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03 Editor_CIN01_2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 13:02 Page 1

FROM THE NEW YEAR, NEW US?

E D I TO R

Cycling Industry Chat @CyclingIndustry @MarkSuttonBike

AS creatures of habit, the arbitrary New Year’s resolution is rarely worth the oxygen, but we in the bike industry should nonetheless begin 2022 with a few in mind.

Marginal gains, as made famous by Dave Brailsford in bringing his cycling teams to glory, can quickly stack up, but they also require a mental toughness to persevere and to keep old habits pegged back until the new form. If there’s one thing the pandemic has taught us, it’s that, when given the time to break the routine and question the norm, the opportunity to make changes comes into view. With the New Year break having put some distance on what was, unquestionably, a challenging year for the bike market in new and unprecedented ways, now is an excellent time to review and reset while Winter lingers.

There will be things personal to your business to fine-tune and there will be broader challenges in the market trends that very likely need addressing before they affect your trading. In the financial markets there is a saying “buy the rumour, sell the news” and it refers to a trader’s ability to spot a trend early and act quickly before the horse has bolted. Arguably we are in a period where the pace of evolution in the marketplace – from supply chains through to technological advance – has never moved so sharply. How can you further prepare, adapt and overcome?

From a retailer’s perspective there are trends working both for and against, but since we’re glass-half-full folk let’s pick up a few positives.

Not since the late 1940s, when bicycles were 37% of UK traffic, has demand for our product been so high, in large part down to the electric bike opening up a blue ocean of new customers. Industry production lines are expanding at a rate like never before and these are bets on a continuation of demand not taken lightly. Europe appears to be leading the way with a trend of reshoring and expansion.

On 11th November 2021, CI.N’s online channel reported on a little known OEM motor parts maker called hGears, now a listed business on the Frankfurt exchange. hGears forecasts tripling its eMobility trade in the mid-term. Though you may not have heard of the business, in 2020 its parts featured in 2 million of 4.6 million electric bikes sold in Europe, so they are arguably as close to the coal-face of understanding demand as it comes. Leading indicators like this present signals as to just how the market’s bike makers see things playing out.

To counterbalance this we are now hearing of many on the frontline returning to adequate stock levels on cycles and in some cases cancelling orders to avoid oversupply. A bottleneck at some point now looks possible, in particular if the optimism travelled up the chain last year. Did suppliers over-order in the face of unprecedented demand and manufacturers too? Time will tell, but there are signs of current model year discounts online, which will frustrate the market at large.

As with the Bike Repair Voucher scheme, the UK (more specifically this Government) does have a habit of copying the EU’s homework and with a VAT trim just announced on the mainland for cycling goods and services, perhaps good news will follow here. A VAT cut on electric bikes is a leading ‘want’ from our soon-to-be-released annual market study. If you’ve yet to take part, please do so here and I thank you for your time: www.Surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CFZSBPM Dare I say it, we remain collectively riding the early stages of a wave that stands to reshape the future of transport. Not a bad place to be in the context of wider industrial activity.

www.cyclingindustry.news

Publisher

Jerry Ramsdale jerry@cyclingindustry.news Editor

Mark Sutton mark@cyclingindustry.news Staff Writer

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©2022 Stag Publications. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher. The Publisher cannot be held responsible or in any way liable for errors or omissions during input or printing of any material supplied or contained herein.

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cyclingindustry.news 03

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07-08 Ask The Trade CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:19 Page 1

ASK THE

PROFESSIONALS

HOW HAS THE GOVERNMENT HANDLED THE PANDEMIC? While No.10 is definitely not having a party, small businesses are pondering inflation, wages, corporate competition and slow progress on the Gear Change ambition. Two shops share their take on what the Government has got right and wrong in the past year…

THE PANELLISTS Jon Dean

Cycle Street

David Howard

Bigon Bikes

“THE JOB RETENTION SCHEME AND THE BUSINESS RATE RELIEF GRANT HAVE BEEN A GREAT SUCCESS IN HELPING SMALL BUSINESSES RETAIN AND REDUCE OVERHEADS IN DIFFICULT TIMES AND SHOULD BE APPLAUDED.” David Howard, Bigon Bikes

BECOMING A PANELLIST If you are an independent retailer and would like to take part in future issues, e-mail: mark@cyclingindustry.news

HOW CONFIDENT AND HAPPY IN THE GOVERNMENT HAVE YOU BEEN DURING THE PANDEMIC IN TERMS OF SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT? Jon Dean > Cycle Street With Business Rates suspension and classification as “Essential Support Services” enabling us to remain trading, I feel that the Government helped the small businesses, in particular the cycle industry, incredibly well.

David Howard > Bigon Bikes The Job Retention scheme and the Business Rate Relief Grant have been a great success in helping small businesses retain and reduce overheads in difficult times and should be applauded. However, although we have been able to stay open as a “key industry”, the confusion and mixed messages have been difficult to work with.

Planning has been very difficult for businesses, employers and employees alike. In truth, I cannot say we have been happy or confident in how the Government have handled the pandemic overall, there have been some small successes but not enough to offset the harm that has been caused.

THE SMALL BUSINESS INDEX HAS TAX BURDENS AND LABOUR SHORTAGES AS A LEADING CONCERN FOR SMALL BUSINESS. WHAT’S THE MOST CHALLENGING FACTOR IN PLAY FOR YOU THAT THE GOVERNMENT COULD INFLUENCE? Jon Dean > Cycle Street Paying Taxes is part of running a business at whatever rate is levied and this should be built into the business plan accordingly and costed for. However, the government in one hand states its support for the high street and small business in particular, yet

in the other hand it allows large operations such as Amazon to lay out their accounts in a way that they pay less corporation taxes than us; a single shop in York.

If the Government is serious, it must level the playing field: • Introduce online trading taxation to match Business Rates.

• Revise Business rates levies to reflect profit not just rateable value/sq ft, or scrap this and base it upon a tighter Corporation tax style model.

• Mandate parking charges on out-oftown shopping centres.

• Increase taxation on Courier vehicles to reflect the excessive CO2 emissions, high road use and increase in congestion.

• Labour shortages haven’t changed – we see few suitable applicants to vacancies.

David Howard > Bigon Bikes We have yet to see an impact on labour shortages, perhaps we have been lucky, but tax rises for business just means we'll be looking at different options to reduce tax burden as much as possible. We are a service industry, so people are our biggest asset and cost. We want to grow, reduce service wait times and increase productivity. We're having to buy stock when its available and stockpile as we don't know when the next batch will land, or if we can get it. We're investing in people and stock, but being penalised for doing so. We do have to contend with higher wage demands and higher associated costs (NI, Workplace pensions, etc). Margins have stabilised, but suppliers are squeezing prices as their costs increase.

WITH RISES TO THE LIVING WAGE, NIC CONTRIBUTIONS AND OTHER OVERHEADS WHERE DO YOU STAND ON EMPLOYMENT AND GROWING YOUR TEAM?

STAY IN THE LOOP SCAN QR CODE > TO RECEIVE OUR BI-WEEKLY NEWS UPDATES cyclingindustry.news 07

07-08 Ask The Trade CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:19 Page 2

ASK THE

PROFESSIONALS

HOW HAS THE GOVERNMENT HANDLED THE PANDEMIC? Jon Dean > Cycle Street During Covid we have increased our staff by two heads, but we are not planning to increase any further. We are already considering increasing our Labour charges to reflect our rising costs, and in turn, our staff will be facing the same pressures and thus will need inflationary wage rises before long.

Sadly, Covid needs to be paid for and we will all need to pay for it in the form of increased taxation, which if not kept under control, could spiral forcing inflation to rocket quite quickly. This in turn should worry those on variable rate mortgages who have potentially never experienced a mortgage rate rise in 30 years.

David Howard > Bigon Bikes The rise in NI, Living Wage and Corporation Tax is going to have a big impact on confidence and investment going forward.

We will need to see how these - together with ever increasing energy, parts and consumables costs - impact our ability to sustain growth and investment in training, skills and tools in order to meet emerging opportunities from customers. Price rises will have to follow, but we are always wary as to how customers will respond.

WITH INFLATIONARY PRESSURES HIGH DO YOU FEEL CUSTOMERS COULD SOON REIGN IN SPENDING? Jon Dean > Cycle Street We haven’t noticed a reluctance to spend yet, although the drop off in mid-October until early November was quite dramatic. In my experience, our customers continue to spend regardless of the economic situation, choosing to fund by credit at times rather than cash.

David Howard, Bigon Bikes Without doubt, yes. Although some will have been able to reduce spending through lockdowns and thus may have savings, the supply of what they want and increase in prices will have eaten away much of that benefit. There also may be some wariness due to talk of increasing interest rates which will have a huge effect on mortgage payments and disposable income.

08 cyclingindustry.news

WHAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO SEE FROM GOVERNMENT IN TERMS OF SUPPORT FOR SMALL BUSINESS, IN PARTICULAR CYCLE STORES? Jon Dean > Cycle Street Successive UK Governments boast Cycling infrastructure improvements year after year yet persistently miss the point by miles. On the Gov.uk website a section entitled “Guidance for local authorities on designing high-quality, safe cycle infrastructure” maintains that it holds the key to improving the network. Taking a brief look at our friends in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium shows that we are still way off the mark.

Case and point: a few years ago, a colleague and I went to a trade show in Rotterdam. We rode onto the boat at Hull, rode off at Europort Schipol and for the next 30 miles, we actually only rode on a road for 500m. This simply wouldn’t happen in the UK. Central government needs to change its take on sustainable transport and realise without radical Dutch style thinking, a modal shift in priorities on the road, pavement and moving “safe” cycling lanes away from traffic – nothing will change.

David Howard > Bigon Bikes There does need to be some strategic thought and support for cycling as a fundamental solution to meeting our climate change obligation and some serious investment in making cycling a natural and safe choice for short journeys. Safe infrastructure is key and segregated cycle lanes need putting in now.

If grants are available for consumers choosing electric cars, why not e-bikes? If grants are available for businesses installing charging points, why not grants for changing rooms and secure storage for bikes?

Social distancing has shown space can be re-allocated for wider pavements which could be allocated to segregated cycles lanes in towns and cities. The Government needs to show its serious and then cycle stores can look to invest in ensuring supply of bikes, plus ensuring they have trained staff to be able to meet customer needs, service and maintain increased numbers on two wheels.

“SADLY, COVID NEEDS TO BE PAID FOR AND WE WILL ALL NEED TO PAY FOR IT IN THE FORM OF INCREASED TAXATION, WHICH IF NOT KEPT UNDER CONTROL, COULD SPIRAL, FORCING INFLATION TO ROCKET QUITE QUICKLY.” Jon Dean Cycle Street

BECOMING A PANELLIST If you are an independent retailer and would like to take part in future issues, e-mail: mark@cyclingindustry.news

10-11 Market Data CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:19 Page 1

SPECIALISTS AND SALES In this final snippet from the 2021 Independent Retailer Study CI.N looks at the breakdown of UK store speciality, add-on sales and the perks sales folk see for their efforts…

FACTORING IN THE COVID-19 SURGE, BY WHAT PERCENTAGE HAVE YOUR PROFITS ADJUSTED YEAR-ON-YEAR?

WHAT DO YOU PAY YOUR SENIOR NON-MECHANIC STAFF?

ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS

Wouldn’t it be nice if every year had the vast majority of bicycle retail and workshop businesses reporting profits up to this degree?

Gathered in Q4 of 2020, these findings provide a window into the first year of the Covid-19 Pandemic; one that was almost unanimously agreed to be good in business terms for the cycling industry thanks to favourable legislation promoting cycling for transport and leisure.

On the back of this surge in sell through retailers across the world have put in weighty forward orders, something which may come back to haunt the trade should momentum slow. If retail forecasts have been overcooked, followed by the same amplified behaviours through distribution, the trade could very well face a whipsaw effect from under to oversupply.

At this stage, however, trading is good; certainly up on prepandemic years. Profits were down for just 11% of the retail and workshop trade, while the same portion more than doubled their annual trade, something that has done wonders for cash flow.

Currently underway, our 2022 assessment will presumably read a little differently, both in respect of last year’s ‘boom’ and the subsequent battle to obtain stock, which by most accounts has limited a vast sales potential. You still have time to pitch your feedback in to enable CI.N to track the Covid era.

