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Issue 96 | January 2014


EDITORIAL


NEWS 6-8 MYSTERY SHOPPER


Our undercover reporter gets a nose bleed by heading north of Watford Gap to quiz retailers in the South Manchester/Cheshire belt


FOCUS ON… CORE BIKE 2014 GUIDE BROMPTON Sponsored by 31


The British manufacturer has hit its 25th year of production. BikeBiz went a-brazing


ENIGMA


E-BIKES EBC has big expectations for its 2014 range. We investigate and take a look at the smart wheel battle


OUTDOOR & FITNESS Consolidation in the outdoor sector has created an ever-more powerful JD Sports...


WORKSHOP SPECIAL 53 TRAINING 63 DEALER PROFILE PEOPLE NEW PRODUCTS 61 COMMUNITY


Lovelo Cycle Works, a fresh-faced bike shop in the Chilterns, comes under the spotlight


56


Not heard about the new faces at Paligap, i-ride and Suarez? Then get flicking those pages


70


Sugru is not a new sweetener for your tea, but it is handy addition to your bike shop shelves


SPOKESMAN


Carlton Reid wonders if second-hand bike refitters really are hurting bike businesses


EVENTS 76 OFF TRACK 88 NUMBER CRUNCHING 86 90 SPONSORED BY


67 73


Last month’s IBD column got you talking. Find out what the fuss was about on page 73


AS NOTED on BikeBiz’s trade only forum (ask us for a log-in if you haven’t got one), bikes had a lot to compete with this Christmas. While Froome’s Le Tour exploits and London 2012 are still fresh in the memory of cycle fans, wavering riders and fair-weather cycle fans have seen fierce competition for their attention and wallets.


News and opinions on the latest goings on in the bicycle industry, including our new anonymous IBD column


Not even the economic slowdown has managed to curb


14 17


Ever tried to cram the entirety of one super trade show into seven pages? Us neither, but here’s a slice of what you can expect to see at Core Bike 2014


35


In something of a mini-celebration of British manufacturing, we also visited Enigma


47


PlayStation 4 from having a ‘record-setting’ games console launch. Maybe those credit cards are being maxed out again, eh? Or maybe it’s time to invest in Wonga? Beyond that initial PS4 launch hit, consumer demand for the machines – that sell for at least £399.00 – will remain high as punter clamour continues despite the inevitable stock shortages. And the launch of the Xbox One may not have have quite hit the PR heights of the PS4, it still managed to sell one million consoles in under 24 hours, which ‘ain’t too shabby. Let’s hope there was some margin for retailers. Meanwhile the iPhone 5S was the second most popular online searches in the UK in 2013 (according to The Independent). So, in a nutshell, bicycle retailers had a lot of competition for attention and purchases over December.


Is it any wonder that retailers and brands tend to concentrate their efforts on cycle enthusiasts, rather than fair-weather cycle fans?


But then that’s every Christmas, right? It’s hardly the least competitive period in the retail calendar, so it’s perhaps daft to blame games consoles and the latest gadgetry for impacting on bike sales – and they really were impacted on at the tail end of last year if the forum is anything to go by. One shop claimed it was their worst December (at time of press) in 25 years in the bicycle business. So is it any wonder that retailers tend to concentrate their


efforts on parting cycle enthusiasts with their money? Alternatively, you are competing for the pounds of the type of consumer that will be happy to hold off their next bike upgrade so they can play the latest version of Grand Theft Auto (but with better graphics). So it’s all very well commentators like myself banging on about how the industry should attract non-cyclists into the market, which is an altogether riskier affair than preaching to the converted and concentrating on selling to cycle enthusiasts. But then, how is the market going to grow? Can we simply rely on British Cycling producing more top notch performances to inspire the masses? It’s a conundrum that is hardly unique to 2014, but if you do manage to crack it in between selling to the existing cycle enthusiasts, feel free to give us a percentage.


Jonathon Harker, Editor


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