delivered to the trade this month. Now there is bamboo incorporated into the range, technical lycra and a new look. Kask’s Wrex is in stock now and ther’s a new silicon bar tape with extra long rolls. The Velotoze shoe covers have been a surprise success, selling in high quantities, ideal for big rides and days out in the saddle (rather than an everyday shoe cover). BIKEBIZ.COM

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DAWES CYCLES

GO IN DAWES

New designs from Dawes include a floral pattern seen here on a seat new cover

There’s been plenty of behind the scenes changes for Dawes and Claud Butler, but how has that impacted on what’s new for 2016? Jonathon Harker quizzes the brands…

The LT range from Dawes was released in September

DOES DAWES Cycles have the most comprehensive range of bikes for children in the business? No doubt there are a few brands that would take issue with the claim, but there’s undoubtedly a significant breadth of children’s cycles in the Dawes line-up now and, crucially, at a range of price points. That’s chiefly down to the new LT (Lightweight Edition) kids bikes. Dawes first started ramping up its children’s line-up in 2014 with the premium Academy range, pitched as a quality line of lightweight kids bike, with Dawes creating its own tooling for some of the parts, designed to fit little ‘uns perfectly or as near, damn it. The LT bikes are the latest range from the brand and actually debuted in September. Ranging from £259.99 up to £299.99 the LT line-up (with the frame as the main point of difference) provides a more value offering than Academy, which starts BIKEBIZ.COM

from £299.99 and up to £549.99. Speaking of Academy, there are two new colours – purple and grey – and cyclo cross bikes that come in two sizes (CX 24 and CX 26), with triple butted alloy frames, Alex double wall rims and nine speed Sora, for £580.

throughout the off-road range (aside from the entry level). Retail prices start at £399.99 and go up to £549.99. For a firm with 90 years of bike manufacture behind it, Dawes’ Heritage range has been appropriately strong for the brand, with the Duchess the clear stand

“Dawes’ Heritage range has been an appropriately strong seller for the brand.” Dawes’ Academy MTB range comes in three sizes (20, 24 and 26-inch), with disc brakes, drop out components and are again generously specced – and in stock by the time you are reading this. In terms of appearance, blue is a best seller and there are new decals

out performer. While Dawes is aware that the heritage sector is showing signs of plateauing, particularly in the women’s market where bikes that appear less gender specific are growing in popularity, it’s still a key performer and has been added to with the

Penny Royal, the starting point for the range at £279.99 with the best selling Duchess at a still modest £329.99. Elsewhere the Ambassador has had a facelift (£330) and the new Red Feather is pitched as an alternative to the Duchess in 17 and 19–inch sizes. The road range has largely stayed the same, with the Alto Carbon Tifosi a notable exception – dropping below the £1,000 price threshold. Discovery, Dawes’ urban commuter range, has followed the off-road range in getting a new set of decals. The range has been refined, condensed down to the bikes seeing the best volumes – though there’s still room for a number of peripheral models as you’d expect from Dawes. Touring is another key category for the firm and that has remained largely unchanged, aside from an updated Galaxy AL, now coming with flat bars. BIKEBIZ MARCH 37

DAWES AND CLAUD BUTLER

Floral seat covers and matching basket liners: New for 2016

The XC 24 retails at £399.99

Dawes’ Giro

Dawes went to town on a wider accessory line last year and this time around has modestly added a few new lines to the range, including saddle covers to match the basket liners. Aside from the range tweaks and the more comprehensive kids range, which the firm reveals will be marketed through possibly non-traditional kids bike channels like Mums Net, Dawes also has its big 90th Anniversary to prepare for. There’s going to be a new site in Quarter One too. CLAUD BUTLER PROMISES TO SERVE MTB MARKET Like Dawes, Claud Butler will be getting a new website in the spring. A new designer and product manager are on board and getting to grips with the brand, so expect more revamps and range expansions in the near future. For now, Claud Butler’s MTB ranges are 38 BIKEBIZ MARCH

a core focus, starting with a very affordable £209.99 Trailridge 1.1 and rising up to the top of the range Alpina 2.8. The upper MTB RRP is moving higher and the range is split into three broad categories, Performance, Recreational and ATB (for road and light off-road use). Claud Butler (and sister brand

sharing relatively few shop accounts between them. Claud Butler hasn’t had a comparable junior bike range to Dawes of late, but that’s something that is changing, with current highlights like off-road specific Cape Wrath (Pro for the eightspeed version). Dawes and Claud

“The safer the colour, the more it sells.” Gary Conway, Claud Butler

Dawes) is seeing more interest in off-road bikes. “The safer the colour, the more it sells,” Gary Conway tells BikeBiz: “Funky graphics are a bit marmite.” Perhaps surprisingly, it turns out that Claud Butler and Dawes Cycles have a largely separate dealer base,

tens of thousands of rides on Dawes’ Academy bikes. There’s also a conscious effort to ensure there is a general appeal to the younger audience. “We’ll always have the Dawes Galaxy,” the brand tells BikeBiz. “But we are trying to appeal to the younger market. Summing up, Conways says: “We’re at a level of models that suits us and we’re fine tuning what we have with Dawes at the moment, rather than developing everything from scratch. It’s a good position to be in and in the short term we are going to concentrate on getting Claud Butler into a similar position. That’s the focus.”

owner Tandem is keenly aware of the importance of the childrens market and the opportunities to grow. Dawes has a strong relationship with the British Triathlon’s Triathlon Trust, which has delivered events to over 50,000 children in three years, including BIKEBIZ.COM

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PUBLISHING SPECIAL Factory Jackson has been riding hard in its ﬁrst year

A HOTLINE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS Cycling’s magazines and websites have a privileged position in the industry, speaking directly to the bike trade’s customers. Jonathon Harker speaks to the publishers, journalists and directors who heading up the publications that make up the cycle media world… PUNDITS HAVE been predicting the death of print for a long time and the forthcoming closure of the print version of The Independent has added weight to the theory. However, the specialist market has its own, different challenges, not least the huge range of choice out there. BikeBiz speaks with some of the major players in the cycle media who are talking directly to the bike trade’s customers…

commuter locations and selected sport and leisure clubs. Though not cycle-specific, the reach of the mag is not to be sniffed at and has attracted bike-focused advertisers like Cycle Surgery. Getting back to cycle specifics, Dennis is branching into events

“Our Track Day sold out in just a few days.”

DENNIS: CYCLIST BUCKS PRINT TREND WITH GROWTH Dennis has not been a publisher to stand still since it entered the cycle media market a few years ago, swiftly following up the launch of Cyclist in 2012 with BikesEtc in 2014. According to our maths, that means there’s a new cycle mag due to arrive this year. If that’s the case, the firm remains tight lipped, but Dennis did unveil a brand new fitness and wellbeing title – Coach – towards the end of last year. It was no small deal, being Dennis’ biggest launch of all time with a colossal print run of over 300,000. The free magazine – backed by online portal www.coachmag.co.uk – is hand distributed in cities at BIKEBIZ.COM

ride and high end goodie bags.” Down to brass tacks. Cyclist is one of the cycle media world’s few titles that are ABC audited and in a world where print subs and copy sales are declining, the firm has bucked the trend with an audited increase. Print is up five per cent, while overall the rise is four per cent for the title (26,734 total and 24,362 for print).

Nicola Bates, Cyclist & Bikes Etc, Dennis

with a Cyclist Magazine Track Day at Olympic venue Lee Valley velodrome, on April 17th. “It sold out in the space of just a few days,” publisher Nicola Bates tells BikeBiz. “It’s the first time we’ve put on an event and it’s going to be a nice exclusive day for our readers, with top end bikes to

Social media reach has developed with a reach now numbering over 30,000, while the Cyclist site continues to accrue readers (www.cyclist.co.uk) and match the mag’s content with the team hoping to reach 500K UUs by the end of 2016. Copy sales have levelled slightly in the UK, but sales are still growing overseas, Bates and ad director Sean Igoe say, in

the US and Canada particularly. Cyclist now also has more licensed editions that any global cycling magazine, and has signed up Italy, to add to Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Germany, and UAE, with further prospects on the horizon.

IMMEDIATE MEDIA: HEAVY HITTERS There have been quite a few changes behind the scenes in the last few months at Immediate Media – publisher of BikeRadar, CyclingNews, Cycling Plus, MBUK, Pro Cycling and What Mountain Bike, among others. David MaherRoberts is MD for Sport at Immediate and joined in November, reporting directly to Julie Harris, Group MD. “I have overall responsibility for the Cycling and Triathlon portfolio,” Maher-Roberts tells BikeBiz. “My background covers both print and digital with 11 years at Future where I was a Board Director responsible for European expansion for the first global digital launches of GamesRadar and TechRadar. I have been focusing on strengthening our team, bringing even more digital experience to the company. I am delighted to BIKEBIZ MARCH 43

PUBLISHING SPECIAL Immediate Media’s Cycling Plus

“We have the ability to do bike reviews on an industrial scale thanks to our facilities in Bristol.” David Maher-Roberts, Immediate Media

Time Inc UK’s Cycle Sport

announce Paul Douglas as new editor-in-chief of BikeRadar. He has fantastic experience and specific skills that will power its development. We also have Steve Hulbert as new group manager for Digital Partnerships, who has great commercial experience in the cycling media industry alongside content marketing. Alongside Steve we’ve made great appointments to give us a broader experience with digital and data skills to capitalise on opportunities with native advertising and ways of unlocking the value of our three million-plus road and two million-plus off road digital audience and almost two million digital followers on social. Alison Worthington joined last year to oversee our Sport print titles, including Cycling Plus, Mountain Bike UK and Procycling. Alison brings 14 years of experience at Immediate in editorial and publishing. She is responsible for driving Immediate’s Sport events strategy including the National Tri Show which has been re-imagined, taking place at the Olympic Velodrome in April 2016. Are there any key successes you can share from the last year? Despite a host of new challengers latching on to growing interest in the sport, our print brands remain number one by a wide margin. 44 BIKEBIZ MARCH