10 cyclingindustry.news

From1 April, 2022 the national living wage rate for those aged over 22 will rise from £8.91 to £9.50, an increase of 6.6%. This equates to £19,760 pre-tax annually for a 40-hour week. The rise is steeper for 21- to 22-year-olds at 9.8% to £9.18. For an apprentice an 11.9% rise takes the minimum to £4.81.

These rising figures will begin to make a dent in the salary tracker within CyclingIndustry.News’ annual research, which at the present time is heavily weighted toward low pay for bike shop staff. In the current recruitment climate, this may prove a problem for shops as staff balance such pay cheques against rising inflation. The so-called ‘Great Resignation’ shows no signs of slowing, with reports in November suggesting one in four staff in the UK are teeing up a career move.

As it stands, 40% of shop staff who are not mechanics are paid between £16,000 to £18,000 and a further 20% between £18,000 to £20,000. These figures will come under increasing pressure as the competition for talent intensifies in the face of workers seeking out financial stability. Retail workers in the UK, according to Payscale, average £7.95 per hour and so the grass may not always be greener for staff. Nonetheless, if your staff are performing it may be worth reviewing incentives to keep their heads from turning to other opportunities.

10-11 Market Data CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:19 Page 2

MARKET DATA 2021

Mapping Our Market

SCAN HERE TO TAKE PART

LAST CALL: Cycling Industry News’ annual Retail Study is now live, once again offering UK-based independent stores and workshops participating a range of goods and incentives. If you are a UK-based independent you may now participate by visiting the link or scanning the QR with your device. www.bit.ly/CyclingMarketData2022

WHEN SENDING OUT A NEW OR SERVICED BIKE, WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMONLY SOLD ADD-ONS?

ANALYSIS

Sales trainers who have appeared within these very pages have written that the art of add on sales is something the best business people are highly focussed on; each extra sale adding a marginal gain to the bottom line that over the course of a year can prove significant.

Managers may wish to remind staff going into the new year of this cumulative effect when setting sales targets. Can you raise the spend per customer by 10%, 20%, maybe even 40%? When a bike is sold and the necessity to illuminate the road ahead and secure the fresh steed against thieves is needed then the answer is more likely to be yes.

Let’s take the top retail add ons, for example. If a customer has decided to add lights, could they be upsold on more lumens, a longer run time, or smart features? Additional CIN research suggests consumers are most swayed by the former too.

Working from a baseline of a £20 retail price, a 20% RRP upsell is £24 on one sale. Do it ten times in a week and that’s £40 extra turned over. In a month it’s nearer £160; a year, we are talking £1,920. While this is a crude example that talks turnover rather than net profit retained, the cash banked may well prove enough to pay for a bike shop’s staff Christmas party on lighting upsale alone.

IF A CUSTOMER HAS DECIDED TO ADD LIGHTS, COULD THEY BE UPSOLD ON MORE LUMENS, A LONGER RUN-TIME, OR SMART FEATURES?

cyclingindustry.news 11

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13-14 Analysis Graphene CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:20 Page 1

ANALYSIS

Graphene and cycling

BLACK GOLD ON HOLD? Having burst onto the scene in 2004, Graphene has been a material of intrigue for the bike world ever since, featuring only sporadically in product catalogues despite its wonder properties. Will the material ever be widespread in cycling?

WHERE IN THE BICYCLE INDUSTRY HAS IT BEEN USED? The list of businesses that have dabbled with graphene technology remains limited. Most notable is the Vittoria group’s work to create a rubber compound that embeds graphene, which it is said hands the tyre have an ultra-low rolling resistance, strength where needed in applications such as downhill and other perks that come naturally.

Having established a joint venture with Directa Plus Asia Ltd to supply the material, Vittoria fine-tuned its use in tyres, while its partner went on to explore other avenues outside of its exclusivity agreement with the global tyre label. One of those possibilities was to tap into the electrical conductivity of the wonder material and Directa Plus went on to explore smart fabrics – that’s clothing that would not only be able to deliver tougher and abrasion resistant weaves, but

In our investigation we found several brands that had discountinued Graphene’s use

WHAT IS GRAPHENE?

ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY Over 1 million times more conductive than copper.

STRENGTH 200 times stronger than steel at the same thickness.

HIGHLY TRANSPARENT Due to its single layer properties, graphene only absorbs about 2.3% of visible light.

Graphene is the thinnest material ever isolated. It consists of single layers of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal network, and this unique structure, along with a variety of inherent properties gives it a plethora of potential uses:

FLEXIBILITY Can stretch up to an additional 20% of its length.

BARRIER Completely impermeable, even to helium gas.

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY Up to 5,000W/mK (watts per metre-kelvin) in all directions, compared to around 400W/mK for copper. Also non-toxic and fire retardant.

COST That’s ever-changing and variable but Graphene.info has the price between $50 to $200, per kilogram, depending on the volume bought.

cyclingindustry.news 13

13-14 Analysis Graphene CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:20 Page 2

ANALYSIS Graphene and cycling

“THE MATERIAL IS INCREDIBLE FOR TAKING OUT HIGH FREQUENCY VIBRATION. WITH ALL THIS SAID, IT REMAINS IN THE ELITE BALLPARK AND NOT MASS PRODUCED YET; AND PERHAPS NOT FOR SOME TIME.”

Because each particle is atomic in size, massproduction that is costeffective is a tough nut to crack

14 cyclingindustry.news

also potentially become a ‘smart fabric’; one that could in theory tell when a rider is depleted of electrolytes through their sweat, perhaps telling an on board cycle computer in the rider’s eyeline.

Thanks to the immensely broad property list of Graphene, hypothetical scenarios are really quite endless when it comes to innovation. Sourcing the material, taking it through testing, quality control and into production is another story, however.

Rolo Bikes’ Adam Wais told CyclingIndustry.News about his brand’s graphene journey, revealing a complex process that’s not going to appeal to everyone.

He said: “In real terms there’s a very tiny quantity of graphene in existence, but it is of course an atomic-sized particle. Production is extremely complicated and there are many reasons why it’s not used more widely, yet. I know from our experience it’s hard to work with, the raw material is tough to cut and you have to cut it with special equipment.”

Wais points out that with most of the bicycle world’s manufacturing done in Asia, where many fabricators could arguably be said to be cost focused, the material’s use does not stack up in terms

of investment at an OEM level. Rolo Bikes partnered with a Swedish specialist for its low-volume graphene infused frame production. It is, admits Wais, a preserve of a certain elite segment of the market when it comes to frames.

“When former pros have ridden our bikes their sense is that it’s just as stiff as a high-spec carbon build, but somehow when they put the power down it reacts even better. It seems to feel much more comfortable too, which is an endurance

benefit. The material is incredible for taking out high frequency vibration. With all this said, it remains in the elite ballpark and not mass produced yet; and perhaps not for some time.”

It is a case of the graphene industry maturing and manufacturing at scale, rather than the bicycle industry not having ambition with the material, we’re told.

When asked about his dream hypothetical use for the product, Wais said he would like to use microscopic strands to communicate on systems like Shimano’s Di2, essentially embedding an invisible Graphene cable into the carbon weave.

On volume of production, First Graphene Limited is one early innovator in the segment that pioneered a proprietary process that utilises high purity graphite, something that enabled precise control over production quality. The company markets a range of products for various applications under the PureGRAPH® brand and is now capable of producing 100 tonnes of its graphene products a year from a manufacturing facility in Western Australia, with capability to scale up.

Whether or not volume is available to satisfy demand at the present time seems irrelevant. Revisiting companies who have dabbled in Graphene it is interesting to learn that both Muc-Off and Exposure Lights have ceased producing items that were brought to market building in the wonder material. Furthermore, another bike frame label keen on the material – Dassi Bikes – went into liquidation in February of 2020 having formerly talked about revolutionising live television coverage utilising graphene’s ability to capture ride data and transmit it. A partnership with Team Dimension Data was formed, partly on this basis.

So, why has the bicycle industry not yet found its flow with the material?

Wais concludes: “I have got to believe that the opportunities for use in advanced electric bikes could be fantastic, but everything has to scale well, from available supply through to the cost to benefit ratio.

It will probably get there one day and when that time comes developers are bound to be very excited by the possibilities.”

(Editor’s note: We reached out to numerous sources both inside the bike and graphene industries to make further ground with this article, but repeatedly hit brick walls. Many were not keen to talk on the material’s progress to date and most did not reply to interview requests, or were unable to give detail on why projects had not progressed.)

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17-20 Analysis - Bike boom what next CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:22 Page 1

ANALYSIS Bike Boom or bubble?

MORE BOOM, BUST OR BUBBLE? As the dust is settling on a violent jolt of global product demand and subsequent supply complexities the bicycle industry is faced with the acceleration of forecast mega trends. So, what next for the bike market? We ask several trade leaders…

1

2

Some of the financials from listed companies are starting to show a reverse gear on record breaking. Are the true effects of trade headwinds now filtering through to the frontline?

Dominic Langan, CEO, Madison I think there are several factors at play.

Supply has prevented us and others, I am sure, from reaching our true potential this year. Since the loosening of restrictions and “freedom day” we have seen motorised traffic return to pre pandemic levels, some of the traffic calming measures and cycle infrastructure installed during the pandemic now being dismantled. This has certainly deterred people from wanting to continue to ride in the streets. A lot of staff are back in the office at least some of the week now and commuting/work pressures have taken away that extra time people had when working from home for some exercise/ leisure time.

People are now spending money on greater variety of things now that restrictions have been lifted. However, people are also feeling the pinch thanks to increase energy and fuels costs. Inflation is increasing and certainly we have seen considerable cost increases in our industry. There is potential for interest rate rises too, so I am sure people are anxious about the future and will be watching the pennies. This may be in

3

our favour next year if people look to save on fuel and other costs of driving – ULEZ, congestion charges etc. and opt for the bicycle instead.

I expect we will continue to see production capacity issues throughout 2022. Raw materials, labour shortages and lockdowns continue to be a big issue and some countries which supply our industry’s products, they still have relatively low vaccination rates. In some cases they also have closed borders and no longer can rely on migrant workers to the extent they once did. In China we are seeing more and more areas operate a three-day week as the government is restricting power usage to tackle pollution.

Peter Nisbet, MD, Windwave For Windwave, no. Output is marginally up on the “bike boom”. The current supply chain issues are slowing supply, so we have lots of back orders to fulfil.

We think things will start to be sorted by quarter 3, 2022. After this the market should settle to the new norm, which we think will be slightly down on the ‘’boom’’, yet significantly up pre-boom.

4

1. Tony Barton Sales and Service, Magura UK 2. Dominic Langan CEO, Madison Sportline 3. Lloyd Townsend MD, Ison Distribution 4. Peter Nisbet MD, Windwave

“RAW MATERIALS, LABOUR SHORTAGES AND LOCKDOWNS CONTINUE TO BE A BIG ISSUE AND SOME COUNTRIES WHICH SUPPLY OUR INDUSTRY’S PRODUCTS, THEY STILL HAVE RELATIVELY LOW VACCINATION RATES.” Dominic Langan CEO, Madison Sportline

Tony Barton, Magura I am hearing of parts availability issues from dealers saying bikes are not being delivered due to missing parts.

cyclingindustry.news 17

17-20 Analysis - Bike boom what next CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:22 Page 2

ANALYSIS Bike Boom or bubble?

“THERE’S NO DOUBT SEVERAL COMPANIES, OURSELVES INCLUDED, HAVE MISSED SALES OPPORTUNITIES BECAUSE OF SHORTAGES IN SUPPLY ON CERTAIN LINES IN THE 12 MONTHS FROM SUMMER 20 TO 21.”

Lloyd Townsend MD, Ison Distribution

The ‘bike boom’ was very pronounced, was the industry as a whole unprepared or underbuilt for such a violent surge in sales?

industry has fared any worse, plenty are in a worse position, and I am pretty sure everyone maxed out the opportunity in the UK industry – I know we did.

