The Bike Place: New lines and highlights for the bicycle retailer
With three of Silverstone’s halls filled it was difficult to make it round The Bike Place in just one day. CyclingIndustry.News stayed the duration and has handpicked a select number of unique and interesting products that may have slipped under your radar:
One of those why did we not do this before products from Polaris, who took single orders for the new Bike Rug worth over 100 units on the show floor.
Anyone who has taken bikes in a van will appreciate the simplicity of this wipe clean £54.99 rug. Covering axle-to-axle and slung over the top tube, the cover has a small amount of padding to keep bikes from getting scratched.
Be quick though, when we spoke to Polaris on the shop floor 70% of its first drop had sold on the show floor.
RH+ via Velotech Services
Having joined Velotech just in time for a debut at the show, RH+ bring to the table a depth of experience across the snow and cycling world.
Modeled here by our advertising supremo Logan is the patented Olympo AirX, which is now in stock and ready to retail at £140.
“These are using the best lenses on the market,” Velotech’s Robin Corder told us. “It’s a really versatile piece that allows you to quickly flip up the front as you descend into woodland.”
Also worth dealer’s attention from the RH+ portfolio is the £49.99 “Shark” shoecover that allows the rider to simply unzip the side and slip out, leaving the covered shoe ready to slip right back on.
Finn phone holder via Raleigh
We may now be slightly beyond the Pokemon Go opportunity (are we?), but you can bet there will be no slowdown in people getting out and about on bikes with mobiles in hand as VR gaming evolves. Of course, we advise this is done so off the roads and perhaps with Gazelle’s SafeDrivePod blocker on hand
to ensure bicycle gaming habits are kept in check.
So what has Raleigh got in stock to satisfy the mobile monster chasers still out there? Shipped in from Austria the Bike Citizens Finn phone holder is among the most simple and effective answers to handlebar mounting a mobile we’ve seen. It’s only £12.99 a pop too.
Retailers can now take on a countertop POS stocked with 20 of the units just in time for the release of the second generation Pokemon that we’ve heard are coming along shortly…
Neos Cycling helmets 
Though around since 2015, the Neos is kicking up a gear this year, founder Richard Allmark tells us.
Having tried and tested a twist on the traditional route to market, the firm runs direct to consumer sales in parallel with bike dealers, using a combination of national advertising and event appearances to raise the profile of its goods. Customers are directed to dealer partners wherever possible to complete the sale.
The product is priced well, offering dealers an alternative to the main brands. But that’s not to say no thought has gone into the design. Allmark has worked directly with the factory to produce a helmet line for which the margin is impressive, but the retail price even better. On the kid’s helmet, the new injection molded lines shown at The Bike Place are coming in at just £25. For adults there’s also a stylish new Urban lid coming in at £50.
Neos is also the UK distributor for the Arisun tyre portfolio, the third largest manufacturer of bicycle tyres globally. Again, Allmark suggests that the value offered to the dealer is among the highest in the industry.
Some 75% of Dexshell’s business is run alongside bike retailers, but the brand told CI.N that the bulk of that trade seems to be focused in the North of the UK.
With that in mind the brand was taking to The Bike Place to place emphasis on its product’s merits against some tough competition in the waterproofing world. Pointing to two independent laboratory tests, the firm says that its product has been shown to offer 33% better breathability and as much as 200% greater waterproofing performance, even after several washes.
If you made it along to the booth you no doubt put your hand inside the demo sock. “It’s been in that tank for two years, so it’s had a real battering,” said Dexshell’s Chris Dodd. “It’s still perfectly waterproof.”
The performance of the Dexshell product is largely down to the Porelle membrane, which you’ll find lining the firm’s collection of socks, beanies and gloves. As far as SKUs go, the firm told CI.N that it will be expanding for 2017 up to 52 lines, but plans to keep it concise and easily explainable for dealer partners.
A POS stand takes between 70 and 80 pieces and comes supplied free of charge with 100 piece orders. There is however no minimum order on individual pieces.
Now rebranded entirely as Mitas, the Czech tyre brand is moving forward in the UK with a new X-series that’s worth dealer attention for the season ahead.
Priced at £28, three tyres feature:
X-Swamp: For bog standard UK off road conditions, these are your customer’s choice for slicing through the muck.
X-road – Suited to the tarmac, the tread here is designed with minimised rolling resistance, but without shedding too much in the way of grip.
X-field – the half way house between the Swamp and Road, the Field is your shortcut tyre for exploring the less beaten path.
“You can make money as a dealer of Mitas,” we were told. “There’s no deals, we’re very clear on our pricing policy. Mitas is a brand on which dealers can benefit from highly competitive RRPs and good margins.”
The firm’s goods are also now available via NRG4.
