BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Chicken Cyclekit
Supplied free with certain commitments to the brand, Chicken Cyclekit has introduced a KMC point of sale that will make the mechanic’s life a little easier, all while saving wastage to the tune of three chains, according to MD Cedric Chicken. Two units are available, one a single countertop style reel and another a three-box chain reel system.
Briko’s stock in deals will have come as a pleasant surprise, with a 20 garment commitment resulting in a 20 per cent trade discount at present.
Having recently signed with Chicken Cyclekit, many dealers took an interest in the Zefal range, as well as the addition of Far-East mudguard label Flinger which offers both aluminium and plastic full length road mudguards that easily clip on and off.
Polaris
2014 sees Polaris greatly improve upon its bike bag, ladies and kids clothing offerings.
Top of the travel case line is the EVA Pod plus at £325. Capable of housing 29ers, it’s a roomy unit, but still weighs just eight kilograms. There’s handles left, right and centre to make carting it around airports as convenient as possible and there’s even two opposing re-inforced loop holes to allow the user to cable lock their bike bag to something secure should they need to leave it unattended while in a café. Look for stock of the pod plus around mid-February.
Sitting just below, customers also have the choice of the £299 Axile softcase, which again will fit a triple crown 29er, but with the added convenience of rolling down to a third of the size when not in use.
Female customers have been catered for with the launches of the Aqualite jacket and a bib short with a ladies specific gel pad and zip off shoulder straps.
Paligap
Plenty of news from CNP who have revealed that they have signed a three year sponsorship deal with Team Sky and a one year deal with British Cycling.
With the announcement comes new formulas, including a new powder mix that’s both PH neutral and contains no artificial sweeteners of preservatives. Packing 22 grams of carbohydrate per sachet, the scientists behind the nutrition label have something which they feel unique on the market. There’s also a ‘protein pre-drink’, which may sound unusual, but CNP’s nutritionists say they’ve developed the formula to replenish damaged muscle fibre on the go to give the rider an added longevity.
Furthermore, come April Paligap will have stock of two new flavours of effervescent tablet in Pineapple and Ginger flavours, both with added B-vitamins for additional energy.
CNP aside, the distributor has upped its game when it comes to point of sale, with a new unit to support Powertap stockists that features a display screen and USB demo plug in. Mio also has a new point of sale unit well worth a look if you stock the label’s cycle computers.
Marin meanwhile occupied its own space where the talk was about the brand’s moves to revitalise its UK-influenced hardtail line. For the customer looking at investing in a mid-range hardtail, the £1,400 Deore-spec Rocky Ridge is a particular highlight.
i-ride
Before we’d even checked in at Core there were whispers of a ‘Thompson bike’ joining i-ride’s stable and the rumour didn’t disappoint. As it turned out there was even bigger news to emerge from i-ride’s stand, but more about that later.
Having been in the works since October, there will be a series of three builds – two mountain bikes – one geared, one 29er singlespeed – and one ‘gravel road’ specced with the long-awaited Pave post.
The MTBs will come as a package of frame, Covert dropper post, headset, bar and stem, coming in at £3,200 for the gear-clad build.
The frame itself is constructed of grade 32 titanium, with a travel of up to 140mm and tyre width of 2.4 accepted. The dropouts on each will be convertible to the rider’s choice and the adapters will be included with the frame. A three-year warranty is offered.
Now something we didn’t expect to see from i-ride was an Ultegra clad, 40/60 ton carbon blend road bike for £2,000, but in a room tucked away from the crowds the Orro brand was introduced to press and selected dealers. Beginning with two bikes, stock of both the 955-gram Gold and £1,300, 105-clad Oxygen will land in April with strong pre-orders already rolling in.
With a Di2-ready, internally routed frame, 3T and Prologo finishing kit, the Gold is expected to compete head on with the direct to consumer Canyon brand via both independent dealers and web sales, which where possible will go through a dealer.
In another twist, the brand will follow up the bike launch with a British-made line of urban cycle clothing including water-resistant jeans with D-lock loops, demin jackets, polo shirts and more, all made using organic materials, as well as the weatherproof Ventile fabric.
In other news, Green Oil and cleaning and protection label Red Ant both debuted their product with i-ride having just signed new distribution agreements.
Saddleback
It wasn’t going to be long before Smith Optics appeared in the UK following on from being a media favourite over at Interbike and Saddleback has welcomed the headgear brand with open arms.
Known for its action sports goggles and glasses, but noticed by the bike industry thanks to its unique honeycomb structure helmet, Smith stock will arrive during early summer.
First seen in the UK at Saddleback’s own house show, ENVE’s £1,050 aero tri bar is now in stock, with the kit coming with all the fittings you’ll need to tailor the ride position to the customer. Retul are said to be using this bar as a benchmark for its fittings.
Core gave a first look at the new £275 direct mount carbon stem, which comes in two sizes – 50 and 60mm reach – with the shorter 50mm stem offering a 15mm rise.
For our complete gallery from Core Bike, see here.