Dominic Langan, CEO, Madison I don’t think the bike industry was any less prepared than any other industry. Everything is about “just in time” and there is very little scope for fluctuations in unpredicted demand. Also usually you may see some territory around the globe suddenly see an uplift in sales in a certain category which can often be accommodated but this was worldwide and all at the same time! For the last few years the cycle industry has been over supplied so I think many, including ourselves, did really well in 2020 as we were sitting on a lot of inventory. Covid and the lockdowns also coincided with the start of our peak season.

It would be totally uncommercial to hold stock or have the production capacity for the off chance of a once in a hundred year global event where bike shops were seen as essential retail and when one of the two forms of allowed exercise as dictated by governments of the world was cycling!

Tony Barton, Magura I am not sure anyone could have predicted the demand that arose from the pandemic. We had good weather too, which meant people wanted to get out and exercise, plus bike shops were allowed to stay open. This again helped as consumers wanted to spend money on activities. It is almost impossible to gear up for this type of demand with long lead times for bike manufacturers from Asia, not to mention the availability of materials to manufacture.

Lloyd Townsend, MD, Ison Distribution I suspect that financial results being published now by various companies will tend to indicate the position in a relatively retrospective light.

I think the big headwinds in supply that started in the summer of 2020 may have started to show their impact more recently in some published information and the further results of the inevitable rebalancing of supply and demand has not really started to be seen clearly yet.

There's no doubt that several companies, ourselves included, have missed sales opportunities because of shortages in supply on certain lines in the 12 months from summer 20 to 21 that followed the tsunami like demand for ‘anything bicycle’ effect that spiked up from the original Covid-19 lockdown, where cycling became one of the only things folks could do.

That said, I think we have generally been able to maintain reasonable supply in the overall picture, so far.

Peter Nisbet, MD, Windwave Nobody could have predicted such a huge surge in global sales. Supply was previously easily meeting the demand and if anything, there was over supply.

Many cassettes are still in short supply and some shops fear having to cut service centre hours as a result

18 cyclingindustry.news

It could have been a whole different story had retail been told to close. This happened initially to the fishing industry and it had a devastating impact – however, it did bounce back very rapidly once the government allowed fishing as an activity during lockdown.

Demand for raw materials, micro-chips, labour etc. etc. is off the grid all over the world so I certainly don’t think the bike

The manufacturing investment now going in to bolstering production lines is similarly pronounced. Is this a bet on a temporary lull and back to the good times once the supply chain resumes normality? Is it a risk?

Dominic Langan, CEO, Madison There are definitely more people riding bikes since the pandemic so that is a positive. In a recent survey 27% of people who

17-20 Analysis - Bike boom what next CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:22 Page 3

bought a bike in lockdown regretted it but 73% of people do not regret it, so that is a positive and they are all new or returning customers. 2020 has gone, I think demand in 2022 may be similar to this year if we can get the inventory and we do not face any more surprises from the pandemic or in terms of trade.

I think the experience of the last two years is making people consider the future of the container-based supply chain from Asia and “just in time” workflow. Shortening the supply time is a key factor, but the increased costs from Asia and the huge increase in the cost of container freight really starts to make manufacturing closer to home, much more of a reality. Not sure how much of that will end up in the UK or if we even have the labour available or willing to work in manufacturing/assembly but we are certainly seeing this in Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland and other European countries – if only we were part of a single market, it may have helped us!

I think the real risk is companies manufacturing or ordering to meet the demand of 2020 as that horse has bolted and we face the real danger of massive over supply when the factories eventually catch up and not enough demand in the market to cope with it. This will result in heavy stock clearance activity on product bought at peak cost due to shipping, labour and raw materials. This will damage brands, massively hit the profitability of the industry and I am sure will possibly result in some businesses failing; both retailers and distributors.

Lloyd Townsend, MD, Ison Distribution I suspect there has been an element of the toilet roll panic effect exacerbating this whole supply issue. I believe some folks in the market (at all levels, from consumers to manufacturers) have bought up or forward ordered far more than they realistically need for the market usage over a given period.

This has compounded the supply problems generally and risks a glut of product appearing once the excess water from the tsunami of Covid-19 has started to drain away. This effect may even end up with a short-term reduction in apparent demand through the whole supply chain whilst excess stock starts being depleted back to more sensible levels to rebalance with true demand.

An analogy here of this additional factor perhaps would be the chap with his ten Jerry cans full of diesel; he isn't going

to be buying a lot more diesel for a while, unless he's going to be driving around for more than he ever did before. It’s the same scenario with toilet rolls... (unless he gets really worried of course!)

Tony Barton, Magura I think that there is always a certain risk involved. From what I can see through dealers there has been a shortage of footfall since furlough ended and there is still a reasonable demand, but the shops have the wrong mix of sizes, models or price points due to delays in the supply chains.

I think we will see levels above where we were in 2019 before pandemic and business will grow more steadily in coming years. What we need is central Government to kick on a gear in promoting safe cycling infrastructure to make commuting possible and also safe for families to ride. That’s how we’ll ensure we get the growth for the future.

Peter Nisbet, MD, Windwave The issue now is manufacturers don’t necessarily want to invest in new machinery and production lines in case current demand falls considerably. It should also be taken into account that some production facilities in Asia still remain closed or are operating under reduced output conditions due to Covid restrictions and raw material shortages. At this point in time investment could be quite a risk.

Bikes and electric bikes in some key categories are now landing in greater number, but the industry will be watching closely for signs of over-ordering

“I THINK WE WILL SEE LEVELS ABOVE WHERE WE WERE IN 2019 BEFORE PANDEMIC AND BUSINESS WILL GROW MORE STEADILY IN COMING YEARS.” Tony Barton Sales and Service, Magura UK

cyclingindustry.news 19

17-20 Analysis - Bike boom what next CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:22 Page 4

ANALYSIS Bike Boom or bubble?

“THERE’S E-MOBILITY AND E-CARGO, WHICH MAY BE THE TWO BIGGEST TRAITS TO APPEAR POST PANDEMIC.” Peter Nisbet MD, Windwave

The price of many raw materials and electronics has surged. Aluminium’s price has eased marginally lately, but remains near multi-year highs

20 cyclingindustry.news

How will the bike industry have changed for good once the dust settles and what trends accelerated during this time?

Dominic Langan, CEO, Madison I would like to think that we gained a whole new cohort of cyclists during the pandemic. I would like to think they will all remember the freedom that cycling gave them during lockdown and how positive it was for their mental health. I would also like to think that government and local authorities also saw the benefits of cycling during the pandemic and will make a proper and concerted effort to build the infrastructure cycling needs and deserves if we are ever to realistic reduce car usage and improve the air quality in our towns and cities.

As an industry I am not sure how much it will have changed. I think in the next couple of years we are all headed for a situation of over supply as we had before, along with discounting and consequently lower margins all round which just prevents investment.

I am sure we got some exciting years of e-bike growth ahead of us and we just need to make sure we keep that within

our industry and not let the motor industry wrestle it away from us.

Tony Barton, Magura E-mobility has grown, plus we are seeing a lot of smaller OE customers in UK asking for product from us, which is great and we can supply them currently. I think that pandemic has made us look at supply chains and I believe especially in Europe more manufacturing will be done there again. This is a good thing, in my opinion.

Lloyd Townsend, MD, Ison Distribution The rebalancing of the water following the tsunami wave of Covid-19 effect is where the biggest headaches potentially arise. Some indications are that the market has organically grown, and I think the bicycle market will enjoy a legacy factor of increased business as a consequence of Covid-19.

The logical underpinnings of cycling are likely to continue to grow organically, but, I don’t think we can expect the levels of business to reach the peak tsunami wave levels that the industry experienced in the spring and summer of 2020 for a long time.

The rebalancing of the water following the Covid-19 tsunami wave potentially could be less extreme and less hazardous for businesses if the underlying cycling market has grown enough. I do have concerns that if the rebalancing is extreme (even though it may be relatively short term), then there could easily be some potentially nasty hangovers from the binge session our industry has recently enjoyed.

Concerns aside, it seems reasonably clear that the organic, manageable growth of cycling in general will likely continue to happen going forwards due to the continuing changes in leisure, transport and environmental attitudes and responsibilities of society overall.

Peter Nisbet, MD, Windwave We expect more focus on cycling and more “bums on seats”, which can only be good. Many are exploring the health and wellbeing benefits. Then there’s e-mobility and e-cargo, which may be the two biggest traits to appear post pandemic, although the UK still falls far behind many other European countries.

During lockdown it looked like local government helped cyclists with more dedicated cycle paths through towns and cities, but most have now been removed.

This comes up short on the ‘revolution’ the £2 billion cycling and walking strategy pledges.

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23-25 Parts Washers CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:25 Page 1

WORKSHOP

Parts washers

CLEANING UP? A mechanic’s life can be made a lot simpler when working with components that are clean and safe to handle. CI.N checks in with the market’s leading parts washer brands to find out what a shop should look for when shopping…

I

Rozone’s Rowasher is backed by a much larger parent group with experience ranging battery management through specialist testing technology and chemical dispensary

t’s every mechanic’s worst nightmare; watching a bike caked in muck from the road or trail wheeled across freshly hoovered showroom carpet towards the workshop, perhaps pedal scraping few bits of product paintwork on the way through. Most of us will have that customer who wheels in a bike unfit to work on without a good scrub. It takes time to ready a bike and its component parts for service and therefore it costs money for the business.

A parts washer can take away some of that headache for the servicer, but where does one start when selecting what can be a big investment piece for the workshop? How do they work, what’s the upkeep schedule like and are they using sustainable cleaners, you might ask?

One of the best known in the marketplace is UK-made Rozone, part of the 130-year-old Rubery Owen family business. The West Midlands group operates seven companies but has a particular weighting towards innovative cleaning solutions and the manufacture of testing machines.

cyclingindustry.news 23

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WORKSHOP Parts washers

There is a lot of focus on making sure the solutions that pass through parts washers do not go on to harm the environment. All brands featured here have claims to being eco-friendly

24 cyclingindustry.news

Rozone’s Beth Jones starts us off with a little science as to what Rozone’s products are actually doing: “The ROwasher parts cleaning machine, the ROwash degreasing solution and the Microbial Filter Mat are the three distinct elements in our system. Imagine having 200 million extra employees, not on the payroll, to help clean and degrease – giving all the benefits, working tirelessly 24/7. That is exactly what the ROwasher Microbial Filter Mat does as part of the parts cleaning system, with 200 million oil eating microbes delivered into the parts washer.

These environmentally friendly organisms work in perfect combination with our ROwash Bike degreasing solution to quickly and effectively tackle all the oil and grease washed off dirty parts, reducing the need for hazardous waste disposal and keeping the parts washer fluid cleaner for longer and effective for every use.”

With the input of the University of Wo l v e r h a m p t o n , Rozone has been able to achieve a scientifically proven 83% degradation of oils with its eco-friendly

microbe formula and filter mats. Another boon to the system’s sustainability credentials is the option to realise a 42% energy saving on eco mode thanks to its insulated tank. With this in mind, the tank need only to be heated to 37-degrees on eco mode and 42-degrees on standard to remove even the most stubborn grime, all while remaining pH neutral and solvent free.

“We balance cleaning performance with bioremediation to achieve the best cleaning results and a 42% reduction in energy costs when compared to a leading competitor,” says Jones at Rozone.

Environmental kudos counts for a lot in what can inherently be a mucky process with lots of contaminants floating about.

With this taken into account, Rozone’s technology is designed to keep on top of the grime by delivering the mechanic a low maintenance schedule and constantly providing an environment where the system self-generates prime conditions for cleanliness.

Jones explains: “Our Microbial Filter Mat not only delivers a precise amount of microbes into the ROwasher at each filter change, but it also acts as scaffolding, helping to create a breeding ground for the microbes which cling, grow and breed on the fibres of the mat to form a reservoir of oil eating microbes.

“This bio film of microbes means that, for the month-long life of the filter, there is a constant supply of healthy, oil loving

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HOW TO BUY OR RENT A PARTS WASHER Rozone Ltd t 0121 526 8181 e info@rozone.co.uk www.rozone.co.uk To purchase outright, the ROwasher range starts at £1,100.

Workshops may find that the most cost-effective way to get up and running is by purchasing a Rozone “equipped” package; that includes a keg of fluid and six months’ worth of filter mats. “Equipped” packages start at £1,400 and save the user over £60 versus purchasing the machine and consumables separately.