Cycling Plus continues to hold its strong position as market leader in the road cycling sector with a combined monthly circulation of 43,746 from the most recent ABC figures; 17,012 more copies than nearest competitor, Cyclist. Immediate cycling brands dominate MTB holding a combined 70.3 per cent share of the combined market, with flagship title Mountain Bike UK occupying a 50.8 per cent share alone. MBUK has a combined circulation of 28,992, over 12,000 copies (12,047) more than closest competitor Mountain Bike Rider. We have also see rapid growth in digital over the past 12 months. CyclingNews and BikeRadar are both up ten per cent y-on-y in uniques, and we expect that to continue. We have strong growth in the UK and internationally. We also have a significant social media footprint with close to 2m followers, with more content than ever and our ability to do bike reviews on an industrial scale thanks to our facilities in Bristol. What can we expect from the cycle portfolio in 2016? 2016 is all about focusing on delivering growth, audience engagement and the best possible solutions for our clients and partners. We have access to incredible amounts of user and

behaviour data and we are using that to understand our audience better than ever. This growing knowledge of our users can provide relevant opportunities to unlock a previously untapped potential and this is pretty exciting. This will be happening across all channels: in print, digital, social and increasingly live events! We are pleased to have announced a significant partnership with Sweetspot to become the official media partner for both the Women’s Tour, the Tour of Britain and the Tour Series. This deal shows our ability to engage our audience around every facet of their hobby. We also have the highly anticipated Bikes of the Year for both Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike, a huge annual fixture on the cycling circuit and two accolades that deliver a dramatic sales uplift for the winners and shortlisted entries. What do you think about the state of the cycle media sector? I believe that you will see the brands that understand how to best engage cyclists across multiple channels thriving. In digital, it is the brands that leverage data and insight that will become stronger. And those that understand what consumers are looking for from social media and on mobile will see rapid growth and deliver deeper

engagement. In print, our mags will work harder than ever to ensure their market leadership and to work in partnership with advertisers to engaging consumers. Having made the right investments and appointment, and continuing to invest in genuine ‘first choice’ brands puts Immediate in the best possible position in cycle media.

TIME INC UK: MILESTONES & ACQUISITIONS Time Inc UK’s publishing director Steve Prentice takes us through the behind the scenes changes: At the start of the year I was appointed publishing director of Time Inc UK’s cycling portfolio (Cycling Weekly, Cycle Sport, Mountain Biker Rider and Cycling Active, cyclingweekly.co.uk and mbr.co.uk). I’ve been a ridingobsessed club cyclist since the age of 15 so working on these brands is a dream come true for me. At the end of last year we announced key editorial appointments. Simon Collis was promoted to content director, responsible for managing editorial content and resource across all brands in print, digital and video. After many years as deputy editor of Mountain Bike Rider, Danny Milner is now editor for the brand. Luke Evans has returned to Cycle Sport as editor for a second time in BIKEBIZ.COM

PUBLISHING SPECIAL

Time Inc UK’s portfolio

“We’re moving to new offices with state-of-the art test facilities.” Steve Prentice, Time Inc UK

his career, and Simon Richardson is now editor of Cycling Weekly, after years as deputy editor and several months as acting editor. We relaunched Cycling Active last year, which Hannah Reynolds now edits, she will be a huge asset to the brand as she successfully headed up the health and fitness content across many brands in the portfolio. We have a really talented group of editors focussed on giving the audience the content they want, however and whenever they want it. They lead teams of industry insiders who have the experience, knowledge, energy and passion to further our growth and enable us to build and continue to place Time Inc UK at the heart of the cycling media industry. What about recent successes? Cyclingweekly.co.uk achieved a major traffic milestone and significant growth in digital and video last year. Over 2015 it delivered 14,008,357 unique users (+127.18 per cent y-o-y) and 69,683,876 page views (+139.94 per cent year-on-year), which is an average of 1,526,697 unique users per month. MBR achieved 2,312,016 unique users (+100.52 per cent y-o-y) and 11,629,404 (+122.44 oer cent y-o-y), which is an average of 231,764 unique users per month. Driving this growth is a rapidly increasing and engaged BIKEBIZ.COM

audience on social media, a broader mix of content and greater focus on delivering authoritative fitness and equipment advice. Whatever the measure, page views or unique users, this is tremendous achievement and there’s even more potential for additional growth. Cycling Active relaunched last year to reflect how its audience has advanced, from being either new to the sport or reborn cyclists wanting to get back on their bike, to being serious road cyclists investing more time, and money in the sport. The relaunch sees a sole focus on road bikes and sportive content. Then there’s UKCE, acquired in 2015. The expansion into experiential offerings was a natural step and supports our audience development strategy which positions us as the market leader in UK cycling sportive events. It has an exciting growth plan, as the events will be bigger than ever with 80 this year, which we believe will offer a superior consumer experience. We’ve also had a big win last year with Simon Collis winning Digital Editor of the Year – Consumer at the BSME Awards. Our successes in digital and video, driven by Simon, have tapped into our print and digital resource. What about your 2016 plans? It really will be the year for our portfolio. We now have a true

360-degree reach with digital, print, video, social media and live events, which take place most weekends throughout the year. This is an exciting time for consumers because they are able to engage with our content however they want to. It’s also a great opportunity for advertisers because they can connect with our audiences in many different ways. This year also brings an exciting new chapter for us as we’re moving to our new offices in Farnborough, Hampshire, in early summer. The move will bring high-quality and brand new state-of-the-art workshops and test facilities, which means we will be in a position to create content that is even more compelling and enable us to accelerate our growth ambition in a first class environment. We are working hard to connect our advertising clients with our audiences, with continued focus on relevant ad formats, partnerships, marketing services and innovations. Significant and sustained investment in our digital platforms, extensive research and redevelopment of our print brands, plus our acquisition of UK Cycling Events, all demonstrate our determination to deliver first class brands, with targeted audiences. Through digital, print and experiential events, we can now connect our advertisers with more

cyclists than ever before and that audience continues to grow. The power and scale of our reach across the multiple platforms means that we are better placed than any other cycling media, to provide advertisers with opportunities to communicate and deliver tailored marketing campaigns of any kind and scale. Our growth in traffic and on-site video plays, plus growth in participation events with UKCE, shows that the cycling industry is benefiting from strong growth and is thriving more than ever before. Our cycling brands are already proving they can be as relevant today as they have ever been.

PINK BIKE: GROWTH AND TARGETING EUROPE Pink Bike co-founder Karl Burkat speaks with BikeBiz: In ‘98, online was much less of a big deal as it is now. I remember 2008 and 2009 as being awesome years. The economy crashing was a big benefit to web as for 20 years you had every big company spending $x amount with this print magazine and every year any other new players were like “well I’ve gotta like spend year after year”. I think when things crashed marketing budgets went to zero and the year after everyone was like “let’s reevaluate what we’ve been doing BIKEBIZ MARCH 45

PUBLISHING SPECIAL Doddy running the Factory Jackson kingdom

“We want to open an office in Europe in the next three months.” Karl Burkat, Pinkbike

and they were like actually y’know what? Okay this makes way more sense for us. So we started getting some scraps off the tables and we were able to hire more people and make better content. If you don’t have good content you don’t get advertising bucks so you’re stuck. Do you think video has become more important over the years? Yeah. My brother’s an engineer and I’m an engineer so we developed everything ourselves: Photos, video and every feature on the sight. We really focussed on building a community for communication. All of a sudden you could join a site, buy your first bike, read reviews and find out what products to buy. How’s your European presence? We would like to set up an office in Europe this year. We have a lot of contributors now in Europe, and we’re adding more. We have a tech guy part time; we’re hiring a photographer full time in Europe. We hired a second sales person for Europe two months ago. We’d like to set up in either the UK or France. We’d like to do it in the next three months. I’d have to check my statistics, but Europe’s larger for us now. In the last six months that’s happened. Europe’s evolving so fast as an audience. We’re targeting it a lot more now. We just had a 46 BIKEBIZ MARCH

photographer travel through Germany and visit eight different factories and doing factory tours. If there any other territories you’re concentrating on? About a year and a half ago we hired a guy part time in Taiwan. He does a lot of translations into Mandarin so if you’re in China all the major stories are translated into Chinese for you. We recognise China has a huge growth potential five years down the road. What other goals do you have for the next 12 months? We’ll hit 30-plus staff this year, we’ve launched a trail maps app, so currently a lot of developments go into that and it’s grown. It’s got about a 100,000 fans in the database and we’re bringing that to Europe as well. We’ve launched a multi lingual feature as well. What about the tablet/ smartpheon trends? They are growing quick. It’s actually been pretty linear so at the moment we’re like 38 per cent mobile, the year before its 34 year before its 28. If you look at other sites, not naming any names but if you look at their traffic its like 75 per cent mobile traffic, which demonstrates that they’re getting a lot of referrals. If you look at our traffic it’s mainly from people

searching Pinkbike. Which means that time we spent making that community all those years ago that’s probably the biggest factor. What about longer term goals? We’re trying to build some stuff for retail. There’s not really much stuff to talk about yet, but uh, we’ve got some things on the backburner. As a first step, what we have is a database of all the bike shops and if your shop isn’t listed, you can sign it up and the shop will appear on the trails app. It’ll help customers to find retailers.

FACTORY JACKSON: ONE YEAR IN Editor Andrew Dodd fills us in on Factory Jackson’s launch year: “Moving from a large team, on a floor crammed with staff on bike magazines – I found myself sat in a small office in Bath totally on my own, and quite often not speaking to a sole in two or three days! It’s a dramatic change for me, but it’s been one hell of a year and I’m really happy with how things have been going. With the job of building a social media profile and getting the site off the ground, things escalated a lot faster than I imagined. What started out as a fairly straight-up job as editor of a website has seen me turn in to some kind of man-media-

band! I quote literally do it all – photography, video, writing, testing, posting, SEO, social media – and representing the site in person. The task for the first year was to grow the site on a minimal budget, and start building the kind of content that we intend to expand on. Sounds easy enough, sure – but the reaction to Factory Jackson so far has been huge, and it’s rapidly becoming a runaway train. In the first year on the site I’ve been to every single UK trade and public show possible and several distributor launches too. On top of that we’ve spent nearly 6weeks out the country on various press trips and shows including the footswelling Eurobike and hammering runs at Verbier Bikepark for some forthcoming content. Whilst knocking up the miles on the road we’ve built up 4,000 Instagram followers and 5000 Facebook followers – totally organically. We’ve been building up a steady flow of in-depth and totally unique content too – you won’t find recycled content on Factory Jackson unless it’s something really special. We’ve also been focussing on the best quality images too – Factory Jackson is fully retina screen compatible and fully responsive. Have you seen how amazing the images look now our images are 30 per cent bigger? BIKEBIZ.COM

PUBLISHING SPECIAL

road.cc has exciting new partnerships in the works

The site numbers have steadily grown by 125 per cent, but we’re aware there’s a limit to the amount of content I can generate on my own. So what’s next? We’re looking to start building a team to market the brand and dramatically increase its reach. The time is right now – 2015 was about getting the groundwork done, fixing problems in the back end of the site and turning a good looking site in to an amazing looking one. 2016 is about building and marketing the brand – and we’re just getting warmed up!

