UK bike sales plummet

[Court_S]

Terry Winks said:

You're not wrong, I had a Raleigh Hotfoot in 1992 I think for my 10th birthday, I loved it but I think even then it was largely terrible, a friend of mine had a Peugeot and that seemed to be a different league, with some other friends rocked up on their Muddy Foxes that was just another world again, those Shimano SIS gears were the things of envy. The Raleigh activator was just pap from the start, and I managed to avoid M-Trax which I think was just overpriced rubbish until 1997 I had enough I got my Kona Lavadome, and those old Kona catalogues, admittedly between 1992 and 1997 things had moved on massively but that was another world too. Ahhh the 90's they were great weren't they?

Aesthetically, Kona peaked in 1997. The colours, decals etc were just bang on. The Lava Dome looked fab in that dark green…in size size small with some chunky forks that was the pinnacle of cool for me. After my steel Rockhopper was stolen, I bought a Kona Koa which I absolutely adored.

[mooseracer]

Fusion777 said:

James6112 said:

Same as any other Brand winding down in the Uk

Amazing how some people don't realise/appreciate Raleigh's significance in cycling history.

Assuming the capital B was intentional that was quite good

[Dog Star]

I really don’t think the weather this year has helped; I live in an excellent area for MTBing, it’s superb and normally I’m out with my mates every other day. However this year has been spectacularly bad - June 26th was the end of summer, bar a couple of hot days at the start of September. It has basically poured down since, every day I think. Never known it as bad. Ok, MTBing is often muddy but this level of wet and muddy gets old real fast. I’ve been out maybe five times this “summer” and autumn. Same with my mates.

My point being that the weather this year must have had some impact on the cycle market and therefore accessories etc.

[Court_S]

Dog Star said:

I really don’t think the weather this year has helped; I live in an excellent area for MTBing, it’s superb and normally I’m out with my mates every other day. However this year has been spectacularly bad - June 26th was the end of summer, bar a couple of hot days at the start of September. It has basically poured down since, every day I think. Never known it as bad. Ok, MTBing is often muddy but this level of wet and muddy gets old real fast. I’ve been out maybe five times this “summer” and autumn. Same with my mates.

My point being that the weather this year must have had some impact on the cycle market and therefore accessories etc.

This summer was wk…it’s continued into autumn too. We had one freakishly nice weekend in October but since then it’s been wet as. I had a quick local ride on Saturday and it was pretty miserable.

If you’re on the fence about riding, it’s not going to encourage you.

[nickfrog]

Summer has been decent here in Sussex, I probably got 2 rides a week on average although I am flexible on which day I ride so that helps making the most of the weather.

I stopped riding from November to March a few years ago though. Not worth it anymore for me as I have tennis instead in the winter!

[OutInTheShed]

nickfrog said:

Summer has been decent here in Sussex, I probably got 2 rides a week on average although I am flexible on which day I ride so that helps making the most of the weather.

I stopped riding from November to March a few years ago though. Not worth it anymore for me as I have tennis instead in the winter!

I ride more in the winter as I'm not sailing and the roads are less busy.

I think the UK bike sales thing is as simple as: 'Everyone who wants one has already got (at least) one!'

People who are likely to buy 'gravel' bought in the last 3 years, now the market is ticking over.
The rest of the market is well served by quality used bikes from the last 10-15 years, so demand for new is limited.

[nickfrog]

Fair enough, I only ride off-road, which in winter is basically a quagmire where I am!

Edited by nickfrog on Tuesday 21st November 22:30

[Chicken Chaser]

nickfrog said:

Fair enough, I only ride off-road, which in winter is basically a quagmire where I am!

Edited by nickfrog on Tuesday 21st November 22:30

That's like the Jurassic slop on the top of the NYM.it sticks to tyres and destroys mudguards.

[GravelBen]

OutInTheShed said:

I think the UK bike sales thing is as simple as: 'Everyone who wants one has already got (at least) one!'

Thats it to a degree I think - and its not just the UK, its most places AFAIK - same here in NZ and in the USA from what I hear.

Inflation is biting, living costs and interest rates are up, which means most people have less disposable income and are more likely to keep the bike they already have for longer instead of buying a shiny new one that isn't much (if any) better.

At the risk of introducing politics to the discussion, the inflation (and perhaps to a lesser degree the boom/bust supply and demand situation) was a pretty predictable outcome from most western governments 'stop people working and print more money' response to covid. It shouldn't be a surprise.

Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 22 November 03:51

[YorkshireStu]

GravelBen said:

Thats it to a degree I think - and its not just the UK, its most places AFAIK - same here in NZ and in the USA from what I hear.

Inflation is biting, living costs and interest rates are up, which means most people have less disposable income and are more likely to keep the bike they already have for longer instead of buying a shiny new one that isn't much (if any) better.

At the risk of introducing politics to the discussion, the inflation (and perhaps to a lesser degree the boom/bust supply and demand situation) was a pretty predictable outcome from most western governments 'stop people working and print more money' response to covid. It shouldn't be a surprise.

Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 22 November 03:51

Yes, it is all of this and another factor is that the bike industry ramped up production during Covid to meet demand at the time globally and kept it going too long - when the pandemic ended, sales slowed and there was a huge overstock of certain bikes and parts.

This overstock has caused a major problem for the industry because it is essentially ‘old’ stuff not selling while manufacturers keep wanting to add new designs to market.