Rental is also offered over both three- and five-year terms, which can also include the required consumables. This method enables smaller businesses to access the product, saving them the initial outlay of the machine, but also helping the business owner plan their monthly outgoings. Rental machines also come with a full-service agreement for the term of the rental.

A free month’s trial is offered so the customer can try the unit in their specific environment. microbes working to degrade the hydrocarbons and maintain the optimum cleaning performance of the parts washer. All of these are Bio-Safety Level 1 Microbes and are non-pathogenic and pose no risk to humans or animals.”

Likewise offering a one-month filter life and making some claims on ecofriendliness is the SmartWasher SW-23, a unit that is now obtainable to anyone with a Madison account. This system, which used to be part of the Rozone distribution for 20 years, boasts no flash point, no toxic solvents or caustic materials in its use. The parts washer offers an environmental solution to component cleaning and no added expense of disposing of degreaser fluid, as some parts cleaning systems on the market require.

In the instance of the SmartWasher, the formula passed through to clean goods is OzzyJuice. This is refreshed and cleaned within the machine as it passes through the OzzyMat where the specifically formulated microbes extract any dirt, oil and grime before the fluid is returned into the machine ready for use once again.

Inevitably the day will come when your system requires some maintenance and with this in mind Rozone has engineered its system to have a removeable electrical module housed in the control box unit.

“The benefit to the customer is next day delivery of replacement part if the user does experience machine failure.

SmartWasher, Via Madison t 01908 326000 www.madisonb2b.co.uk The SW-23 SmartWasher and OzzyJuice fluids are in stock with Madison and available to order now.

Customers can order through the B2B site via the dedicated brand page, or through their respective sales agents. Any order will consist of the SW-23 machine and three pails of either SW-3 (truck grade degreaser) or SW6 (metals grade degreaser) along with the FL-4 filter mat.

Muc-Off t 01202 307799 www.muc-offb2b.co.uk The Muc-Off 110-litre parts washer measures 1,080mm high, 650mm deep and 905mm long. Features include a mobile machine body constructed of PEMD, low-level fluid warning alerts, a lid to limit evaporation and a fiveweek recommended cycle between adding Eco Power Tabs to promote bioremediation. The Eco Parts Wash can be replaced one per year, while filters can be removed and washed.

The unit can simply be swapped over without the need of a service callout and extended downtime while waiting for a service engineer to attend,” offers Jones on the Rozone own-label machine that came to market in 2019.

A more recent addition to the competitive landscape for parts washers comes from Muc-off, whose two sizes of system (40 and 100-litre) provide workshops a further solvent-free option that minimises wastewater and doesn’t release harmful chemicals.

Here maintenance is kept minimal to ensure your time is not sunk into further cleaning. A pre-filter situated in the sink holds thick elements, and a socket filter catches the finest particles. Therefore, to empty the gunk it’s simply a case of using the draining plug and integrated pouring spout for easy draining. Once more, an eco-mode features for those not using the machine throughout the entire day.

A key question for the trade, given the tendency for both retailers and solo mechanics to wish to expand their mobile services, is could a product like this ever truly go mobile?

Rozone has considered this scenario and is currently testing. Jones told CI.N: “We’re working very closely with one of our customers on a mobile trial. We’re at the point of trial prototype now – and hope to have a simple solution to taking a ROwasher mobile in the near future.”

“THE BENEFIT TO THE CUSTOMER IS NEXT-DAY DELIVERY OF A REPLACEMENT PART IF THE USER DOES EXPERIENCE MACHINE FAILURE.”

ROwash solution is pH neutral, biodegradable, non-toxic and non-caustic

cyclingindustry.news 25

RIDE YOUR CITY

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27 Analysis Taiwan Imports CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:25 Page 1

ANALYSIS Taiwan

MADE IN TAIWAN Taiwan has been a beneficiary of anti-dumping measures placed on Chinese exports, but how has the manufacturing hotspot benefited more broadly?

CI.N takes a look at fresh Taiwan Bicycle Association export data…

W

hile Europe has undoubtedly been grabbing headlines in line with a general trend of reshoring and manufacturing investment, Taiwan has likewise been another significant beneficiary of a reshuffle of the industry’s preferred production destinations, most notably trade diverted away from China. In the face of antidumping duties on electric bike exports, such units stemming from China have declined sharply in the past few years.

By July of 2020, just 107,000 units shipped versus 660,000 the year prior, illustrating a sharp decline that has not been quick to recover in the face of other challenges in the supply chain. The global re-alignment of supply has, to name just a few, breathed new life into manufacturing in Portugal, Poland, Cambodia, India and Vietnam, among others.

In December CI.N was handed export figures from the Taiwan Bicycle Association which have illustrated the island’s role in picking up some of the slack, not just in supplying the UK, but the world.

Pedal cycles The raw export data reveals that Europe took 19.63% more pedal powered cycles like-for-like in the nine months January to September, with 406,707 bicycle units shipped at a value of $221,982,108. 10,384 of these landed

in the UK (up 16% LfL) at a value of USD $10 million.

Elsewhere, those countries within the North American Free Trade Agreement took a third more bicycles and 54% more e-Bikes in the first nine months. Meanwhile, the EU imported 19.3% more cycles and 20.96% more electric bikes from Taiwan.

Electric Bikes Shipments of electric bikes from the East Asian Island to the UK have grown by 65.89% year-on-year, when comparing data captured from January to September. This significant pick up in exports supports a growing demand for pedal-assisted bikes in the UK and begins to plug a gap left by a whipsawing order pattern in the first half to second half of 2020. The latest data has the UK’s USD($) order value up 83.9% year-on-year, reaching $23,554,234 million.

So far in 2021 the UK has imported 11,350 electric bike units from Taiwan, up from 6,842 in 2020. The average price attached to exports of the electric bikes sat 10% up at $1,063.

Components, frames and finishing kit As bike shops worldwide will attest, there still remains a shortage of some key servicing lines and it’s

TAIPEI CYCLE SHOW To explore Taiwanese manufacturing in greater depth the Taipei Cycle Show now has registration open to visitors who may wish to source from the island. Questions on the show can be addressed to asreeves@taitra.org.tw, while registration is live by searching the show at... www.taipeicycle.com.tw/en

therefore unsurprising to see the export data show a drive to fill gaps with double digit growth across multiple key components.

Shipped globally, Taiwan has increased its like-for-like output by 46.68% in volume and 57.11% in value terms, reaching a tally of $1,744,547,879.

As part of these figures, frame and fork shipments rose by 50.5% and 12,742,642 units exported. As for service goods, for which significant gaps still remain, it appears 60% more “crank gear and parts thereof” where shipped, along with an 82.3% rise in Freewheel/ Sprocket Wheel shipments.

cyclingindustry.news 27

28 31 Retail Profile - Peak Cyclesport CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:26 Page 1

PROFILE

Peak Cyclesport has upgraded with 3,800 square feet of space in Macclesfield town centre

PEAK CYCLESPORT

GOING WITH THE FLOW Peak Cyclesport completed its relocation from a secondary location in Macclesfield to a prime location new store in town centre Macclesfield earlier this year. We caught up with owner Andy Bowers to find out what trends prompted the move…

I

The store is now in amongst the bustle of prime retail stores

28 cyclingindustry.news

f you’re headed for Peak Cyclesport there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the shop’s reputation for pairing people to performance cycles, often bespoke built for a customer along with a professional bike fit. Yet earlier this year, having supplied a local grocer with a cargo bike and also signed off on a move into Macclesfield signs were emerging that a repositioning was underway to broaden the retailer’s scope.

The move was driven by two main factors. The former location had grown over the last ten years, starting life as a small corner unit in a large mill but then knocking through into an adjoining unit to create nearly 4,000 square feet of space. While characterful, the format wasn’t ideal in terms of car parking, sight lines and workflow. The new unit has 2,000 square feet of rectangular show-

room, 800 square feet of workshop, 1,000 square feet of stockroom and dedicated onsite parking. “It’s much better for customers and staff,” says Andy.

But the real game changer was how retail rents have changed in recent years. It simply wouldn’t have been possible to secure a prime location next to Specsavers, Boots, TK Maxx, Clarks and The Entertainer a few years ago. After some protracted negotiations, Andy was actually able to reduce costs by a sizeable amount.

While there were some operational difficulties to overcome in the move, worsened by Covid, such as being without a phone line for six weeks, the benefits are now really starting to flow.

“The move has opened up dialogues with a number of partner suppliers too. With a population of eight million within an hour’s

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28 31 Retail Profile - Peak Cyclesport CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:26 Page 2

PROFILE drive of the Macclesfield store, the location offers great click and collect possibilities and to drive footfall to a well-appointed and positioned showroom,” he says.

We asked Andy if this is the precursor of becoming a single brand partner plus type store. “Possibly”, said Andy, “but more likely it might lead to a couple of deeper shop-in-shop brand relationships, rather than the 8-10 brands we’ve historically carried. Some of the more enlightened manufacturers are now looking at fewer, but better retail locations. This promotes ease of B2B and admin service, plus it gives travelling customers a better retail experience”.

Trending just as heavily in the North, where the topography further merits the need for a little assistance, where do electric bikes fit?

Peak is continuing to sell both nonelectric and electric at the new store, but having a service deck accessed by a ten percent gradient ramp gives customers a real demo bike experience. “It’s not too far from the truth that by the time customers get to the top of the ramp their grin is so wide that they are sold,” explains Andy.

As any indie retailer will appreciate, it’s not all plain sailing. While bricks and

PEAK CYCLESPORT mortar costs have fallen, advertising and paid for digital cost remains high to keep the presence of the business in the consumer’s mind.

Would the latter therefore be better spread across a number of similar locations, if they could be found? “We were approached by an investor to roll out the format to ten locations across the UK, but we weren’t ready at the time,” commented Andy. “We’re probably at the crossroads of where we will go; either to use the success of the new location to replicate in other geographic areas or to partner with an investor, or even existing market operator.”

With JD recently announcing the acquisition of Wheelbase, it’s a model that’s becoming more common across bike retail.

“It’s clear that there is a drive towards consolidation, with widespread anecdotal evidence of suppliers culling smaller accounts in favour of partner stores,” concludes Andy. “The internet channel has changed consumer buying patterns and it’s no coincidence that the new store is focussed on bikes, bike fit, handover and post purchase service rather than, necessarily, clothing, parts and the myriad of product sectors that are now mainly internet.” www.peakcyclesport.com

“THE INTERNET CHANNEL HAS CHANGED CONSUMER BUYING PATTERNS AND IT’S NO COINCIDENCE THAT THE NEW STORE IS FOCUSSED ON BIKES, BIKE FIT, HANDOVER AND POST PURCHASE SERVICE.”

The new store will feature a 10% gradient ramp for electric bike demos

cyclingindustry.news 31

32 34 36 Laura Laker - Women Mechanics CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:26 Page 1

OPINION Bike retail diversity

There has long been a sense that the bike industry as a whole could do more to attract women to skilled roles

ROLE MODELS With demand for workshop staff at a high, and cycle mechanics in demand following last year’s bike boom, a pair of community-focused bike workshops are attempting to diversify a workforce that represents an increasingly broad community of cyclists. Laura Laker reports…

L

ast year women took to two wheels in record numbers, encouraged by quiet roads and mandated daily exercise while for the first time Black, Asian and minority ethnic Londoners were as likely to have cycled in the previous year as white Londoners.

Cycle shops tell CIN the workshop was the biggest growing area of the business in 2020, with around a third looking to invest in the workshop (38%) or staff training (32%).

In the autumn both Bike for Good cycle charity in Glasgow and Broken Spoke Bike Coop in Oxford launched cycle mechanic training and mentorship programmes aimed at women and nonbinary folks after realising that, while in theory anyone can apply for a mechanic role, in reality many people didn’t feel welcome to.

In what Inês Rahtz, Community and Workshop Coordinator at Broken Spoke, calls “a first for the cycling industry in the

32 cyclingindustry.news

UK”, they are offering training and support for six people up to a level where they can pass the Cytech technical two qualification with Activate Cycle Academy.

“The cycling industry has a massive gender diversity (and diversity in general) problem,” she says.

