Halfords is ready to greater than double its providing of premium bikes in an try and reap the benefits of the expansion within the premium cycle market, the retailer has introduced.
It would improve the variety of premium mechanical street bikes it provides by 60%, and the variety of premium electrical bikes by a whopping 300%.
This finish of the market, says the retailer, is seeing the most important progress.
The brand new non-electric machines will probably be stocking imminently are headed up by Boardman, which has been owned by Halfords since 2014, with bikes such because the £2,100 Boardman TRVL journey bike, and the ADV 9.6 carbon gravel bike, outfitted with Shimano GRX Di2, that can be purchased.
With lovers today usually forking out between £3,000 and £4,000 (and ceaselessly far more than that), Halfords’ £1,000-plus benchmark for the premium market will look just a little low in lots of eyes.
Nonetheless, says Halfords head of biking Kate Begley: “The brand new vary of bikes from Halfords is a transparent assertion of intent to the premium biking market.
“It’s one of many quickest rising sectors however one which was underrepresented at Halfords. However now that’s altering and considerably so.”
The newest race content material, interviews, options, evaluations and professional shopping for guides, direct to your inbox!
Biking Weekly spoke to quite a few impartial outlets, none of whom appeared notably involved about Halfords’s newest transfer.
“I do not assume so,” stated Jon Williams, proprietor of Fred Williams Cycles in Wolverhampton, when requested if independents will probably be nervous.
“I assume the manufacturers that they’ve entry to is the place it might have an effect on different outlets,” he stated. “In the event that they decide up some manufacturers that independents are stocking, then they’ve clearly received extra clout and extra advertising and marketing and extra promoting and issues that they will do with these manufacturers.”
However he stated that in his expertise, Halfords workers lacked experience when it got here to high-value biking gross sales.
Adam Cross is the model improvement supervisor at Paul’s Cycles in Dereham, Norfolk, which has Halfords as a detailed neighbour.
“We regularly inform folks, oh, we’re behind Halfords,” he stated, “as a result of you possibly can see Halfords from the roadside and you’ll’t, , we’re kind of behind it. I can not see [Halfords’ latest move] having any impression on us.
For these trying to spend a bit more cash on a motorbike, Cross stated, “It isn’t their first bike… notably their first street bike. So likelihood is they have some data, some expertise, some kind of consciousness of tendencies, fashions and that kind of factor.
“I do not assume that they might see Halfords because the place to go and get their new, second or third street bike down the road. I can not see that making a giant impression on established bike outlets,” he added.
Gordon Fletcher, affiliate dean of analysis and innovation at Salford Enterprise College informed Biking Weekly that smaller outlets shouldn’t underestimate Halfords’ clout when it got here to providing a well-recognized model with a wide-ranging community.
“Whereas the independents are typically positioned in direction of the intense and high finish of the market in addition they depend on sturdy phrase of mouth advertising and marketing in addition to returns and referrals from glad prospects,” he stated. “Halfords crashes into this area with the promise of a community for help which may be vital for commuters and severe leisure customers alike.”
He added: “Excessive finish merchandise coupled with the reassurance of a excessive avenue model will probably be a pretty mixture for a lot of shoppers,” and identified that Halfords had a powerful skill to analyse the market and goal choices in the best way that independents couldn’t.
