Farewell Rose

[Pale Rider]

Rose will no longer ship bikes to the UK - for the time being.

A note on the site largely blames our right hand/front brake regulation, which is nothing new, and looks a weedy excuse to me.

It's possible their build capacity has been reduced by Covid, which they don't mention directly, but do talk about reducing inventory.

They also mention 'clarity about doing business with the UK', no doubt a reference to Brexit.

I noticed in the last year or two Rose bikes, while never cheap, were looking increasingly expensive.

Rose will be a miss, mine was the best made bike I've ever bought.

On t'other hand, their absence is an opportunity for home based premium brands.

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/news

 

[Blue Hills]

Yes i saw that.
Still selling bits to brits tho which is welcome.
I find wiggle/chain reaction pretty useless these days/for many a year.

 

[Pale Rider]

Still selling bits to brits tho which is welcome.

Certainly is.

Rose, like SJS, often have components the better known online retailers don't stock.

Shipping can make a small part expensive, but that's better than not getting it at all.

If Rose genuinely can no longer make the UK market pay for complete bikes, I wonder if the likes of Canyon will follow through the exit door.

With typical German precision, Rose describe themselves as 'bike assembly in Germany', which is what they do.

The frames are Far Eastern, and the bits are all bought in, although again typically German, they support home based suppliers such as Magura brakes, Bosch ebike motors, and Schwalbe and Continental tyres.

If Rose and others do quit the UK long term, there may be an opportunity for a home based entrepreneur to start an identikit 'bike assembly in the United Kingdom' business.

 

[rogerzilla]

A Brexit deal without agreement on zero tariffs and VAT will stop them shipping to the UK anyway. Just look what a nightmare it is buying from the USA; duty, VAT and a nice admin charge from the carrier too.

 

[HMS_Dave]

Certainly no Brexiteer am i, that is utterly pathetic...

So complicated are bicycles these days that it is seemingly impossible to move brake levers or add/change such a component at the importers if nothing else?

 

[cougie uk]

Certainly no Brexiteer am i, that is utterly pathetic...

So complicated are bicycles these days that it is seemingly impossible to move brake levers or add/change such a component at the importers if nothing else?

They've shut down the configuration of bikes so there's nobody to swap the cables and it makes no sense to have bikes set up differently just in case a UK order comes through. Much simpler and cheaper.

I'm sure some enterprising person might fill the gap in the future for a fee.

 

[HMS_Dave]

They've shut down the configuration of bikes so there's nobody to swap the cables and it makes no sense to have bikes set up differently just in case a UK order comes through. Much simpler and cheaper.

I'm sure some enterprising person might fill the gap in the future for a fee.

I'd do it for a fiver and a packet of peanuts, not sure how enterprising that might be...

 

[Chris S]

Rose will no longer ship bikes to the UK - for the time being.
A note on the site largely blames our right hand/front brake regulation, which is nothing new, and looks a weedy excuse to me.
https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/news

I've got my brakes set-up continental style, it must have taken me all of 5 minutes to do.

 

[figbat]

My Felt MTB was delivered with the LHD lever arrangement (German market bike). Five minutes with an Allen key and it was RHD. I assume they can’t ship them here as new in LHD though, so can’t leave the end user to sort it out. Maybe ship them with the levers unmounted?

 

[PeteXXX]

My Canyon was shipped with warning tags saying that it was UK spec brake fitting.

 

[dodgy]

Shame about Rose, I have one in my 'fleet' and is the one I always take on holiday. I was looking to buy another at some point from them.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

A note on the site largely blames our right hand/front brake regulation

Is there actually a regulation for this? I thought it was simply convention.
My current bike came from Germany with the wrong setup but I quickly got used to it.
If the brakes had been cable I might have swapped them over but they're hydraulic so I left them.

 

[mythste]

Is there actually a regulation for this? I thought it was simply convention.
My current bike came from Germany with the wrong setup but I quickly got used to it.
If the brakes had been cable I might have swapped them over but they're hydraulic so I left them.

Yeah, It's so that if you're turning right across traffic, signalling with your right hand and you brake, you grab a handful of rear brake, not front!

Quite sensible really.

If you've got nice internal routing or interesting cable management systems it is a proper nuisance to switch round, doubly so with hydraulics which many are now.

 

[dodgy]

Yeah, It's so that if you're turning right across traffic, signalling with your right hand and you brake, you grab a handful of rear brake, not front!

Blimey, 45 years as a regular cyclist including many trips abroad, and I've just learned the reason we have this! You're right, it does make sense!

 

[Illaveago]

Well if they can't comply with our laws then tough ! It's their loss .