“Tools and mechanics aren’t gendered, anyone can fix a bike, but we only tend to see men doing that. When most mechanics in bike shops the world around are cis men it makes this wider hierarchy where men are the ones that teach and fix bikes.

You’re never going to empower [more diverse] people to get involved unless you get people in those roles.”

Aside from inequality in the workplace, she realised this lack of representation could be putting female and non-binary customers off, who don’t see themselves represented behind the counter.

Glasgow charity, Bike for Good, is similarly launching “Scotland’s first bicycle mechanic traineeship for women and

32 34 36 Laura Laker - Women Mechanics CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:26 Page 2

OPINION Bike retail diversity

“TOOLS AND MECHANICS ARE NOT GENDERED, ANYONE CAN FIX A BIKE, BUT WE ONLY TEND TO SEE MEN DOING THAT.”

Bike for Good and Broken Spoke are two organisations making efforts to provide mentorship opportunities to redress the balance

34 cyclingindustry.news

non-binary people” in January. The threemonth pilot traineeship will see four women and non-binary people trained to a level 2 City and Guilds qualification, plus workshop experience, equipment and post-engagement support.

Bike for Good, along with Broken Spoke and the Bristol Bike Project, already run women and non-binary only “fix your own bike spaces” in a bid to diversify the workshop. However, both realised this alone wasn’t enough to get women into mechanic roles. Feedback from the Bike for Good community revealed workshop environments can be off putting to women.

“I just can’t ever picture myself applying to a men-majority workshop apprenticeship or training,” one Fix Your Own Bike participant at Bike for Good said. “It would be intimidating and lonely”.

Team member Hannah H from Bike for Good added: “We need to train up a critical mass of women & non-binary cycle mechanics in order to address this imbalance and empower all genders to work as mechanics.”

Organisers say the new programme will help integrate trainees into Bike for Good by giving them experience in every mechanical role within the organisation.

A women-led team will guide and support trainees and, the charity hopes by creating a supportive, inclusive, and diverse environment, “trainees will see a future for themselves in the bike industry”.

Oxford’s Broken Spoke has been run by women, including female lead mechanics, with cycle repair workshops specifically aimed at women, trans and gender nonvariant events, for years. However, even there, job applicants were far from diverse.

Despite this, Inês says following “a big recruitment drive in January, we were initially really disappointed to have only cis men apply. Then we realised: actually, we can’t expect them to apply if they don’t exist.”

“You can put £1.5 grand into putting someone through the Cytech qualification but that doesn’t mean anything about their confidence as a mechanic, in an industry where you’re surrounded by men,” she says.

“It’s the practical and ongoing mentoring and practice in the workshop that makes you a great mechanic.”

She believes “a pathway rather than a qualification” could help, including posttraining experience to build confidence – so that’s what they set out to offer. After initially advertising to their own volunteers, they opened up applications to the general public.

Suddenly there were female and nonbinary applicants from as far afield as Hebden Bridge and London. One successful applicant, Achas, is a Broken Spoke volunteer looking to improve her skills, while Kat is a part time climate change consultant, working as a mechanic one day per week.

Phone: 01257 228242 Email: hello@mirider.co.uk

32 34 36 Laura Laker - Women Mechanics CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:27 Page 3

OPINION Bike retail diversity

Tutoring sessions at the Broken Spoke Bike Co-op

“WHEN YOU DON’T SEE OTHER WOMEN IN THE INDUSTRY, YOU’RE LIKELY TO THINK: ‘I CAN’T DO IT’.

IT MAKES IT A LOT HARDER.”

36 cyclingindustry.news

They will follow a structured pathway with mechanic-supervised repair sessions in the workshop, along with training sessions with Lucy Greaves, a mechanic from the Bristol Bike Project, before another block of supervised repair sessions.

For Achas, “it took multiple prompts” before she applied. “So many people have asked me to step up into roles and my answer was usually ‘I don’t know if I can, I’m not qualified”.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh, this is gonna be a steep learning curve...’ and when I actually saw the syllabus, I was like, ‘actually I know something about most of it’.”

Inês says this is quite common. “One thing we found a lot in our workshop volunteers and team, where we have quite a good mix of genders, is that women and non-binary folks often underestimate their abilities, as a generalisation, but men generally overestimate their ability and it can be hard without someone bigging you up, and telling you: ‘you can do it’.

“Especially when you don’t see other women in the industry, you’re likely to think: ‘I can’t do it’. It makes it a lot harder”.

Kat said she wouldn’t have become a mechanic without role models. “To have women in the lead mechanic roles was just not something I’d come across before and it was definitely ‘okay, this is a place where this can happen, that women can be the leading mechanics and be in that position of expertise’.

“There is this environment where all assumptions about yourself as in terms of gender, class, background, are left at the door and that is practised by the mechanics and the people that volunteer there.

There was no knowledge assumed, you

could try things out yourself – and you could ask for support.”

Achas said: “People don’t consciously walk into a space and look around and go, ‘How many people are there in the space like me?’,” but it does have an impact.

“There are just people that you want to be like, even if you don’t already count yourself like them, consciously or unconsciously”.

She adds: “in normal commercial bike shops, almost all my experiences have been incredibly patronising toward me.”

Often if there aren’t women in the shop, asking about things like saddles and clothing can be awkward if you’re female, with an added risk you’ll be made to feel stupid for asking questions – or not taken seriously by staff.

Bike for Good is sponsored by Smarter Choices, a Transport Scotland initiative to help reduce car use, while Broken Spoke funding is from Active Oxfordshire, via Department for Transport cash. Josh Lenthall, from Active Oxfordshire, said getting more diverse people cycling matters to government and local authorities. He said: “rates of cycling, active travel and those working in the cycling industry are significantly lower amongst females, trans* and non-binary people – a pattern that needs to be broken.

Projects like this begin to close that gap and enable people to be included in an activity that provides such freedom and benefits to its participants.”

Both Bike for Good, and Broken Spoke see its new mechanics programmes as about creating a more formal pool of diverse, skilled mechanics.

“We are hoping to create a critical mass of role models as well as people wanting to take up cycling,” Inês says.

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38 Profile - Velolife CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:27 Page 1

PROFILE

VELOLIFE INSURANCE

FULL COVERAGE Do retailers miss an opportunity by not taking part in the insurance process when selling new bikes?

CI.N speaks to Velolife Co-Founder and industry veteran Justin Rodley to find out…

W

hen it comes to add on sales most commonly attached to new bikes leaving the showroom it’s generally lights, locks and mudguards that are most commonly listed on receipts. Much further down the list, according to CI.N’s house research on the subject, comes cycle insurance. In fact, our 2021 assessment of the subject found that just 1% of indie stores regularly pushed insurance products on the back of selling a bike. As the average sales value creeps up, more so factoring in electric bike sales, why is that opportunity generally skirted past?

ance in place,” says Rodley, whose 15 years working with bike retailers has given him a rounded view on what’s realistic in sales terms.

With that in mind Velolife is offering retail partners an hour’s training session for staff members tasked with making the add-on sale. For those successful in doing so a commission is given on any conversion.

“We offer an extra value-added service to customers by giving them the comfort that their bike is insured from the moment they leave the store, but we don’t stop there. VeloLife’s exclusive association with Vitality mean that

What that means is that retailers can offer staff private medical insurance, which can be both a boon to retaining and hiring new staff.

“Private medical insurance is surprisingly affordable for businesses to buy for their staff. In the current climate with the NHS coming under increasing pressure, knowing that your staff will be looked after and have fast access to the best medical care helps with getting them back to work quicker should they need treatment.

Vitality Health’s proposition is a fantastic proposition as it comes with a range of added benefits for all staff. It’s basi-

customers can also get access to a wide range of benefits and award-winning Life and Health Insurance. It’s not just about insuring the bikes for VeloLife, their philosophy is that the people riding the bikes need to be adequately insured as well,” adds Rodley on a popular USP of the coverage.

In policy terms, VeloLife sells Bike insurance, Personal accident, Health, Income Protection and Life insurance.

“We are also seeing an increase in the interest around group private medical cover,” says Rodley, indicating further modules in the planning.

Better still, this is an element that is not only available to the consumer, but also to businesses taking B2B policies.

cally a big business employee benefits program suitable for businesses of all sizes,” says Rodley.

Trade coverage is in place to complement the consumer product, handing shops a new avenue for commercial coverage. Cover spans physical damage to the retail premises, Public and Employers’ Liability, Cyber insurance that offers cover against being hacked/ransomware and Shareholder protection, Key man and death in service.

For more information please visit the website www.velolife.co, or call 01908 92 92 30.

“WE OFFER AN EXTRA VALUE-ADDED SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS BY GIVING THEM THE COMFORT THAT THEIR BIKE IS INSURED FROM THE MOMENT THEY LEAVE THE STORE, BUT WE DON’T STOP THERE.”

Justin Rodley, formerly of Pon Holdings and Specialized, wondered that very same thing when setting up Velolife with his business partner Jonathan Woods, whose background is in sports insurance. He told us that electric bike sales have indeed made a difference in a customer’s propensity to back up their ride with cover. With that in mind, why wouldn’t a shop wish to bolster the margin gained on each sale for just a little more effort?

“E-bike customers appear to be the most likely to take out bike insurance, probably as these bikes are often more expensive. Also, the demographic of people purchasing these bikes see the importance of having the right insur-

38 cyclingindustry.news

www.velolife.co

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14/12/2021 11:31

41 43 45-46 Analysis - John Styles CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 10:41 Page 1

ANALYSIS Workshop rates

COULD YOUR WORKSHOP CHARGE MORE? The bicycle trade might be missing out on a significant revenue opportunity and this winter may be just the time to find out if that’s the case. John Styles explores the subject of workshop pricing...

T

here is an old industry adage that the consumer “just won’t pay a high price for servicing a bicycle”.

But as an Economist I’m trained to ask, “what if?”. And as a frequent visitor to bike stores, I’m inclined to ask, “why not”?

The “what if” that I’ve observed is: what if workshops charged according to time?

Not the time it takes to do the job – but the time by which the consumer wants the job done. I’m talking about the sort of priceto-time relationship that hotels, airlines, and cinemas routinely employ. Off peak pricing, peak pricing, on-demand pricing.

Time sensitive pricing If you want to pre-book a flight three months ahead for an off-peak time of year, and an off-peak time of day, your

flight might cost £100. But if you want that same flight at the best time of day, peak season, and at short notice it might be £500 or more.

Now the bicycle industry experiences the same sorts of seasonal peaks and troughs as the holiday industry. We are super busy in the warm summer months and super quiet in the dark winter. In addition, we are busier at the weekends and quieter during the week. And like a cinema, plane or hotel, your workshop is a fixed asset. One that needs to be utilised to its full potential to achieve a return.

I have observed a handful stores offering winter service sales, boosting their offpeak revenue by enticing consumers with “Gold for the price of Silver” offers, for example. I do wonder if that’s enough and

The consumer is used to timesensitive pricing with airlines and certain activities. Why not bike shop servicing?

cyclingindustry.news 41

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41 43 45-46 Analysis - John Styles CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 10:41 Page 2

ANALYSIS Workshop rates

could we go further? Could we offer higher or lower prices every day, according to how quickly workshops can do the work?

The moral dilemma I’ve visited over 600 stores in seven different countries, and very rarely have I seen any sort of time-sensitive pricing. A quick google search for “express bicycle service” or “same day bicycle service”, or similar will leave you feeling thoroughly under-whelmed, I promise.

Most stores list tremendous amounts of detail about what service jobs they can do, how they do them, who will do them and what they will cost. But precious little about when it can be done. Book your bike in and we will tell you is about the crux of it. For many consumers, the second part (when and how quickly) may be more important. When I discussed this with store owners and asked why this is the case, I heard two big moral objections (and only a few practical/logistical objections).

• It’s not fair to charge some consumers more than other consumers. (Really? If some consumers can and will pay more to have something done quickly, why deny them the opportunity?)

• It’s not fair for richer customers to jump the queue over poorer customers, everyone needs their bike. (Really? Whilst

this is altruistic it may not necessarily be commercial.)

