BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
The British Bicycle Awards were judged by folk from The Bike Show, MBUK, What Mountain Bike, Cycling Plus, British Cycling, BicycleBusiness and RideBMX Magazine.
British Cycling CEO Peter King welcomed the awards:
"Cycle sport is all about achievement and awards, but these awards have brought something different to the British cycling scene."
Gavin Brown, MD of Haymarket Exhibitions, said:
"We were delighted to host the BBA’s alongside The Bike Show, the perfect backdrop for the industry to recognise the astounding achievements over the past year.”
BBC’s cyclesport commentator Hugh Porter MBE was compare at the awards. At the end of the evening he got a surprise ‘lifetime achievement award’ from British Cycling.
The text below is his script, as lifted by BikeBiz.co.uk at the end of the award presentations.
Best Manufacturer: Clark’s
The new disc brake systems from this Birmingham manufacturer of gear and are innovative and sell.
Runners up: Trek, RaceFace, Danlite
Best wholesaler or importer: Madison
With an all-powerful array of top brands, including Shimano, the mother of all OEM and aftermarket kit, Madison is way ahead of the pack. Its e-commerce venture http://www.ultimatepursuits.co.uk could be a market-moving influence.
Runners up: Fisher Outdoor Leisure, Silverfish, Zyro
Best British Bike Shop of the Year: Evans
Check your watch, how many shops has Evans got now? This south-east bike shop chain is gobbling up competitors at an alarming rate (alarming, that is, for its competitors). And with a distribution centre and HQ at Gatwick airport, this is Britain’s highest flying independent bicycle dealer.
Runners up: Edinburgh Bicycle, Alpine Bikes, Halfords Bikehut
Mountain Bike: Trek Fuel 90 (£1300)
With its 3in of suspension travel it does almost everything just as well as most of the longer travel bikes, it’s both cheaper and lighter than many state of the art full suspension bikes and it has impressed every single person who’s ridden it, including a lot of very critical bike shop employees who normally love hardtails. It’s also representative of a big range of Fuel bikes that cater for all rider types, including hard hitters with the more costly models.
Runners-up:
Santa Cruz Blur
Marin East Peak (new Quad design)
Specialized Enduro
Best Value Mountain Bike: Specialized Hardrock (£299)
It’s extremely well designed, has an excellent fork for the price, is lighter and more comfortable than most of the opposition and the frame is well worth keeping for componentry upgrades way beyond this price bracket. It won a group test in WMB 16.
Runners-up:
Dawes Tamarak DX
Scott Voltage YZ-1
Specialized Hardrock Rigid
Product: Hope Minis (£120)
Designed from scratch as a lightweight open system, they offer superb lightweight performance.
Runners-up:
Mazzochi Marathon SLforks
Eggbeater pedal
Karrimor City Limits
Website:http://www.hopetech.com
It’s not the slickest site around but it’s dripping with just-the-sort-of-stuff-you-need-to-know. There are PDF owner manuals and exploded drawings of Hope’s many leading edge products. Very useful.
Runners up:
http://www.ultimatepursuits.co.uk
Best Road Bike: Airborne Torch
Text to come
Runners up: Storck Scenario Comp,Litespeed Sirius, Giant TCR Carbon
Best Value Road Bike: Guess RB1 (SuperCycles,Chris Poyzer)
Runners up:
Edinburgh Courier
Ridgeback Cyclone
Carrera Gryphon
Touring/distance Bike: Paul Hewitt Cheviot
Runners-up:
Thorn Nomad
Cannondale Sport Road 1000
Orbit Romany
Dawes Sadar
Commuting Bike: Ridgeback Genesis Day 01
No runners up!
BMX Bike: Fly Bikes, Estampida Pro
Runners up: Specialized 415 Pro
Hoffman Rhythm Pro Series
We-the-People 4Seasons Class Pro
Best Value BMX: DK Bicycles – Six Pack
Runners-up:
Eastern Bikes The Battery
GT’s Jamie
Male Sponsored Rider of the Year: Steve Peat
2002 UCI World Cup Downhill Champion…
Runners up:
Oli Beckingsale
Jamie Staff
Chris Hoy
Female Sponsored Rider of the Year: Nicole Cooke
Has held four world championships at one point including MTB. She won Commonwealth Gold in 2002.
Runners up:
Tracey Moseley
Caroline Alexander
Sue Thomas Formby
Team of the year: GB Sprint Team – Chris Hoy, Craig McLean, Jamie Staff
