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THERE are different ways to react to market hardship and a lot will depend on circumstances and what resources you have to hand.
You build infrastructure if you’re in the fortunate position to be able to. Getting your systems ready and your ducks in a row as you wait for the market to get over its dip is a tried and tested approach. This ‘build it and they will come’ concept is, arguably, a bit of a gamble, but builds confidence internally and externally, and might help you gain a bit of market share in a flat market. It broadcasts the message that your business is in it for the long haul. Inevitably, it’s not an option available to all businesses.
Then there’s the opportunity to shift the mindset of your business. That might seem an incredibly fluffy concept and akin to putting all your hopes on a lottery ticket. But it can be a bit more practical than that. Proactive reaching out to the community, interacting with your local paper or local Facebook groups are all solid approaches that can help.
A mindset shift is a concept you could apply to the industry as a whole. Elsewhere in this magazine, there’s an argument (or continuation of an argument) for the market to switch from the defence mindset to attack. There are currently a few headwinds for the industry to contend with, or to put it another way, a whole bunch of challenges that have been stubbornly sitting around for a while (workshop wages, sustainability, margin shrinkage, etc) plus a whole newish bunch of challenges on top (reputation of eBikes, culture wars, tariff uncertainty, anti-dumping removals, inflation, etc).
All that can weigh heavily on the shoulders of a market and can lead it down the dead end alley of defence. You can forget about all the positives that cycling brings, how the industry plays a vital role in facilitating those changes and what support it should be lobbying for.
Better infrastructure, better support for those who repair and service bikes (not vouchers necessarily, but tax breaks for workshops and bolstering this as a career path), a cycle to work initiative that helps gets bikes in the hands of those who cannot afford them… It’s up to us lot to relentlessly shout about how we can help the nation be healthier and happier and not be forced down defensive rabbit holes. If we’re not shouting about the benefits of cycling, then who exactly are we expecting to do it for us?
Jonathon Harker
jon@cyclingindustr y.news
Publisher Jerr y Ramsdale jerr y@cyclingindustr y.news
Editor Jonathon Harker jon@cyclingindustr y.news
Staff Writer Jake Holmes Jake@cyclingindustr y.news
Sales Manager Lloyd Ramsdale Lloyd@cyclingindustr y.news
Head of Produc tion Luke Wikner production@cyclingindustr y.news
Designers Dan Bennett Victoria Arellano
(0)1727 739160 w cyclingindustr y.news
In a preview of the about-to-be-released latest Cycling Industry News 2025 market data (distributed free of charge to participating retailers as usual), we look at two questions gleaning insights into the different types of work coming across bike shop desks and how the eBike market is developing in the UK…
ARE YOU HANDLING MORE, LESS OR THE SAME LEVEL OF TRADE YEAR-ON-YEAR?
ANALYSIS
Brand new statistics gleaned from the UK cycle trade here and first up, as part of our regular excerpts of the data presented in Cycling Industry News, we see how the sand has shifted in some of the key sales channels for bicycle shops and workshops.
Workshop revenue has been found to be significantly up, with almost half of bike shops (49.28%) seeing an increase in workshop related trade. That certainly fits with the established consensus but here’s the working proof direct from the retail front line. 41% saw the workshop hit the same level of trade as in the previous year, while just 10% saw a drop. It’s been said many times, but the value of the workshop in the face of significant headwinds like overstocks in complete bikes, have been a huge aid to shops surviving during difficult trading conditions. It’s no huge leap of logic to expect shops (and suppliers) to place even more emphasis on workshops.
There’s a significant trend for the cycle to work initiative too. A consistent 43% saw cycle to work remain a constant level in their
business, while just 10% saw a drop in C2W. A huge proportion –37% – saw a rise in C2W trade. While reform of the bike to work initiative may have dropped out of the headlines lately with a rash of eBike news grabbing attention, these statistics serve as a reminder that the cycle to work initiative remains a huge cog in the industry. Whether that will spur on reform or provide extra caution to making potential changes is debateable.
Conversely, finance has had the opposite fate to C2W. Whether that reflects interest rate changes or consumers less willing to enter into finance agreements during a turbulent economy is something to mull over. The numbers here may also indicate that finance proiders have been less active in the cycle market of late.
The stats also provide a fascinating dive into bicycle consumer habits. Here we have some combined evidence of less impulsive behaviour and more considered practices (perhaps a sign of the times when consumers are more closely watching what they buy, but not ruling out purchases altogether). Appointment-only trade is on the up, as is click and collect. Bricks and mortar shops can do both impulsive and pre-arranged retail, of course, but the nature of the high street and physical shopping is evolving and perhaps here is some evidence of that.
“PERHAPS THE GENERAL UK PUNTER IS STILL A LITTLE UNCLEAR ABOUT WHAT AN ELECTRIC BIKE ACTUALLY IS”
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF YOUR ANNUAL BIKE SALES ARE EBIKES?
ANALYSIS
This question – what percentage of shop’s annual bike sales are eBikes – sits alongside the stats elsewhere on this page, comparing the UK’s electric bike market with other major European cycling markets like Germany and Spain (spoiler, both see eBikes make up a far larger proportion of total bicycle sales than in Great Britain).
For the majority of UK independent bike shops, eBikes make up 0-25% of sales (61% shops ticked this box). Just under 20% of stores said eBikes made up 26-50% of their annual bike sales. As we’ve noted before, the UK independent cycle store has been a long-term lynchpin of the electric bike sector, dedicating sizeable chunks of floorspace to the product category for a number of years. For example, back in 2018, 35% of bike shops told CIN that eBikes were making up a growing proportion of their sales.
But, in 2025, it seems, they still make up a modest amount of total sales for the majority, compared to the norm in other territories. There are undoubtedly of-the-moment challenges facing the electric bike market (perception of eBike fire dangers, a rapidly changing market with the incoming rush of eBikes from China) and maybe a few longer-term challenges too – perhaps the general UK punter is still a little unclear about what an electric bike actually is. What will eventually push eBikes to fulfil their full potential in the UK is of course the big question. Maybe the smart answer is simply time. But the considered view may be that expansion of the eBike market in the UK to European levels is almost inevitable. We’re different but we’re not that different.
EARLIER THIS YEAR, the Bicycle Association confirmed that the UK market saw 1.45 million mechanical bike sales and 146,000 eBike sales. That means that eBikes constitute a total of 9% of the total combined bicycle sales in the UK. The Bicycle Association pointed out to CIN that the eBike proportion has remain stubbornly in the vicinity of 9% for the last three years.
That figure looked in stark contrast to that of Germany’s, revealed in Q1 by ZIV – Germany’s Bicycle Industry Association. The 2024 share of electric bicycles sold in that nation was static (like it is in the UK) but at the altogether higher proportion of 53% of total bicycle sales.
In Spain, where the economy appears to be outstripping much of the rest of Europe, electric bicycles have an approx. 45.2% share of bicycle sales in terms of turnover (AMBE stats from 2023 – 2024 numbers not yet available).
Local challenges aside (with the caveat these currently appear pretty significant), nearby countries like Germany and Spain – both with different climates and geographical features – are seeing electric bikes take a far larger proportion of overall bike sales. So, it doesn’t take a huge leap of logic to see that the UK still holds big potential for eBikes, and a future where eBikes get much closer to that 50% proportion of overall bike sales. Businesses will surely be closely eying the UK market for opportunities to be a part of that seemingly inevitable growth.
The CIN Podcast regularly interviews industry names and panels of trade execs, with recent highlights including:
How connectivity & software is evolving the eBike market
Mentorship and diversity in the cycle industry
How can bike rental help a cycle shop’s bottom line?
Head to Soundcloud for more: https://soundcloud.com/user-740094534
“THE JOB FOR THE TECHNICIAN IN THE SHOP NOW IS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. IT’S ELECTRONICS, IT’S HYDRAULICS, IT IS UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF THAT COMPOSITE FRAME AND HOW THAT INTERACTS WITH ITS VARIOUS COMPONENTS”
The cycling industry is an innovative space, but has this left a widening gap between modern materials and safety standards? The latest CIN Podcast tackles the topic with Velometier's Mark Barfield
Are cycle market standards where they need to be for the modern world? That’s one of the big questions posed within the latest CIN Podcast.
Regular host Sean Lally speaks with the vastly experienced Mark Barfield from Velometier – a former Technical Manager at UCI who has also worked with British Cycling and British Triathlon.
In light of some high profile recalls and horrendous pro crashes and mechanical failures, the topic of safety has been given more of an airing lately, leading to searching questions being asked of the industry. Discussions CIN has had behind closed doors have occasionally touched on cycle product standards not perhaps being as stringent as in other sectors. And in recent months, a study by Bayes Business School and Dublin City University found there is a profound safety problem at the highest level of the sport.
So, this podcast discussion tackles some searching and profound questions for the trade, the sport and those that safeguard them.
In terms of current bike standards, Mark Barfield notes that ISO 4210, the principle standard behind most products ridden today, pre-dates the use of some materials now commonly used in the industry and racing, having primarily been designed for steel bicycles. Therefore, is that still a relevant standard for the industry? Where would the driving force for updating that safety standard be? Well, that would be the industry itself, along with the sport…
Having been on the inside of meetings and discussions on standards, Barfield explains how difficult it can be to address standards and make changes. While no one
in the industry wants unsafe product, industry-wide consensus on moving forward with changes is complex. If one company is creating product in a particular way and that then becomes a standard, then other companies will have some ground to make up by adjusting to that standard and will be at a commercial deficit.
Barfield also notes the pace of change and innovation in the industry has rocketed: “The bike has become increasingly complicated… The job for the technician in the shop now is much more difficult. It’s electronics, it’s hydraulics, it is understanding the nature of that composite frame and how that interacts with its various components. In 1986 [when I started working in bike shops] we didn’t have a torque key in that workshop, we didn’t need one. These days you can’t touch a bike without having that because of the nature of the material we are working with. The job is much more challenging.”
Cautioning against knee jerk changes to standards – not least in relation to eBikes – Barfield also emphasises that new safety standards must be done well.
All these points and more come up for discussion in this Cycling Industry News podcast, which can be heard via Soundcloud.
