BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
The Bike Place is now into its second year as a bicycle trade-only show. In 2011 there was just the one location, but this time round the emerging event divided its time over Harrogate and Silverstone. BikeBiz joined the show in its second leg at the famous F1 racetrack.
As revealed on BikeBiz.com, Magura brought the RT8 TT hydraulic road brake to the show, where discounts were available. Built for time trial and triathlon bikes, Magura collaborated with Cervelo on the aerodynamic road brake, which sports a quick release button within the brake lever for rapid wheel changes. The firm also showed off the 2012 fork line, as well as the rest of the MT hydraulic disc brake series.
Wildoo’s Pro Custom Bike Bag debuted at the show. Using an aluminium chassis into which the front and rear dropouts mount, the bike is secure during transport and the bag can be customised. The firm’s custom bottles and clothing ranges were on show, the latter of which has been strong for the firm, seeing turnover up 35 per cent.
A key player behind the Bike Place show, Surf Sales brought the likes of Powa Gloves, Electra, Transition and Dakine to the show, as well as a newly signed four-model fixie range featuring flip flop hubs, so they can be fixie or singlespeeds, with geometry tweaks from the distributor, and at affordable prices too, we’re told. Now in its second season with Surf Sales, Kali helmets have grown beyond full-face helmets and use spiky composite effusion plus tech, which places high and soft density foam which creates a crumple zone and spreads the force of an impact over a greater area. It’s also light weight, handily. There’s now carbon helmets for £265 and a carbon composite £200 RRP, both with significant margins, Surf Sales said.
The 2×2-distributed Montague range includes the new Boston, the latest addition to the full-sized folding bike line. The robust ride has low maintenance requirements and has reviewed well in tests, while there’s also a new version of the Paratrooper (the Pro). 2×2 has also newly signed German brand Liteville, which was received well at the London Bike Show, we’re told.
On the Cyclesense stand, Koga’s World Traveller has won an award from a Dutch trade show, which goes nicely with the Eurobike Gold Award. Cyclesense also showcased the FollowMe Tandem Coupling line-up, which is easy to fold up when not in use.
i-skute’s Grit scooters proved such a runaway success last year that the distributor has struggled to keep up with demand. There’s more stock rolling in now though, with new colours in the works. iSkute’s in-house helmets – under the name Code – were on show in prototype form too.
The Honzo 29er is a key model in Kona’s 2012 range, which as a whole has benefited from new blood in the product design team. The times are interesting for the brand as it carves out a new space for itself since making the move to go direct to dealers last year. It told BikeBiz it is looking to team up with quality independent dealers and has been working with retailers in establishing a grass roots team in the UK.
As distributor for Velocite, Red Cloud showcased the four road-focused bikes with the Helios Aero leading the line-up, thought the brand is looking to expand the MTB side beyond 2012. With its marketing and PR background, Red Cloud is offering free marketing advice to stockists. The busy firm is also retail agent for Whack Job and has recently teamed up with Neil Batt’s Riph Raph to provide services for events, launches, sportives and much more.
i-five stocks skateboards, and heated MTB grips from AME, which have six settings. The firm also brings Capix helmets to the trade, a brand that started in the skate market and has grown to focus on the bike sector too. Vox’s lifestyle shoes are another highlight from the firm.
Other show bits and pieces included Orange revealing to BikeBiz that it was targeting a surer footing in the south of the UK, Ram-bikes.co.uk made its first UK trade show appearance, while Tabletop Distribution, an arm of Alan’s BMX shop, now has six brands and is selling into around 40 shops. Burgtec was another brand at the Bike Place, the latest move on its journey to a predicted bigger presence in the market since starting out just five years ago with pedals for the down hill market.
www.thebikeplaceshow.co.uk
