Decathlon Road Bikes - very small sizes no longer available

[Reynard]

Was in Decathlon in Surrey Quays last week - not to get any cycling stuff this time, but didn't stop me having a browse.

Noticed that they no longer appear to do the XXXS and XXS frame sizes for their current range of Triban roadies, while XS is only available on the women's 520 bike. Frames in the shop only went S and larger.

Basically this means that they no longer seem to cater to anyone under 5' 3" or those who want a value for money roadie for the kids. Booooo...

 

[bonzobanana]

Maybe too low sales to merit them. Some of the bike spec's on quite a few brands have dropped a bit or prices gone up. Value of pound dropping a bit has probably meant pressure on their margins. Supplying the most popular sizes only would improve efficiency in logistics and warehouse storage costs. Niche products that sit in warehouses for long periods can be expensive. I mean XXXS vs S, M or L you wonder the sales ratio difference between them, it could be huge.

 

[amasidlover]

Just had the same issue - we were quite tempted by this:

https://www.evanscycles.com/specialized-allez-650c-2017-junior-road-bike-EV212196 - but it was a bit big for my son.

We also looked at the Wiggins range which was equally around the £300 - £400 mark.

One of the things that put us off was the 650 wheels - when we actually started looking for 650c tyres that we could use for our occasionaly canal tow path / mild off road runs we found that we only had a couple of choices of tyre.

In the end we went with a Giant TCX Espoir 26 - was quite a bit more expensive but had the versatility to take larger tyres or slicks in easily available (559 / 26") size for commuting to school, occasional off road use and a pannier for our mini-tours.

 

[Reynard]

Guess if you're in a position to have a bigger budget, then there are always going to be more options out there.

I went for the Wiggins roadie over the B'twin in the end because it was the bike that made me smile, and have been riding it happily for nearly a year. The 650 wheels - well at the frame size I ride, they're pretty much a given.

Can understand why Decathlon have scratched the smaller frame sizes for their road bikes given the current economic climate, but it also means that their junior range is now pretty well much city bikes with step through frames and mountain bikes.