Evans Cycles

Ultimately, making money with bike stuff is hard for some intractable reason.

I know one of the venture capitalists and he had some serious integrity issues.

'How do you make a small fortune in the bike business?'

'Start with a large fortune.'

if they choose to close a few of the stores (seems over-saturated in central) it will give LBS's a bit of breathing space, even if just for an increase in workshop jobs could give a much need boost in the short term.

They will closed a fair number of London store (especially how close St Paul’s is to Mark Lane), and Defintely give the locals more breathing room.

I feel like 'the cyclist' just does not want to pay full price. There's something naturally frugal and resourceful about a person that wants to ride a bike and this behaviour also exists in their shopping habits.

Could Evans have survived had they had better customer service?

Not just could, but Defintely can, with better management, better staff training, better pays etc.

The issues is less to do with the market, more the extremely poor management from the higher up (remember the 50% discount we used to offer in January? Our workshop have never hit workshop target for nearly 3 months due to this).

What I think will be most interesting is the negative net effect on the cycling market without the presence of bricks'n'mortar retailers. I suspect there will be a general shrinking of the market over a period of years and the incessant and unrealistic aggressive growth of the big brands Evans/CRC/Wiggle/others will ultimately, once they've finished with the last LBS, eat themselves.

Yes, I agree, I wonder if the working class origins of the sport* have anything to do with it too.

* I could just be making this up

Not really, it really depends on which market you would like to cater to.

Evans is based on cost and footfall but that put them head on with online bike retailers who can do it cheaper.

So, walk into Evans, try the bike/item, return it, then buy online for cheaper.

Heck, there are even instances where Evans own online store is cheaper than their outlets and they refused to price match...

I'm not sure if less competition and supplier monopolisation has ever been shown to grow a market.

ref. the 'frugal' comment; I wish this were always the case; I wouldn't have spunked thousands of pounds on all the pretty shiny bike things I don't really need.
However, I do think correct pricing is crucial to the survival of physical shops. There will always be those that just want the absolute cheapest and will seek it out unquestionably. At the other end of the scale there are those who will just pay the asking price for what they want; unquestionably.
But I think most folk sit somewhere in the middle. If I could go to a physical shop where I can see and hold an item and potentially take it home there and then, I (and probably most people I know) will happily pay a little more than internet prices for the privilege knowing that in doing so I'm also supporting a LBS.
However, if I find as I did in one fairly new indie bike shop in Bristol, the owner has basically bought their entire stock from Wiggle and doubled the price, they can do one.

However, if I find as I did in one fairly new indie bike shop in Bristol, the owner has basically bought their entire stock from Wiggle and doubled the price, they can do one.

Haha, i had an experience like this in central london recently, Continental GP4000ii's listed as £70 each 'Sorry mate, the way the market is going i simply cant afford to get these in any cheaper'
I'm very much keen on supporting independent bike shops but i felt like that scenario was engineered for someone who didn't know any better rather than the resourcing issue delivered.

the owner has basically bought their entire stock from Wiggle and doubled the price, they can do one.

Isn't this what all shops do, except in this case LBSes can get cheaper stock from Wiggle than they can from the distributor?

Anyhow, yes, a lot of cyclists are quite tight - whether that's because of its origins as a working-class recreation, certainly trad cycling culture inculcated self-reliance as a virtue, and a certain degree of thrift comes along with that. If a lot of the market has been buoyed up by the whole New Golf/BC Success Machine that is now receding, then surviving on the hard core of cyclists that do most of their own maintenance and buy mainly consumables (perhaps a new bike every decade) is going to be a problem.

Death to the Arkose!

Long live the £100, full suspension Muddy Fox, with its fork facing the wrong way, that weighs more than £100 of scrap steel.

Buy one on eBay?

I’ve got an idea that Ashley isn’t going to dumb Evans down too much. If they did just start selling Dunlop clunkers and the like, they’d just be pitching themselves alongside Halfords, which would be pointless. It’ll be interesting to see which suppliers and brands will stick with them once his plans become clear. I’m guessing the Pinnacle brand will disappear too.

Personally, as a London LBS it’s good news for us in some ways. We get a lot of bikes in with Evans stickers on as the customer doesn’t want to put up with their customer service any more. However I suspect it might mean more people sourcing their own parts online and bringing them to us to fit. Time will tell.

Upcharge for fitting parts not sourced from yourselves?

Does that actually work? Feels a bit punitive and if there's room to charge more, perhaps you are undercharging anyway?

Hmmmm... 50-60% and it's still competitive? Mind boggles... 17 respondents are also named in the footer.

Will read further later today!

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You’ve gone in more than I ever did! I just recall some piece on BikeBiz, as I’d had exactly the same reaction when that merger was announced

I was in Evans in Cheltenham today. They had taken a delivery of plastic kiddy bikes...plastic wheels and tyres. Plastic braking surfaces. Doesn't bode well.....

bike shops often seem to stock extra shite bikes in the run up to xmas.

Bike shops need to focus on services given that the online retailers will always beat them on price, the issue is what services and how to monetise them- bike fits, custom builds, coaching, organised rides, a sponsored club- all the stuff that takes dedication and expertise to create, and that is very hard to create from a three ring binder of retail store processes.

Agree, and it would be good if there were more places that provide quick and decent repair services for commuters who aren't enthusiasts. At the moment there are few places where you could reliably get something basic fixed in a short space of time and be riding again soon. It puts people off when the only option is booking in for repair weeks ahead...

“Edinburgh Bike Cooperation.”

I feel like 'the cyclist' just does not want to pay full price. There's something naturally frugal and resourceful about a person that wants to ride a bike and this behaviour also exists in their shopping habits.

This, so much this!