Issue 89 | June 2013
EDITORIAL
THE BICYCLE Association AGM is worth attending not least for the fact there are few other places where you can find representatives from Giant, Trek, Raleigh, Halfords, the head of the AA, the chief exec of the London Cycling Campaign and many other key members of the trade, all sat together in the same room.
NEWS 4-8 MYSTERY SHOPPER
Our undercover reporter looks for perfection in Watford, but did he unearth good service or a convincing sales pitch?
FOCUS ON…
Sponsors for the BikeBiz Awards 2013, the cancellation of the CTC’s York Cycle Show 2013 and more...
This year the AGM fell one day before Future Publishing’s own spring Cycling Conference. Both events saw keynote speeches that often, by sheer coincidence, echoed the same sentiment: “Together we’re stronger”. It’s a bit of a cliche and has been used in adverts, political
14 HOW TO WIN AN AWARD 20
Wondering how to lobby for one of this year’s cycle trade BikeBiz Awards? Then look no further – we explain the hows, whens and wheres...
BA AGM Sponsored by 30
The Bicycle Association’s AGM tackled bike imports, dumping and mergers...
GOING GREEN
E-BIKES German powerhouse KTM is excelling in the UK with its sporty e-bikes. We ask the questions...
OUTDOOR & FITNESS It’s all about the shows this month. We recap on the big changes at VOS Media and look to the OTS
EPOS 43 SECURITY 53 DEALER PROFILE PEOPLE NEW PRODUCTS 51 COMMUNITY
Radlett’s Giant store hit this year’s Top 20 IBD. Find out what the fuss is about on page 51
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Departures at Brompton, arrivals at Paligap... keep up with the bike trade people news on 46
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New lights from Dawes, Drift’s latest action camera and more in our product round-up
SPOKESMAN
Carlton Reid argues that if Birmingham can become cycle friendly, anywhere can...
EVENTS 73 OFF TRACK 88 NUMBER CRUNCHING 86 90 SPONSORED BY Jonathon Harker, Editor 61 71
Give e-commerce a chance. Not a revamped John Lennon cover, but a plea from a new retailer
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Which brands are holding the ecologically- sound torch for the trade? We investigate...
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speeches, company pep talks and more, but that’s because it is often true. Speaking with one voice is invariably an asset. Let’s look at the evidence. There’s the Cycle to Work Alliance – including rivals Cyclescheme, Cycle Solutions, Evans Cycle and Halfords. All four compete with each other for business, but they downed weapons to join forces to pool their figures on how many people are using C2W and to lobby the government on how important the scheme is in terms of benefit to the UK and to the bike industry. It’s difficult to measure what difference that has made in real
Look at the Cycle to Work Alliance – four companies competing with one another, then setting that aside to combine and lobby for cycle to work.
terms, but they formed in 2010 and the C2W scheme is still here, so it’s certainly not hurt the cause. Then there are cycle advocates – particularly British
Cycling and CTC – who compete for membership, yet managed to put that vital concern aside to campaign in one voice for the Get Britain Cycling inquiry, presenting the government with a united bicycle front that is asking for the same thing – safer roads for cyclists. And this year’s BA AGM saw the BA merge with the
British Electric Bicycle Association (BEBA), very much with that philosophy – casting aside any differences so that together, with one voice, they can lobby the government. Why bother? For those outside the industry and cycle
world, in-fighting and squabbling is a major turn off. It’s like that perhaps over-exaggerated news story last month where a group of Star Wars fans had a fight with Dr Who fans at a science fiction convention. Those daft nerds fighting amongst themselves, eh? Thankfully the bike world’s image is increasingly one of unity, presenting ever more compelling arguments for better provision and investment. If the alternative is looking as organised and unified as a
bag of in-fighting ferrets, resulting in the government saying “come back when you’ve made your mind up about what you want”, then I’m all for unity. Who’s with me?
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