What do you think will happen to the UK bike retail industry?

[Paulus]

I have not heard of CHPT3 either. The title doesn't give any clue as to what it is or does

 

[Dogtrousers]

I think CHPT3 gear was a way of making a statement. Unfortunately it was a statement that not enough people wanted to make:

"I have ample disposable income and I think David Millar is a cool dude"

 

[Profpointy]

"Hello Halfords. My puncture is broken, could you fit me a new puncture please?"

At least that's how I assume they hear it.

I may have mentioned before, when I was in charge of the fleet of bikes at work, and to comply with PUWER regs we had to keep them properly maintained by suitably competent folk and records kept.

I was Cytech L2 trained so could do running repairs, but for servicing and anything too time consuming we had a deal with a smallish LBS who were very good, but the powers-that-be decided Halfords would,d be better because they were less expensive.

It wasn't long before a bike went in for a new BB and was returned with both cranks pointing in the same direction, whereupon I shoved it in a van, drove it to the Dream Factory, lugged it up the stairs to the finance departments office and asked the Director of Finance what made her think she knew more about bicycles than a suitably qualified professional, ie, me.

The arrangement was immediately terminated with Halfords and I got a bollocking from the CI about my temper, albeit a mild one because he could see what prats Finance had been on this occasion.

Unrelated to bikes but some years ago our dept needed to order a load of chips (integrated circuits) for building into our product. Let's say we'd specified XYZ123A, but our purchasing dept tried to save money by buying a load of XYZ123B instead as they were a quarter of the price. Trouble was they weren't merely a lower spec version of the same thing (which might or might not have been OK) but were entirely different items. This wouldn't have been that bad as we would have returned them for a credit note - however Goods-in in their wisdom had removed them from their special anti-static packaging so they could no longer be relied upon and could not be sent back. Couple of grand wasted.

 

[PaulSB]

Having a little time on my hands I did a bit of Googling. I found this from David Millar in autumn 2023:

"It's very easy to find yourself locked in and only think about people who are in your 'area'," he told us. "Whether it's road cycling, mountain biking, or urban commuter cycling, it's a really strange world, cycling, where every niche has its moat around it, and everyone stays very firmly within their island. And with CHPT3, we really wanted to start to bleed out of that and transfer across, not only those different ideas within cycling, but to start thinking of things outside it that we can bring in."

Frankly with an owner spouting this sort of nonsense its no wonder CHPT3 has gone bust.

 

[PaulSB]

The same article that quoted the above states Endura posted a £14m loss last month and Rapha recently posted a £22.7m loss. Rapha has now made a loss for seven consecutive years. In Rapha's case it must be they owe the bank so much that the bank has to keep the company afloat.

I've never thought much of Rapha and seeing those losses it seems I'm not alone. Clearly not enough cyclists are suckered in by an overhyped brand.

 

[Drago]

Unrelated to bikes but some years ago our dept needed to order a load of chips (integrated circuits) for building into our product. Let's say we'd specified XYZ123A, but our purchasing dept tried to save money by buying a load of XYZ123B instead as they were a quarter of the price. Trouble was they weren't merely a lower spec version of the same thing (which might or might not have been OK) but were entirely different items. This wouldn't have been that bad as we would have returned them for a credit note - however Goods-in in their wisdom had removed them from their special anti-static packaging so they could no longer be relied upon and could not be sent back. Couple of grand wasted.

Well intentioned but ill-informed attempt to save money usually end up costing a fortune.

 

[Profpointy]

Was there perhaps a bit of a bike shop boom-and-bust bubble? Years ago there were relatively few bike shops, some the LBS type plus a few bespoke / semi bespoke builders like Thorn, Bob Jackson, Condor and their ilkwhich you'd travel to visit. Then, maybe 20 or 30 years ago all the big brands came in, initially mountain bikes but later "road bikes" (or "racers" as we used to call them when I was boy) and loads of new shiny shops of a different style came in. Maybe we are returning to something more along the lines of what we used to have - a small number of specialist bike builders, and a significantly reduced number of LBS's albeit likely now brand named chains

 

[Profpointy]

Well intentioned but ill-informed attempt to save money usually end up costing a fortune.

