State of the industry: a running thread

[minor_LEGEND]

I got to the interview stage at Ison distribution - didn't get the job, the owner sucked the life out of the room - seeing how some long established names have gone under, a bullet was dodged

Isn't that position regularly advertised. That rings a bell with me from maybe 15-20 years ago when I contemplated it.

The bike industry is a difficult one, it garners technical knowhow & knowledge & not expensive outlays drawing a comparison with the motor industry, yet your average person won't ever intend to pay anywhere near a tenth of what they would on a car for maintenance or upkeep. This just keeps margins & profit so tight within the industry.

 

[Titiritero]

This is also big news in Germany as Signa Sports also owns other bike shops there like Fahrrad.de, Bikester, Probikeshop, Brügelmann... plus other non-cycling sites like Campz or Tennis Point.

Less competition is always bad, but at least in the German market there are plenty of other choices left, like Bike24, Rose, Bike-Discount, Bike-Components, etc. in case someone is looking for alternatives.

 

[al-onestare]

Wiggle etc have filed a notice to appoint an administrator, looks like the self administration process has failed and the end is near. Chain Reaction is the more robust of the two entities as that doesn’t have a notice yet.

Yep, but with them using the same stock I'm not so sure they are any safer.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wi...ls-orders-amid-parent-company-financial-woes/

 

[Sir Neil d'Menture]

I've heard that they have stopped paying suppliers and have cancelled all orders.
Presumably there will be retention of title clauses in their supply agreements. Suppliers will reclaim unsold stock so it won't take long before they have nothing left to sell.

 

[brocklanders023]

Less competition is always bad, but at least in the German market there are plenty of other choices left, like Bike24, Rose, Bike-Discount, Bike-Components, etc. in case someone is looking for alternatives.

We used to use all those and very good they were too. Then a bunch of bone heads voted to make it harder and less fun.

 

[al-onestare]

In a nutshell

The one factor I don't hear much about but I'm sure is a contributor to a highly competitive, highly stressed market, is the absolute shite coming out of China and other countries. Call it knock-off, call it what you want, the vast majority of the kit is rubbish, but likes flies to shit, many folks are buying it whilst watching their Amazon TV, sipping on a Starbucks and w8nking over the latest Apple I283.

 

[CassidyAce]

And now Islabikes is stopping production too: https://www.bikeradar.com/news/islabikes-ceases-production/

A real shame.

 

[Lucidone]

We've had some great Islabikes (new and secondhand) and made many happy memories with them - shame to hear they're choosing not to continue with the business.
Tough market now and for a good few years to come on top of the fork recall won't have made the decision any harder I'd imagine.

 

[brocklanders023]

And now Islabikes is stopping production too: https://www.bikeradar.com/news/islabikes-ceases-production/

A real shame.

Blimey, that's a bit of a shock although some speculated on STW when Isla had a sale recently, something they rarely did.

 

[Lucidone]

Still some good deals on nice kids bikes just before Christmas!

Creig's @ £599 - that's going to hurt the resale value if you're looking to sell one!