Upgrade Bikes talks international brand tilt and building the team

With CoreBike having just passed us by for another year, Matt Ryley, Matt Killick and Rory Hitchens fill us in on what to expect from Upgrade Bikes in 2022 when it comes to pricing, stocks and best-sellers…

By the time you’re reading this a physical return to trade shows may, for the first time in a long time, be an appealing prospect. With the social atmosphere at CoreBike having recently been reason enough to attend, the exhibitors that hoped for a bumper turnout had a great chance for a big catch up with their accounts.

Upgrade Bikes was one exhibitor looking forward to the event with excitement, even if some of the international representatives remain unlikely to make the journey as they normally do. It’s hard to ignore another slightly unusual trend in that so much product is pre-sold due to supply chain wobbles. So, what will be the focus of the Sussex distributor?

“The emphasis will very much be on products that can be ordered and delivered this year. Where a product is already pre-sold for the year it won’t be displayed. There will still be plenty of excitement with the new brands represented and good reminders on the key sellers that make up the bulk of our dealers’ profits from the Upgrade portfolio,” says the trio from Upgrade.

In the whirlwind of keeping retail businesses running to some trend of normality you’d be forgiven for asking “new brands, what new brands?”. Well, if you did miss the updates on the CI.N homepage there’s a few of note; Thompson, Amp Human, OTE, Dexshell, Repente and SixSixOne, each of which is detailed overleaf.

“We wanted to broaden our portfolio with brands that were not entirely dependent on Taiwan for supply,” said Upgrade. “Consequently, we made new opportunities with a mix of new and established brands. Our supply chain has performed very well, particularly our two powerhouses; DMR and Lezyne, who were quick to increase manufacturing. Unfortunately, longer lead times will continue for some time. Good, updated, information is key to dealers. We encourage checking the B2B and then with our office for latest updates on estimated delivery dates.”

The sales team has expanded alongside the brand roster too, giving shops greater confidence in securing a rep visit when needed. The sales team now has five on the road with another seven in the office covering key accounts, customer support and returns.

The mainland UK has been revised into four new sales areas. The South is covered by established rep Joe Bardey. Upgrade appointed a new sales rep, Richard Walters, who serves the Midlands, as well as Mid and South Wales. Long serving sales agent Martin Jones now covers the North of England. Meanwhile, Tim Hall covers North Wales, the upper North of England, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Ireland and Northern Ireland is still served by sales agent Craig Malloy.

In the office, Matt Killick continues as UK sales manager. Tom Lipscombe and Chase Sullivan serve key accounts. Martin Gibbs, Rupert Robinson and Dan Hill are joined by Chris Haigh with a speciality in technical support.

Personnel aside, reinvestment of bike boom funds has been made in back office sales systems too. Upgrade says “We are operating on a new cloud-based server that gives higher levels of protection and speeds up processing. Our purchasing and logistics teams have a more challenging role since the pandemic threw things out of ‘normal’, so more resource has been allocated.”

Some particularly strong creatives have been breaking cover, promoting key products and the athletes that rely on them at an elite level. In this marketing Upgrade is driving the brands forward and generating new customers from the most unlikely of places, as you’ll read about in our feature on ‘out of the box marketing ideas’.

“We have a strong creative team at Upgrade; more time and money has been dedicated to digital marketing and advertising, particularly on house brands DMR and Kinesis. Lezyne has also increased their contribution to social media advertising targeting the UK which is welcomed greatly.”

These brands have consistently provided Upgrade accounts with bestsellers over the years. From the long history DMR pedals have in the off-road market, right through to the polished finish that a slatwall filled with Lezyne goods can deliver for a store, each is sought after and in many segments of the marketplace. But where do Upgrade see the greatest traction at present?

“We don’t need to explain that e-Bike sales are now very important to most dealers. We have expanded our Kinesis offering to meet this. Meanwhile, high-end sales are doing well as more cyclists are upgrading their bikes and accessories to higher quality brands. Pivot has been on a roll with our tight network of dealers and the consumer is happy to spend on quality when they know bikes will have to last longer these days as availability is drawn out. Similarly, Reynolds wheels have done very well as consumers recognise the quality that comes with lifetime warranty,” offers the distributor.

With the onboarding of brands like Dexshell, Upgrade has seen a widening of the broad base of cyclists too and brands like Nutcase have similarly been working well for dealers wanting to offer products for the commuting and leisure cycling markets.

If there is one label that is getting accounts excited at present, however, it’s Thompson’s US-made alloy stems and posts, plus Taiwanese bars and carbon parts. This finishing kit complements Kinesis UK beautifully and has a history of providing top-tier finishing kit for such builds.

“After the initial Covid impact in 2020 the US side has caught up well, but we are still expecting longer lead times from Taiwan made products. It’s a brand we have been confident to place big orders with, so we do expect to see stock levels rise but certainly our dealers are keeping us under pressure with repeat orders,” explain Upgrade, adding that the new MTB bars and wide gravel drop bars have stimulated stem sales.

Most important of all in the face of supply chain pressure is the dealer margin. A long-term friend to the indie bike shop, Upgrade has, like many others, trodden a fine line to keep every link in the chain sustainable.

“We fully understand the importance of the dealer margin. As our landed costs increase, inevitably retail prices will increase so that we too have a workable margin. We expect this to happen more frequently as we experience price changes from our suppliers. To smooth out the changes Upgrade works closely with suppliers and maintains good stock levels. This delays any price increase, but ultimately cannot curtail them.

“Pricing is now very fluid and something that our purchasing team spend a lot of time on. We are thankful to have a solid team examining this constantly. Our goal is always to deliver profitable products for our dealers, at the same time offering best value to the consumer,” concludes the team.

UPGRADE BIKES UPGRADED PORTFOLIO

REPENTE saddles joined Upgrade giving the distributor a second saddle brand that will suit those looking more conventional approach than ISM saddles. Handmade in Italy, Repente make beautiful, lightweight, comfortable, high-quality saddles. The design emphasis is on rider fit through expert knowledge of shaping and width to allow for freedom of movement in the hip joint. Carbon rails, bases and high-quality materials and innovative features make up a range to suit all enthusiast riders on Road, Gravel, MTB, Triathlon and TT.

THOMSON joined the portfolio to provide dealers with an alternative to the outgoing Ritchey and is described as “a real feather in our cap” by the team. Thomson’s concise offering of seat posts, stems and bars have been working very well for our dealers and continues to be a go-to for reliable, high-quality components.

OTE, the UK-based nutrition brand, approached Upgrade to be its trade distributor. OTE is the first nutrition brand that the supplier has partnered with. Its strong marketing and branding is already established and Upgrade’s role is to make it easier for dealers to order as they can combine with their existing orders.

AMP HUMAN will be new to many of dealers. It is an innovative sports lotion that is scientifically proven to reduce lactic acid build up, improve performance, combat fatigue and decrease muscle soreness after hard workouts. Upgrade says there are huge openings for AMP Human, which is endorsed by Geraint Thomas. With only two SKUs; sachets or a bottle, it’s an easy product for dealers to stock and present at the counter.

DEXSHELL makes warm, waterproof socks, gloves and overshoes. Upgrade’s role is to introduce it to the bike market further. The company’s sales team has made fast progress due to the simple and accessible product range. “We see great potential for Dexshell appealing to anyone who seeks warm, comfortable hands and feet,” they say.

SIXSIXONE protection is a great fit for Upgrade, sitting well with DMR and Pivot, in particular. As an original MTB protection brand hailing from California, it remains a go-to for knee pads, helmets and more. Upgrade was approached by the brand to re-invigorate their IBD presence and it’s been a very successful first six months.