Mark Barfield can be contacted at contact@velometier.com
CIN also welcomes comments on the topic, via jon@cyclingindustry.news
To find out more about the Cycling Industry Podcast, contact: jon@cyclingindustry.news lloyd@cyclingindustry.news
Andrea Parish
Andrea Parish went from a career as an IT consultant to becoming Chair of Cycling Time Trials, the National Governing Body for Time Trials in England, Wales & Scotland. Parish talks accessibility, becoming a cyclist in her 40s and support networks with CIN’s Jake Holmes
Having decided juggling her career as an IT consultant and being a single mother of three wasn’t difficult enough, Andrea Parish decided to venture into cycling for the first time in her life when she was 41 and now finds herself as the Cycling Time Trials Chair.
Andrea Parish was not a born-andraised cyclist. Instead, she came into the sport much later than most. She spent her younger years pursuing her career as an IT consultant in the South of England raising her children.
Parish jokes: “When I grew up, I was going to chapel on Sunday. I didn’t even realise there were such things as cycling clubs.”
After years of living the hustle and bustle life of consultancy, commuting from the Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire border into London, Parish decided to sell her house and move back to Wales.
Parish says: “I sold the house and moved back to Wales, but not where I am from [in Wales]. I live in Abergavenny just inside the Brecon Beacons and of course, it’s a fantastic cycling country. That was not a coincidence.”
By this point, Parish has been experimenting with time trialling.
Having browsed eBay, a second-hand bike caught Parish’s eye, with her explaining the bike was her size more by luck than judgement and having never ridden a drop-handle bike before. Her introduction was a 2006 Specialized Dolce Comp. Parish remembers: “I took it on holiday with me down to Cornwall and I got into time trialling after just a few months of cycling, having never really ridden before.”
Having moved back to Wales, Parish was now set on getting more involved in time trialling and taking up the sport, having dabbled in it previously. Parish joined her local Time Trail cycling club, finding that everyone was very friendly. Having joined her cycling club, Parish then took her interest further and
became part of the district committee. Cycling clubs affiliate to the Cycling Time Trials UK and are designated into one of 21 districts of volunteers. This maintains the democratic structure of the community. Andrea Parish turned up to an AGM meeting and was heavily encouraged to volunteer.
Parish was put forward to the board in December 2021 and was elected within nine months of being on the board to become its newest chair.
Parish explains: “The whole thing about this for me, is it has been an accident. This has not been by design. I bought my first road bike at age 41 and took a bit of a career break.”
However, coming into cycling later in life has not curbed her enthusiasm or love for the sport.
Parish adds: “I have a passion for time trialling. I love it, it’s fantastically masochistic while having a really nice positive purpose to it.”
The road to getting more women and girls cycling
If someone wants to become a professional cyclist, there is a pathway in the UK which is catered for by British Cycling, however, outside of this there can be limited support. Parish speculates that boys receive more support at home compared to girls when it comes to sporting endeavours, potentially being one of the reasons for the disparity in uptake.
Parish says: “I think a lot of other things come into play and I don’t imagine for one moment that is restricted to cycling. I think that would be most sport.”
Keeping the habit of a sport in a major factor in if someone retains it as a hobby, with the social aspect being a major factor. Thinking of her own children, she has seen how girl's and boy’s interests in sports are pursued in different manners.
When someone comes into their 20s, the opportunity for progression within a
sport drastically reduces, and for most sports and people there is no further progression. Parish notes its true for both boys and girls there is a drop off here in participation, potentially due to this.
Parish continues: “I also think funding for women’s sport is almost non-existent, in some areas you have to really fight for it.
“Once you are down to the root of domestic level cycling, because there’s lack of sponsorship, there’s lack of event, there’s lack of motivation… If you have a family, socio-economic reasons come into it, you don’t have the money…
“The one thing that really struck me when I first started time trialling, if you are a man and you have a girlfriend who is really into cycling, they would be racing and time trialling too, but they would always receive the hand-me-downs.
“I think there are so many barriers to women, and another thing is self-belief. If you think you can’t do something you won’t do it but if you think you can do something you will do it.”
In Time Trials open events, 86% of participants were male, with only 14% being female. Club events are more accessible, giving a more open route for
women to begin engaging with cycling. A new ‘come and try it’ concept has been launched, not requiring newbies to be members of clubs to turn up to the event, and they can test out first hand if cycling is for them.
Time Trials can act as the cycling equivalent of Park Runs, giving newcomers an opportunity to learn what cycling is all about, and start building a sense of community with other riders whilst potentially rediscovering a passion in the process.
Resources on how to participate can be found online at Time Trials website (www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk). Accessibility comes as more people learn about the possibilities and opportunities on hand, allowing people to engage in such activities.
Support network
Danger was not a concern to Andrea Parish, who was aware she was suspectable to injury, as she had already broken her ankle seven times simply doing housework, including her heel bone.
Living in a house built on a hill at the time, she broke her leg in seven places, and nobody was home. She sustained this injury through something as mundane as
“THE WHOLE THING ABOUT THIS FOR ME, IS IT HAS BEEN AN ACCIDENT. THIS HAS NOT BEEN BY DESIGN. I BOUGHT MY FIRST ROAD BIKE AT AGE 41 AND TOOK A BIT OF A CAREER BREAK”
Andrea Parish
“MORE WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE TO MAKE CYCLING MORE AFFORDABLE, OR AT LEAST ARM PEOPLE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW CYCLING CAN BE AFFORDABLE”
slipping on an upturned box of playmobile left out by her three children, all under the age of 24 months at the time.
Parish remembers: “That felt more dangerous to me than cycling… The first thing I did was join a cycling club. The hope point of joining a club was to have people to ride with and that is what I did it for, for companionship, for friendship, to meet people.”
Having a support network in place is an important step for anyone venturing into a new activity, as Parish explains. One day, having collected her children from school, Parish, due to not having grown up cycling, was not aware of the potential pitfalls of having a plastic bag with plimsolls dangling from the handlebar.
The plimsolls got perfectly stuck between the front wheel and fork, stopping the bike on the spot and sending her over the bike. Her mitigation work of establishing a support network paid off and she had people to look after her children whilst she received her x-rays. Thankfully Parish didn’t sustain any major injuries, but the importance of mitigation and having a support network proved its value.
But on balance, when compared with the dangers of Playmobile, Lego, Xboxes, and everything else motherhood had to throw at her, cycling suddenly did not seem as dangerous.
Parish says: “I realised that time trialling was ideal for me because the worst that could happen is if I’d go into a pothole or something. I wasn’t likely to get pranged up. I tried Hillingdon, the Imperial Winter Series, and thought ‘No, that’s not for me’ so I stuck with time trialling.”
Despite the difficult nature of working as a full-time volunteer, Parish has
thrived in her job and is just as enthusiastic about cycling as ever, thanks to the satisfaction she has drawn from her role.
Parish explains: “It’s been the change I’ve been able to make working full-time on a volunteer basis that’s been really gratifying.”
While the industry has been undergoing some recent soul searching about bike prices, affordability is directly linked to accessibility, otherwise those who can financially commit to an activity are limited. Parish views this as one of the great benefits of time trials.
“In a time trial, it's you versus you. You are just taking yourself on, no one else. This means you don’t have to have the best, most shiny and expensive equipment to stand a chance. Instead, whatever you can get your hands on will do.
Parish explains: “On a road bike, you can time trial. No ifs or buts. A £250 second-hand bike will do the trick very well… You can get yourself a decent bike for not very much money.
“For me, accessibility is about making it a level playing field, making it as cheap as chips because you don’t need an expensive bike to race at the time trial because it’s a race of truth against yourself.”
Anyone can race on the same track in a time trial, and opening more avenues for people to participate can help broaden participation and bring in a new range of people to cycling. It is a cheaper alternative to road racing which pits people against each other, rather than time trials when the only competition is your (former) self.
The path ahead
Andrea Parish’s journey into cycling has shown how accessible the sport can be, with its opportunities to get involved at a decision-making level or just be a domestic cycler who loves the thrill of speeding down a road in the pursuit of beating their personal best.
More work needs to be done to make cycling more accessible, or at least arm people with the knowledge of how cycling can be affordable.
A route forward could be the increase in cycling clubs, this provides both an opportunity for community and knowledge sharing. Clubs could act as a space for fellow riders to share how they upgraded their bike on the cheap, or how they improved in certain areas. Newcomers would benefit most from this information and may help retention rates in the sport.
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Operating a bike shop in London, with numerous competitors on the doorstep, means dealers have to work cleverly to build loyalty and community around their stores. Emma Karslake speaks with Giant Store Camden on balancing independence with partnership, and giving customers reason to step over the threshold…
Nestled in North London, Giant Store Camden has established itself as a cornerstone of the local cycling and triathlon community. Owner Nick Freilich has worked on the premises for the last 30 years. He was first an employee of Chamberlaine Cycles, which started trading in 1912. A little over a century later, the shop closed down and Nick started his own business from that same site, this time as an independent Giant partnership store. After 11 years, the shop is more than just a retail space; it’s a hub for cyclists of all levels. On top of selling Giant bikes and servicing a wide range of brands thanks to their four employees, the space also hosts a bike fitter, a physio and serves as a meeting point for events and rides.
At Giant Store Camden, customers can find advice, quality service and, the shop hopes, a genuine sense of belonging. By prioritising customer experience over pure transactional sales, the
shop has sought to ensure it is a trusted name in London’s cycling scene.
Giant Store Camden operates as a Giant partnership store. This means it carries Giant’s branding and wide product range while maintaining its independent ownership. There are
“2024 WAS A DIFFICULT YEAR WITH STOCK DUMPS IN THE MARKETPLACE. THIS IS STABILISING SO HOPEFULLY WE'RE NOW GOING TO BE ABLE TO TRADE IN A MORE NORMAL ENVIRONMENT”
certain restrictions – such as limitations on what brands can be stocked –but this model provides a mix of brand consistency and entrepreneurial flexibility. Giant Store Camden is primarily a retailer and a showroom for Giant products. The workshop part of the business is secondary. Offering customers mechanical support also serves as a means to retain and attract customers. Moving to an online workshop booking service has streamlined the process for the customer.
