BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Raleigh see the jump market as a ripe one to get into and feel their entry
into the fray will expand the market.
There are two steel models and three alloy models (frames made in China, designed, painted and assembled in Nottingham). All come with a jump-specific saddle, chain devices and SRAM rear mechs.
Product manager Franck Van Huizen sees the jump category as one to watch:
"Kids in urban landscapes have less and less places to ride. This is going to be an important market. Your average paper boy is going to want a jump bike from now on, not a mountain bike. He can tell his parents he’ll be able to get more use out of a jump bike."
But what about warranty, isn’t labelling an entry level bike as a ‘jump’ bike liable to give IBDs all sorts of ‘I-was-just-riding-along-and-the-forks-snapped’ problems?
"Yes, we are expecting more warranty complications than usual," says Van Huizen.
"Frames will be covered by the standard 15 year warranty for steel and five for alloy, but there will be a timescale of one year applied to components. The bikes are tough. If somebody folds their wheels on the first day of getting the bike, it could be that they are riding with complete disregard for the contruction of the bike.
"Paul Roberts has been riding these bikes for months. If you can jump properly, these bikes will survive for a long time. Anything super-heavy may have to fall outside of the warranty. It’s down to the dealer to work out. If a bike is bought on a Monday and brought back in collapsed on a Tuesday, that customer’s idea of riding may constitute abuse, and a warranty replacement may have to be refused."
