BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
What promotions are you running for the Basso brand?
We have a huge reduction on 2008 stock. In addition, all Basso bikes and framesets will be delivered on a 24-hour free of charge carriage service. Other promos include discounts on three or more bikes or framesets.
Can you tell us about your marketing strategy for 2009?
It is one of the most important aspects in making Basso as recognisable and successful on the UK road scene as possible. It will take time, but within the next five years we’d like to substantially increase our market share to be a leading brand in the UK road-racing sphere.
We have full-page ads in some of the largest publications and have reviews coming up on the
Astra and Laguna models. We’ve got a big ad campaign during the Giro D’Italia too and hopefully
Lance Armstrong’s presence will indirectly generate interest to Italy and real Italian products.
There’s a new professional continental team riding Basso this year –Team Bourgas – previously Mitsubishi-Jartazi, which Frank Vandenbroucke and Alan Davis have ridden for.
On the UK scene we plan to develop a team for 2010 and 2009, and newly appointed GB Olympic development coach Robin Sharman – former Premier Calendar winner and GB squad rider – will ride for Basso.
Will you be at any shows with the brand this year?
We’ll attend the new cycle show at Donington Park and have recently held product seminars where we received exceptional feedback on Basso. The new Astra model in particular has created the most interest and we were astonished by the amount of shop owners buying the frame for themselves – that’s the best marketing we could ask for!
Why should a stockist consider stocking Basso when looking for a high-end road brand?
Basso has over 30 years of experience and is one of the only brands to manufacture frames in Europe by trained artisans in Italian frame production and design in their Vicenzan factory.
Basso has world and national titles to its credit and produces one of the lightest, stiffest and most responsive frames available at an affordable price. Consumer feedback has been fantastic, with nothing but praise for the finish and performance of the entire Basso frameset range.
As a distributor, we have carried out extensive market and product research and we can confidently say that we offer equal or better margins than most of our competitors.
To what extent will price increases affect the brand?
All segments of the market have undoubtedly been affected by price increases, caused by currency and raw material costs. It’s simply a case of reducing costs to the best of our ability to ensure the change is minimal until this dark patch has cleared.
Can you tell us a little bit about the Basso Astra?
The Basso Astra is the new baby for 2009 with seven colour options. It’s one of the sexiest bikes available and has proven race-winning performance. It’s only 870g for the frame and it’s capable of reacting to the wattage of any professional with an oversized bottom bracket shell, seat stays, head tube and 1 –1/5: 1 – 1/8 headset improving power outputs and reducing stress. Another unique feature to the Astra is its four-leaf clover shaped tubing, providing a stronger frame and improving handling on descents.
… And the rest of the range?
The quality of entry-level Basso Devil road frame is more than adequate as a light race bike. It has custom-designed, triple- butted aluminium tubing and Basso exclusively designed integrated headset and carbon fibre forks.
Next is the Reef; with customised compact geometry (as with all the framesets, with no price increase), resulting in a race performance greater than any standard geometry frame. It has full carbon fibre forks and seat stays for exceptional comfort for endurance events. The Laguna is the entry-level carbon fibre frame. Made using the same T700 3K carbon fibre as the Astra, it has the experience of the pro road race circuit, and is a proven race winner, with a combined frame and fork weight of 1,300 grams. Like the Reef and Astra, it comes in seven colours.
Basso’s Biggs
The man heading up the brand at Moore Large is Adam Biggs. The name may be familiar, as not only did Biggs appear in BikeBiz’s ‘Industry Rising Stars’ last month, but Biggs has also enjoyed a stint as a semi-professional cyclist, which is handy given that he’s talking about high-end bike brands to dealers all day long. One of ML’s newest brand representatives, you can contact Biggs on 01332 274280, or on email at basso@moorelarge.co.uk.