F-AT: ROAD.CC & NEW PARTNERSHIPS Farrelly Atkinson, publisher of road. cc has set up multiple cycling site partnerships. Simon Stansfield tells BikeBiz: “With road.cc, we have blazed a trail as the UK’s original, internet only, cycling platform for over seven years. In that time the market has changed dramatically and we have changed with it. Ultimately what we do has changed little; Write great content about bikes, Review stuff honestly and always remember that without our community we are nothing. The F-At Collective, which we’re announcing here, is another trailblazer: road.cc is now partnering with three niche engaged sites: stickybottle.com, BIKEBIZ.COM

Ireland’s premier racing site. moredirt.com the UK’s top MTB trails site. twowheelsbetter.cc the fast growing site for new and returning mountain bikers. The Collective is our way of creating engagement at even greater scale by pulling together sites with massive active communities and unique offerings. Every campaign for every advertiser is different and we never apply a one size fits all approach. We start with your objectives and go from there. The growth of the Collective won’t change this approach it will just mean we can apply the same methods to a wider group of avid cyclists, both road and mountain bike (01225 588855).

GRUPPO MEDIA: ROULEUR’S CLASSIC Bruce Sandell,Gruppo MD speaks to BikeBiz: “Our business is split into four parts, all focused on the premium end of the road cycling market. Despite some of the doom and gloom in the marketplace currently, that part of the market is in rude health – with more and people filtering up to our place in the market. The printed publication is the anchor of the brand and gives us permission to operate in other areas: Online Content, Online retail and events. We are seeing good growth in all our key revenue streams on the

magazine – subscription sales, newsstand sales and advertising. We were delighted to increase our market share of advertising in 2015 – which is testament to the strength of the brand, our strong market position and the superb editorial product created by editor Ian Cleverly and his team. We have some exciting plans for the publication, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2016 – these will be released to BikeBiz over the next month. Our online retail turnover has grown by over 15 per cent and we will accelerate growth in 2016. In May of this year, the online shop was taken over by our shareholder Paul Bolwell – who is running it alongside other business interests. We will build the range around three categories: Rouleur branded products – branded clothing, mugs, art prints, accessories and collectables; Rouleur Collaborations – typified by recent John Smedley x Rouleur collaboration, a number a high-end fashion deals are being acquired in 2016 and beyond; Third party products that fit the remit of Rouleur Retail – with a level of exclusivity online. This is typified by the recent exclusive deal to be the only cycling online retailer for David Millar’s new clothing range CHPT3 from Castelli. We launched the inaugural Rouleur Classic with our partners

Telegraph Events in November 2015, sponsored by Maserati. The event is an exclusive, intimately curated celebration of the very best in road cycling – with an exhibition, a theatre and gallery space, all put together with Rouleur’s eye for detail. This was a huge step for our business and judged a great success amongst our paying attendees, exhibitors and the current/former pro cyclists that attended – from Eddy Merckx to Alberto Contador and Fabian Cancellara. We delivered a very high quality audience who engaged with all our fantastic exhibitors – there were no ‘tyre kickers’ looking for free stickers. In 2016, we move the Rouleur Classic to a new venue in Holborn (Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, WC1B 4DA), again with our partners Telegraph Events and sponsored once more by Maserati. The venue is superb, with a proper art deco theatre, perfect for all the amazing content. We will theme each day of the show in 2016 around a Grand Tour, which allows us to do some really exciting things around the content and also the food and drink – so the show will cover the Tour de France on Thursday Nov 3rd, Giro d’Italia on Friday Nov 4th and Vuelta a España on Saturday 5th Nov. We have some exciting special guests that we will be announcing in March. BIKEBIZ MARCH 47

PUBLISHING SPECIAL How’s online progressing? We have made good progress in 2015, with growth in traffic on our site, plus significant increase in followers via social media channels. We have a website re-design coming ahead of the Spring Classics and some new content channels that will further drive the site traffic – focussing around more product and also travel What can we expect from 2016? We are strengthening our management team, having just taken on new non-exec director Tony Harris, who will be working with me closely in a commercial role, to accelerate growth across all areas of our business. Tony has worked in media for over 30 years. Most recently he was CEO of luxury magazine Boat International, which is a modern mixed media international business that leads its sector with many parallels to Gruppo Media Limited. Generally speaking, I think we will see consolidation in the media market, as in retail. The recent set of ABCs showed a decline in UK newsstand sales for every cycling magazine – which surely makes some titles unsustainable now. Our

focus will remain where it has always been – road and premium that market is here to stay. Our growing customer base will riding their bikes more and spending more money on their passion in 2016 and definitely not be kite surfing next year (or whatever is next year’s big thing might be), like the more faddish customers elsewhere in the sector.

SINGLETRACK: SUBSCRIBER OFFER Singletrack has a refreshing take on providing value to its readers,

rewarding subscribers with enrollment in its Premier user benefits club. That club gives readers access to offers from a plethora of bike businesses. It also gives users access to discounts of up to 20 per cent off everything in Singletrack’s online shop. Joining our club costs from £15. Readers are then sent eight issues of the mag and they get chance to “claw back every penny… and more”. Of interest to bike retailers in particular is the fact that Singletrack has an iOS App for helping readers quickly find Premier Dealers.

FACTORY MEDIA: PRINT TO ONLINE It’s little over 12 months since Factory Media announced Dirt and Ride UK would be moving online only. At the time, CEO Darryl Newto said: “Although moving on from our heritage as a mag publisher is an emotional shift, it also represents a significant opportunity to create even more content for a significantly larger online audience without the barriers of accessibility and affordability. All titles will remain online and will produce editorial.”

THE BLURRING LINE BETWEEN RETAILERS AND PUBLISHERS

WITH NEWS sites selling gear, why shouldn’t shops get in on the publishing game? While shops have long since discovered that, if they have the resource to do so, blogging or including content on their site can drive traffic and hopefully sales too, few have gone the whole hog and actually produced a magazine themselves. BikeBiz speaks with Velorution’s 48 BIKEBIZ MARCH

“We make sure our customers walk away with information about us.” Gretta Cole, Velorution

marketing director Gretta Cole for the story behind the shop’s publishing foray: “As London’s leading premium urban cycling retailer we bring the most innovative and unique urban cycling products from around the world to our customers, as you can imagine we receive so may product requests by other publishers and journalists who want to review the brands we decided to produce and publish our own glossy magazine. This way we are able to devote more space to these beautifully engineered bikes and accessories that are worthy of a lot more space. It contains interviews with a spotlight on ‘Meet the Makers’ and the people behind the brands as well as our ‘Velorutionaries’ our customers, who love to show off their bikes and talk about cycling in the City. Our interviews have included high profile Olympic sports personalities, movie stars and global entrepreneurs. Velorution makes for a interesting read and unlike many other cycling

mags it’s packed with great content and very cool fashion edits. Velorution is produced in-house and available in print or online through Velorution.com, Apple Newsstand and Amazon Kindle. “We always make sure our customers walk away with information about our business whether it’s a magazine or a brochure. The Little Black Book of Bikes is the perfect introduction to Velorution, a pocket size guide to our superb bike brands. We wanted to produce a compact, informative high quality book that’s useful and easy to carry. I love printed matter and felt quite nostalgic producing a pocket book. The magazine has been favourably compared to the likes of Rouleur and Monocle, and the high quality content and product pages serve as a powerful re-marketing and customer acquisition tools for Velorution’s stores, concessions and e-commerce site. Our growth plan sees the mag moving to a quarterly publication.” BIKEBIZ.COM

BIKEBIZ.COM

BIKEBIZ XXXXXXX XX

ELECTRIC BIKES

Current-ly available…

SMS FACTS: THE AVERAGE THE AVERAGE SPEND ON SPEND ON A AN URBAN MOUNTAIN E-BIKE IN THE E-BIKE IN THE UK IS: UK IS:

£806

£931

You’ve heard what e-bike gurus think of the market (page 9 and10) but what kind of assisted bikes are available for dealers to stock right now? Jonathon Harker plugs you into the market…

HOTLINES

0131 319 1444

MADISON

www.madisonb2b.co.uk

LAPIERRE’S OVERVOLT is a Bosch motor & 400 watt batterypowered e-bike. The performance level adjusts to the effort of the rider and is capable of delivering assistance to all types of terrain. The battery has two to three hours of autonomy. Lapierre is keen on making mountain biking accessible to more riders than ever (the geometry is aimed at comfort and stability) and it features 27.5-inch wheels in the line-up.

MADISON IS the home of Shimano Steps in the UK, including the DU-E6001 Steps drive unit (£659.99), a lightweight, compact, smooth and silent 250W drive unit. Including adjustable intelligent power assistance, riders can choose how much effort they want to put in with smooth drive assist. Ridgeback Electron Plus (£2,199.99) uses the Shimano Steps system, which provides a 125km/78m range from a four hour charge.

EBC

HAIBIKE

www.ebco-ebikes.co.uk

EBC IS the UK distributor of EBCO and Corratec. Corratec’s E-140 is a Bosch-powered full suspension e-MTB, using Inside Link 10Hz technology – which bridges damper inertia and absorbs discomforting vibrations, boosting comfort and security for the rider. There’s an elevated chainstay to eliminate chainslap and a pulley while the Fusion Tube uses an aircraft-inspired honeycomb structure specially developed for e-bike strength.

