BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Moore Large’s bike brands are seemingly looking after themselves in terms of sales and as such, the distributor has a renewed focus on its parts and accessories stronghold. Mark Sutton discovers plenty of progress on the house-brand front, as well as some imported gems…
Velo
For the first time on UK shores, the world’s premier saddle maker Velo is producing own branded leisure and sports saddles, fitting into the ‘Plush’ and ‘Senso’ categories, respectively. The entire line has landed with the distributor too, so if you’re looking for a streamlined, do it all range of saddles, look no further.
The Plush line targets the cyclist looking for a comfort upgrade and uses the manufacturer’s own double density base. Utilising rubber inserts embedded into the ‘sit bone’ areas of the plastic body, the Plush line should offer a saddle for every cyclist. Furthermore, there are designs tailored to both men and women.
Velo’s Senso line is targeted at the enthusiast cyclist, though does not quite hit the requirements of a pro level cyclist. Performance and comfort aspects combine in the form of gel inserts and perforated, breathable covers. Again, both men’s and women’s designs are available.
Eight Plush designs, ranging from £14.99 to £23.99 are available, while the ten saddle Senso line begins at £21.99 and settles at £43.99.
Pro Clean
Having undergone a bit of a facelift, Pro Clean has dropped the pink colouring and rebranded the bicycle specific cleaning, degreaser and lubrication products.
The main Pro Clean formula now comes in shades of yellow, comprising a unique blend of biodegradable chemicals designed to separate mud from both metals and carbon. Dealers are able to take on one-litre, five litre, or workshop friendly 25-litre cartons of the flagship cleaning fluid.
Savage Components
Besides a comprehensive range of bling bits, Savage Components has now branched into protective gear and gloves.
Weighing in at a very reasonable £40, Savage’s full face helmet is ideal for the beginner stuntman. Next to this, a line of lid style helmets, all costing £24.99 and available in sizes 54 to 61cm offer retailers plenty of protection stock at a very competitive price point. The full face design ranges form 54 to 58cm in size.
Forme
Though not much has changed with the bike line since BikeBiz’s last analysis, Forme as a brand is making strong progress both in terms of sales and brand recognition. With the launch of an under-23s training academy, Forme is putting six elite atheletes in that age bracket through training with a view to targeting national and international UCI races.
Brand manager for Forme, Adam Biggs tells BikeBiz: "The plan is to target international competition in our fifth year. The Forme academy will hopefully fill the gap in developing young riders into future talent."
Dealers are also urged to check out the newly launched formebikes.co.uk website, which has sections on cycle to work sales and women’s bikes, among other things.
Knog
Quirky Aussie brand Knog continues to knock out fresh lighting and security gear, with the two main launches in these sectors being the USB chargeable Boomer LED and Straight Jacket chain lock, respectively.
Available in both a ‘Skinny’ version and a ‘Fatty’ design, the Straight Jacket is made up of either a 6mm or 8mm hardened steel chain and a 38mm or 50mm hardened shackle brass padlock, depending on size. The ‘Skinny’ will set customers back £19.99, while the tougher ‘Fatty’ will cost £25.99.
At £12.99, the brand has expanded its fashion accessory line with a ‘Belt Musette’. The two pouch-clad belt is designed to accommodate phones, mp3 players, or replace wallets and purses.
Premium Products
Premium Products has a few unique ideas in its 2011 line, largely designed to keep riders rolling on its products.
In a massive boost to any shop floor assistant’s task of selling components, Premium has come up with a boxed set of the trending plastic pedals, complete with a spare plastic body.
Brand manager Adam Garner tells BikeBiz: "You’re effectively getting a two-pedal package. The axle supplied works universally with our entire pedal range, metal or plastic. As such, Premium has supplied a spare set of pedal cages with each box. Usually spare bodies cost £9.99 a pop. Premium’s durable nylon pedals retail for £30. Where else can you get two pairs of pedals for that price?"
Other key items in the line include the new FYB fork and the 1948 crank, named after the 19mm, 48 spline spindle. A set of these super-tough cranks comes in at £120 and four colour choices are available from Moore Large.
ETC
ETC’s spares and accessories line is broader than ever and the line would be a boost to any workshop needing stock such as replacement looseball bearings and other small parts.
If your customer’s bike needs a kickstand, again, ETC has both chainstay and bottom bracket mounted centre kickstands for a variety of wheel sizes. Stablizers, streamers and baskets tailored to young cyclists make for great add-on accessories on sales of child’s bikes.
Components for the cyclist on a budget are also part of the ETC line, with seatposts and replacement cranks for tapered bottom bracket axles all packaged in slatwall compatible packaging.
One23
House brands are all of a sudden extremely important to Moore Large’s business. Take Forme, which for the most part is now specced with One23 components, though young, it’s hard to imagine the Derby distributor without it and for good reason – the dealers love the product and the margins are healthy.
The line’s expanding too and now covers clipless pedals for road and mountain bike riders, replacement parts such as
jockey wheels and even a range of colourful multitools.
The components tailor to specific needs too. Take the R0-96 clipless pedal. This pedal comes ready for LOOK Keo style cleats, as well as many others. Sealed needle bearings are used and the weight is a reasonable 326 grams. One23’s line wouldn’t go amiss on any enthusiast’s bike.
Lake
As one of the only manufacturers with Speedplay pedal compatible shoes in its line, Lake was introducing many to the benefits at the Moore Large show.
Lake’s international sales manager Chris Dimmick tells BikeBiz: "Within the Lake catalogue, three shoes – the 401, 330 and 236 – are built with Speedplay pedals options in mind. The unique four bolt fixing eliminates the need for a 3.5mm thick adaptor plate, resulting in the foot being closer to the axle, thus the ride achieves a better transmission of power."
Dimmick also discussed the aesthetics of Lake’s line, stating that "the look, as well as the feel of the shoe has become increasingly important to the customer. It has to shelve well; in other words, there has to be a reason why the shoe catches the eye when on a retailer’s shelves."
New Lake-branded slatwall compatible point of display is now available from Moore Large.
Power Balance
Whatever your feelings toward the ‘magical bracelet’ market, there’s no denying Power Balance bands sell. In fact, worldwide, over 2.5 million units have been sold and with new point of display stands now available through Moore Large, selling to the consumer just became a whole lot easier.
Power Balance representative Martin Carr travelled in for the Moore Large show to speak with dealers both open minded and sceptical. He tells BikeBiz: "Power Balance is much like acupuncture in the way that it can’t be proven to scientifically work, but it just does. Centering the body’s frequencies, the hologram technology has the ability to increase performance."
At £29.99 per band, it won’t be for everyone, but for the open-minded and curious, pop a free standing 25 or 60 unit display on the counter and work your sales magic.
Limar Eyewear
For the first time, Limar’s eyewear range is coming to the UK alongside the brand’s helmet line – already in stock with the Derby distributor.
Each model within the £33.99 to £79.99 line offers full UV protection and varying levels of light transmission. Topping the line is the OF8, a clever pair of glasses suited to the cyclist’s after performance kit. The lense tint on the OF8 changes according to the sunlight.
Limar believes that their photochromic lenses can transfer between 49 and 11 per cent of the light according to conditions.
