BRANDS
We know from the research that this has a positive impact on the performance for riders with wider, higher-volume feet, and a significant impact on the comfort. Our ‘comfort and performance’ approach acknowledges there are foot shapes where, because of fit, some cyclists, whether that’s for high performance or recreational riding, previously struggled to be a Fizik customer. Now we are able to offer a shoe that embraces a wider section of the market, where you have both extra width on the last and a higher volume. We’ve long had pro riders that have wider feet - we’d basically do custom shoes for them. With our ‘comfort and performance’ focus, the idea behind this is the same. If somebody has naturally wider feet, and needs wider shoes, they can have more comfort. And, if you’re more comfortable on the bike, you can also express more power. So, you’re also more efficient and you go faster.
When you look at developing new products, we then start talking about where we manufacture, and how the supply chain looks? At Selle Royal Group, we are able to carry out saddle manufacturing, at scale, in Europe. With shoes, this is currently not the case, although it is something we are, with eyes firmly on the future, exploring. I will expand on this in a minute. First, we talk current initiatives. As part of a wider conversation, where we think about the environment, and also sustainability - we have invested in solar panels on all our factories. We’re also, at the design
stage, engineering our products to last longer. Better quality means a longer lifetime for the product itself. This connected approach to sustainability and environmental impact is being integrated into every aspect of the business. Take, for example, saddle production and material waste. With another brand of the group, we are working on a project to reuse parts (offcuts/leftover material) from production of saddles, with the materials reused in new products. For the wider business, waste reduction, through design and manufacturing optimisation, has started with saddles. In the future, this approach will appear in all the categories. Now, of course, in our industry, there is something that is easier and something that makes more time. Shoes will take more time.
Can you share some of the challenges of making shoes in Europe? Absolutely. So, of course, we see the trend that businesses are starting to think about coming back to Europe. Currently, when trade tariffs are mentioned, and logistical challenges – shipping routes – it means everything is getting a little bit chaotic. For shoes, the challenge is both raw materials and manufacturing partners. At the moment the production is Far East based. For example, if you want to work with Gore- Tex, you have to work in specific production clusters and according to specific standards. For carbon technology, at the moment it’s China. Any relocation requires a substantial project to replace and/ or replicate these skills, materials, and manufacturing capabilities.
This is a challenge of course, because our partners know the quality of our products that are made in China, Cambodia and in Vietnam. These are very high. There is extensive experience which makes this possible, spanning many, many, years. So, here we can see that any return to Europe-based manufacturing takes time. There are many considerations. Thinking long term, manufacturing in Europe could be achieved, but we must also then think about the supply chain, about how far raw materials are travelling, as well as the manufacturing itself.
You’re pointing out that reshoring - supply chain and manufacturing relocation - is also a sustainability project? Yes. Exactly. Because I think part of the challenge, at the moment, is materials being sourced in multiple locations - they already have mileage before they turned into a product, then they have more mileage as a finished product. Any relocation of a manufacturing project must include
trying to figure out how to possibly reduce the total mileage. This is part of our (group-level) ESG project we are working on. It’s the difficult part, that you have to measure the carbon
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