Could easily have been avoided if someone had picked up the phone and asked "we can get these a lot cheaper - will they do?"

Well off topic now, but I read an account of some one who'd bought a load of precision weights; the kind you pick up with tweezers to avoid contaminating them with grease ofd your fingers and which were certified correct backed up to standards from the National Physical laboratory. Goods-in drilled a little hole in each weight so they could fit a numbers tag on each item creating several thousand pounds worth of scrap

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Could easily have been avoided if someone had picked up the phone and asked "we can get these a lot cheaper - will they do?"

Well off topic now, but I read an account of some one who'd bought a load of precision weights; the kind you pick up with tweezers to avoid contaminating them with grease ofd your fingers and which were certified correct backed up to standards from the National Physical laboratory. Goods-in drilled a little hole in each weight so they could fit a numbers tag on each item creating several thousand pounds worth of scrap

Surely an old wives tale with no truth in it.

 

[Profpointy]

Surely an old wives tale with no truth in it.

The first story is absolutely true, and I've seen enough stupidity to believe the drilled weight story even though it is only a story I've been told

 

[multitool]

In answer to OP, if China invadeTaiwan, the cycle industry will be (temporarily) on hold, but with a knock on effect to the supply chain that will last for years.

Otherwise, I think we will see a contraction of product lines from manufacturers, and a contraction of held stock from retailers.

Probably, if you've been holding out on a dream purchase now is the time.*

*I'm mostly saying this for my own ears

 

[Smokin Joe]

Was there perhaps a bit of a bike shop boom-and-bust bubble? Years ago there were relatively few bike shops, some the LBS type plus a few bespoke / semi bespoke builders like Thorn, Bob Jackson, Condor and their ilkwhich you'd travel to visit. Then, maybe 20 or 30 years ago all the big brands came in, initially mountain bikes but later "road bikes" (or "racers" as we used to call them when I was boy) and loads of new shiny shops of a different style came in. Maybe we are returning to something more along the lines of what we used to have - a small number of specialist bike builders, and a significantly reduced number of LBS's albeit likely now brand named chains

Cycle shops used to be divided into two main types, the run of the mill shops which sold sit up and begs, cheap "Racers" and general utility bikes. Go into one of those and ask for a cotterless crankset and you'd often be told they'd never had one in stock.

Then there was the specialist shop, nearly always owned by current or former cycle club members who knew their stuff and understood their customers. These were the haunt of the clubmen, whether it was for racing or touring bikes and equipment and all the gear only the geeks who took cycling seriously would ever want. The walls generally had frames hanging from them, often branded with the shops name and the places were full of kit to go in and drool over.

I miss those days.

Cycle shops now tend to be a bit of everything, sometimes with indifferent staff who lack any depth of knowledge about bikes.

 

[Jameshow]

The same article that quoted the above states Endura posted a £14m loss last month and Rapha recently posted a £22.7m. Rapha has now made a loss for seven consecutive years. In Rapha's case it must be they owe the bank so much that the bank has to keep the company afloat.

I've never thought much of Rapha and seeing those losses it seems I'm not alone. Clearly not enough cyclists are suckered in by an overhyped brand.

Of course the bankers prop up rapha what else are they going to wear?

 

[Dogtrousers]

I've got some Rapha arm warmers (yes they were on offer). They're really good.

 

[Profpointy]

Cycle shops used to be divided into two main types, the run of the mill shops which sold sit up and begs, cheap "Racers" and general utility bikes. Go into one of those and ask for a cotterless crankset and you'd often be told they'd never had one in stock.

Then there was the specialist shop, nearly always owned by current or former cycle club members who knew their stuff and understood their customers. These were the haunt of the clubmen, whether it was for racing or touring bikes and equipment and all the gear only the geeks who took cycling seriously would ever want. The walls generally had frames hanging from them, often branded with the shops name and the places were full of kit to go in and drool over.

I miss those days.

Cycle shops now tend to be a bit of everything, sometimes with indifferent staff who lack any depth of knowledge about bikes.

Appealing though the latter type was / is, they could sometimes stray into Smith & Jones Hi-fi shop territory