Another company bows out

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Gillstay

Gillstay

Veteran
mustang1 said:
I saw somewhere that Isla Rowntree was not finishing up the business due to cashflow problems but she justed to get.out of the business.
Click to expand...

I am certain there is more to it than that and of course COVID and lockdown has played its part.
 
Paul_Smith SRCC

Paul_Smith SRCC

www.plsmith.co.uk
Location
Surrey UK
It's not easy being in the cycle trade at the moment, few are thriving, many are just surviving and there's an alarming amount failing. It's very sad reading especially as I've been in the cycle trade 38 years through peaks and troughs and I have to say this current trend is as worrying as I have experienced.

In the case of Isla bikes yes it will probably be the sum of the parts and that may include that the owners have just had enough and want to do something different; maybe inspired by the fact that the industry is rather uninspiring at the moment and doesn't show signs of improving, I know of some in the industry who retired during the Covid pandemic and that was a big part of why the decided to call it day. Isla Initially had something of a monopoly on light weight quality kids bikes, a business model that seemed to be both popular and successful. Arguably years later that may not have helped, potentially at the beginning they were fulfilling a niche market, but as that small demand increased and gathered momentum, in part driven by their success, it simply bought the lightweight higher quality kids bikes onto the radar of other manufactures, Frog, Squish ( part of Dawes) and Trek to name just three make something comparable that's available through local stores; parents understandably often like to try their child on a bike for sizing and there will not be many stores without access to at least one of those three brands I have mentioned.

Bike prices have increased dramatically the last few years, hard enough to swallow as an adult where a purchase is potentially long term, whereas a child will often need a new bike every three years or so. Pre pandemic these high end kids bikes held their second hand value so well that with inflation you could almost get what you paid for it, so they made a viable option financially for many, those second hand values are now not as high in comparison, making the initial investment less appealing to some.

I'd wager that all the high end kids bike sales are far less popular than they were regardless of who has made them, which is both understandable given the price but it's also a real shame, quality bikes that offer a quality riding experience is a plus no matter what age the rider is.

If I'm right and this high-end child's bike market has diminished then manufactures will react to it, I watch with interest to see what they do, I hope they don't go backwards and offer something vastly inferior just to keep the purchase price affordable.
 
Last edited:
Jameshow

Jameshow

Veteran
Paul_Smith SRCC said:
It's not easy being in the cycle trade at the moment, few are thriving, many are just surviving and there's an alarming amount failing; sad reading, I've been in the cycle trade 38 years through peaks and troughs and I have to say this current trend is as worrying as I have experienced.

In the case of Isla bikes it will probably be the sum of the parts, including they' may have just had enough and want to do something different. Initially they had something of a monopoly on light weight quality kids bikes, a business model that seemed to be both popular and successful. Arguably years later that may not have helped, potentially at the beginning they were fulfilling a niche market, but as that gathered momentum it bought lightweight higher quality kids bikes onto the radar of other manufactures, Frog, Squish ( part of Dawes) and Trek to name just three make something comparable that's available through local stores; parents understandably often like to try their child on a bike for sizing.

Bike prices have increased dramatically the last few years, hard enough to swallow as an adult where a purchase is potentially long term, whereas a child will often need a new bike every three years or so. Pre pandemic these high end kids bikes held their second hand value so well that with inflation you could almost get what you paid for it, so they made a viable option financially for many, those second hand values are now not as high in comparison, making the initial investment less appealing to some.

I'd wager that all the high end kids bike sales are far less popular than they were regardless of who has made them, which is both understandable given the price but also a real shame, quality bikes that offer a quality riding experience is a plus no matter what age the rider is.

If I'm right and this high-end child's bike market has diminished then manufactures will react to it, I watch with interest to see what they do as, I hope they don't go backwards and offer something vastly inferior just to keep the purchase price affordable.
Click to expand...

I think that they and frog were very much fashion items for the with it new parents, and so everyone got wind thier peers at mums and tots had them, read the reviews and rushed out and brought them.
Fashion's change and the mainstream players spez, trek, have caught up and offer a baby allez!

So the market isn't as profitable as it was??
 
Gillstay

Gillstay

Veteran
Paul_Smith SRCC said:
It's not easy being in the cycle trade at the moment, few are thriving, many are just surviving and there's an alarming amount failing. It's very sad reading especially as I've been in the cycle trade 38 years through peaks and troughs and I have to say this current trend is as worrying as I have experienced.

In the case of Isla bikes yes it will probably be the sum of the parts and that may include that the owners have just had enough and want to do something different; maybe inspired by the fact that the industry is rather uninspiring at the moment and doesn't show signs of improving, I know of some in the industry who retired during the Covid pandemic and that was a big part of why the decided to call it day. Isla Initially had something of a monopoly on light weight quality kids bikes, a business model that seemed to be both popular and successful. Arguably years later that may not have helped, potentially at the beginning they were fulfilling a niche market, but as that gathered momentum it bought the lightweight higher quality kids bikes onto the radar of other manufactures, Frog, Squish ( part of Dawes) and Trek to name just three make something comparable that's available through local stores; parents understandably often like to try their child on a bike for sizing and there will not be many stores without access to at least one of those three brands I have mentioned.

Bike prices have increased dramatically the last few years, hard enough to swallow as an adult where a purchase is potentially long term, whereas a child will often need a new bike every three years or so. Pre pandemic these high end kids bikes held their second hand value so well that with inflation you could almost get what you paid for it, so they made a viable option financially for many, those second hand values are now not as high in comparison, making the initial investment less appealing to some.

I'd wager that all the high end kids bike sales are far less popular than they were regardless of who has made them, which is both understandable given the price but also a real shame, quality bikes that offer a quality riding experience is a plus no matter what age the rider is.

If I'm right and this high-end child's bike market has diminished then manufactures will react to it, I watch with interest to see what they do as, I hope they don't go backwards and offer something vastly inferior just to keep the purchase price affordable.
Click to expand...

I think you are bang on correct with that assessment.
 
AndyRM

AndyRM

XOXO
Location
North Shields
roubaixtuesday said:
That is a pity, and quite a surprise given the reputation they have for high resale value.
Click to expand...

That's part of the issue!
 
Sixmile

Sixmile

Guru
Location
N Ireland
Whilst I had always admired Islabikes and am sad to see them go, with two cycling kids now 9 & 11, they've never owned an Islabike between them. I think they were always abit out of our price range and there weren't many local to me that ever came up for sale when we were changing.
 
Gillstay

Gillstay

Veteran
Sixmile said:
Whilst I had always admired Islabikes and am sad to see them go, with two cycling kids now 9 & 11, they've never owned an Islabike between them. I think they were always abit out of our price range and there weren't many local to me that ever came up for sale when we were changing.
Click to expand...

I noticed that as well, as several people I knew had Islabike but when their kids grew out of them they were already spoken for as friends and family got first dibs very early on. Mind you I also built my son as good a kids bike as I could and then a few years later worked on my first Islabike and it was much better than what I achieved.
 
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