BIKEBIZ.COM

Sponsored by

BIKEBIZ.COM

BIKEBIZ XXXXXXX XX

SUPPLIERS OF PREMIUM CYCLING PRODUCTS

BIKEBIZ.COM

DEALER PROFILE

Go Dutch ened a Two academics have op selling shop in central London id Dutch-bikes. Carlton Re pays a visit.

The couple ditched academia to persue their passion

THE FLYING Dutchman, according to Wikipedia, is a legendary ghost ship that is doomed to sail the oceans for ever. Or, and of more relevance to a bicycle trade magazine, it’s a new bike shop in London, selling Dutch bikes. Created by 27-year-olds Harry Walton and Kristina Rimkutơ The Flying Dutchman is on Eversholt Street in Camden, behind Euston Station. The 38 m2 shop was previously a pharmacy but was derelict for more than a year. Before that it was a butcher’s shop. The couple gutted the place, learning DIY in the process. And they are learning retail skills on the job, too: neither have any shop experience; both are former academics. They met at Edinburgh University; Walton was on a PhD programme specialising in philosophy, and Rimkutơ studied architecture and conservation. “We knew we didn’t want to be academics,” said Rimkutơ. “We were tired of it. We wanted to do something different, something creative.” Originally from Lithuania, Rimkutơ said she was thoroughly enjoying the transition from academia to the world of bicycle BIKEBIZ.COM

retail: “It’s very satisfying that you can help people,” she said. “You can see from their reactions when they take kids on a family bike that you’re transforming lives. Faces light up.” The Flying Dutchman retails highquality Dutch-bikes from Gazelle, BSP, WorkCycle and others. It opened for business in September last year. “The website went live in the summer and we sold a pallet of bikes before we even opened our doors,” said Walton. “Real Dutchbikes bikes have a reputation. There’s a strong demand for them.” The ﬁrst bikes were sold to Dutch ex-pats living in London. “Dutch people see these bikes as vehicles, not toys,” said Walton. “They are for transport, for transporting the family or for cargo.” Rimkutơ added: “We’re not competing just with other bike shops, we’re competing with car showrooms.” Bikes at The Flying Dutchman start at £400. “A Dutch bike comes with lights, mudguards, a rack, an integrated lock, and a chaincase,” said Walton. “These are all part of the package

R DEALE ILE PROF

“We sold a pallet of bikes before we even opened our doors.” Harry Walton, The Flying Dutchman

but they would be extras on a normal bike. But they can still be chosen by the customer. A lot of our bikes are highly customised, to suit individual tastes.” Camden Council bought three of the shop’s Dutch-bikes, for use by Bangladeshi women. “They don’t have exercise as part of their culture so obesity was becoming a problem for women who no longer have to do manual labour. The council bought three Dutch-bikes from us. They’re ideal bikes for riding in traditional dress.” The shop is rented from the council, and was a wreck before Walton and Rimkutơ got their hands on it. “There were holes in the ﬂoor, and broken windows,” said Walton. “It was a mess, and little more than a shell. We renovated it, doing everything ourselves. All of the wood in the shop is reclaimed: I picked it up on a cargo bike when cycling around London.” The couple live in Barnet, and ride to work each day, sometimes on electric bikes. “We ride just over 10kms in our ordinary clothes, and we get to cut through a park, which is very pleasant,” said Walton. “The BIKEBIZ MARCH 55

DEALER PROFILE DIY dealers: The couple renovated the new shop themselves

R DEALE ILE

The shop is boosting the demand for Dutch style bikes in London

amount we save on petrol, parking, vehicle excise duty and Oyster cards quickly offsets the price of the bike. “Bikes are an investment. We enjoy our commute, and we think others should enjoy commuting, too.” Rimkutơ adds: “We overtake hundreds of cars while we ride. Lots of mums with one kid in a car. Because of all the cars the air is so foul. We don’t get stuck in trafﬁc, and we get here in well under half an hour.” This hands on approach – living the life – is appreciated by customers, said Walton. “Sales have increased every month since we’ve been open. Dutch companies are now approaching us. When we started 56 BIKEBIZ MARCH

PROF

some were not interested in talking to us. That’s not the case any more; we’re carving out a niche.” Part of that niche is becoming involved in London’s cycle activism scene. Walton is on the organising committee of Stop Killing Cyclists, a London campaign group which uses shock tactics, such as die-ins, to campaign for more spending on cycling infrastructure. “Stop Killing Cyclists strikes a chord with me,” said Walton. “During that period in November 2013 when six people were killed on bikes in quick succession, I got on a train from Edinburgh to join the protests in London. As a Londoner living a long way away I needed to add my voice to the protests. Having a bike shop in

“These bikes are an investment. We enjoy our commute, we think others should enjoy commuting, too.” Harry Walton, The Flying Dutchman

central London selling practical bikes is another form of getting this message across. That something needs to change in London.” Plenty is changing in London. Not far from The Flying Dutchman one of the Cycle Superhighways likely to be built soon will give cyclists protection on Euston Road. With more and more of such Dutchstyle protection perhaps cycling in London will become less of a battle? Robert White, a journalist at The Guardian, and a customer of The Flying Dutchman, told me he had been cycling on a standard commuter bike into the centre of London from Peckham for more than ten years but has now gravitated to a Dutch bike. “I became tired of the gladiatorial aspect of cycling in London, dressing up in Lycra, arriving all sweaty. I wanted a more upright ride, a more civilised ride.” There are no doubt many people like White just waiting to get on their bikes in London, and as the streets change perhaps the bikes will change too? If so, bike shops like The Flying Dutchman are all set to ride the wave. www.ﬂyingdutchman.bike BIKEBIZ.COM

ebiz

F O R

E V E R Y O N E

I N

T H E

p54 Brompton boss gets honoured

2016

Will Butler-Adams is to become an OBE. We caught up with him en route to Buckingham Palace.

FORWARD FEATURES

Show business

p34 Innovation Lab

p62 Soho Bikes

Who is innovating at the London Bike Show?

p66 Urban bikes

We speak to the months-old London business

ISSUE 112 MAY 2015

om/bikebiz

OCTOBER 2016 Regional Spotlight: The Midlands Cycle Show issue: Extra distribution

E V E R Y O N E

I N

T H E

AUGUST 2016 Eurobike issue Regional Spotlight: North England & Scotland SEPTEMBER 2016 Children’s Bikes, Trailer Bikes, Helmets & Accessories Indoor Training Clothing & Accessories: Winter & Reﬂective

p47 X-treme apparel Verona-based X-bionic is seeking a bigger presence in the UK. We headed to their factory to see the gear first-hand

CycleKit, which has been making the most of the road cycling wave

the UK p33

NOVEMBER 2016 Cycling Media Awards 2016 DECEMBER 2016 Retail Survey 2016

p53 In a Spin

p14 Head-to-toe

A brand new location for this month’s quirky Spin London

p75 Women’s cycling

Giro is pitching its full apparel line-up to the trade

We round-up bikes and P&A pitched at female cyclists

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ISSUE 115 AUGUST 2015

Includes the BikeBiz Directory 2017

F O R

Regional Spotlight: Northern Ireland & Republic of Ireland

@bikebizonline | facebook.c

om/bikebiz

E V E R Y O N E

I N

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p13 Eurobike previews

B I K E

B U S I N E S S

p27 Pumped up

p35 Northern exposure

Find out how SKS turned into a €50 million company as BikeBiz is let loose in the brand’s head quarters in Sundern, Germany

BikeBiz was among a select bunch of UK cycle journos

that made it to Eurobike’s new preview media days in Austria

Businesses in Scotland and the North of England speak out in this month’s spotlight

SHOW SPECTACULAR

JANUARY 2017 Core Bike Show issue: Extra distribution Bike Place Show Issue: Extra Distribution FEBRUARY 2017 London Bike Show issue: Extra distribution Made in Britain: Manufacturing Special

B U S I N E S S

British manufacturers big and small are covered in our special feature, as are the highlight builds from the Bespoked UK handmad e bike show, starting page 44.

p61 Cycling celebs

JULY 2016 Cyclocross Bikes & Accessories Cycle Lights Drive Train: Chains, Gears & Cranks

B I K E

p25 Chicken rides the wave

BikeBiz paid a visit to Chicken

Made in

Velorution is the place to be to spot starry-riders, it seems...

Includes Women of the Year Supplement

It’s new products galore and more show coverage than you can shake a mini pump at, including pre-Eurobike previews, brought to you from across the world (well, Europe and the US)…

p8–9, p13–p24, p27–2 8 and p48

p51 Hub and Spoke

Harlow’s social enterprise has become a focal point for locals

p67 LIGHTS!

p63 CAMERAS!

Our guide to some of the latest lights for dealers to stock

Cameras and other gadgets now available to retailers

p59 AND MTBS!

Some of the latest bikes and clothing built for off-roading

03 BB115 EditorialCover_fina l.indd 1

ISSUE 116 SEPTEMBE R 2015

F O R

@bikebizonline | facebook.c

om/bikebiz

E V E R Y O N E

I N

p11 The BA’s A-Team

T H E

B I K E

B U S I N E S S

p26 Fabric unpicked

Bicycle Association boss Paul Stewart tells us why the BA is reaching out to the industry to strengthen its ranks

MARCH 2017 Innovation Lab special Cycle Media Focus: Magazines & Websites

Didn’t go to Eurobike? We bring you new product from GT, Cannondale and Fabric, only without the flights

p53 You be the judge

RECOGNISING EXCELLENCE WITHIN THE UK CYCLE TRADE

How do you plead? Guilty of not getting around to judging the BikeBiz Awards? There’s still time!

