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Cycling industry gives economy £3bn boost (title now bit ironic…)

(42 posts)
  • Started 14 years ago by alibali
  • Latest reply from Arellcat

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  1. chdot
    Admin

    This is from nearly ten years ago, but still relevant -

    “

    Are we in danger of losing manufacturing skills permanently to the Far East?

    CK: We’re absolutely in danger. The tide’s been going that way for a long time. Will it ever come back? Absolutely it could, but at the moment the pace of the industry and the buying public’s consciousness means it’s going that way. Great Britain is a good example of having lost much of its industrial capabilities. We had the recession of course, and that flushed out a lot of journeymen, forcing people into early retirement. They’re not coming back, and they’ve taken their skills with them, skills that would normally be passed down to apprentices.

    “

    https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/chris-king-interview

    Perhaps more relevant!

    Posted 10 months ago #

  2. Tulyar
    Member

    Probably a place to drop this detail from 31 years ago, with an appeal to the wider community for some support to deliver this in Scotland (or UK-wide)to get folk connected

    I come to this with 61 years of using bikes for work & transport (1964 started working in cycle logistics age 12) plus 40 years from doing 10 years building pavements (1985-1995) mainly in Scotland, for Sustrans.

    Keen to deliver locally driven path restoration/construction projects (eg Loch Venachar cycle route (1987/88 Volunteer camps) & Rutherglen Bridge (1994 - volunteer project - grade separated crossing of 40mph 4-lane road) plus breaking the employment 'Catch22' barrier through a Scottish version of 'Tools for Life' (Published in 1994)

    Here's a note on this "We need a directory & handbook as produced in 1994 (download available) 'Tools for Life' (Karen Overton/George Babiak) with a directory for Youth Bike Education Network (YBEN), which we need for Scotland, to catalogue the various hubs (Bike Station, Bike for Good (2), Arbroath Cycle Hub, Soul Riders, On Bike, De'ils on Wheels, Commonwheel (2), Recyk-a-Bike, Freewheel North, Lambhill Stables....)

    PM me for more detail

    Posted 10 months ago #

  3. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Steve Garidis, Executive Director of industry body the Bicycle Association, shares his perspective on the UK bike trade in 2025…

    “Is the bike market rollercoaster we’ve all been on since Covid over?”

    “

    https://bikebiz.com/back-in-the-saddle-the-british-bike-business-in-2025/amp/

    Posted 7 months ago #

  4. chdot
    Admin

    “

    In an 11-page plea to the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, Guardian Bikes said the US bike industry “was lost” owing to 11m bicycles being imported in 2024.

    Its letter blamed China for the “severe competition”, but if its request for inclusion in the second steel derivatives tariffs list was accepted, the import duty would apply globally and could affect companies such as Brompton in the UK or high performance bike brands such as Pinarello or Bianchi from Italy.

    “

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/08/businesses-worldwide-brace-extra-trump-tariffs-steel-imports

    Posted 3 months ago #

  5. Baldcyclist
    Member

    Rachel Reeves to cut tax benefits for workers using salary sacrifice schemes to buy bikes | Cycle hire schemes | The Guardian https://share.google/GCYLtQj0kGTBWnjZh

    Posted 3 months ago #

  6. neddie
    Member

    But no equivalent cut to tax benefits for workers using salary sacrifice schemes to buy £35k electric cars !!!

    Posted 3 months ago #

  7. chdot
    Admin

    Of course, actual details in actual Budget may be different.

    But I wouldn’t bet on it!

    In simple terms -

    ‘Car owners vote’

    ‘Non car owners want to be car owners’

    ‘Expensive bikes are a luxury/toy, working people don’t buy them’

    ‘The UK doesn’t have a bicycle industry anymore but it still has a car industry - with high paid jobs for skilled toolmakers’

    ‘Car industry lobbyists/apologists are much better than ‘cycle industry’ ones’

    Etc.

    Posted 3 months ago #

  8. chdot
    Admin

    “

    In December, Brompton reported the lowest annual sales of its eponymous folding bikes since 2021. Statistics from the Bicycle Association, the trade body for the bike industry in Britain, show that in 2024, fewer conventional bikes were bought than in any other year this century.

    …

    “If you look at the sales of pedal cycles since 2010, there isn’t a year except the Covid year when sales haven’t declined. I’m always puzzled that people in the industry aren’t more alarmed about that,” says Phillip Darnton, executive chair of the Bicycle Association.

    “

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/dec/21/cycling-changing-at-speed-britain-keeping-pace

    Posted 1 month ago #

  9. chdot
    Admin

    https://road.cc/content/news/bromptons-new-ps100m-car-free-bike-factory-remains-hold-317835

    Posted 2 weeks ago #

  10. Baldcyclist
    Member

    Not just cycling, outdoor in general:, Alpkit (Sonder bikes) anounced it was going into Administration last week. Now out of Administration with new investor:

    https://www.bikeradar.com/news/alpkit-enters-administration-jan-2026

    https://alpkit.com/blogs/news/new-investment?srsltid=AfmBOoqYgadwuk9I0Xl3drof8hukwJpK_fJhBe0Wps18h9PMtsKggRz-

    Posted 2 weeks ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Administration is becoming a business model in cycling, and small brands are paying the price.

    I will be upfront. This article is written from frustration. Not theoretical frustration. Not armchair commentary. The frustration that comes from running a small independent cycling brand where you carry the risk personally, graft relentlessly and play the game properly, while watching larger businesses repeatedly fall over, wipe the slate clean and come back stronger

    “

    https://bikebiz.com/lios-bikes-founder-talks-administration-as-a-business-model-in-cycling/

    Posted 1 week ago #

  12. Arellcat
    Moderator

    It sort of happened to Advanced Velo Design, which as a cottage industry succeeded the somewhat larger Advanced Vehicle Design under Bob Dixon (aka Seat of the Pants Ltd. in an earlier life, and 'handbuilt by Mike Burrows' before that). It ended with some customers having plunked down a lot of money - thousands of dollars - and ultimately received no trikes. AVD seemed basically to evaporate, and I know not what happened afterwards. It was a shame because Karl seemed like a decent guy, but perhaps the market for high end recumbents wasn't there anymore, even in trike-buying USA where most of them probably went.

    It also sort of nearly happened to Kona. The founders sold to an outdoors brand in 2022, which then sought to wind down and offload the intellectual property of Kona in 2024, citing the ongoing downturn in bike business. That was basically what happened to Wiggle and CRC when Frasers Group bought them. Kona survived by being bought back by the founders.

    Posted 1 week ago #

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