This “moral reluctance” to charge a higher price during peak months or peak times was clearly on display throughout the 2020 lockdown boom. Service queues just got longer. I didn’t observe any stores exploiting the high level of demand to ask for a higher labour price from their consumer base. I did observe plenty of consumers leaving in dis-appointment, because they couldn’t get their bikes fixed on the timescale they wanted.

It might be good business sense not to “price gouge” in order to keep those consumers loyal longer term. Yet is it good business sense to turn away the consumer who really wants or needs a “right now quick fix”? So, is there a way to charge more, without betraying one’s core values?

The current business model has not changed for decades Right now, it seems like 99% of the industry operates the same charging model.

We have three main servicing prices; Gold, Silver, Bronze. We also have a queue, often a large one. In the winter that might be a few days, or a week. In the summer it could be 6 to 8 weeks long. No matter who you are, the answer is always the same: Join the Queue.

At peak times work may be turned away reluctantly, potentially losing a customer.

How can you limit this?

“IT MIGHT BE GOOD BUSINESS SENSE NOT TO “PRICE GOUGE” IN ORDER TO KEEP THOSE CONSUMERS LOYAL LONGER TERM. YET IS IT GOOD BUSINESS SENSE TO TURN AWAY THE CONSUMER WHO REALLY WANTS OR NEEDS A RIGHTNOW QUICK-FIX?”

cyclingindustry.news 43

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41 43 45-46 Analysis - John Styles CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 10:41 Page 3

ANALYSIS Workshop rates

But I need that bike to commute every day: Sorry, Join the queue But I need that bike for a birthday present: Sorry, Join the queue But I need that bike for a trip this weekend: Sorry, Join the queue However, what also happens is that despite the one size fits all, join the queue mantra, stores queue jump people on a selective basis. Particularly those loyal regular customers who have a race on the weekend, or those the store judge to be most in need. There’s nothing wrong with this practice and in many ways, it highlights the best in human nature and the industry’s down to earth helpful approach.

But is it necessarily commercial? Could we achieve higher workshop rates with another structure?

Time optimised charging What if we charged according to the consumers’ need for a timely repair? At its most basic level take the puncture fix. For example, you could try charging like this: PUNCTURE FIX WHILE YOU WAIT – £20 SAME DAY – £15 STANDARD 48 HOURS – £12 ECONOMY 7-10 DAYS – £10

In this way the consumer who values and needs that repair more can choose to pay a higher price. And the consumer who doesn’t need their bike so urgently can choose to pay a lower price. This could allow the store to achieve a higher average workshop price, charging according to consumer demand. It might also allow the flow of work to be more regulated, with those who are prepared to wait, choosing to wait.

On a practical day-to-day level, I suspect it would be relatively simple to try this out.

Your workshop could offer one priority slot per day, possibly on demand, or possibly pre-booked via your website, phone or social media. If no one takes the slot, the workshop won’t be idle, it simply picks up the next job. But by setting consumers’ expectations and giving them a choice, we may find that some of them are prepared to pay more. And if a small experiment with puncture pricing proves successful, why not go further and try something like this on bigger workshop jobs?

With a “time-tiered” pricing structure in place, stores could still choose to offer that express slot at a lower price to people they judge to be worthy or in need. For example, an essential worker, a courier or a food delivery rider. But at least they would know you have an express slot and

Incremental gains tallied over the course of a year can stack up

“YOUR WORKSHOP COULD OFFER ONE PRIORITY SLOT PER DAY, POSSIBLY ON DEMAND, OR POSSIBLY PRE-BOOKED VIA YOUR WEBSITE, PHONE OR SOCIAL MEDIA. IF NO ONE TAKES THE SLOT, THE WORKSHOP WON’T BE IDLE, IT SIMPLY PICKS UP THE NEXT JOB.”

cyclingindustry.news 45

41 43 45-46 Analysis - John Styles CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 10:41 Page 4

ANALYSIS Workshop rates

Bike valet The second is a bike valet service. No mechanic likes to work on a dirty bike, but many stores seem reluctant to charge a consumer for cleaning the bike before repairs are carried out. Although degreasing and cleaning a drive train is common in most workshop pricing structures, I know very few stores who publicise an “everyday” bike cleaning service. If you consider the busy consumer, they might accept a £10 to £30 charge for pre-cleaning the bike prior to service. You may also find that some consumers will purchase this item in isolation. After all, people pay £10 to £30 to have their cars cleaned, so why not bikes?

Another way to look at this subject is that you’re rewarding the customer willing to be patient during peaks

“ALTHOUGH DEGREASING AND CLEANING A DRIVE TRAIN IS COMMON IN MOST WORKSHOP PRICING STRUCTURES, I KNOW VERY FEW STORES WHO PUBLICISE AN “EVERYDAY” BIKE CLEANING SERVICE.”

46 cyclingindustry.news

that (in and of itself) may draw in more consumers. Whether you actually charge for it is up to you.

An important point: The “Economy” service is ambiguous and really is whatever you want to make it. If you have plenty of storage, it could mean “leave your bike with us for a week”. If you don’t have much storage, it could mean “bring it back in a week and we will do it then”.

Either way, you are rewarding the consumer who is prepared to wait with a lower price. Thus retaining more business, and securing a longer tail of prebooked jobs.

Collection and delivery There are two further services that could work well alongside time-sensitive pricing.

And help you achieve a higher average ticket price. The first one is collection and delivery, and I have heard of many more stores including this as a service in the area. So, there isn’t much more to say on that, other than, it could combine well with providing an express slot. The time poor consumer who needs a bike fixed ASAP may also value collection and delivery.

Could you double some workshop tickets, or more?

To take an extreme example, imagine the busy city exec who has a top-end race bike that needs servicing for a weekend race. Currently, that bike might come into your store and be charged (say) £50 for a Bronze service – if you have the time. But on an express Bronze slot, you might be charging £75, plus cleaning £25, plus collection and delivery £25. That’s £125.

You more than doubled your ticket price.

At the same time, your cash rich, time poor, demanding, wealthy consumer is happier and more likely to use you again.

Of course, not every consumer will increase their spend that much, but you only need a proportion to significantly increase your workshop takings.

SUMMARY Thinking as an Economist, I hope time-sensitive pricing could be a way to manage demand better and/or generate more revenue per ticket.

Longer-term, this could be a win for the mechanic who would really like to be paid on a par with auto mechanics.

Likewise, it’s a win for the store owner who, presented with seasonal demand, simply extends his hours to 12 hours a day or six days a week.

Thinking as a bike trade rep, I just want to know, is this just theory, or could it actually work? Could this be a quick and easy win for any store, especially to help with winter cash flow?

So, if you’re interested in trialling something like this in your store, or indeed already tried it, we’d love to hear from you. Write back to CIN via Mark@CyclingIndustry.News if you want to share your experiences with other stores.

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48-49 Profile - FreeFlow Tech CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:28 Page 1

PROFILE

Freeflow's drive system is among the market’s smallest for a mid-motor

FREEFLOW TECHNOLOGIES

GO WITH THE FLOW What better place to concoct an electric bike motor system than Scotland? Having followed the Freeflow Technologies journey for many years, CI.N sits down with Managing Director David Hemming as working samples make their way into the hands (and frames) of bike makers for the first time…

N

Freeflow’s motor works with battery systems from a variety of other manufacturers giving OEM flexibility

48 cyclingindustry.news

estled just below Glasgow and an hour south of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Freeflow Technologies has now spent nearly four years designing, refining, testing and further refining an electric motor system that has been eagerly awaiting in the cycle trade. As Q4 began a frantic effort to place the first working prototype within a special bike began alongside Welsh wooden bike specialist Twmpa Cycles.

From taking a briefing in September, the bike label’s engineers got to work adapting their Beech wood platform to cater for a motor system for the first time.

By the time November’s Rouleur Live event rolled around the sample bike was turning heads. Nestled behind a 36 tooth chainring, the Freeflow motor was barely visible at the driveside without close

inspection. The exclamation “that’s not an e-bike, is it?” is becoming more common nowadays, but with the consumer crowd filtering through the Bloomsbury venue it was heard often by Twmpa’s booth.

By the time you are ready this the system will be in production and likely have passed its final validation testing with a view to enabling manufacturers to purchase the system from February. At a time when the order books with some major motor suppliers are essentially closed, Freeflow’s appeal to UK bike designers in particular will naturally grow.

“Year-to-year we have gone from 35 to 70 brands interested. At present its agile brands that like to create something unique in the marketplace, but there are larger conversations in play too with those whose heads have been turned by

48-49 Profile - FreeFlow Tech CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:28 Page 2

the spec sheet. The Starling Pylon fullsuspension build has just broken cover alongside the Twmpa bike, but samples are out with plenty more,” said UK MD David Hemming.

Indeed, other UK designed labels passing through the Rouleur event privately confirmed they were teeing up tests, drawn in by a number of perks ranging product weight, the small footprint taken by the system and local serviceability.

“For the mountain bike brand, for example, there’s absolutely not compromise in the chainstay length, wheelbase and thus ride characteristics possible if the frame is well thought out. Yu can keep pivot points where you desire to keep them. All in the diameter is 117mm, which as demonstrated sits inside a 36tooth ring,” explains Hemming.

Where product testing is concerned Freeflow has worked around high-stress usages for its system, making it ideal for off road applications, but nonetheless at home in the city.

On the rigorous testing regime Hemming says “We have run a motor to over 10,000 kilometres simulated use with no additional cooling. That turned out to be 12 days of constant riding, where it ran under high load. In fact, it was overclocked and climbed three Everests in the process at 26,500 metres. This generation’s product is still over engineered a bit, even with the low size.”

The system was smaller in the first generation too, measuring 80mm initially, but Freeflow opted to bolster the strength, still managing to deliver the micro-motor with a weight of 3.5 kilograms.

The engineering team behind the patented drive is stacked both with engineers and cyclists. Aside from having Williams Formula 1 as an investor, which further helps the label tinker and test, the team has engineering expertise in the form of former Dyson CTO/COO Neil Edwards, a former head of deign at Jaguar LandRover and a technical director formerly with Tata Steel. As we head through winter a team of assembly engineers will join the ranks.

“We hope to assemble 2,000 transmissions in Scotland next years,” says Hemming of the near-term ambition.

“The idea in the next few years is to work with brands closely, so that each has access to our team. Every product that goes out we will have an after sales strategy to make sure this product evolves alongside agile innovators in the marketplace.

Within five years I’d like to see further

assembly in Europe to give us a local foothold with brands emerging there.”

That feeling of quality control and high local serviceability will run through to shop level too. Freeflow has built its system to be installed by any trained mechanic in just over ten minutes and thus bike shop servicing is baked into the future plans. All shops will need is a specialist drive side cap tool and to undo two allen key bolts to gain access.

As for the software, that’s going to evolve steadily too thanks to over the air update capability. Hemming concludes: “We are now open to brands calling and we’ll have eight demo bikes by end of the year, plus we’re happy to visit brands anywhere in UK. We want to be known as the flexible e-Bike brand. In time we will create a dedicated app for the phone, but it’s accessible as it stands on most devices and over the air updates already in place already. For manufacturers bringing different ideas to the table, or perhaps those in areas with differing regulations we can do region specific updates, for example. The anonymised data fed back to the cloud tells us how bikes are being used so we can continually improve. An option already in place is the email service reminder which prompts a visit to the local stores, along with diagnostics to the mechanic.”

Freeflow has just secured a further £1.65 million in funding to go to production

“WE ARE NOW OPEN TO BRANDS CALLING AND WE’LL HAVE EIGHT DEMO BIKES

BY END OF THE YEAR...

PLUS WE’RE HAPPY TO VISIT BRANDS ANYWHERE IN UK.”

www.freeflowtechnologies.com

cyclingindustry.news 49

Our brand new ‘How To’ video is HERE!

51 Profile Exposure Lights CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:29 Page 1

PROFILE

EXPOSURE LIGHTS

IN THE GLOW

There’s a dazzling array of technology now found in bicycle lighting, more so in those units destined for the woodland at night. Mark Swift, Exposure Lights’ Marketing Manager talks over the tech within his brand’s lights and how to sell each at retail…

S

ince Exposure light’s inception in 2004 the design ethos has been centred around elevating the rider experience under any light.

Whether on or off road, the lights are packed with technologies that can improve both safety and enjoyment.