UK SHOW

RECORD BRE AKERS

Cycle Show 2015 is set to be the biggest yet, meanwhile Core Bike debut, proving the UK Live has an impressive trade’s appetite for cycle events shows no sign of fading…

p19–29 & p36–42

p8 Out in the country

The UK’s largest outdoor trade show takes place next month.

p49 i-ride around

p63 Winter clothing

The Velodrome Tour is back. We went along to i-ride’s show

It’s cold ‘oop North and ‘daan South too. Time to layer up

p73 Children’s bikes

There’s life in the kid’s market yet with plenty to stock in

03 BB116 EditCover_final.ind d 1

ISSUE 110 MARCH 2015

Want to advertise in any of these issues? Contact Richard Setters 0207 354 6000 or email rsetters@nbmedia.com

Products to cover your noggin for the road, MTB and beyond

@bikebizonline | facebook.c

We get down to the nitty gritty with some of the sector’s big names…

JUNE 2016 Women of the Year issue: Extra distribution Regional Spotlight: London & South East

p71 Helmets

Folders, city bikes and more are covered in our round-up

03 BB109 EditorialCover_fina l.indd 1

Are there too many nutrition brands in the cycle market?

MAY 2016 The UK’s Top 20 IBDs

p50 Go-Ride What has a year of bike industry support achieved at the Go-Ride grass roots?

What is Fisher Outdoor Leisure doing to back independent dealers?

p17 Energy to burn

Includes Brit List supplement

B U S I N E S S

We bring you reports and previews from a huge range of bike shows, including Core Bike, the Bike Place, iceBike*, the Bike Show, Bike Expo, Claud Butler, Dawes Cycles…a London nd more

F O R

APRIL 2016 Regional Spotlight: Wales & South West

B I K E

p48 Fisher lines up Zipp support

F O R

E V E R Y O N E

@bikebizonline | facebook.c

om/bikebiz

I N

T H E

p41 The show’s not over

B I K E

B U S I N E S S

p16 Most Excel-lent bikes

Bike Expo rounds off the early show season off. We provide a preview of what to see at the revamped Manchester event

p61 Assisted sales We’ve something of an electric bike extravaganza this month, with a sector guide, opinion and news.

BikeBiz trawls the London Bike Show for hot new product and fresh deals. Also includes scooters.

Hold the front page It’s been a big 12 months for the cycle world’s media, with takeovers and launches galore. We wrap up the deals and go in-depth.

Want your company or product to be involved with any of these features? Contact Jonathon Harker jharker@nbmedia.com or call 01992 535646

p45

p13 Raleigh your resources

News from the brand’s

own

p24 Pearson’s Cycles

p61 Uby

p75

COMPUTERS

SMS FAST FACTS: SILVER SURFERS

Byte sized There’s more to this cycle computer lark than meets the eye, with a wealth of options making it tricky to choose what’s right for your customers. Jonathon Harker sifts through the pre-installed maps, GPS and Bluetooth options…

Split by age, those most likely to own a cycle computer are the over 55s (39 per cent), followed by the 45 to 54 year olds (28 per cent). Next in line is the 35-44 age group (26 per cent) – proving the younger you are, the least likely you are to own a cycle computer.

GREYVILLE

MADISON

www.greyville.com

www.madisonb2b.co.uk

Three new 2016 wireless models have been added to the extensive selection of cycle computers from Italy based Velomann, distributed in UK by Greyville Enterprises. Branded as the C Range, these three new models offer 11, 17 or 25 functions with the C25 illustrated below incorporating Cadence and Heart Rate Monitor priced at an RRP of £69.95. All C models have three display lines with oversized numbers and are designed for easy operation and clear display so enabling the user to concentrate on actually riding with a wide choice of functions that are readily at hand. Available in April just in time for the season, full details and speciﬁcations with images are available on Greyville’s website and can be ordered via the easy-to-use B2B ordering system.

Garmin is probably the best-known brand in the market and its Edge 20 (£109.99) is pitched as one of the world’s smallest and lightest GPS cycling computers, weighing a triﬂing 25g. These GPS GLONASS-enabled bike computers track how far, how fast and where rides go, more accurately than ever before. There’s up to eight hours battery life and Garmin Connect allows cyclists to see their ride on a map, analyse and share it. There’s also a course feature that lets you follow new rides, challenge times on previous rides or download rides from other Connect users for a virtual competition. Garmin’s Edge 25 (£139.99) is also a mere 25g, but adds ANT and Bluetooth capabilities and supports pairing with additional sensors that can be bought separately.

BIKEBIZ.COM

UPGRADE www.upgradebikes.co.uk Lezyne is something of a newcomer to the GPS computer market. Backed by a website called GPS ROOT and mobile app called ALLY (Bluetooth GPS models only) the range sets out to offer great feature-led hardware and unrivalled data analysis at a great price. Lezyne’s top model Super GPS (£159.99) simultaneously utilises ANT+TM and Bluetooth Smart, allowing for synchronisation with iOS/Android devices, power meters, heart rate straps and speed/cadence sensors. A unique feature is the “Push Notiﬁcation” where incoming phone calls, texts and emails can be displayed on the computer’s screen. The unit can record up to 400 hours of ride data. Rides are downloaded via Bluetooth and the Ally App or by cable to a PC or laptop.

BIKEBIZ MARCH 59

COMPUTERS

RALEIGH

sales@raleigh.co.uk

Available in the UK from Raleigh, the Mio Cyclo series offers a feature-rich range of cycle computers for recreational or sportive use. The Mio Cyclo HC 505 WEU (£399) is a premium GPS computer that offers smart phone connectivity. The featurerich Wi-Fi enabled model includes pre-installed cycle paths and road maps, up to 12 hours battery life and heart rate monitor. Compatible with Shimano Di2, it reads and records the shift information throughout the ride. Offering actual track resistance, it will also provide the corresponding resistance to the cyclist’s indoor trainer. Mio’s Cyclo 200 GPS (£149.99) is leisure cyclistfocused that is water resistant and features an easy to navigate menu structure. The famous, handy ‘Surprise Me’ feature offers riders a surprise set of routes, based on time and distance.

ZYRO

www.zyrob2b.co.uk

Cateye’s Padrone Smart+ (£99.99) incorporates the same features as the Smart with the additional backlight, sounds, altimeter and customisable display. It works either with a Speed/Cadence sensor or directly with a Smart device using Bluetooth logging ride data, so it’s easily uploadable to Strava. Cateye’s Strada Smart (£79.99) cleverly uses the tech in riders’ smart phones and neatly displays it in a compact head unit. By downloading the free CatEye Cycling App and setting up Bluetooth Mirroring to the Strada Smart head unit, the phone’s data will be displayed on the screen, while the ride data is recorded on the phone for use later.

60 BIKEBIZ MARCH

PALIGAP

www.paligap.cc

VDO M2.1 WL (Wireless) Cycle Computer is a best seller in the range. Making data easier to read is one of the key aims of the device, so riders can concentrate on pedalling rather than ﬂicking through menus. The M2.1 uses large, easy-to-read text and provides two readings on-screen at once so that riders can cross reference calorie burn info and total ride stats side by side. At £35 it features automatic start/stop, lower battery warnings, can save data when you change the battery and does away with cables with an easy to setup wireless transmitter. A wired version is also available for £25.

MOORE LARGE

b2b.moorelarge.co.uk

Sigma Sport’s Pure 1 computer appeals to the, ahem, purists out there; in one easy-to-use display, the device answers the three big questions – how fast? How far? How long? And does so in a nice compact design. The ATS version is a coded wireless computer (ATS is Sigma’s own analogue encoded wireless transmission system). A new flat handlebar mount matches the thin profile of the Pure 1, sitting flush on the handlebar itself so the computer almost blends with the bike. A single piece spoke magnet fits all common size spoke sizes and attaches easily without the use of tools. Retail prices stretch from wired £19.99 to wireless £27.99.

BIKEBIZ.COM

48$/,7< v 5$1*( v 9$/8( An extensive selection of mid range parts and accessories well priced to offer excellent value for money and good margins for dealers. Available for next day delivery on our easy to use B2B ordering system.

ABE-21501 Acor External Bottom Bracket (Shimano® Compatible)

ABR-21504 Acor Hydraulic Disc Brake Set (Incl. Rotors & Post Mount Adapters)

ASM-2901 Acor 1.1/8” High-Rise Ahead Stem (31.8 mm x 50 – 120 mm)

ABR-21103 Acor Dual Pivot Caliper Brake (Short Reach, Allen Key Fitting)

IF YOU DON’T DEAL WITH US YET THEN WHY NOT GIVE US A TRY – CONTACT DETAILS BELOW…

0845 1661983

www.greyville.com

sales@greyville.com

Bike Frame Stickers Visit our new website

Get your name around, remind your customers where they bought their bike or accessories and where to take it for a service. Any size, shape up to 60x40mm, 1-3 colours include laminate so no scratching. 500 ÂŁ92 1000 ÂŁ120 2000 ÂŁ165 Origination ÂŁ30

www top tube stickers up to 20x150mm. 1 colour on clear 500 ÂŁ105 1000 ÂŁ145 2000 ÂŁ190 Origination ÂŁ20

(IGH 7YCOMBE WWW FREEWHEELIN BIKES CO UK

www.cycle-world.co.uk Serviced By -

Tel. 01479 870 050

LONGHAM, 01202 590414 RINGWOOD, 01425 470835

Sales - Service - Setup - Repairs

Gomm Road, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP13 7DJ

Telephone: (44) (0) 1494 530761 email: sales@adcal-labels.co.uk

adcal-labels.co.uk/labels/bicycle-retailers

Part of the group

CYCLE PARTS AND ACCESSORIES BUYER Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re both an online bike shop and a bricks and mortar one. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re growing and looking for a buyer to join our buying team to buy Cycle Parts and Accessories (P&A). WE HAVE:

YOU HAVE:

â&#x20AC;˘ A showroom shop and a massive warehouse that both need filling with the right cycling stock at the right time (and another warehouse on the way too) â&#x20AC;˘ Accounts and good relationships with all the top-drawer cycling brands â&#x20AC;˘ Dedicated stock control, product maintenance, and web content teams to support you â&#x20AC;˘ A team of passionate cycle enthusiasts and a pro-active private owner â&#x20AC;˘ Lots of opportunity for development if you want it â&#x20AC;˘ A passion for cycling â&#x20AC;˘ Solid buying skills and experience - ideally as a buyer but possibly as an assistant or junior buyer â&#x20AC;˘ Strong organisational habits â&#x20AC;˘ A need to be busy all the time â&#x20AC;˘ An enthusiasm for Excel your friends find odd â&#x20AC;˘ Really good â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;softâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; skills â&#x20AC;˘ Reliability and professionalism written all over you â&#x20AC;˘ Elite negotiating skills

If you are interested please send your CV with a covering letter and current salary details to: Thomas Sloan, Head of E-commerce. E-mail: TSloan@tweekscylces Telephone: 01978 667910

;OH[ PZ H YLHS X\V[L MYVT H YLHS <2 IPRL ZOVW V^ULY SHZ[ `LHY MVSSV^PUN H MV\Y OV\Y IPRL ZWLJPĂ&#x201E;J ZHSLZ [YHPUPUN JV\YZL the most popular session ever conducted in our industry.