A challenge is that new customers can mistake the store for a franchise instead of assuming they will find the individual connection that independent shops can offer, and so Nick feels like the team has to work that extra bit harder to create a lasting relationship with customers.
Catering to a diverse customer base
The shop attracts a broad demographic, ranging from seasoned road cyclists
“ONE ADVANTAGE OF BEING A GIANT PARTNERSHIP STORE IS THAT THE SHOP CAN SHOWCASE A WIDE VARIETY OF MODELS WITHOUT OVERCROWDING OPTIONS FOR THE CUSTOMER”
“We’re selling quite a lot at the £2,500-£3,000 price point. That's where the market is at the moment”
to newcomers looking for their first quality bike.
With the rise of carbon road bikes and performance cycling, the average customer age has shifted slightly upward as those products are linked to people with higher purchasing power. Additionally, customers invest in highend bikes supported by Cycle to Work schemes, making premium models more accessible. However, commuter cycling has seen a decline. Nick puts it down to a combination of working from home and the wide availability of bike-share schemes, which offer an alternative for urban transport.
While road and gravel bikes make up most of the sales, eBikes have seen some growth in popularity, but less than hoped for. Their adoption in central London has faced challenges: being on the expensive side relative to traditional bikes (the cheapest eBike in store retails for £1,699), they require secure storage. Secondly, they are
often larger and heavier, making it much more difficult for their owners to take them up into their flats. On top of that, there is increasing competition from cheaper import brands and prices have generally fallen compared to four or five years ago. Similarly to carbon road bikes, eBikes have driven up the average age of customers. These shifts are things that all bike retailers have to adjust to.
One advantage of being a Giant partnership store is that the shop can showcase a wide variety of models without overcrowding options for the customer. Gone are the days when Nick would demo three similar endurance bikes from different manufacturers. Instead, the focus lies in choosing the right type of bike with the customer, then offering them a free preliminary bike fit to show them and make them benefit from the full potential of the product. “I like to think we offer an off-the-shelf product that is economically priced because we’ve got economies of scale and a relatively standardised product, but then with a few small changes the customer can achieve a bespoke result for a bit more money rather than starting with a complete custom set up.”
The emphasis on test rides and proper bike fitting is particularly strong. Customers often enter the store with preconceived notions about what they need, only to leave with a completely different bike.
Following a sale, the shop offers free services every six months for three
years, a way to create a relationship beyond a one-off purchase, follow people on their cycling journey, and overcome preconceived ideas about brand stores. The relationship a London bike shop has with customers is very different to a single shop in a small town, which has a more or less captive market. In London, customers need a reason to build loyalty to a particular shop.
Beyond sales and servicing, Giant Store Camden has cultivated a strong sense of community. Recognising that cyclists seek more than just products, the shop has developed multiple initiatives to foster engagement and loyalty. These include:
● Club partnerships: sponsorship of local cycling and triathlon clubs, such as Hampstead Triathlon Club and Tri London, which help connect cyclists with training resources and social groups.
● Event hosting: regular in-store events covering topics like structured training and triathlon preparation.
● Group rides: organised rides, including a coached midweek session at Regent’s Park, providing a mix of training and social riding.
● Team Liv: well aware that cycling remains a male-dominated industry, Giant Store Camden has been active in promoting inclusivity through a women’s team that also offers monthly female-only open rides and encourages all experience levels.
● Team GC: initially offering Zwift group rides during Covid-19, the group has now expanded to outdoor training.
● Ambassador programmes: three
shop ambassadors (two of whom are women) serve as key connections between the store and the wider cycling community, helping to spread the word.
● Onsite physio and bike fitter: the store is a one-stop shop not just to buy cycling products, but also to receive personal care and tailor-made solutions.
The store prides itself on the support it can offer all levels of cyclists and triathletes; some people come in with very minimal knowledge and the team wants them to feel like they are
available to support them through their journey, whether or not they are interested in becoming competitive.
One of the workshop’s fundamental policies is to always do a full assessment of the bike, whatever the initial reason for the service is, and to never return an unsafe bike to a customer. If a bike is deemed unroadworthy, the team insists on making essential repairs and will refuse service to illegally modified bikes. This commitment to safety, while occasionally met with resistance from price-conscious customers, reinforces the image of professionalism and integrity.
Nick says that: “2024 was a difficult year where there were a lot of stock dumps in the marketplace and prices were a bit reduced. This is stabilising so hopefully we're now going to be able to trade in a more normal environment.”
The cycling industry has faced turbulent times, particularly in the wake of Covid-19. Initially, there was an unprecedented surge in demand, followed by a period of market saturation and stock overflows. Many retailers struggled, with some closing their doors permanently. However, Giant Store Camden credits its survival to its
“RETAILERS HAVE TO CREATE, NURTURE AND GROW THEIR OWN MARKET AND GIVE PEOPLE A REASON TO COME TO THEM”
strong partnership with Giant, which provides a level of security to the business. For example, there is a degree of margin protection that provides a buffer in difficult times. By sharing both the risks and the rewards, the shop and brand weathered the storm together, emerging in a more stable position as market conditions are beginning to improve.
Another challenge comes from the availability of products and parts online. To meet this change in shopping culture, Giant Store Camden also offers a parallel online retail channel via the Giant UK webshop with clickand-collect and home delivery options.
As a physical retailer in an era dominated by online shopping, Giant Store Camden emphasises the importance of delivering an exceptional customer experience: “As people can sit in the comfort of their own home and order products to be delivered, you have to give a reason for people to come to a physical retailer instead of buying online. I think as retailers, we have a responsibility to be aware of this.
“Retailers have to create, nurture and grow their own market and give people a reason to come to them.”
www.giant-camden.co.uk
www.cambriantyresb2b.co.uk
www.lyonequipment.com
goodyearbike
Digitalisation in the bike business can make a huge positive difference even to small retail and workshop outfits. Switching from Excel sheets or physical diaries when managing bike servicing and repairs can be an efficiency and profitability booster, but going digital can be a daunting prospect particularly for less cash-rich businesses. bikebook Co-Founder Jake Fieldsend provides his take on the topic and makes the case for bikebook’s Workshop software…
Where did the original idea of bikebook come from?
The idea for bikebook came from the founder’s experience of struggling to find a reliable local bike mechanic after their trusted mechanic had closed shop. After a bad experience with a big chain store, they and their friends built a simple platform to discover local mechanics, which led to the realisation that many existed nearby but were largely unknown.
What led you to build Workshop, and what was the pivotal moment in making that decision?
The decision to build Workshop was driven by conversations with mechanics signing up to bikebook. It became clear that many independent mechanics were priced out of the specialist software used by larger bike shops, leaving them without essential tools to grow and manage their businesses efficiently. This realisation was the pivotal moment that led to the creation of Workshop which is affordable bike shop management software designed to help independent mechanics professionalise and increase their revenue without excessive costs.
Can you explain Workshop a bit more, how does it benefit businesses and workshops?
Workshop is designed specifically to
help bike shops and workshops streamline daily operations, professionalise services and boost profitability. It consolidates customer communications, provides digital documentation and insightful business reporting, manages inventory effectively, integrates with suppliers and includes a bespoke booking system adaptable to various business models. Additionally, Workshop offers optimised route planning for mobile mechanics and integrates easily with payment and accounting systems, saving businesses valuable time and enhancing revenue potential without significant expense.
What feedback have you had so far from those using it and who is using it so far?
Feedback from businesses using Workshop by bikebook has been really positive, highlighting the practical benefits and user-friendliness of the platform. Cycli Gert, an early adopter, praised Workshop as “exactly what every busy bicycle mechanic/workshop needs,” stating that it has “massively streamlined my booking process, job updates and invoicing.” He particularly valued the responsive support team, mentioning, “the team listened to feedback on issues I encountered and resolved them swiftly whilst keeping me fully updated.” Kempsey Bike Repairs, after six months of use, finds it a “really useful addition,” specifically appreciating the
ability “to book jobs, track them, and then invoice” all in one place, as well as features such as delivery zones and online bookings. Leeli Cycles described it as a “streamlined and intuitive Workshop system that embraces innovation,” highlighting benefits like “built-in chat combining email, SMS and online messaging,” and improved management of multiple bikes, contacts, and services. They further explained that Workshop “improved workflow, given customers more confidence, and saved a huge amount of previously lost time manually running the workshop.” Larger businesses including Veloroo UK, Berlin and Munich, Balfes Bikes, and Cycle Labs in Switzerland have also adopted the platform, underscoring its versatility and effectiveness across different scales and markets.
What would you say to workshops who are currently using paper diaries/excel spreadsheets/etc and are nervous about making the switch to BikeBook’s Workshop software?
I completely understand why some businesses might feel hesitant about moving away from traditional paper diaries or Excel spreadsheets; they’ve worked well enough for years, after all. But the truth is, once you make the switch to bikebook’s Workshop software, you’ll quickly see the huge difference it can make. John Lloyd (The Local
Hub, pivot, headset bearings, bottom brackets, pulley wheels and professional tool solutions. From ABEC 3 bearings for day-to-day repairs to Maxhit™ components and XD15 bearings which are guaranteed for life, Enduro Bearings cover all your workshop bearing needs.
A wide range of shift and brake cable systems, brake pads, hoses, disc rotors and problem solvers for both aftermarket and workshop use. Jagwire are committed to producing quality and consistent products at an affordable price.
The world’s largest chain manufacturer, KMC brings 40 years of experience to produce the highest quality, most durable drivetrain components for every bicycle category on the market. GO Wax factory pre-waxed chains now available.
A comprehensive range of eco-friendly maintenance and care products including grease, lube, cleaner, fork oil and brake fluid, all produced in Switzerland and specially formulated for cycling.
Extra UK is proud to distribute a number of leading workshop brands. Visit www.extrauk.co.uk to view our full product range, or email enquiries@extrauk.co.uk to request an account.
Spokesman) told us himself how transformative it was for his business; previously, managing everything manually meant it was all too easy to overlook charges for parts, labour or collection fees. Now, because Workshop automates these tasks, he’s consistently charging the correct prices, boosting revenue and offering his customers clear, professional invoices and reports. Another major advantage is having your business’s data centralised, this ensures everything is clean, organised and instantly accessible, helping you track service history accurately and manage customer relationships much more effectively. Ultimately, adopting Workshop can significantly simplify your daily operations, freeing up valuable time and enabling you to run your business more efficiently and profitably.