Part of the overstock issue is that some components have not been overstocked because of supply chain issues since the pandemic and this means complete bike builds are delayed in some cases leaving a bizarre situation of too many or one part, too little of the other.

The combination of all you have written and the issues above have caused serious cash flow problems and hence the collapsing of big retailers.

[YorkshireStu]

nickfrog said:

Summer has been decent here in Sussex, I probably got 2 rides a week on average although I am flexible on which day I ride so that helps making the most of the weather.

I stopped riding from November to March a few years ago though. Not worth it anymore for me as I have tennis instead in the winter!

I ride all year round. I simply choose between road, MTB or gravel. I have Summer and Winter road bikes but if the weather is icy, I take the gravel bike on the road.

I don’t like a lot of mud when off-road, not a fan having done most of my MTB racing in hot, dry climates so mostly avoid it here in Blighty.

[PomBstard]

YorkshireStu said:

GravelBen said:

Thats it to a degree I think - and its not just the UK, its most places AFAIK - same here in NZ and in the USA from what I hear.

Inflation is biting, living costs and interest rates are up, which means most people have less disposable income and are more likely to keep the bike they already have for longer instead of buying a shiny new one that isn't much (if any) better.

At the risk of introducing politics to the discussion, the inflation (and perhaps to a lesser degree the boom/bust supply and demand situation) was a pretty predictable outcome from most western governments 'stop people working and print more money' response to covid. It shouldn't be a surprise.

Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 22 November 03:51

Yes, it is all of this and another factor is that the bike industry ramped up production during Covid to meet demand at the time globally and kept it going too long - when the pandemic ended, sales slowed and there was a huge overstock of certain bikes and parts.

This overstock has caused a major problem for the industry because it is essentially ‘old’ stuff not selling while manufacturers keep wanting to add new designs to market.

Part of the overstock issue is that some components have not been overstocked because of supply chain issues since the pandemic and this means complete bike builds are delayed in some cases leaving a bizarre situation of too many or one part, too little of the other.

The combination of all you have written and the issues above have caused serious cash flow problems and hence the collapsing of big retailers.

Similar story in Australia. From what I could find, for the first 5 months of 2023 bike imports were about 40% lower YTD than the previous lowest (2010 I think)

However, it means that those of us trying to buy a bike are having problems finding one to test ride, stock is all over the place, but pricing seems v inconsistent - some are discounting, others hold the RRP line.

And, what’s with shutting shop at midday Sat then not opening until 10am Mon? Not exactly a way to encourage retail sales, or is it expected that all are now web sales?

[ALawson]

ChocolateFrog said:

Raleigh Activator, that was the one. Everyone wanted one in my school but looking back it was rubbish.

They must have had a good marketing department.

That documentary above is a good watch.

They had “suspension forks” which from memory the legs were curved at the top towards the steerer. Really crappy. My brother had one.

[Court_S]

nickfrog said:

Summer has been decent here in Sussex, I probably got 2 rides a week on average although I am flexible on which day I ride so that helps making the most of the weather.

I stopped riding from November to March a few years ago though. Not worth it anymore for me as I have tennis instead in the winter!

I still rode lots but the summer was wet this year; the ferns went mental at Cannock making lots of the unofficial trails pretty unrideable.

When it rained though, it hammered down.

[BlindedByTheLights]

GravelBen said:

OutInTheShed said:

I think the UK bike sales thing is as simple as: 'Everyone who wants one has already got (at least) one!'

Thats it to a degree I think - and its not just the UK, its most places AFAIK - same here in NZ and in the USA from what I hear.

Inflation is biting, living costs and interest rates are up, which means most people have less disposable income and are more likely to keep the bike they already have for longer instead of buying a shiny new one that isn't much (if any) better.

At the risk of introducing politics to the discussion, the inflation (and perhaps to a lesser degree the boom/bust supply and demand situation) was a pretty predictable outcome from most western governments 'stop people working and print more money' response to covid. It shouldn't be a surprise.

Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 22 November 03:51

This is spot on I think. My Mtb is now 4 years old, I would usually have replaced it but with mortgage payments massively up, childcare up, energy up, there just isn’t the spare left to save for a £4/£5k replacement so I’ll just keep running it for the foreseeable and replace bits as needed instead.

[President Merkin]

nickfrog said:

Fair enough, I only ride off-road, which in winter is basically a quagmire where I am!

Edited by nickfrog on Tuesday 21st November 22:30

Can confirm, This was December last year. Bike went from 29" to 30" for a bit!

[Steve vRS]

Pah.

If you want dirty bikes, go cyclocross racing!

[nickfrog]

Steve vRS said:

Pah.

If you want dirty bikes, go cyclocross racing!

Steve, your pic is presumably after a first clean?

[BlindedByTheLights]

Show us your dirty bike thread…

[bobbo89]

I love the way this thread keeps going on and off topic in random directions before coming back again.

Yeah, we had a crap summer, think we got one good week in July then just rain until September. Not even light rain either, just constant heavy downpours, was ste and proper sapped all my enthusiasm for riding!

I don't mind winter riding and actually really enjoy it in the more extremes. Frozen ground, zero wind and blue skies is as good as dry and dusty summer riding IMO. Snow adds another element too and is actually much grippier and more fun than you think. Then there's night riding!