RETAIL ONLY

NEW PRODUCTS This month we look at the latest in lighting from Brightside and Lightrider, some clever on-the-go storage from Overboard and a new range of ladies and gents bikes from FOFFA...

LIGHTRIDER PHASE www.lightrider.co.uk SHARING THE success of innovations in bike lighting we saw at this year’s London Bike Show, road safety specialist Lightrider has introduced a new product into its range. The new ‘Phase’ rear bike light features a plethora of features from its USB rechargeable capabilities which gives you up to 32 hours of use,

FOFFA: THE DANDY AND THE PLUME www.foffabikes.com to its 16 individual LEDs that produce a wide range of lighting modes. The light boasts an automatic on feature, which kicks in when the bike is in motion, and switches off when the bike has been stationary for over ﬁve minutes. This product’s style and versatility makes it a useful addition to any biker’s arsenal.

OVERBOARD PRO-LIGHT RANGE www.over-board.co.uk INCLUDED IN the host of new additions to Overboard’s product range is the durable 17 litre PVC tarpaulin Classic Waterproof Bike Pannier. Featuring a universal bike rack attachment and an easy to use roll top design, the pannier can be combined into a set of two for 34 litres of available storage. BIKEBIZ.COM

NEW OFFERINGS from FOFFA include the elegantly designed yet still practical Plume ladies range. The new bikes boast a lightweight alloy frame, the company’s own 19mm double wall alloy rims laced to Joytech alloy hubs (12-32t cassette) and 8-speed Shimano Altus and Rapid Shifter for a wide range of gears.

The second development from the bike brand comes in the form of The Dandy. This gents bike features the same lightweight 6061 alloy butted frame and steel forks seen in the Plume, with upright geometry for comfort as well as internal cabling and a other shared characteristics.

BRIGHTSIDE info@brightside.bike Also new in the Overboard range is the waterproof ProLight Backpack, which features 12 litres of storage. The pack is constructed of environmentally friendly and ultra-lightweight TPU fabric and features an electronically welded, two-way sealing system rendering the pack fully submersible.

BRIGHTSIDE’S USB-chargeable side lights, recently seen at the London Bike Show, were developed to increase cyclist visibility from the side, with amber light shining both sides of the bike via the 73mm double ended light. It clips to the side of the frame or handlebar stem to prevent

‘vanishing’ when a bike’s front and rear lights are not pointed at motorists, including at junctions. The lights retail at £29.99 and were dreamt up by Aidan Gribbin as an alternative to in-your-face side lighting that attaches to spokes. Dealers are now being sought by the new brand to take on the light. BIKEBIZ MARCH 63

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO RETAILERS, SUPPLIERS AND SERVICES WITHIN THE CYCLE TRADE

DOING MORE TO SUPPORT UK IBDS B2B SERVICES

HOME DELIVERY

EPOS FEED

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GROUPSET BUILDER

YOU SELL IT, WE’LL DELIVER IT.

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WITH OUR UNIQUE MARGIN SUPPORT SERVICES

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HASSLE FREE WARRANTY SERVICES GENERAL WARRANTY

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PRICE MATCHING & FREE DELIVERY b2b.fisheroutdoor.co.uk

2PURE 46c Bavelaw Road, Balerno, Edinburgh, EH147AE Tel: 0844 811 2001 | Web: www.2pure.co.uk

ANSMANN UK e-BIKE centre, Unit 12, RO24, Harlow Business Park, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5QB Tel: 0870 609 2233 | Web: www.ansmann.co.uk

BOB ELLIOT AND CO LTD Unit C4 Binary Court, Matrix Park, Western Avenue, Buckshaw Village, Chorley, PR7 7NB Tel: 01772 459 887 | Web: www.bob-elliot.co.uk

PITBITZ LTD Unit 6 Thorpe Drive, Thorpe Way Industrial Estate, Banbury, Oxon, OX16 4UZ Tel: 01295 269333 | www.gazeboshop.co.uk www.thebikeboxcompany.co.uk

I-RIDE 7-8B Mid Sussex Business Park, Ditchling Common Industrial Estate, Folders Lane East, Ditchling, Sussex, BN6 8SE Tel: 01444 243000 | Web: www.i-ride.co.uk

JUNGLE PRODUCTS LTD Unit 3, The Cedar, New York Mills, Summerbridge, HG3 4LA Tel: 01423 780088 | Web: www.jungleproducts.co.uk www.santacruzbikes.co.uk

CONTINENTAL North Parade, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales, SY23 2JR Tel: 01970 626777 | Web: www.conti-tyres.co.uk M & J DISTRIBUTORS LTD Unit A, Hanix Buildings, Windmill Lane, Denton, Manchester, M34 3SP Tel: 0161 337 9600 | Web: www.mjdist.co.uk CYCLEMILES 9 Queen Anne’s Drive, Havant, PO93PG Tel: 02392 455 355 | Web: www.cyclemiles.co.uk MAXXIS TYRES Unit 3 Cobalt Centre, Siskin Parkway East, Middlemarch Business Park, Coventry, CV34PE Tel: 024 7688 9775 | Web: www.maxxis.com DYNAMO COVER Drake House, Plymouth Road, Penarth, CF64 3TP Tel: 0333 358 33 20 | Web: www.dynamocover.com

EBCO 5 Pegasus House, Olympus Ave, Warwick, CV34 6LW Tel: +01926 437700 | Web: www.ebco-ebikes.co.uk

EDCO COMPONENTS North Parade, Aberystwyth, Wales, SY23 2JR Tel: 01970 626777 | Web: www.edco-wheels.co.uk

FISHER OUTDOOR LEISURE LIMITED 8/9 Brick Knoll Park, Ashley Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 5UG Tel: 01727 798345 | Web: www.fisheroutdoor.co.uk

MDI LIMITED Unit 4, Wellington Point, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool Business Park, Blackpool, FY42RG Tel: 01253 343090 | Web: www.mdib2b.co.uk

MEALOR-CLARKE CYCLE SPARES LTD Unit 1, Eastlands Road, Leiston, Suffolk, IP16 4LL Tel: 01728830055/01728605970 Web: www.mealorclarkecyclespares.com

MERIDA BICYCLES LTD Unit 13, Nottingham South and Wilford Industrial Estate, Ruddington Lane, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7EP Tel: 0115 981 7788 | Web: www.merida.com

If you’d like to find out more or require additional copies please contact rsetters@nbmedia.com or call him on 020 7354 6000

MOORE LARGE AND CO LTD Sinfin Lane Industrial Estate, Sinfin Lane, Derby, DE24 9GL Tel: 01332 274252 | Web: www.moorelarge.co.uk

NORTH SPORTS 38 Kingston Avenue, Neilston, Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, G783JG Tel: 07746 933795 | Web: www.northsports.co.uk

PALIGAP LTD Unit 2 Danbury House, Great Western Park, Armstrong Way, Yate, Bristol, BS37 5NG Tel: 01454 313 116 | Web: www.paligapltd.co.uk

RALEIGH UK LTD Church Street, Eastwood, Nottingham, NG16 3HT Tel: 01773 532600 Web: www.raleigh.co.uk | www.cyclelife.com www.diamondback.co.uk

REECE CYCLES PLC 100 Alcester Street, Birmingham, B12 0QB Tel: 0121 622 0180 | Web: www.reececycles.co.uk

RUBENA Unit N & M, Tyburn Trading Estate, Ashfold Farm Raod, Birmingham, West Midlands, B24 9QG Tel: 0800 281413 | Web: www.rubenacycle.co.uk

SCHWALBE TYRES UK LTD Schwalbe Centre, Hortonwood 30, Telford, Shropshire, TF1 7ET Tel: 01952602680 | Web: www.schwalbe.co.uk

SILVERFISH UK LTD Unit 3C and 3B Woodacre Court, Saltash Parkway Industrial Estate, Burraton Road, Saltash, Cornwall, PL12 6LY Tel: 01752 843882 | Web: www.silverfish-uk.com

The BikeBiz Directory 2016 is out now, providing the industry with a must-have guide to the UK’s retailers, distributors, manufacturers and related businesses. DISTRIBUTION AND WHOLESALE

E-COMMERCE AND EPOS

EVENT ORGANISERS, HOSTING, HOLIDAY AND HIRE

MANUFACTURERS

MARKETING, PR AND CONSULTANCY

MEDIA AND PUBLISHING

ORGANISATIONS, CHARITIES AND ASSOCIATIONS

RETAILERS, WORKSHOPS AND MAIL ORDER

SERVICES AND TRAINING

THE CYCLE DIVISION Unit 27 Gatehouse Enterprise Centre, Albert Street, Lockwood, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD1 3QD Tel: 01484 456137 | Web: www.thecycledivision.com

HARDNUTZ Unit 8 Rocheview off Millhead Way, Purdeys Industrial Estate, Rochford, Essex, SS4 1LB Tel: 01702 530090 | Web: www.hardnutz.com

VELOTECH SERVICES LTD 26-27 Western Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 0AH Tel: 0845 475 5339 | Web: www.velotechservices.co.uk

WINDWAVE Unit D2 and D3 Heritage Business Park, Heritage Way, Gosport, Hampshire, PO12 4BG Tel: 02392 521912 | Web: www.windwave.co.uk

MAVIC Theta Building, Lyon Way, Frimley, Surrey, GU16 7ER Tel: 01276 404870 | Web: www.mavic.com

WELDTITE PRODUCTS LTD Unit 9 Harrier Road, Humber Bridge Industrial Estate, Barton-on-Humber, Lincs, DN18 5RP Tel: 01652 660000 | Web: www.weldtite.co.uk