What have been your biggest learnings from the past year of supporting businesses with Workshop?
One of our biggest learnings has been realising just how important it is to simplify daily tasks for mechanics, Workshop has clearly demonstrated the difference automation can make, not only in saving time but also in helping workshops charge accurately for their labour and parts. We’ve found that professionalising processes directly impacts profitability, as mechanics can easily track jobs, avoid missed charges and deliver consistently high-quality service. Equally important has been actively listening to our users; staying closely connected with mechanics has driven ongoing improvements, ensuring we continually meet their real
needs. Another key insight has been recognising that independent bike businesses increasingly rely on efficient servicing as a main source of revenue, having a streamlined, automated system makes it easier for them to manage growth, provide professional customer experiences and ultimately build stronger, more profitable relationships with cyclists.
You recently announced Workshop by bikebook is now available in Europe, how does the service differ compared to the UK?
The core Workshop service remains fundamentally the same in Europe as in the UK, it’s still about streamlining workshop operations and improving efficiency. However, we’ve adapted certain aspects to better suit local requirements. For example, we’ve introduced multilanguage support, integrated with European POS providers like Sum-up and Square, and soon we will have seamless compatibility with European distributors. These adjustments make sure the platform feels tailored to each country’s specific needs and practices.
What’s next in terms of further developments?
We’re continually developing Workshop based on direct feedback from our users. Immediate developments include launching advanced invoicing capabilities, including online payments and deposit handling. Additionally, we’re planning deeper integrations with major e-commerce platforms, distributors, and accounting systems to simplify stock management
and financial tracking further. Longterm, we’ll be introducing data-driven analytics and reporting tools to help workshops better understand trends, forecast demands and ultimately maximise their profitability. These responses highlight practical insights, clearly outline current and future developments and emphasise ongoing improvements based on user feedback.
Further to these developments, we’re rolling out bikebook and Workshop by bikebook in North America and then also Australia too, with key industry partnerships in each of these territories. These new market developments follow a successful launch in mainland Europe over the past few months.
What is the plan for the consumerfacing bikebook site?
Our goal with the consumer-facing bikebook portal is to create an easy-to-use platform that directly connects cyclists with their local independent mechanics. We’re committed to continuously streamlining and automating as many administrative tasks as possible, making the booking experience smooth for both cyclists and mechanics. We’re also enhancing our data capture and reporting capabilities, ensuring all essential business metrics are easily trackable, clear and useful. Beyond that, we’ve got loads of exciting new features planned for release over the coming year, all aimed at further simplifying workflow, reducing admin burden, and providing deeper insights to support growth.
www.bikebook.co.uk
A manifesto for the cycling industry’s next five years: Mark Sutton provides his pick of areas that the bike industry should be striving to change and lobby government for…
In my last column in this series and only by the choice of Cycling Industry News’ excellent sub editors, an enlarged quote urged a strategy shift for the bike industry, a shift from playing defence to moving to attack. The context in that piece, which urged closer relations with Europe, retains some bearing on this piece because some things I will write here have been done or said before somewhere, either here in the UK or in the EU; often they just need shouting louder.
With the current walking and cycling budget outstripped more than four-fold by the annual budget for fixing potholes, you can’t help but get worn down trying to be diplomatic. Nonetheless, money talks, and if you can make a data-backed case to the Government they’re more likely to listen, especially if your cause – as ours does – is packed with positive externalities that firmly align with existing goals for the Ministers in power.
So, before I outline my manifesto for the cycling industry’s next five years, a hat tip is first required in the direction of the European Declaration on Cycling and the Bicycle Association, who likewise had the idea to put together a manifesto pitched at Government a few years ago. The revisions I pitch here are based on interactions with the public, our trade and politicians over the past few years.
As ever, I’d be very happy to hear your additions, so log on to our Facebook Group – Cycling Industry Chat –and let’s pick up the discussion there.
VAT reduction on service work enabling wage growth
When the Conservative Government pinched from the French the Cycle Repair Voucher scheme idea during Covid it was a smash hit, crashing the websites upon release of the vouchers, such was the demand to get bikes working again.
While that demand from the public side may have eased, what is hard not to notice is the immense transition of the bike retail market to a service-led economy in the past five years since 2020 and even before. Stay tuned for a future issue analysing just this trend of shop door transformation.
As with any retail business, bike shops find themselves in a rock and hard place situation on wages, where the National Minimum Wage has, fairly, risen, yet arguably still doesn’t push compensation into comparable leagues of other skilled service jobs.
The average salary for a semi-skilled car mechanic is apparently just over £32,000. Needless to say, few can earn this much in a cycle workshop, and accounting for inflation over the past 10 years, you’d have to earn £38,768 now to match up to £25,000 in 2014
money. Salary growth, almost certainly, has come nowhere close to that as the cost of living has rip-roared and workshop mechanic average wages are often lower, despite advancingly complex skillsets. If you perhaps think that salaries are as good as they can reasonably be, consider that, according to the book Against Landlords in 2022 alone rent increases in Manchester topped 20% and 16% in London, while no single region in England had rents affordable for a single woman on median earnings. Meanwhile, there was a 181% increase in house prices from 2001 to 2019.
This is more of a problem for the bike industry than most may think. Cycle mechanics training houses have, over the years, repeatedly warned of skills shortages in the industry, and there’s no reason to believe that the trend will change without some give in what shops are able to sustainably offer skilled workers who have the patience for internal headset cable routing.
That leads me to believe that if there is a case for VAT reduction anywhere as a priority, it is on workshop services. This will support the cycle trade’s realignment around workshop profitability and improve the scope to charge appropriate prices front of house and retain the fullest possible margin, all the while offering strong value to the consumer. It will support
“WE HAVE SO MANY POSITIVE MESSAGES TO SELL AND CLEVER WAYS IN WHICH WE COULD EXECUTE REACTIVE MESSAGING, NOW MORE THAN EVER”
properly paid, skilled jobs and provide a foundation for the industry’s future, which from a Government standpoint would seem a wise investment on account of cycling’s cost to benefit ratio for investments. More importantly, as people shift to electric bikes this part of the industry is absolutely vital and it is a point around which we can professionalise and reduce the customer’s expectation of discounts who have tended to say so far “It’s just a bike.”
It is worth a note to say that the Bicycle Association’s manifesto instead pitches VAT off all children's bikes, as is enjoyed on some other sporting goods for kids. That’s a fine idea too, because we must generate the next generation of cyclists and improve access to bikes for low-income families. It has also previously, in 2020, pitched the idea of a VAT holiday on repairs. Europe already passed laws in 2021 on the back of advocacy work by the European Cyclists Federation to
reduce the VAT rate to make bikes and eBikes more accessible.
Collaborative industry marketing
Not since the #BikeisBest campaign was broadly supported on Covid’s upslope has the bike industry’s collective goals been widely represented in a timely marketing campaign. Since that moment, we’ve needed reactive campaigns like never before as the onslaught of misinformation about electric bikes has warped the public’s view of the products we sell. Like multiple deer in the headlights, as this threat has approached the bystander effect has seen us collectively fail to intercept a threat to us all.
The next best time to bang our collective heads together and redress the balance is now. We have so many positive messages to sell and clever ways in which we could execute reactive messaging, now more than ever. One thing is for certain in my mind on the back of decades of slander against
cycling and now electric bikes, we cannot rely on the media to tell our story anymore; we have to do it ourselves.
Of course, there’s a sticking point. This will cost money and bike industry marketing departments are slimmer than they perhaps once were. Nonetheless, we are at a junction with a decision to make. We either revert back and do as we have always done and market to a very narrow pool of enthusiasts who probably already have bikes. Or, we take an all ships rise together approach and really put some wellie behind a campaign that demonstrates to the masses why bikes are important forms of transport. That message, in the midst of a cost of living and climate crisis, should cut through better than ever if executed well.
I will let you in on a badly kept secret: getting exposure in the press can cost money, or at least it helps. That’s not always the case, but it is often, in some way the case. So, unless there’s an excellent guerrilla marketer in our midst, we
should probably get the BikeIsBest gang, or similar, back together.
Disability and mobility support
Over the years, I’ve written as much as I possibly can about cycling with a disability, believing it to not be the niche activity some suspect it is. Last year, this outlier belief was vindicated before my very eyes in the most surprising of ways. I am part of the team that organises the Cycling Electric Demo Days and in organising this series of events wanted to deliver a depth of bikes to suit all abilities and mobilities. Roll into frame Jorvik Trikes, a brand that on our test rack in Bath became the star of the show, pulling a crowd of its own. I’m immensely pleased they’ll be back on all four occasions this year.
Anyway, shameless plug aside, this was a moment of great clarity. The electric trike (and sometimes bike) represents a groundbreaking tool for keeping those with health issues fighting fit. There is more than one major complication, though and in the days prior to my writing this column, life for those with disabilities just got harder again on account of the Labour Government’s rug pull of £5 billion in disability benefits claimed by 3.6 million people.
From the people I have spoken with over the years who do suffer a disability, let me tell you they are in no way financially able in many instances to afford by themselves on any income they do make eBikes and mobility
“IF IT IS NOT SAFE TO CYCLE FROM THE FRONT DOOR, PARENTS WILL NEVER RAISE THE NEXT GENERATION OF CYCLISTS AND WE’LL SUFFER A POOR FOOTFALL REPLENISHMENT RATE”
trikes. Yet these are the tools that could and do offer life support for making appointments and being able to attend any work they can secure.
For this reason, to achieve the outcome the Labour Government apparently wishes to, that is to have as much of the population working as possible, disability or not, some form of e-mobility subsidy or VAT relief as a compromise feels only the right thing to do.
New builds: Infrastructure as standard Urban sprawl is evident everywhere we look and you might conclude that it’s near impossible to build at this speed without futureproofed and sensible supporting infrastructure, be that the mandating of cleaner energy and insulation, or the seemingly innocuous addition of EV chargers on many new builds. Well, as the saying goes, build it and they will come. If you normalise and bake in a new infrastructure, habits will, more often than not, shape around such things. The same goes for cycling infrastructure, which falls far further down the optional extras shopping list that developers give a cursory glance. Yet, with the acceptance of EV chargers at home without calls to provide other clean transportation infrastructure, we are sleepwalking into a society of further car dependence.
