INTERVIEW
was that these types of brands were struggling to build in full dealer margins whilst remaining competitive. Brands were making the decision to come away from the traditional distribution model but didn’t really have a plan of how they were going to achieve it. These became our first target customers, and we’ve sort of stuck with it. It’s nice to be working with top-end products, and it fits the size of the dealer base required and the size of the team we have.
expect similar offerings to those of the big distributors, and we work with the brands we partner with to achieve this. Adaptive can typically run on lower margins than a standard distributor, which allows us to stay competitive on margin while keeping retail price points as sensible as possible. Inventory is run like that of a distributor. We hold stock;
we ship same day on a next-day service. There are some exceptions for some of our higher-end brands or custom builds, but typically, yes, we keep it in the warehouse and top up regularly from our partners to ensure our retail partners get product in the shortest possible time frame.
Your portfolio has expanded into distinct performance ordering habits across your portfolio, and where are you seeing the healthiest growth? As part of an initial market review in the very early days of Adaptive, we made the strategic move to operate in the performance end of the market. This wasn’t about the size of the opportunity or customer demand; what we noticed
At the Malverns Classic For our portfolio, it’s more brand-related than category,
and we are at the start of the journey with some new signings, which makes this question tricky. Gravel is growing in footprint in stores. LOOK, as a brand, has been received well; having a brand ridden by some of the world’s best athletes really puts this on the map of choice in road bikes, and our latest signing, Rocky Mountain, has been received really well, opening new accounts in stores we didn’t know too well before. Given the list of brands we work for, we get a wide view of the market. What’s in demand... We probably shouldn’t talk too much about our clients’ individual performance, but recognise that everything in the electric market is still growing significantly faster. That shift is becoming a sustainable product group, rather than a trend.
Looking ahead across the next few seasons, how do you see the relationship between brands, specialist distributors, within the UK cycle trade? A word we use at Adaptive a lot is ‘collaboration’, and it’s something we consider with every sales opportunity and purchasing decision. We believe what we’re doing is the right approach and that we must work together at all aspects along the supply chain to support and grow each other’s businesses and brands. From years of attending global shows and events, we
know most brands want a slice of action in the UK market; with fewer distributors, the need for more specialist ways to market will likely grow, and traditional distributors may add new additions to their respective portfolios. Our objective is to enhance our offering, perfect it, refine it, and make sure we are doing the best job for the brands, companies, and distributors that supported us early on. It’s sad to see the recent casualties in the industry, and we genuinely hope we’ve now seen the last, and that the market is recovering. It is better, and more people than ever are riding a bike now.
38 | October 2026
www.bikebiz.com
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