ZYRO LTD Roundhouse Road, Faverdale Industrial Estate, Darlington, DL30UR Tel: 01325 741200 Web: www.zyro.co.uk | www.zyrob2b.co.uk

BIKE SOUP 55a North Wharf Road, London, W2 1LA Tel: 020 7298278 | Web: www.bikesoup.com

THE CYCLE SHOW 58 White Lion Street, Islington, London, N1 9PP Tel: 020 7288 6733 | Web: www.cycleshow.co.uk

ASSOS 57 Farringdon Road, London, EC1M 3JB Tel: 0203 2862225 | Web: www.assos.com

BUFFERA LIMITED Cranbourne House, Cranbourne Road, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, EN6 3JN Tel: +01920 460754 | Web: www.buffwear.co.uk

MAXXIS TYRES Unit 3 Cobalt Centre, Siskin Parkway East, Middlemarch Business Park, Coventry, CV34PE Tel: 024 7688 9775 | Web: www.maxxis.com

MET HELMETS / BLUEGRASS 22-24 Ely Place, London, EC1N6TE Tel: 0207 1937 496 | Web: www.met-helmets.com

MITAS Tyburn Trading Estate, Ashold Farm Road, Erdington, Birmingham, B24 9QG Tel: 0800 281 413 | Web: www.mitascycle.com

X-BIONIC Trerè Innovation s.r.l. Unipersonale Via Parma, 70 C. 46041 Asola (MN). Italy Tel: +39 0376 718623 | Web: www.x-bionic.com

CYCLING SCOTLAND 24 Blythswood Square, Glasgow, G2 4BG Tel: 0141 229 5350 | Web: www.cyclingscotland.org

insuring the UK’s cycle retailers

CYCLEGUARD INSURANCE Southgate house, Southgate Street, Gloucester, GL1 1UB Tel: 0844 826 2297 | Web: www.cycleguard.co.uk

ONE WAY DISTRIBUTION Tel: 0031 10345 3510 | Web: shop.o-w-d.nl

QUELLA Unit 1 & 2 Breckenwood Road, Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire, CB21 5DQ Tel: 01223 782 039 | Web: www.quellabicycle.com

BikeBiz Directory 2016 is now available to view online at

www.bikebiz.com DARE2B Unit 8-9 Mercury Park, Mercury Way, Urmston, Manchester, M41 7LY Tel: 0844 811 2939 | Web: www.dare2b.com

DISTRIBUTION AND WHOLESALE

ROZONE LIMITED Queen Street, Darlaston, Wednesbury, West Midlands. WS10 8JB Tel: 0121 526 8181 | Web: www.rozone.co.uk

DISTRIBUTION AND WHOLESALE

IMPORTERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND WHOLESALERS

2WT Ltd 63 Baddow Hall Crescent, Chelmsford, CM2 7BX Tel: 07885 788203 Web: www.2wtuk.com

All-City 6400 West 105TH Street, Bloomington, USA, MN 55438 Tel: 1-888-4AC-BIKE Web: www.allcitycycles.com

2x2 Worldwide Unit 6, Hall End Business Park, Dordon, Tamworth, Staffs, B78 1SX Tel: 01827 331099 Web: www.2x2worldwide.com

Always Riding Ltd Riverside Business Centre, Haldone Place, London, SW18 4UQ Web: www.alwaysriding.co.uk

4 Down Distribution Unit 6 North Ridge Business Park, Haywood Way, Hastings, East Sussex, TN35 4PP Tel: 01424 433 074 Web: www.4downdistribution.com

Amba Marketing (UK) Ltd 5 Budlake Units, Budlake Road, Marsh Barton, EX2 8PY Tel: 01392 829903 Web: www.amba-marketing.com

50cycles Unit M, Little Moor Lane, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 1SF Tel: 01509 217775 Web: www.50cycles.com

Andy BrayAgencies T/A Gearmechhanger.com 36 Middlecroft Lane, Gosport, Hampshire, PO12 3DJ Tel: 07896 124968 Web: www.gearmechhanger.com

Assos 57 Farringdon Road, London, EC1M 3JB Tel: 0203 2862225 Web: www.assos.com ATB Sales Ltd Whitworth Road, St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex, TN37 7PZ Tel: 01424 753566 Web: www.atb-sales.co.uk

A Action Cameras The Light Box, PC127, 112 Power Road, London, W4 5PY Tel: 02089657680 Web: www.actioncameras.co.uk

# 2 Wheel Distribution GmbH & Co. KG Erich Blum Str. 33, D 71665 Vaihingen an der Enz, Germany Tel: +49(0)7042289000 Web: www.2wheel-distribution.com

Action Cameras Limited Unit 36 Park Royal Business Centre, 9-17 Park Royal Road, London, NW10 7LQ Tel: 020 89657679 Web: www.actioncameras.co.uk

2 Wheel Electric Haskins Garden Centre, Mansbridge Road, West End, Southampton, Hampshire, SO18 3HW Tel: 02380476929 Web: www.2wheelelectric.co.uk

FREEGO ELECTRIC BIKES 3 St Denys Rd, Southampton SO17 2GN Tel :0800 077 8711

SEE.SENSE (LIMEFORGE LTD) Sketrick House, Jubilee Road, Newtownards, BT23 4YH Tel: 02891 800536 | Web: www.seesense.cc

Active Life Logistics The Barn, Structons Heath Farm, Great Witley, Worcestershire, WR6 6JA Tel: 01299 890101 Web: www.activelifelogistics.co.uk

2pure 46c Bavelaw Road, Balerno, Edinburgh, EH147AE Tel: 0844 811 2001 Web: www.2pure.co.uk

BIKEBIZ DIRECTORY

All Round Wheels (Wholesale) Ltd Unit 020 Gracechurch Centre, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B72 1PH Tel: 0121 354 5451

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Ansmann UK e-BIKE centre, Unit 12, RO24, Harlow Business Park, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5QB Tel: 0870 609 2233 Web: www.ansmann.co.uk

Atom Cycles Unit 2, Kirkburn Industrial Estate, Lockerbie, DG11 2SE Tel: 01576 203611 Web: www.atomcycles.com

AOB Distribution 57 Exeter Road, Kingsteighton, Newton Abbot, Devon Tel: 07596 100615 Web: www.aobdistribution.com

Autostrada Engineering Forge Farm, Forge Lane, Footherley, Staffs, WS14 0HU Tel: 01543 483155/483225

Assess Todociclismo S.A Mitre 972, San Jose, Guillen Tel: 054-261-4456639

Avocet Sports Ltd Unit 7 and 8 Shield Drive, Wardley Industrial Estate, Worsley, Manchester, M28 2QB Tel: 0161 727 8508 Web: www.coyote-sports.com (B2B) and www.avocetsports.co.uk (Consumer)

Assist Creative Resources Ltd Unit 7 Ash Road South, Wrexham Ind Est, Wrexham, LL13 9UG Tel: 01978 664743 Web: www.assist.co.uk

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Axel Imports Ltd 4 Wimborne Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 2BU Tel: 01202 785864 Web: www.axelimports.co.uk

BIKEBIZ DIRECTORY

MARKETPLACE BIKES & ACCESSORIES

TO ADVERTISE IN THESE PAGES PLEASE CONTACT rsetters@nbmedia.com or call 0207 354 6000

BIKES & ACCESSORIES

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BIKE SHOP TOOLS

Citrus-Lime has been working closely with Hope

Suppliers and retailers working closer together gets results When it comes to retail, convenience will win the day not only for customers but for also for bike shops too, argues Citrus-Lime’s marketing manager Liz Chegwin… DEMAND FOR convenience shopping on the High Street is well established and retailers themselves are increasingly expecting the same level of service from suppliers. Well-known brands can no longer sit back and hope to gain sales and market share. Reliable stock information, convenient delivery options and efficient processes are becoming increasingly important to shops. Product and price will always be at the core of retailers’ purchasing decisions. The forward-thinking suppliers are making it as easy as possible for retailers to order from them and with competition in the industry as strong as ever, it’s no surprise to see suppliers go the extra mile for their retailers. Citrus-Lime has been working closely with suppliers Hope Tech and Zebra Product’s (a leading supplier in the equestrian industry) to build an advanced B2B solution. BIKEBIZ.COM

The platform meets the needs of retailers and suppliers, connecting both parties to improve efficiencies all round. The new B2B platform improves the retailer’s experience with suppliers when processing orders, viewing products and transferring stock information. Offering retailers

that it is very time consuming. Reducing this time reduces costs to the business. 2. Convenient, streamlined ordering process: This allows retailers to keep shelves replenished automatically. Based on minimum requirements they can

“Well-known brands can no longer sit back and hope to gain sales.” Liz Chegwin a better experience and improved convenience will benefit both supplier and retailer.

apply a “just in time” stock replenishment process to save costs and increase efficiencies.

SUPPLIERS CAN IMPROVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH RETAILERS BY OFFERING... 1. Quick and easy product import: Anyone whose job it is to set up product information will tell you

3. Reliable live stock information: Providing retailers with live available stock and reliable delivery times is a necessity in today’s fast paced market. This information increases sales opportunities and

enables retailers to offer great customer service. Citrus-Lime has been working with retailers and suppliers for many years now to integrate and syncronise their systems together to streamline the supply chain through the Supplier Integration Module (SIM). Citrus-Lime works with over cycle industry 25 suppliers who link into the Supplier Integration Module. Many retailers choose not to range suppliers who cannot provide excellent B2B facilities. The B2B solution Citrus-Lime offers takes this supplier integration further and makes it easier and more cost effective for the retailers to buy from them. Therefore retailers will buy and sell more of the supplier’s product. Suppliers should visit citruslime. com/B2B or call 01229 588 628 to find out how they can benefit. BIKEBIZ MARCH 71

OFF TRACK

IN THE SADDLE Nils Amelinckx, Head of Cycle Department Lyon How many bikes do you own? There are currently three bikes in my shed: an Orbea Rallon X10 as my go-to enduro bike, a Production Privee Shan 917 hardtail to help survive the British winters and a Specialized Tricross for commuting and light touring. I also have an expedition touring bike on a long term loan from Oxford Bikeworks. Despite my roots – I am originally from Belgium – I have never owned an outright road bike although that’s probably only a matter of time. Where are your favourite places to ride? Living in the Lake District, I am pretty spoilt for amazing riding and on a good day it is hard to beat. I love a good adventure on a bike though, and there’s nothing better than discovering new places on two wheels. What’s your role at Lyon? And what does it entail? I head up the cycle department at Lyon, which is an all-encompassing role from sales to brand management and marketing. I spend most of my time on the road, and my days are generally filled with visiting customers, attending events and trade shows interspersed with occasional supplier visits abroad. What are Lyon’s ambitions for the UK cycle market? With our outdoor background and the rise in popularity of cycle touring and bikepacking we are well placed to position ourselves as a one stop shop for adventure cycling, from expedition grade carriers to luggage and everything that goes inside the bags. Our motto at Lyon is to provide equipment ‘to venture further’ so we are also looking to add brands to our portfolio that fit well within this theme. Are there any key new products or ranges that the trade should know about? Julbo sunglasses are getting increasingly well known and are one of the UK Enduro Series’ official sponsors for 2016. They have some of the highest quality lenses on the market and retailers benefit from industry leading margins and UK stock. Ortlieb have a new range of rucksacks aimed squarely at the commuter and a new Back Roller Pro pannier for round-the-world expeditions. There’s also an exciting new range of luggage due for release at Bespoked in midApril, although I have to remain tight lipped about that one.

