From Wiggo to Lance: Review of the Year 2012

January
-2012 marked a host of anniversaries – from Raleigh’s well publicised 125th to Ison’s 20th, Ben Hayward Cycles’ 100th, Windwave’s 25th, Buff’s 20th, Bikeability’s 5th, Revel Outdoors’ 5th, Boris Bikes’ 2nd, we could go on…
-With the trade eagerly eyeing the forthcoming Olympics, pundits were giving their predictions on how it would boost the bike business…
-Meanwhile outdoor retailer Blacks went into administration, with JD Sports buying it for £20m
-The bike show calendar got the year started with the London Bike Show, which saw 85,912 visitors in total, combined with the Outdoors and Boat shows
-In other news, Bobbin Bicycles announced it was selling its Globe boutique store to focus on its wholesale business

February
-February was a campaign-tastic month that saw the launch of London Cycling Campaign’s ‘Love London, Go Dutch’ initiative…
-…And The Times launched its #cyclesafe campaign, generating debate and headlines over making cities safe for cyclists, a timely move since…
-DfT stats showed that danger is decreasing on the roads for all but cyclists. All of which proved a perfect storm for a parliamentary first – 77 MPs from across the parties debating cycle safety in parliament for over three hours
-Onto more industry-focused matters, PON made its first cycle company purchase of 2012 – Cervelo
-Meanwhile, Peregrine bikes, last made over a century ago, went back into production through Cyclemagic in Leicester

March
–Pace Cycles and CTC opened the Dalby Forest Bike Centre
-South Wales cycle retailer Wheelies revealed it had doubled in size
-While British brand Brompton moved to the next level in America, opening an office in Portland
-In the world of cycle advocacy, the Summer of Cycling was launched in March by a wealth of organisations backing bikes, including the BA, ACT, Sustrans and British Cycling. Minister for Transport Norman Baker dedicated £90k to the project (shared with Bike Week)
-London saw a significant expansion of flagship cycle project Boris Bikes into the east of the city
-And right across the country more schools joined in with the Big Pedal cycle competition, notching up a huge 890,000 bike journeys

April
-As ever, weather played a big role in the performance of the industry, and April was when the rain took hold…
-In between rainstorms, the industry’s eyes were on Accell, which revealed it was in talks to acquire Raleigh. By the end of April both parties had signed on the dotted line
-IPC Media’s first Road Cycling Show took place at Sandown Park, Esher in Surrey
–Fuel queues sparked a rise in bike sales, said Evans
-The LCC’s ‘Love London, Go Dutch’ project sunk its teeth into all four mayoral candidates, including the successful Boris Johnson
-Future launched BikeRadar US
-April also saw bike retailers hit by the ‘test ride thief’, offering dummy keys before making off with bikes
-The month saw Addison Lee boss anger cyclists, cause a media storm and finally back down

Read our May to August review here.

Read our September to December review here.