The car industry has done a spectacular job of delaying its inevitable peak, while the bike industry must do more to pick itself up off the floor and demand that it is taken seriously as a
transport form from the doorstep. Positive steps are being seen with lowered residential speed reductions and, actually, these have lowered car insurance premiums by around £50 where they have been implemented, so everyone’s a winner. Yet we must do more to demand secure cycle parking as a mandatory build requirement and infrastructure veins that feed into central arteries toward urban centres. If it is not safe to cycle from the front door, parents will never raise the next generation of cyclists and we will suffer a poor footfall replenishment rate.
Cycle to work per mile allowance and legislative reform Belgium’s cycling and electric bike markets are thriving in what are a fairly unique set of circumstances for Europe. These are an infrastructure for leasing sales, one that is now responsible for more than half of all electric bike sales and a cultural shift in how people commute, plus there’s a tax-free mileage allowance once you are cycling for employees that pays public administration and organisation employees up to €0.21 per km cycled per day, up to a total of 15 km per day or €3.15 per day on their salaries. Over the course of a year that could be worth as much as €664.65 per person. Employers don’t lose out either as they are granted a tax refund. Creating market conditions that carrot and stick incentivise an outcome with a goal that seeks the betterment of society, well, that can
June 25 – 29, 2025 Messe
EUROBIKE Festival: June 28 – 29
THE NEXT 10 YEARS | PART 5
pay huge dividends over time. As we’ll all be aware, the current Government is seeking further drastic savings in the NHS and prevention would seem the best cure. In my view, the cycling industry, particularly in view of the need to rework the cycle to work scheme, would do well to keep these two ideas in mind as a next-generation solution to incentivising cycling en masse in a way that’s especially effective in a down economy.
Recently, the Co-Founder of bike subscriptions firm Blike outlined in a research paper the merits of an ’Active Travel Leasing Scheme’. This would apparently not be tied to income generation and ‘would help harmonise the benefit available across both schemes at an average of 39%.’
The paper by Steve Ellis suggests a 150% tax deduction roughly equivalent to an average saving of around 39%, or a similar saving to the upper reaches of the current Cycle to Work scheme, yet in this scenario everybody would benefit from the rates available to higher income earners, regardless of economic status or age. This could open the scheme to the UK’s 10 million or so unemployed, potentially giving them new mobility and options to find work, which to remind, seems to be a Government priority to which the cycling industry could again align usefully.
Bike share: the next step
One thing that has become extremely evident in cities with bike sharing is how the ridership growth is expanding at a rate that is positively exponential when compared to the nationwide modal share growth. This has its pros and cons for the cycling market as in one camp there are those that believe these riders will never buy a bike and in the other there are those that argue that they may not have been exposed to cycling at all without it.
Now, it’s fair to say many other factors are in play when we seek to explain why the urban bike surge is not happening at a retail level to the degree we might have hoped, having switched the broad industry marketing message from solely targeting enthusiasts to a more mass appeal. There’s inner city living conditions getting smaller. Again, to reference Against Landlords, renters now have seen their average flow space shrink from 43 m2 to 36 m2 in 20 years. This, along with some landlords now flat-out banning eBikes, is a
“WE’RE UNLIKELY TO CONVINCE BIKE SHARE OPERATORS TO SEND CUSTOMERS TO OUR SHOPS, BUT IN A WAY THEY ARE REGARDLESS”
major blow. Then there are theft concerns and the cost-of-living crisis, making eBikes seem expensive.
Yet, you’ll soon tally up the cost of an eBike if you’re a regular user of hire bikes. I know from experience and my bill has rarely been south of £5 per ride in London for fairly efficient use. That’s too much; why wouldn’t I just use the tube?
So, if prices are to continue to rise, we will lose those riders again, and that would be a great shame given that even out in Hereford users have racked up over 1 million kilometres of cycling via one scheme alone. 46% say they now use cars less, which is huge news.
While we are unlikely to convince bike share operators to send customers to our shops, because doing so would run contrary to their continued use, in
a way they are regardless. In Vienna it was well documented that when more people began cycling and e-scooting as a result of hire availability, it was this factor that forced the Austrian city to build a much larger network of cycling infrastructure. Cycling infrastructure is, of course, our stimulant for more cycling and generating a critical mass where everyone feels safer. So, whatever your feeling before, I’d like to make the case that bike sharing should be subsidised, just the same as other far worse for society transport forms often are. The returns in this case are positive, so which sensible politician could argue against entertaining the idea if the operators pledge to up their game on policing geofenced parking in return? A win-win, I think.
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CIN was among the many visitors to Oxford’s Independents’ Days house show. The self-styled ‘proper distributor’ talked infrastructure investments as well as new products with attending shops…
In the last few years, it has been pretty clear that Oxford is not slow to plough cash into its distributor infrastructure. Recent visitors to the business, including bike shops attending the recent three-day Independents’ Days house show, will have seen the physical corroboration of that – increasingly efficient (and taller) warehouses as well as expanded office facilities, photo and video studios and a 3D printer suite for its busy R&D team, among other highlights.
Oxford’s latest investment project has been on the digital side, creating a new B2B – that all-important shop touchpoint. It has been in the works since mid-2021 with much groundwork investigating and assessing competitor B2Bs as part of the process. The remit for the new B2B was pretty broad, from improving the fundamentals like product search, but also a site versatile enough to mean it didn’t have a multitude of confusing microsites floating around the ‘web.
The B2B project has been a sizeable investment, with Oxford opting for one of the biggest platforms of its kind – Adobe Commerce – to produce its new B2B, which is tabled to launch Q2.
“It’s all about making it easier to get the right product in the basket,” the firm shared with visitors during tours at the house show.
The new site will be Oxford’s one-stopshop online, with an all-singing-all dancing B2B site. A refined product search function will lean on Artificial Intelligence (AI) aspects to help shops find product quick, along with a painstakingly thought through filter system to help find the right tyre, etc.
As aforementioned, going forward Oxford’s web presence will be more straightforward, shifting microsites within one site. Media will be downloadable for shops that use it, and there will be an enhanced store finder in its consumerfacing site. Helpfully, this will go beyond the usual offering – if a store carries a decent selection of Oxford’s lock ranges, it will be listed as a ‘security specialist’, for example, further guiding consumers to the right shop.
As is a new B2B wasn’t enough digital investment, Oxford has also been putting money into its WMS (warehouse management system), helping its warehouse become incrementally better through soft-
ware and ultimately boosting its efficiency in getting product out to shop shelves.
The visitor tour also took in Oxford’s quality lab, where goods are put through gruelling weathering and pull tests, among other tortuous trials. With its experience in the motorcycle market, where product generally has to undergo more robust testing, Oxford occupies an interesting place with unusual insights from across the two markets rarely held elsewhere – CIN was intrigued to hear that cycling luggage needs to be tougher than motorbike luggage, for instance. And such is the high level of safety that motorcycle clothing has to be capable of, it can take years to bring designs to market while jumping through the safety hoops required.
The firm has operated an IBD team for around eight years and the distributorshop-consumer eco-system was a topic that cropped up a few times during CIN’s visit to Oxford Independents’ Days. The firm has been pretty vocal about being a ‘proper distributor’ and supporting shops, clearly happy to chat about the route-to-market topic that many prefer to avoid. Understandably, that approach
appeared to go down well with shops, at least during CIN’s visit.
Fresh gear and brands
And so, onto product. Oxford’s print catalogue now comprises a whopping 480 pages of parts and accessories. Alongside its broad and growing Oxford own-brand, the firm also enjoys a number of distributor partnerships, some of which are exclusive. The full list now includes Kali, Schwalbe, G-Form, Sigma, Torque, Taya, Mint, Full Stop, Livewire and Acros. And, most recently, HJC helmets. HJC has a 27 year long distribution relationship with Oxford on the motorbike side and when the firm was looking to round out its cycle helmet offering (comprising its own brand and the aforementioned Kali) the deal was done.
HJC uses SLID (Sliding Layer Impact Distribution) protection tech. SLID features advanced gel material inside the liner with flowable properties to disperse impact, developed to reduce the amount of energy delivered to the brain in case of impact and helping reduce rotational forces, says the brand. The Crosser is a multi-purpose model, pitched as ideal for
“ALONGSIDE
ITS BROAD AND GROWING OXFORD OWNBRAND, THE FIRM ALSO ENJOYS A NUMBER OF DISTRIBUTOR
PARTNERSHIPS”
gravel or XC but then, thanks to a snap on/off peak, it’s ready for the road. Other range highlights include the IBEX 3, which comes in tri and TT models. All HJC helmets are wind tunnel developed and tested.
Meanwhile, G FORCE has unveiled new tech for 2025. Essentially flipping its pad over for a sleeker silhouette, Smartflex retains its body-mapped flexible protection with an enhanced ergonomic and secure fit. Visually slimmer and less bulky, the new improved Smartflex tech is incorporated into much of the G FORCE range, including the Pro-X4 knee guards and shoulder pads – tough enough to be certified to (motorcycle standard) CE 1621-1 Level 1. There’s also an expansion of the G FORCE jersey line and, we hear, entry level price points.
There are new colourways in the Kali range too, including for the £99.99 RRP full face children’s Maya helmet and the urban-orientated Ave. Torque Tools has a new 2-24Nm torque wrench, coming with 3 Torx keys and 7 hex bits in a tough storage case.
Onto the Oxford house brand next and the firm has a new range of UV-protective sports glasses and sunglasses. It’s a focused range, RRPing at £29.99 for a single lens option. We’re told there is a low buy-in for some nice in-store POS, also including counter-top and slat wall options.
Oxford’s Aqua Evo luggage range has been well received by dealers and the consumer media alike. There’s a small addition this time – the XL top tube pack – which is a 1.5L-packing waterproof (IPX6) and sturdy offering.
Oxford has relaunched its shackle lock range too. The updates include changes to the key barrel – the key must be ‘fully in’ before it turns, plus there is a new silicone weather shield change to ward off the elements. There are no change to prices in the range.
