CSG UK PREVIEW
Charge has entered the fatbike arena with this limited edition bike
A trio of Peter
Sagan’s bikes, driven in from Switzerland for the show
WeThePeople’s Scorpio complete
1X11
Cannondale Scalpel 29er
Mongoose’s £899 29er full suspension platform
From Switzerland, with love
Missed out on Cycling Sports Group’s 2014 trade preview? Mark Sutton visited Mercedes Benz World to see new faces, new lines and a trio of Peter Sagan’s green jersey winning bikes driven hundreds of miles just for the gathered crowds…
WITH BOTH the founding members of what was once Hot Wheels having now moved on to pastures new, Cycling Sports Group UK has now entered a new era, where under the stewardship of Mark Broughton, the company will be sailing through the choppy waters currently hitting the BMX business and no doubt gliding over calmer seas with the likes of Cannondale, whose road offering for 2014 looks to, once again, be something special. In fact, CSG UK deemed Peter Sagan’s trio of tour stage winning bikes special enough to pick up from Switzerland and deliver to the gathered trade, prior to re-delivery to Sagan’s sponsors ahead of Eurobike. “That’s the lengths staff at CSG will go for our dealers,” said marketing manager Clive Gosling in a pre-show presentation. “Having promised Sagan’s sponsors the bikes will be with them by Eurobike, our product manager
14 BIKEBIZ SEPTEMBER
Logan drove through the night to bring these unique cycles in.” The short presentation, prior to giving
“You’ll now
find everything under the
Grater, Plug and Cooker banners...” Ash Clark, Charge
retailers free roam of the floor, served to deliver a few key messages to the room. Notably, these included snippets on each brands’ marketing strategies going forwards. For example, Charge’s link up with the likes of Vans, Levis and Red Bull were touted as a route to tens of thousands, or more, new customers. A delivery of a bike to a former Blink 182 band member, who subsequently tweeted his joy of owning the bike, was flagged up as a success story of how the label is using influencial people and labels to broaden its reach among key age groups. CSG explained how having made significant
inroads into the North American market, Charge was on the cusp of greatness and that dealers domestically will benefit from the
new simple and concise strategy adopted by the brand. “We’ve been fairly brutal in trimming down
and organising the range this year, so now you’ll find everything under the Grater, Cooker and Plug banners, give or take the odd limited edition build.” said Charge representative Ash Clark. “The marketing angle for this year is very simple – we’ve focused on adding touches like rust proof chains, puncture resistant tyres and mudguards where viable. Charge’s customers generally want something with a classic style, reliability and lightweight and the Grater line in particular benefits from these upgrades.” The bikes benefit from obvious upgrades,
such as road discs specced on the Tange Infinity built Plug 3,4 and Tange Prestige 5, costing £849, £1,099 and £1,599, respectively. Subtle additions are present too, with the roll
BIKEBIZ.COM
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