BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Both Wiggle and customer Jonny Heneghan have stuck to their unusual bargain, swapping a bike – a Mekk Poggio carbon road bike – for a car – an old MG.
Last month Heneghan, a photographer from Godley, Greater Manchester, joked on Twitter and asked Wiggle if it would swap his old car for a Mekk bike. Portsmouth-based Wiggle called his bluff, replying "Sounds like a fair trade".
Heneghan (twitter name @shotbyjohnson) and Wiggle made good on their deal, with Heneghan picking up his new Mekk bike and Kask helmet on Saturday (November 24th) from the Wiggle HQ, dropping off his MG in the process.
“Jonny’s request struck a chord with us here at Wiggle," said Wiggle’s social media executive Daniel Loots. "Many of us here have swapped our cars for bikes to try and cut our commuting costs and keep fit, it’s much better than sitting in traffic wasting petrol and it’s great to be able to help him do the same.”
When Heneghan told his friends and family they “couldn’t understand why I would swap my car for a bike, but once I explained the money I will save it made sense. My Fiancé was dead happy as she knew how much I wanted a road bike but was holding off to save up for the wedding.”
Heneghan’s interest in cycling was sparked after starting to cycle to work in order to save money to marry his fiancée Jennifer-Anne Bourke. He said: “Petrol prices are sky high and my insurance doesn’t seem to come down all that much, so I started cycling again about six months ago.” Losing over three stone and feeling inspired to train harder and ride further, he needed a better bike but didn’t want to cut into the wedding fund. Having read a news article on someone who’d blagged a free holiday via Facebook, he took matters into his own hands.
Wiggle said the trade was probably a one off.