Now Exposure Lights offers front and rear lights for either terrain, where once switched on, the lights then take care of the rider automatically.

“Lights are more than lumen outputs, it is all about how the ride can be made better so more fun can be had,” explains Mark Swift, Exposure Light’s Marketing and Brand Manager.

“Like geometry constantly evolving on a bike so are light technologies. We now have more advanced chips and accelerometers, which give Exposure Lights the opportunities to fine tune and improve what a light can do for the rider. Be it the right lumens for the right speed, making sure battery power is there when required for off road, or an auto dipping a front light for the road using light sensors to detect oncoming traffic; progress has been substantial in enhancing ride enjoyment.”

For those selling Exposure’s products, here’s the technologies and how to explain each to the customer:

OFF ROAD TECHNOLOGIES Reflex is a technology found on the bar-mounted mountain bike lights that ensures the rider gets the light they need and when they need it. Put simply, when going fast or downhill – more light, Slow or uphill – less light; all done automatically, no adjusting required.

Reflex Technology use 3D digital accelerometers, including a gyroscope, to sense movement. The light then checks with thermistors to determine what immediate changes there are in the outside temperature.

Combining this information Reflex dials up or down the lumen output optimising battery power to save it for

Bike shops can upsell modern lighting on a range of new smart features

when it’s really needed. An AI profile is built up over the ride to make sure that the run times given are the run times achieved.

TAP Technology is now found on most of Exposure’s helmet lights. This enables an instant change between high, medium, and low outputs all at the tap of the helmet, or the light itself.

No searching for a button needed.

ON ROAD AKTiv is Exposure’s road-specific handlebar-mounted technology and it takes its inspiration from the automotive industry, automatically dipping the beam when an oncoming vehicle is detected. This avoids dazzling the driver whilst leaving ample light for the rider to see and to be safely seen.

AKTiv is found within the Strada range and combined with the road specific beam pattern. The Road specific beam pattern has been designed by blending a focused spot beam that throws light far down the road with a flat, spread beam that illuminates the foreground around the riders’ wheel, curb, and roadside.

When the Strada is dipped the Spot decreased more than the wide beam, ensuring the cyclist can still see where they are heading.

REAKT technology is at the pinnacle of smart rear bike light technology.

Thanks to sensors built in lights with this tech will flare up automatically under braking and intelligently adapting to the surrounding light conditions to maintain maximum contrast and visibility. By conserving power when not needed, ReAKT can then almost double the max output of non ReAKT models, all while keeping the same compact and lightweight form factor.

Building on the foundations of ReAKT and in direct response to rider’s request, Peloton mode uses the same smart technology to register a cyclist’s presence behind and automatically dim its output. This means whilst in a chain gang the rider behind won’t be blinded, but once you move to the back of the pack, peloton mode will increase its output back up, keeping the whole peloton visible. www.exposurelights.com

cyclingindustry.news 51

52 Ecoa Conservation CIN01 2022_SINGLE.qxp 16/12/2021 11:34 Page 1

CSR STRATEGY Conservation

NURTURING NATURE The outdoors is considered our playground, but it’s also home to incredible biodiversity that must be protected and preserved. EOCA invites the bike industry to help conserve extraordinary landscapes and wildlife around the world.

F

ollowing the conversations in China at COP 15 about the urgent need to address the loss of biodiversity, and the conversations in Glasgow about the need to tackle the climate crisis, there is no better time to reassess a company’s CSR strategy and to ensure that it is the very best it can be. We all can and must play our part.

To be holistic, this is indeed an enormous task. Together with looking at carbon emissions in your whole supply chain and sourcing materials ethically and sustainably, there is transport, waste and water use to think about.

And what about where your products are used by your customers? Who is looking after the extraordinary habitats and landscapes that your customers love to explore on their bikes around the world? Who is protecting threatened biodiversity in these special places, and ensuring that these ecosystems remain healthy so that they can play their part in drawing down and storing carbon? Well, the good news is that the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) is doing just that.

Established in 2006, EOCA is a notfor-profit membership organisation which has over 150 members, all companies that make and sell products that are used in the great outdoors. To date, these members have put over €4 million into conservation projects in 59

52 cyclingindustry.news

different countries around the world.

So how does EOCA work? EOCA raising funds through a membership fee its members pay, with the amount paid dependent on turnover. It also raises funds from fundraising activities with its members. Twice a year, EOCA then invites not-for-profit organisations to apply for funding of up to €30,000 for conservation projects. Well established criteria for the types of projects it will fund, together with support from a panel of scientific advisers from different areas of conservation all ensure that the projects selected for funding are the best ones from a conservation point of view. The projects must protect, enhance or restore a threatened habitat or landscape, work with the local community, leave a legacy, tackle climate change, and provide an educational element.

All projects must also have a link to outdoor enthusiasts to ensure they are relevant to members. A shortlist of the very best of the applications is drawn up using the criteria and then these projects are put into a vote. There is a vote for members to select some of projects to be funded. There is also a public vote when members of the public and outdoor enthusiasts are asked to have their say. This vote attracts huge attention, registering nearly 140,000 votes during 2021 and having a string of high-profile people

getting involved over the years.

The projects EOCA has funded in the past include establishing biking routes to enhance protection of landscapes through ecotourism in Romania and South Africa; cleaning plastic pollution from environments with paddle boarders, mountain bikers, hikers, surfers and skiers; restoring, replanting and protecting forests in Scotland, Sweden, France, Indonesia, Spain and Nepal; and conserving the habitats of bears in Italy and Spain, red squirrels in the UK, orangutans in Borneo and elephants in Thailand. To name but a few. All very different, but all vitally important.

All companies that manufacture, supply, distribute, retail, promote or use products that are used and enjoyed in the great outdoors are encouraged to join EOCA. EOCA offers a bespoke environmental giving programme, a key part in a company’s CSR strategy, with opportunities to get as involved at various levels. The association is unique in enabling a sector to work together to give back to nature. Nature that we all enjoy and on which we are all dependent.

By working together, we can achieve so much more than by working alone.

To find out more about EOCA or to join, please email info@eocaconservation.org or visit the website below. www.eocaconservation.org

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55-56 Sean Meagre - Eco Carbon CIN01 2022_FINAL.qxp 16/12/2021 08:30 Page 1

ANALYSIS Can carbon be clean?

COULD CARBON CLEAN UP? The subject of sustainability and the end-of-life of materials has been in sharp focus lately as companies get to grips with the dirty legacy some products can leave. Sean Meager explores a new “bio” Carbon innovation to see if it has legs for cycling…

T

he benefits of carbon fibre-based bikes have been known in cycling for many years. In 1989, Greg LeMond debuted the Look TVT at the Tour de France, a bike 1kg lighter than that of his competitors. He won by eight seconds, a difference that could easily be attributed to his bike’s weight. Since then, ‘carbon bikes’ have steadily increased in prevalence to become the norm.

Recently, the demand for carbon fibre composites, in general, has increased dramatically. Companies such as BMW have used carbon fibre in electric vehicles, Boeing in its Dreamliner planes and Vestas’ in wind turbines. The TU Dresden university campus will even become the first building reinforced by carbon fibres instead of steel.

The benefits are clear. Carbon fibres are incredibly thin, light and yet they are five times stronger than steel and twice as stiff. Meaning more fuel-efficient vehicles (be they bikes, cars or planes).

However, the process of producing petroleum-based carbon fibre is resource

heavy. Production is estimated to be about 14 times more energy-intensive than conventional steel production. The high cost of carbon fibre is partly due to this complex and energy-intensive production process. Global output is just 150,000 tonnes per year, to 1.86 billion metric tonnes of steel.

Other downsides to the material are that it is difficult to recycle and dispose of, although ways of reusing it are now being developed and the conventional process also produces toxins.

As more companies commit to improving their green credentials, the unsustainability of carbon-based bikes will likely come under scrutiny more and more. The release of Trek’s first Sustainability Report highlights the differences between producing a high-end carbon race bike, versus a mass market aluminium bike.

Therefore, for bicycle makers to become carbon neutral, it is likely alternative means of production will be required.

Dr Erik Frank, the Head of Carbon Fiber Development at the German Institutes of

Carbon is complex to repair once broken and often goes to landfill

“CARBON FIBRES ARE INCREDIBLY THIN, LIGHT AND YET THEY ARE FIVE TIMES STRONGER THAN STEEL AND TWICE AS STIFF.”

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ANALYSIS

Can carbon be clean?

Hummingbird’s 6.9kg folding bike with the frame made from woven linseed

“THERE ARE ALREADY QUITE A FEW RECYCLED CARBON FIBRES AND THEY’RE EVEN BEING USED IN PRODUCTS.”

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Textile and Fiber Research in Denkendorf, believes the future of carbon fibre production could be in “bio-based carbon fibres.” Bio-based fibres are those that come from plants or other non-fossil fuel feedstocks. Frank is exploring ways of turning lignin, a support substance found in most plants, and which is a by-product of the paper industry, into carbon fibres.

The process has the potential to significantly reduce emissions in carbon fibre production. A sensitivity analysis conducted in the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment concluded that there could be a 20% reduction in energy use in the conversion of lignin to carbon fibre and that, since lignin is a waste product of paper production, there would be no energy use needed. Overall, a 30% reduction in life cycle energy use could be obtained.

To produce carbon fibre from lignin Frank is “[using] chemical methods to purify it and get it into a good shape. Then we can spin this into fibres, which we’re trying to do directly in water rather than having to use toxic solvents. And the fibres that you get can be directly turned into carbon fibres. This means we’ve taken the carbon from the air via the plants, rather than adding carbon from fossil sources like petroleum or coal into the atmosphere” However, the process isn’t quite there yet, producing carbon fibre “on the medium to lower-end” compared to petroleumbased fibres, he added. “I should say the bio-based carbon fibres won’t replace the

[petroleum]-based ones. It will just be a second market running alongside.”

As the prevalence of electric vehicles and a need for manufacturers to increase the efficiency of their vehicles increases, the demand for sustainable, high-performance materials means that bio-based carbon fibres could soon become more affordable as research and development increases around the world.

Research has also taken place into considering the viability bio-based glass fibre in producing a Look compatible road cycling clipless pedal. The pedal tested was found to be “mechanically viable and [have] a significantly lower environmental impact than full synthetic composites”. It is likely that more will take place.

Alongside all of these comes innovations with Flax fibre. Hummingbird has brought to market a 6.9kg folding bike with a frame made from a woven linseed.

Flax is, many believe, a viable carbon alternative and as such is already in use in the motorsport industry, to name just one.

The key draw? It’s lighter than most carbon structures, offers excellent vibration reduction and best of all for a business world now tasked with generating sustainability reports, it’s biodegradable too.

Carbon Fibre as waste Carbon fibre is also incredibly difficult to reuse or recycle. A report produced by the environmental charity Green Alliance in February 2017 identified carbon fibre as one of several novel materials that could create waste problems in the future unless swift action is taken to make it ready for recycling and reuse.

The key problem is that carbon fibre cannot simply be melted down and reformed like aluminium. Carbon fibre composites get their strength from long, precisely aligned carbon fibres, fixed within a glue-like polymer that is cured at high temperatures and pressures. Once cured, most of these tough polymers will not melt and have to be burned off or chemically dissolved to reclaim the valuable fibres.

Companies like Gen 2 Carbon are working on ways to increase the recyclability of carbon fibre in industries such as automotive, commercial aerospace, rail, electronics and renewables.

“There are already quite a few recycled carbon fibres and they’re even being used in products. Of course, they become worse with every cycle and at some point, they will have to be disposed of. Burning isn’t an option because it’s really hard to burn. A lot of the time it is stored in old mines.”

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INTERVIEW HopeTech

STRONG & DURABLE COMPONENTS CI.N caught up with HopeTech’s Alan Weatherill to discuss the impact of Brexit on manufacturers, the importance of focusing on sustainability, and what to expect from Hope in 2022…

Last time we spoke new products were on hold to prioritise catching up, has that changed and might shops have missed anything new in the melee?

It’s certainly been difficult planning new product launches around the huge demand for our existing products. The main product we’ve released during the last year is our new clipless pedals. These were released in September and demand, as seems to be the current norm, has outstripped supply. We’re managing to schedule production and current delivery on these is 12 weeks from order. We are slowly managing to increase production so are hoping to begin reducing this.