Finally, there's a brand new addition in the shape of the Evo Wheel range, designed to plug a gap in the market for replacement wheels. For more details, retailers should contact Oxford directly.
www.oxfordproducts.com
The last mile and cargo bike logistics sector received a major blow in January with Zedify heading into administration. What kind of factors took their toll on the urban logistics service provider and what’s the future for the sector now? Jonathon Harker speaks with PedalMe CEO Ben Knowles
Q1 brought the wholly unwelcome news that last mile service provider and cycle logistics firm Zedify had gone into administration, putting over 100 jobs at risk.
Despite growing demand for sustainable delivery services, the company (Outspoken Logistics Limited, trading as Zedify) was unable to raise sufficient funding to continue operating, with the directors taking the difficult decision to seek the appointment of Joint Adminis-
trators Will Wright and Steve Absolom.
Widely seen as a trailblazer in the field, this was poor news for the cycle logistics sector. Zedify was on a selfstyled mission to “transform urban logistics” and be a part of creating cleaner, healthier, more liveable cities of the future.
There were some chinks of light following the news when, days later, electric bike courier firm PedalMe began reaching out to former Zedify
employees as it looked to fill 25 vacancies in the remainder of Q1.
PedalMe Founder Ben Knowles was between fielding calls from ex-Zedify employees when he spoke with Cycling Industry News to examine the unfortunate news of its fellow cycle logistics provider.
“My head is spinning, to be honest. All London Zedify staff been given my contact information so my phone is pretty busy.”
According to the official press release from the Administrators, cash flow appeared to be a key factor in Zedify’s demise. Knowles says: “That’s not necessarily unusual for fast growing start-ups. It’s fairly inherent that you price low to try and gain scale quickly, then when you get traction you review whether pricing is sensible for you. Quite often, to earn money to grow quickly, as we did in the very early days of PedalMe, we priced aggressively, and now we’re able to charge more as a premium offering is more established. Enough people know about us and want to use us.
“Zedify was working with some very large-scale companies and I have a huge amount of respect for the work and his team have done. I think they were really unlucky with the collapse of capital markets.”
Knowles also points to major challenges in the sector, including with criminality, hampering the growth of law-abiding businesses: “Some of the
Cycle logistics
Zedify went into administration in Q1 2025
“ZEDIFY WAS WORKING WITH SOME VERY LARGE-SCALE COMPANIES AND I HAVE A HUGE AMOUNT OF RESPECT FOR THE WORK AND HIS TEAM HAVE DONE”
organisations that you’re competing with are almost turning a blind eye to criminal activity. You have to have an incredibly lean business to keep costs down. It’s tough.
“I don’t think the scale of the problem is fully appreciated. It’s hard for me to say how much it factored into Zedify, but it’s not unreasonable to draw the conclusion that we’re tolerating widespread use of modern slavery. In my view, the government should not be tolerating this happening.” (See page 38)
The costs of being a trailblazer
The trailblazing nature of businesses like Zedify also added to the challenges – and costs – cycle logistics businesses face: “The key problem is achieving scale in an environment where there aren’t the skills you can get off the shelf.
“The conventional start-up model is you do something like Uber did: Create a platform which allows customers to access a resource and manage a very simple business. There’s not a lot of complexity there compared to something like cycle logistics, where you design your own bikes, train staff to ride those bikes, training up your own mechanics, having your own tech… customer service skills you can get off the shelf… but there are all those other dimensions to it.”
Recent changes like Labour’s decision to increase National Insurance for businesses may have been a contributor too: “That may have affected how attractive an employee-centred business is. The amount of extra money is not that great in the scheme of things, but it’s more like adding insult to injury, where you’ve already got some companies evading taxes and then the government seems to be taking no meaningful action.”
B2C vs B2B focus
There are potential learnings to be taken from the current state of cycle logistics, explains Knowles, not least in terms of its main customer base.
“Cycle logistics services is a differentiated service. You have to differentiate your products and communicate that differentiation. Are super-scale home deliveries really the market where you can properly do that? As far as the consumer is concerned, they’ve had a delivery and they don’t really see how it got delivered to them. So maybe there
is a general business learning from this.
“The vast majority of our workload is business to business. The value of the orders is higher and the customer cares more. We make sure it’s going to get there on time, in the right shape and handed over carefully by someone with all the right details.
“We put the value of the market available to cycle logistics in London as being in the billions. So, it’s currently a tiny fraction of what is possible. When we first started, you hardly saw cargo bikes – maybe there were 100 cargo bikes in the entirety of London when we began – but that’s vastly changed and we’ve been part of that.
“Our impact is much bigger, pushing these larger companies to make use of cargo bikes, showing what’s possible and hopefully also inspiring individuals to use their bikes.”
Aside from clamping down on modern slavery, Government may have another role to play in the sector, explains Knowles: “In any new indus-
“Cycle logistics has so far only really scratched the surface”
try you are paying lots of upfront costs. You saw it with solar panels and wind power – those industries needed subsidies for decades in order to achieve the scale that was needed to get the efficiencies in price.
“Cycle logistics has so far only really scratched the surface. With the right support, the vast majority of logistics in cities makes sense by cargo bike. There’s this hand-in-hand approach where cargo bike deliveries enable more dramatic street reworkings to make it easier to walk and cycle. Then that enables more cargo bike logistics. It’s a virtuous circle. When people see it they start to realise it’s possible.
“You can try and get a sense of the value to the economy and contribution to society cycle logistics makes. If you go back to the number of cargo bikes, you make some assumptions about how many minutes of cycling they’re doing a day, you can come to a health value of around £2 billion over 10 years. The social value of cargo bikes
In the days before CIN writes this article, the Home Office announced a crackdown on illegal working and rogue employers in the ‘gig economy’. That “crackdown” is targeting multiple sectors, including courier services and the related companies that Knowles refers to.
The Home Office said: “Currently, thousands of companies using these flexible arrangements are not legally required to check the status of these workers. This changes now. Where businesses fail to carry out these checks, they will face hefty penalties already in place for those hiring illegal workers in traditional roles, including fines of up to £60,000 per worker, business closures, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.”
is off the chart. We can win the good fight at a slow rate and we’re getting really good traction. PedalMe is running something like 50% from February last year to February this year.
“We’ve obviously had some business challenges and we’ve done a huge amount of restructuring of the business. Now we’re growing very quickly and taking on staff from Zedify and giving them employment.”
Much of Zedify’s operation was focused on (but not limited to) London and likewise PedalMe is centred on the capital. But which international city is a shining light in cycle logistics?
“I think it’s London,” says Knowles. “I speak with major cargo bike manufacturer and they tell me that in the Netherlands they sell one business bike for every nine. In the UK, they sell nine business bikes for every family bike.
“I think London is one of the largest B2B cycle logistics marketplaces in the world and we’ve got a big part it. We’re an ambitious service that sets out to replace motor vehicle movements. I believe we operate the largest cargo bike-only fleet and I’m willing to bet that we cover many more miles per cargo bike than anyone else.”
www.pedalme.co.uk
2025 represents an interesting time for the cycling industry. Off the back of a hugely disrupted set of years – and with the tantalising prospect of an end to the short-term market decline recently endured and a return to growth, the year looks set to be a turning point.
However, there are fewer opportunities for the trade to meet up in 2025, due in part to the huge disruption of recent years. While there are house shows and similar which continue to work incredibly well (we know, we were there at most of them), there are very few open opportunities for all bicycle businesses to come together and exhibit amongst one another in the UK cycle market in 2025… until now.
While technology has vastly expanded the number of touch points between bike shops and stockists with distributors, brands and importers, anecdotal data and hard statistics – including those gleaned from Cycling Industry News’ own Market Data – has underscored the fact that getting face-to-face
With a strong emphasis on education & networking, CIN Live aims to bring the trade together like never before, over two days in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire
with customers and suppliers is vastly important to the bike trade and –specifically – bike shops.
70% of shops cited the chance to speak directly to brand managers as a key reason to attend shows
Over half of shops are drawn into shows by the latest product launches
Two thirds of shops are attracted to trade shows by informative seminars and new ideas for better retailing
With fewer opportunities for the cycling industry to meet together, CIN Live 2025 has been set up to answer a market need. As the trade recovers from its tumultuous few years, there’s clear appetite among businesses to evolve – and no doubt strengthen and become more resilient in case of further disruption ahead...
Guided by research and conversations with the trade, CIN Live will include a traditional show element of exhibi -
tion stands and new products, but with a strong emphasis on seminars and education.
Cycling Industry News Live’s carefully curated seminar programme will combine thought leadership for the industry, how-to guides for enhanced retailing, market data, best practice discussion and industry debate. A limited number of seminar slots will be available. Stay tuned for more details or contact the team for more information, via jon@cyclingindustry.news.
Cycling Industry News Live is an industry wide event, open to all and bringing the industry together. For more details and up to date information please visit the dedicated web site live.cyclingindustry.news
FOR ENQUIRIES FOR SPACE AT THE SHOW, CONTACT: Lloyd@cyclingindustry.news
Cycling Industry News Live 2025 will run over 14-15 September at the NEAC Stoneleigh, Warwickshire
Broadening the discussion on lightweight eBikes can help push the city and urban categories where there is ripe potential for the industry to capitalise... Two-wheel mobility drive specialist Ananda writes for CIN
“THE REAL FUTURE OF THE MARKET –AND ITS NEW OPPORTUNITIES –LIKELY LIES IN DEVELOPING LIGHTWEIGHT URBAN EBIKES THAT APPEAL TO A WIDER AUDIENCE”
When we think of lightweight eBikes, we often associate them with high-performance, lightassist eMTBs equipped with a mid-motor. However, this category should also include lightweight urban eBikes—agile city bikes that are easy to carry and store, especially for people living in the city or apartments. This segment remains largely untapped and holds significant growth potential.
Ananda argues for developing lightweight urban eBikes that appeal to a wider audience, to drive market growth
It's important to broaden the discussion beyond mid-drive motors and include hub motors for eGravel, eRoad, but particularly for eCity applications. The real future of the market – and its new opportunities –likely lies in developing lightweight urban eBikes that appeal to a wider audience. We have recently gathered extensive market feedback from both customers and retailers. One unexpected demand has emerged: a hub motor that is both powerful and lightweight.
