BIG INTERVIEW
Russ Downing (far left) and Tim Hammond (far right), with the team from The Coffee Chain cafe in Nottinghamshire
showroom, pick-up, and servicing on the rented bikes. At the time of writing there are 32 locations signed up to the BikeFlex servicing network.
The audience Traditional bike subscriptions offer a flexible way of testing the waters of cycling for new riders, with many services geared particularly towards commuters, casual riders, and non-cyclists.
But with its range of mid-to-high-end road and gravel
bikes, including models from British brands Orro and Reilly, along with Basso, BH, KTM and Cooper e-bikes, who is the target audience for BikeFlex? “The new cyclist,” said Downing, “or the people who bought an £800 bike in lockdown and really enjoyed it, now they want to go up to the next level. “One of the other areas we think it might be a great
market for is parents with youngsters - 15-year-olds who might grow out of the bike in 12 months, so they can bring it back and move up [a size], or if they fall out of love with it. So there’s a few good channels we feel it can really work in.”
Hammond added: “I think a lot of people are looking at
e-bikes, but they don’t necessarily want to go all out and own one - two and half grand is a lot to splash out.” BikeFlex has also partnered with cycle-specific insurer
Laka, to offer cover for its leased bikes, including race cover for competitive riders, offering a layer of reassurance
26 | March 2023
to any new cyclists. The brand doesn’t just offer bikes either, with cycling tech like Wahoo turbo trainers available on lease, along with payment plans for Assos apparel.
The next steps
There is plenty in the works for BikeFlex, according to Hammond and Downing, who in January launched a new flexible Cycle to Work option, allowing riders to lease a bike and pay via salary sacrifice. The bike will be leased by the employee’s company, with the cost then deducted from the employee’s gross salary. “There’s a lot of cycle to work schemes out there, but they’ve all got one major flaw, which is they want you to own the bike, or effectively pay for all of the bike,” said Hammond. “What we’ve done is get rid of that - you’re going to lease the bike, pay much less, and then have the option to own it at the end, or hand it back. I think that’s going to be a huge opportunity because a lot of employers won’t stomach anything over a couple of grand to take out of other cash flow.” BikeFlex is also looking for more partners, both retailers
and bike manufacturers, to help expand the network, including an option to offer the leasing service through their own websites. Hammond said: “What we’re doing is a new way of getting a bike - we definitely want more partners and we’re happy to work with them.” To find out more about becoming a BikeFlex or Cycle Espresso partner, contact Russ Downing on 07969 339631 or
russ@bikeflex.co.uk
www.bikebiz.com
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