FREE BEER FOR BIKE SHOPS DON’T SAY we never give you anything: We’ve teamed up with award-winning cycling-mad craft brewer Purity Brewing Company to give away two whole cases of its cycling-inspired beer, Saddle Black, along with branded cycling jerseys to lucky BikeBiz readers. The brewer is celebrating its ten year anniversary – it was launched by owners Paul Halsey and James Minkin in the Warwickshire countryside with two cask ales. That portfolio grew to include – among others – seasonal cask beer Saddle Black. This year Saddle Black has been launched in keg and can. This variant differs from its cask counterpart by being slightly higher in abv. The keg and can version is unfiltered and unpasteurised, giving it a depth of flavour which is at once both complex, yet very quaffable (we hear, but have yet to sample at BikeBiz Towers). Sustainability is at the heart of Purity’s growth – the team shares a great joy for everything two-wheels – the brewery currently holds a title of UK Sustainable Manufacturer of the Year. The brewery itself is handily located for riding in the Warwickshire countryside, stopping off at a local pub with Purity on tap or finishing with a refreshing beer from the brewery shop. Find the full range, including Saddle Black, online at www.bottleshack.uk. For more information about Purity Brewing Company visit www.puritybrewing.com or call the brewery shop on 01789 488007. But for two lucky winners, a case of 24 Saddle Black cans and a riding jersey will be on its way for free, if you can answer the following question: WHAT ABV IS THE NEW SADDLE BLACK FORMAT? A: 3.8% B: 4.8% C: 5.8% Send your answer to BikeBiz@nbmedia.com. Ts and Cs apply.

How can dealers get in touch? You can email me directly at nils@lyon.co.uk or ring our head office on 015396 24040.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH ERGON

72 BIKEBIZ MARCH

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OFF TRACK

BASHIR’S BEHIND BRADFORD BIKE SHOP

CONSERVATIVE EURO MP Amjad Bashir paid Bradford-based Pennine Cycles a visit as he urged shoppers to support local SMEs. Bashir is the Conservative Party’s spokesman on SMEs in the European Parliament and Pennine Cycles – owned by husband and wife duo Paul and Sandra Corcoran – is celebrating its 70th birthday this year. The MEP said: “It was fascinating to hear that some orders come in to Pennine Cycles as far afield as Canada, Switzerland, and even Dubai – it’s great to see a local business continue to flourish.” penninecycles.com

ALPE D’HUEZ, BY BORIS BIKE

Stephen Holt, Commercial Director

FREE, SIMPLE WAYS TO GROW YOUR SALES… EVERYONE WANTS new customers, and to get them to spend more with you. Does your store stock our Cycle Commuter magazine yet? It is a highly regarded, widely distributed Cycle to Work magazine that ends up in the hands of more than 60,000 readers annually. And it’s completely free of charge for you. When a customer comes into your store, check if their employer is signed up to Cyclescheme via your Cyclescheme B2B, grab your copy of Cycle Commuter magazine and you’ll soon feel more confident in discussing the great savings available. While we’re talking ways to promote you, log in to your Cyclescheme B2B and update your profile, so your Cycle

to Work customers choose your store and the way you’ve made it unique and different to your competitor’s shop down the road. Follow these quick and easy steps now to help to grow your sales. Order some Cycle

Commuter magazines free of charge – go to the Marketing tab within your Cyclescheme B2B account. While you’re viewing the B2B, go to the Settings tab and visit your store profile to upload a few photos and tell people why your store deserves a visit. The Cyclescheme website has over two million people visiting per year. That’s a strong enticement to update your store profile, to enable more customers to see how good your store is!

Stephen Holt is commercial director of Cyclescheme, the UK’s leading provider of tax-free bikes for work. You can reach him on Twitter @cycleschemeltd

QUOTE UNQUOTE For more on these stories, head to www.BikeBiz.com

PICTURE: THE romance of the Alpe d’Huez, the notorious climb in the globally famous Tour de France, with 21 arduous bends…Now imagine doing it on a Boris Bike aka a Santander Cycle from London’s cycle hire. That’s what ten hardy cyclists will be doing in April as part of a 24 hour Alpe d’Huez charity challenge in aid of the Stroke Association and the National Brain Appeal. Why 24 hours? That’s how long they’ve got to return the bikes to the Santander docking station at Angel post climb. Let’s hope there’s a space. Huez, Santander and charity partners hope to raise £50,000 for the charities. uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HUEZ24HR

BIKEBIZ.COM

“Probably the biggest story in the history of the industry.” Pinkbike.com’s Paul Haysom on the Wiggle/Chain Reaction takeover news

Sponsored by the brands of Moore Large 01332 274252

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SPOKESMAN

Wiggle buys Chain Reaction: what now for the industry? BikeBiz.com scooped the world on Wiggle absorbing its biggest rival. Carlton Reid discusses the sale and its likely impact on the industry THREE DAYS before it was formally announced I ran with the news story that Wiggle was about to acquire Chain Reaction. Loads of media outlets quoted the BikeBiz.com scoop including the BBC, Retail Week and national newspapers. One of the nice chaps at MTB website Pinkbike. com e-mailed me and said it was “probably the biggest story in the history of the industry.” It’s certainly a story of interest to many, and not just in the bike industry. It’s possible that the deal will be referred to the Competition and Markets Authority, and just as possible that it’ll pass through undigested. Why? There are a great many online bike shop competitors in the UK and across Europe, and neither the UK Government nor the EU seem to argue against such mergers – a case in point would be how EE was allowed to form from the merger of Orange and T-Mobile. Wiggle – or, rather Bridgepoint Capital, which owns Wiggle – will want to beneﬁt massively from acquiring Chain Reaction, a deal that was probably months in the planning. As well as improved buying power, and squeezing even better terms out of suppliers they will seek cost-savings from combining warehousing and distribution; there may be cheaper shipping costs; and there will be combined, and therefore cheaper, marketing teams. This will mean job losses in the short term but whether this is in Portsmouth, Wiggle’s new warehouse in Wolverhampton or Northern Ireland remains to be seen. (Private equity

houses don’t tend to think longterm but was one of the drivers of this deal to eventually locate the merged business in Northern Ireland? From 2018 this part of the UK will cut corporation tax to 12.5 per cent.) But will there be one entity, a larger Wiggle and no CRC? This is relatively unlikely. A big reason for absorbing Chain Reaction Cycles is the name and goodwill built up since the 1990s; for Wiggle to ditch this would make little sense. Something that could emerge from the acquisition is Wiggle becoming more of a generalist than it already is (Wiggle is an Amazon-style generic name, and could sell anything). Chain Reaction (which has more of a bike-based name) could become Wiggle’s hardcore cycling division. Or, the existing supposed specialities of the two retailers could be ampliﬁed – Wiggle is already known as more of a road shop, and Chain Reaction has stronger roots in MTB. (Might Chain Reaction Cycles, which already has a brick and mortar

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store in Belfast, become a chain of “Wiggle service” stores across the UK?) Will the combined high-debt Wiggle and low-debt Chain Reaction impact on independent bike retailers? How could it not? IBDs have every right to be worried, but perhaps with even more to fear are the bigger players, such as Halfords. The newly bulkedup competitor has roughly the same annual sales, albeit domestic and international, as Halfords’ share of the UK bike market. This is a massive threat to the current market leader. In an interview in a previous issue of this magazine, Wiggle CEO Stefan Barden made it plain that he sees growth coming not from expanding the size of the pie but from capturing market share from his competitors. Will the merged Wiggle/Chain Reaction worry suppliers? Some will welcome it (one less account to fuss over) but many others will fret over the almost certain loss of even more margin in the new contracts they will probably have to sign.

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Bike and P&A suppliers are not in the same boat as trodden-down dairy farmers just yet but there’s now a new level of uncertainty added to an already tumultuous scene. Those brands that refused to go with either Wiggle or Chain Reaction will now be more convinced than ever that that was a wise decision because a muscular “WiggleChain”, while being an efﬁcient way to the market, will be in a much better position to impose punitive terms on suppliers – many of these suppliers will now be far smaller than the retailer they’re selling to, and in no position to haggle for higher margins. Will consumers be all that fussed? Most online consumers are almost wholly price-driven: their true loyalty is not to a branded online retailer but to the “price – low to high” setting on Google Shopping. And who can blame them? Plenty of bike shop staff already buy from Wiggle and Chain Reaction, and they do so for deep discounts, not love. With WiggleChain dominating internationally online, and with Evans, Edinburgh Bicycle, and now, in a smaller way, Rutland Water, dominating bricks-and-mortar sales in many regions of the UK, it’s plainer than it ever was that consolidation has become a key driver of our industry. Growing the pie is being neglected by almost all. This is folly. We need to be attracting new customers – creating new cyclists – not just serving up cheaper prices and less choice to the existing ones. That’s easier said than done, of course.

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