Hub motor popularity has decreased among OEMs in the past, but this kind of motor can help reduce a bike's weight and production costs, as these motors are typically more affordable. With recent increases in power and component miniaturisation, hub motors now offer a compelling alternative to middrive motors at a more affordable price. At Ananda, we have developed compact, quiet and high-performance hub motors while maintaining cost-efficient production.
For modern eMTB riding, a lightweight drive system must still provide more than 60 Nm of torque to ensure a fun and capable ride. This quickly leads to the choice of a mid-drive motor. An eMTB motor with less than 60 Nm of torque, paired with a battery under 450 Wh and supplemented by a range extender, carries all the downsides of an eBike – extra weight and bulk – without providing enough power and range to explore trails that would otherwise be impossible on a traditional bike.
For urban bikes, this balance between weight, power and range is even more critical for first-time buyers and those who rely on bicycles for daily commuting. Many urban riders travel relatively short distances on flat city roads, meaning their power demands are lower. This opens the door for significantly lighter bikes than the current industry benchmark.
We are your trusted partner for comprehensive eDrive Solutions.
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Integrated hub motor and gear shifter
We focus on the development, production, and sales of smart electric drive systems to establish ourselves as a leading company in eMobility and to globally promote greener drive system applications. We want to ensure accessibility and affordability for all people.
Leveraging our R&D capability, our goal is to provide riders with the best eRide experience possible and support our customers. We research and develop new products and technologies, collaborate with brands to tailor solutions to their needs, and provide a full service.
Ananda’s headquarters in Shanghai are supported by three additional factories in China, with recent expansion into Vietnam. To further strengthen customer relationships, we’ve established service stations in the Netherlands, Hungary, France, Italy, Japan, and the USA, with more coming soon.
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“THE LARGEST MARKET POTENTIAL LIES WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT YET REGULAR CYCLISTS, AND BRANDS MUST OFFER THEM SIMPLE AND ACCESSIBLE SOLUTIONS”
As pioneer in hub-motors and more than 15 years of expertise we can help riders and eBike manufacturers optimise this balance by developing new technologies such as 'Auto Mode' and intelligent automatic shifting. These innovations ensure the right torque is delivered at the right time, ultimately improving efficiency, reducing maintenance, and ensuring a smoother, more responsive ride.
Current motor models for lightweight eBikes and their advantages
R820 eGravel Motor
For eGravel and eRoad, our R820 motor is an excellent choice, featuring a 142 mm OLD, a thru-axle, and a magnetic connector. It delivers 40 Nm of torque while weighing under 2 kg, allowing brands to design lightweight, agile bikes—something that mid-drive motors often struggle with in these categories. We’ve also developed an integrated system with a framemounted display and discreet buttons for effortless mode switching, combining functionality with sleek aesthetics.
R400 eCity Motor
For urban bikes, Ananda offers its brandnew R/F400 hub motor system. The R/F400 distinguishes itself with its impressive torque and is available in both 45 Nm and 50 Nm versions. Combined with its lightweight 2.3-kilogramme motor (2.2 kg for the F400), this results in a smooth, quiet, and powerful ride, ideal for navigat-
ing city streets or exploring the outskirts. The R400 is designed for rear-wheel applications, while the F400 has been developed specifically as a front hub motor.
The Ananda R900 represents a major step forward in eBike motor technology, delivering exceptional performance, intuitive electronic shifting and smart gearing optimisation. Weighing 3.8 kg and offering 50 Nm of torque, the R900 introduces a new level of intelligence in e-drive systems by integrating the motor and 3-speed shifting mechanism into a single housing. Particularly, the R900 automatic shifting system can make an impact on the market. Cycling should be intuitive and accessible, especially for first-time riders and non-cyclists. The largest market potential lies with people who are not yet regular cyclists, and brands must offer them simple and accessible solutions. For example, imagine a parent taking their children to school on an eCargo bike –they have to navigate traffic, shift gears and adjust motor modes, all while keeping control of a heavy bike. A fully automatic shifting system in a lighter bike would be a game-changer for them.
The Gear Hub Motor: “An alternative that doesn’t compromise on quality”
With the comeback of hub motors, eBikes are once again becoming accessible to a different group of people who struggle with the idea of spending over €5,000 on a lightweight eBike today. Brands must offer more accessible options without compromising on quality and service. This is where Ananda stands out as a strong OEM partner, delivering a well-balanced mix of performance, value and reliable support for both manufacturers and retailers.
ANANDA SPECIALISES IN ADVANCED TWO-WHEEL MOBILITY DRIVE SYSTEMS, BOASTING OVER 20 YEARS OF EXPERTISE IN MID-DRIVE, SIDEMOUNTED AND HUB MOTORS
www.ananda-drive.com
A modular solution for the service and logistics industry, all hosted on one UK-made robust chassis, the new generation Eav Bikes are taking the streets by storm. CEO Chris Temple shares his vision for the four-wheel cargo bike with Cycling Industry News…
I“WE’RE AIMING TO PRODUCE 400% MORE BIKES THAN WE HAD IN LAST YEAR’S
ORDER
BOOK”
Deliveries may just be the tip of the iceberg potential for the Eav bike range...
f you have noted the steady growth of four-wheeled cargo bikes sporting the logos of the likes of DHL, Evri or even Amazon then you’ll be aware there’s high hopes that the logistics sector could be about to shift in a revolutionary way. Eav Bikes’ rapid expansion accounts for many of the aforementioned branded bikes and it’s not just in the UK that the company is turning heads, its quadricycle-style electric bikes are now on the streets of New York, among other far-flung places.
Championing British bicycle businesses, thus far MPs and Monarchs have tended to end up in Brompton’s factory, yet recently it was Banbury MP Sean Woodcock who toured Eav’s newly enhanced facility as part of a visit seeking to inform the Labour administration of the sector’s progress and how this British manufacturer wishes to be front and centre of protecting the cargo bike’s status as a bicycle, even if some adjustment to the regulation may eventually come to pass on account of the permissible weight on board.
As some in the bike world will be aware, not so long ago Eav Bikes saw a reshuffle at the top of the business, and CEO Chris Temple’s task has been to chase down profitability to make Eav a sustainable business for the long term, a goal that is now in view. The reward is enormous, speculated to be a significant enough slice of revolutionising the parcel delivery and small vehicle service network in the UK. In short, it’s probably millions of vehicles that could be replaced with Eav bikes, and
the political sentiment to make it happen is no better revealed than by the increase of clean air zones in cities.
“We’re aiming to produce 400% more bikes than we had in last year’s order book. In just nine months, we built more bikes than in the previous two years combined—and that was with a factory move in the middle of it all. We’ve made it happen by simplifying production, streamlining our supply chain and designing for easier manufacturing,” Temple told us on a visit to Banbury.
As we tour the facility and eye a line of ready-to-roll Eav Bikes ready to roll on to their customers there’s little doubt that big changes are well underway. Where we can see unfinished builds in progress on the factory floor you can get a sense of just how well built these vehicles are now; after all, they have to stand up to some of the harshest use a bike can go through, day in, day out and carrying a variety of loads.
Of course, the cargo bike sector has witnessed some turbulence lately, with Zedify and PedalMe both having some operational challenges, the latter surviving and reshaping, but the former now wound up (see page 36). Temple is determined that Eav will not be among the casualties. As the newly developed Mark 5 model progresses into production and upscaling of numbers, Eav has achieved the first steps in scaling. It can do this in part down to a redesign that enables the bike to be shipped and assembled overseas.
“Our Mark 5 flagship has improved brakes, a more durable chassis, an upgraded motor, and it’s designed for easy disassembly and shipping,” Chris says. “We can now handle cargo loads up to 170kg.”
Even with the company’s ambitious growth plans, there’s a parallel effort to strengthen its support network, something that is deemed crucial to success once the product is delivered and in market. Bike retailers and workshops that are agile and have the room, namely the likes of Fix Your Cycle and Fettle, have taken advantage of the currently niche, but inevitably growing demand.
Fettle’s Kwik-Fit partnership is helping to provide large-scale workshops equipped to service bigger cargo bikes and a spokesperson tasked with finding Fettle’s next Kwik-Fit location indicated to us that space to carry out this large footprint work plays into the decision to open the next location. After all, the viability of cargo bikes as an alternative to vans depends on a solid support infrastructure that understands what they’re looking at and how to service the specialist components.
While to date you may think the quadricycle’s role has been best suited to small parcel delivery, but Chris now feels that the Eav Bikes business has legs to grow by another chunk by working with councils on things like refuse collection, or National Trust sites on grounds work. So, service vehicles are becoming an increasingly significant part of Eav’s business. Chris predicts that service applications could soon account for 30% of the company’s bike usage.
The market potential is therefore vast a point that is best illustrated by research from Clean Cities. Here their study revealed that cargo bike use in London has surged by 63% in the last year alone, with estimates suggesting that delivery bikes could have replaced 17% of van deliveries in some boroughs by now.
There are now many cargo bikes for business brands seeking to get in front of fleet managers and demo to their staff how pedal-assisted cargo bikes work. It does not take long to demonstrate their potential for enhancing a firm’s bottom line.
Temple acknowledges that persuading traditional site managers and long-time van drivers to make the switch isn’t always easy on account of preconceptions, but the tide is turning, or at least it is as soon as fleet managers understand the time and thus money savings on offer. Riders do of course also benefit from not being stuck in traffic, have the stress of finding parking and they’ll get some exercise as part of their work too.
“Companies are now coming to us rather than us having to chase inquiries. We can also lease our bikes through Northgate, making it easier for businesses to try them without committing to the current £13,495 retail price—though we’re working on bringing that cost down over time,” he says.
That price tag might seem steep at first, but once you break down the savings, it quickly becomes clear that cargo bikes can become an asset to a business in a similar way to something like solar panels. Sure, there’s an upfront cost, but the more use you get out of them the more money you’ll save.
“Transport for London data suggests that the average time spent looking for parking in the city is between six and nine minutes. And parking somewhere like Covent Garden? That could set you back £20,” Chris points out, emphasising how quickly van-related expenses add up.