We’ve also released details of our new Tech 4 disc brake which is due out in Spring 2022 and we’re beginning to schedule these given the current lead times.

The electric bike marketplace has prompted a flurry of specialist products from Hope, how is the aftermarket world in e-Bikes – maturing?

E-Bike consumers seem to be just as eager for upgrades as traditional bike

riders, possibly more so. With the high initial cost, we thought e-bike riders wouldn’t have the budget for upgrades, but it seems the converse is true. Also, much of the standard equipment on e-bikes really isn’t up to the additional demands placed on them so our tradition of producing strong, durable components is ideal for this market.

Another market that Hope is investing in is growing women’s share in cycling.

You’ve launched hopetechwomen.com, what else is going on to equal our sport’s representation?

This is a huge issue which many different organisations and companies are trying to address with varying degrees. The simple answer to this is that none of us are doing enough and it’s not just about promoting women’s cycling. Many sections of society are underrepresented in cycling.

Our Academy and Women’s events were paused during the initial phases of the pandemic but we’re slowly getting them up and running again starting with Academy sessions at local schools.

Hope has restarted its Women’s events and Academy – paused during the pandemic

“WE THOUGHT E-BIKE RIDERS WOULDN’T HAVE THE BUDGET FOR UPGRADES, BUT IT SEEMS THE CONVERSE IS TRUE.”

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INTERVIEW HopeTech

The supply chain’s problems have left many looking closer to home for kit.

How has Hope benefitted on an OEM and aftermarket level? Any plans to expand OEM? We’ve always primarily been an aftermarket brand and although we’ve been approached by many OEM during this crisis, we are not prepared to lose sight of the importance of our core customers – indie bike shops.

Hope utilised local aerospace engineering company resources to gain capacity during peak demand

“BEING AN ENGINEERING COMPANY, MANUFACTURING METALLIC PARTS WE’RE NEVER GOING TO BE THE GREENEST, BUT WE ARE MAKING CHANGES WHERE WE CAN.”

The new XCR brake – lighter, and more powerful, with better ergonomics

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Raw material remains a hurdle, does Hope remain on top of the demand for metals and carbon? Is production at full steam?

Hope has never operated on a “just-intime” basis for our raw material stockholding. Over the past decade or so all the major manufacturers have been extoling the virtues of “lean manufacturing” to keep costs down. However, they always forget that to keep production lines running without issues, someone in the supply chain has to hold stock. We significantly increased our raw material stock holding in preparation for Brexit, so with the additional issues caused by the pandemic we still managed to maintain production. It’s still a challenge, but as we order several years in advance, we have things pretty well covered.

With our current order book we could invest heavily and massively increase production, but we’re always very cautious with investments. We don’t see the boom lasting for ever so have worked on a measured approach which has seen us calling on several local aerospace engineering companies and utilising their spare capacity due to the downturn in their sector.

Almost one year on what have been the measurable effects of Brexit on a UK manufacturer?

We’re still waiting for the promised positives but cannot envisage any appearing.

We have always exported around 50% of our production split equally between EU and ROW so any changes due to Brexitwere going to be important. The only measurable impact so far has been the additional bureaucracy and longer delivery times. At the initial Brexit announcement, we committed to ensuring our EU customers would still be able to trade seamlessly with Hope irrespective of the negotiated deal. With a huge amount of preparation, we managed this and continue to see strong sales throughout the EU.

Sustainability reports are another in focus subject for Hope. We’ve heard about the packaging and materials work, but there’s hope of running on renewables in the pipeline, is that right?

Anything else?

A few weeks ago, our 160kWp solar panel installation came online which helps even on a dull Lancashire day, but realistically it’s never going to run all our CNC machines. Being an engineering company manufacturing metallic parts we’re never going to be the greenest company, but we are making changes where we can. Here are a few examples.

100% of our metallic waste is recycled.

100% of our paper and cardboard is recycled.

Around 4 years ago we committed to removing plastic from any new product packaging. We are also working through our existing product packaging to remove plastic from these. Our bike packaging has always been free from plastic.

We now have a 160kWp solar panel installation on our factory roof, with additional units planned on a new building due to complete early next year.

Factory lighting was swapped to LED’s several years ago.

We’re currently installing an air source heat pump system to capture heat generated from the factory and use this to heat the assembly rooms and offices.

We’ve always committed to making our products fully serviceable and continue to provide backup and spares for all our products, although we are starting to run out of spares for our mechanical brakes produced 30 years ago!

We have a filter system for our machine coolant to enable us to continually recycle the liquid.

This is an ongoing process for us and it’s great to see more companies becoming aware of the genuine issues. Our biggest frustration is companies stating they’re going “carbon neutral” when in reality they haven’t changed any of their processes and just buy carbon credits!

What can we expect from Hope in 2022?

Anything new by Corebike?

Hopefully an announcement of shorter lead times! By Corebike the new Tech 4 brakes will be shipping out to customers and we’re working on a few products to keep things interesting for customers. www.hopetech.com

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ASK THE BOSS Moda

RIDING BACK INTO VIEW The Moda name will not be familiar to newcomers to the trade, but if you were selling bikes ten years ago it may ring bells, especially with Russ Masters back on the drops. Here D.H.W’s founder David Williams and Moda’s new owner talks CI.N through the brand revival…

Tell us about how the buyout of the brand came to be and what’s included?

David: We were on the lookout for a new brand after the sudden change of circumstances with the Kuota Bikes at the start of Covid. D.H.W. had distributed and helped with development of the brand for 15 years, we had worked extremely closely with their Italian headquarters and negotiated the contract with the Pro Tour Cofidis team.

In mid-2020 we started looking for something new and suitable for the UK market. A contact put us in touch with the owners of Moda. We were already familiar with the Moda brand and knew it had built up a strong reputation within the industry

from its inception, however the brand had seemed quiet during the last couple of years. We had followed Moda’s progress and were familiar with the original creators from back in 2008.

After some groundwork, D.H.W. purchased the name, the website and some residual stock.

For those who missed the Moda brand the first time around, fill us in on its history?

Russ: Moda was conceived and developed by two passionate road cyclists and lifelong friends who felt that the market at the time required a brand with more attention to detail and decided to put this

Moda first came to market in 2008 with Russ Masters originally part of a lead duo

“MODA WAS CONCEIVED AND DEVELOPED BY TWO PASSIONATE ROAD CYCLISTS AND LIFELONG FRIENDS WHO FELT THAT THE MARKET AT THE TIME REQUIRED A BRAND WITH MORE ATTENTION TO DETAIL.”

D.H.W. has now purchased the brand and will distribute the new generation goods

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Moda models built with Shimano Di2 12-speed are now with the distributor

Gravel will join the range, alongside TT/Tri, track and even electric bikes

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into practice. With the help and guidance of an investor, the name Moda literally came out of an evening brainstorming discussing various names and ideas to capture and apply a European feel for a road bike brand created and assembled in the UK. These discussions also led on to creating the model names.

At the time it was felt that too many brands were offering high end road bikes with some comprise on components to arrive at a price point. This then led on to offering the bikes with a tailored finishing kit with choice of handlebar stem, handlebar size etc. to suit the individual needs of the dealer and consumer, along with a race ready wheelset (American Classic) This made for a unique and competitive package.

What’s the timescale for a rebirth, when will we start to see product samples available to view?

David: The brand is live and in production. We worked hard through last winter on the new logo and branding. We currently have five carbon road and gravel models available to purchase now from our selected dealers (as found on our website moda-bikes.com).

We also have some alloy gravel, titanium road/gravel, TT/triathlon, new track frames and even electric bikes and some kids’ bikes planned for the future.

What experience is behind the relaunch both on the brand and distribution sides?

Russ: D.H.W. was established 20 years ago when Dave Williams initially retired from a racing career to work for himself as an agent within the cycle industry.

During this time, he gained experience on the road successfully introducing brands like Adidas, Time and Sidi to his customers within the UK. Keeping a hand in on this line of work, the lure of racing proved too strong and he returned to cycling, combining both work and racing as an Elite/Professional rider. Through the following years, Dave raced for many teams including RT Italia, RaleighAmbrosia and Adidas-SciCon scoring over 100 senior wins in events. You may have caught him on the podiums of events as varied as the National Criterium Championships, National Team Time Trial Championships and coring International stage wins in the Tours of Germany, Ireland and Belgium. Plenty more than that, too.

Racing has now taken a back seat, other than an occasional local TLI vets race for fun and fitness.

His experience both in the trade and from racing is always available to draw upon, from advice on state-of-the-art carbon fibre frames and equipment to help with design of an eye-catching team strip.

Relaunching a brand at a time when the supply chain is stretched must have its challenges. How are you building around these and where are you sourcing the product?

David: Kuota finishing at the start of the pandemic certainly had its challenges.

We are a small business, yet our relationship with suppliers is built on long-term loyalty. We are well connected, and we are fortunate enough and delighted to be one of the first brands to be able to offer Moda models built with the new Shimano 12 speed Di2, which arrived in our warehouse in October.

We are working with new factories to continue the growth of Moda and give the brand a refresh.

What will be the route to market in the UK and further afield if you intend to export the brand in time?

Russ: The vision for the brand is to work with a dedicated dealer network to continue the growth and development.

Some stores are signed up already. Of course, we are always open to appoint new dealers who share our passion for quality and attention to detail. If anyone

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ASK THE BOSS Moda

are environmentally friendly). Again, we were amongst the first in the UK to manage this new innovative technology.

So, I’d like to think we are pretty hands on in terms of product development and constantly looking forward which will benefit our customers.

What product segments will you be most active within and at what price points?

Russ: Recognising the popularity and growth potential in the gravel market, we are currently offering our existing carbon model of Molto, along with the imminent arrival of the “Strega” titanium frames, which are an internally cable routed gravel bike.

The alloy “Grappa” model which will follow soon will offer a strong line up in this sector.

Given the unprecedented growth and success of the electric bike market, we feel compelled to explore the idea of the “E-Moda” in the near future.

Bike shop partners will be encouraged to help size up the customer for a truly custom fit

“GIVEN THE UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH AND SUCCESS OF THE ELECTRIC BIKE MARKET, WE FEEL COMPELLED TO EXPLORE THE IDEA OF THE “E-MODA” IN THE NEAR FUTURE.”

66 cyclingindustry.news

out there is reading this and feels inspired to take a look at our brand, please do get in touch.

There’s an element of bespoke partnership with the dealer and their customer, is that right?

Russ: This is our core belief; that each bike and every bike build is unique. We do not believe there is a standard size, As such we aim to cater for individual requirements using the tried and tested process of selecting bar and stem sizes through a simple order process at point of purchase.

What will DHW offer in terms of build kits etc?

David: We have a great relationship with many European manufacturers, including Deda, Selle San Marco, Selle Italia, Continental, Rotor, KMC, Mavic and US wheel manufacturer Spinergy. We also have a sensational partnership with Shimano, as mentioned earlier. So, products from all these guys feature heavily in our final Moda specifications.

A couple of examples to illustrate how closely we work with our partners: We have helped develop some 3D printed headset DCR bearing covers with Deda which they have adapted to some of our frames.

Selle Italia are currently managing 3D printed short fit anatomic saddles (which

What backup support, warranty etc will be available?

David: It will be comprehensive. Thanks to the aforementioned links, we are fortunate to have back up stock and fully accredited, highly-trained mechanics along with technical staff to quickly find solutions to any warranty or technical queries.

Standard warranty periods are offered on all frame sets supplied in the Moda builds.

What are the terms for a dealer to sign up and what support will be on offer?

Russ: We feel it is important for a dealer to feel protected and supported, so we’ll offer competitive parameters to achieve this. We want to partner with dealers and for them to be a part of what we are building and developing.

There is a long-term view to constantly improve and develop the portfolio of product offered to the dealers. We strongly believe that if we maintain our attention to detail through every aspect of each build and considerately grow our dealer network we can achieve a stronger identity within the industry. That will help us expand and move into other territories.

The truth is, we would like to grow Moda into one of the biggest brands in the UK market. We would likewise hope to see the brand chosen and used in UCI level racing and, who knows, maybe even seen in a Grand Tour in the next ten years. www.moda-bikes.com

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