Issue 97 | February 2014
EDITORIAL
NEWS 6-8 MYSTERY SHOPPER
Our undercover reporter quizzes retailers along the West Yorkshire borders in search of a light to illuminate his off-road rides
FOCUS ON… CORE BIKE REVIEW BIKE PLACE REVIEW 51
...And we were at Silverstone too for the fourth edition of the Bike Place Show
Sponsored by
We speak with Fisher’s new CEO, Sealskinz rebrands, Orbea sizes up the UK market plus the Festival of Cycling
ROAD CYCLING, road cycling, road cycling. It’s all you seem to hear about these days. The likes of Wiggins, Froome, Cav and Armistead have no doubt played a role to keep road cycling high on the cycle retail agenda but for once let’s pay credit to the brands, distributors and retailers who have all performed an essential role in putting road up on its current,
seemingly unassailable pedestal. However, there’s a decidedly less skintight figure
16 19
BikeBiz reports back from Whittlebury Hall on the new brands, products and launches. Turn to page 19 for five pages of shiny bike kit...
ZYRO SHOW REVIEW 28
Taking on a new shape this year, Zyro’s house show revealed the latest from its portfolio
E-BIKES Cargo e-bikes land in the UK, AVE saved from bankruptcy and a new conversion kit comes to market
OUTDOOR & FITNESS The Nucleus festival of sport launches and watch out for the latest from Garmin...
FOLDING BIKES 59 HELMETS 68 DEALER PROFILE PEOPLE
A bumper edition this month as the UK’s bicycle trade snaps up a weath of talent
NEW PRODUCTS
Including fat e-bikes, Catlike’s VD2.0 Aero helmet, Supercaz, Buff and shoes from FLR
74 SPOKESMAN EVENTS 80 OFF TRACK 92 NUMBER CRUNCHING 90 94
Ann Summers and bicycle lingerie: What is the cycle world coming to? asks Carlton Reid
67 COMMUNITY
Edd’s Bikes provides tips on how to keep the local scallies on-side in dealer profile spotlight
62 SPONSORED BY Jonathon Harker, Editor
71 77
Does the term ‘showrooming’ strike terror in your heart? It does for one retailer...
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appearing on the horizon. In our wanderings around the country to various trade shows over the past weeks we’ve heard first-hand how both BMX and MTB are displaying signs of green shoots. A bit of a stretch, you’re thinking? Maybe. We were
surprised too. First off let’s take mountain biking. Clearly there is an
ongoing expansion of facilities for mountain biking in the UK. More trail centres (Bike Park Wales, Cardinham Woods Trail Centre, etc) are springing up – springing up in the sense that lots of blood, sweat and tears have gone into making
One distributor told us that over the past six months they had seen more activity in the mountain bike sector than over the past two years.
them happen. One distributor – Fisher Outdoor Leisure (there’s more on them on page eight) – spoke to us about how road has been stronger in recent years at the expense of MTB, but over the last six months there has been more activity in the mountain bike sector than over the past two years. For this company, front suspension seems to be coming back in vogue – whether it’s down to 29ers or 650Bs or something else…who can tell? Switching over to BMX, there’s a similar story to tell in
terms of facilities (we hear). There are now over 120 BMX clubs in the UK and councils are installing pump tracks and the like, keen to be seen to keep that Olympic legacy going. CSG told us that from their perspective, BMX hit rock bottom about six months ago, but since then there has been a significant rise. Encouraging times for BMX and MTB then? Of course I’m not entirely daft (don’t listen to what everyone else tells you) – many of the people who talk to us have a vested interest in shifting MTB and BMX product, and the trade will forever speculate on what the next big trend will be...but maybe, just maybe, there is respite on the way for any of those specialist companies who have been struggling through what has been a barren period for many.
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