“We had a customer who had to pay someone just to sit in their van and move it if a traffic warden came by—because the fines were getting out of control. With our bikes, you can park anywhere and take more direct routes, saving even more time.”
Chris may be being modest about the full cost-saving potential. Eav is constantly collecting data, refining its designs, and as a result, achieving ever-better outcomes for its customers. One interesting snapshot for the fleet manager is the fact that charging an Eav bike’s standard battery costs just a little over
£1 at today’s electricity prices—far less than the rising costs of EV vans, let alone traditional fuel prices. The unseen benefits stack up too, so don’t forget the indirect savings: cyclists take fewer sick days, and businesses using cargo bikes benefit from lower insurance, no vehicle excise duties, and exemption from congestion charges.
With clean air zones rolling out in major UK cities, Eav Bikes are well positioned to offer domestic test rides and close-to-home servicing. With production ramping up and the case for greener logistics growing stronger by the day, Chris and his team are actively seeking out those businesses and services that want to be part of the change we all hope to see on the roads.
www.eavcargo.com
Eav bikes can
“WITH
CLEAN AIR ZONES ROLLING OUT IN MAJOR UK CITIES, EAV BIKES ARE WELL POSITIONED TO OFFER DOMESTIC TEST RIDES AND CLOSE-TO-HOME SERVICING”
Andy Wigmore | Saddleback
“WE HAVE BEEN PREPARING FOR THIS FOR A LONG TIME…”
We’ve not been short of seismic news in the industry recently, but the arrival of Cannondale and FOCUS at Saddleback has been a big welcome good news story, as well as one of the most significant distribution stories for the trade in years. The arrival of the big bike brands with the Yate, Bristol-based performance bike product distributor marks a new phase for the firm, and likely a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Saddleback and its partners. Boss Andy Wigmore speaks with Jonathon Harker…
It’s been quite a time for the trade and of course for Saddleback more recently… Saddleback was 20 years old in May last year. We’ve had a number of challenging years, which haven’t been pleasant, but at the same time, we had a great belief in what we were doing and that our strategy was the right one. We kept reviewing it and questioning it as things got more challenging: Are we doing anything fundamentally wrong? Should we be doing things differently? And we kept confirming that, no, we’ve done the right things. We’ve got the right brand partners, the right relationships, the right dealer network with many years of successful trade together… We have to believe that this will come good again, whilst maintaining this business so that it’s fully operational.
We’ve not let one person go over the last three years or downsized in any way. We’ve continued to invest in everything we used to invest in. We were confident that there would be brand movement in the industry, and opportunities would present themselves as a result of that. We talked to lots of different brands, but this was one [Cannondale] that perhaps we didn’t necessarily see coming. They approached us back in July and had
admired us from afar. They liked what we did, they liked our performance side and that was really important to Cannondale, particularly as they globally are a performance technology leader. If they were going to change their approach to market, then it needed to be with somebody who could enhance that, so it was very flattering. Obviously, it took a number of months to be able to see whether that could actually be a possibility. We’ve certainly got the experience here of being able to sell premium brands, promoting them in the right way and managing them in the right way. We have a great team of people and the space – we had a purpose built 40,000 ft2 facility and the showrooms. These are things that we take for granted, as the normal way of doing business, but they’re quite unique in our industry. Not so many invest in these. We see this as a great opportunity to not just increase the size of our business, but actually to increase our value to the trade in terms of our proposition.
We’ve had retailers come from all over the United Kingdom and Ireland to our Q1 house show, because they see Saddleback now as not just a niche supplier of Performance Accessories, but suddenly now as
a volume supplier of premium performance products. That’s the game changer for us. It’s really exciting, with a tonne of work, obviously. We’ve hired additional people – six initially – including three new reps (two of which came from Cannondale and have been doing the job for a number of years). We’ve brought in Clive Gosling in Marketing who obviously has a great history with Cannondale, and additional people in customer service and in tech roles in the workshop.
We will need to add more in the warehouse and customer service as the business continues to grow, but we expect to double our business this year, which is just looking at the historic Cannondale numbers for 2024. Obviously that was in a suppressed market but by adding that level we’ll double our business. So we’re super excited and trying to keep our feet on the ground.
Is the bike trade going to get any busier? Well, we like to think so, and everybody feels like it’s about to, but the economy is something we’re not in control of. But our proportion of the industry cake will this year and going forwards be significantly bigger, and that’s a fact. We’ve got to make sure that we do that honourably. We need to do
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that in a way that is respectful and take people with us.
It’s been great over the three days of the Open House seeing a lot of new retailers come that have historically been big Cannondale retailers, some who have focused more on bikes than parts and clothing, maybe. We’re increasing our dealer footprint significantly. We’ve had other retailers come who are traditional Saddleback customers that have never done Cannondale, and that could present opportunities for an increased Cannondale footprint in the UK. And then we’ve also had those that have done some business with us whilst also stocking some Cannondale product and who have said we’ll now be a much bigger part of their spend, show what else you’ve got as you’ve now got my attention. That’s been really nice. It’s exciting to see new opportunities and where they’re going to come from. We’re just going to make sure we deliver.
That’s the next big step for us, to maximise this once-in-a-generation opportunity. The last time anything of this sort of size happened probably was when Giro went from Madison to ZyroFisher. Nothing of that scale has happened ever since, and it says a lot.
What we’ve seen is that it’s been tough, for the last three years, but we’ve dealt with Castelli since 2006 we’ve dealt with ENVE since 2010 with Sidi since 2012. Lots of our brands we’ve worked with for a long, long time, and we’ve all supported each other throughout this process. All of those brands are going to grow now off the back of this increased exposure, and our value really to the trade. So, that’s exciting and I think it has justified the view that we’ve taken over the years. We’ve had our own vision on who we are and how we do things. The investments we make in facilities like this one and people, which are costly when trade is hard. But when there are opportunities for success then we feel it’s the right thing to do. We like the fact that we are different, and that we are premium. This opportunity has come our way because of these things. Will it mean that other things will potentially come away as a result of that? Yeah? I think it’s likely. I mean, I think, you know, our head is probably a bit further up over the parapet now than it used to be.
One thing that we’ve always done is to try to limit the amount of brands that we represent to about 15. If you sell the super
“THEY NOW SEE SADDLEBACK AS NOT JUST A NICHE SUPPLIER OF PERFORMANCE ACCESSORIES, BUT SUDDENLY AS A VOLUME SUPPLIER OF PREMIUM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS. THAT’S THE GAME CHANGER FOR US”
premium brands, they require a lot of attention, a lot of touch points and a lot of investment. I’ve never personally believed that you can do that over a much wider group of brands without missing opportunities and failing in some areas.
We need to be careful now that we, because of our increased profile, don’t suddenly kind of step away from our values. Like dealing with brands that all interconnect. That’s part of our strategy… somebody who wants to ride a Cannondale Supersix is likely to do it with Castelli shorts on and Sidi shoes, and the same with Troy Lee and Pivot. These brands connect, and we need to make sure that we don’t fall foul of the opportunity we have now.
We’ve been able to take some of the ex-CSG people on, which is great. They’re enjoying working with new colleagues and in a different environment, but with a brand that they love.
And through this process, it has become apparent just how much love there was for Cannondale in the Saddleback business. When you look in the staff bike cage downstairs, what bike was there that people had paid for with their own money? Inevitably, nine times out of 10, it was Cannondale. The large proportion were already massive Cannondale fans and had ridden them for years. When the opportunity came along, it was a brand that just naturally fitted. It wasn’t a brand to try and develop a passion for, not just a
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revenue opportunity. As the bikes started to arrive for the show and the showroom was rebuilt to be a bike showroom… it was amazing to see how many people who don’t really need to be in that showroom found a reason to be there. I guess that’s ultimately what it’s all about, right? It’s great for us as a business that other brands, even of a similar magnitude, might not have been.
I guess everybody’s going to be watching you…
I guess so and that’s flattering, but we must remain true to who Saddleback is.
[At Open House]] we’ve heard about some of the operational modifications you’ve been making to the warehouse and elsewhere…
The other warehouse used to be bulk storage and that’s now been brought into the main warehouse. We’re modifying how we store things, locate things and how we pick. There’s been a lot of changes to our processes here to make us more efficient. The warehouse next door has been modified and is now a complete bike warehouse. We’ve got scope but I think if our budgets are realised we’ll run out of space. Within a year or so, we’ll need additional warehousing for storage of bikes, which is a nice opportunity and a nice thing to be thinking about, as opposed to, you know, we’ve got all this space and all these people and the phones are not ringing.
What is your view on the market overall?
At the moment I’m hearing a lot of cautious optimism.
Well, we traditionally run our House Show every year in September. A lot more people came in the September just gone than in the last two years and the general enthusiasm about the season ahead was evident. Now, almost six months on from that time, to put this event on at relatively short notice, to see people come when, frankly, they are already ‘showed out’, having just been to COREbike for a few days and probably also been to iceBike*. Now we’re asking them to come down here to Bristol to spend a day with us. We put the show on over three days to try and be flexible and each day we maxed out the capacity with the volume of people is safe to have here. It’s evident that people are prepared to go and view product and to have business discussions, because they do feel some confidence.
It might seem a bit much to say you’ve been preparing for this moment, but in a way, you sort of have as a business... I think that is absolutely the case. We had this place built in 2016 and a similar sized unit was built next door at the same time. We wanted to have the right facility to be a leader, so we took on that unit at the same time. It was double the lease,
“YOU CAN'T CONTROL EVERYTHING, BUT YOU CAN SET YOUR STALL UP TO BE IN THE RIGHT PLACE”
double the rent, double the everything. But it was because we were preparing for this opportunity. You can’t control everything, but you can set your stall up to be in the right place. And when Cannondale came here, they could see the facility that we had, they knew that their brand would work here.
Ultimately that gave them the confidence, along with the people in the business, to make that decision. So, we have been preparing for it for a long time, and we probably already had more people than we needed, because we wanted to offer good service and went above and beyond, which comes at a cost but all of that has been justified.
We’re very grateful to all the people that helped us along the way, the retailers, the media… everybody’s been so supportive of what we’re trying to do. And we’re very grateful for that.
www.saddleback.co.uk
