The cycling industry has been the subject of a string of bad news stories recently. Tom Law and Liam Cahill bring you up to speed with a very fluid situation at WiggleCRC and discuss what this all means for us cyclists.
We also analyse the state of play in the world of hookless road wheels. Have they reached the point where users get an easy ride?
And we look at the dangers of unregulated ebike conversion kits. Why are they a potential fire hazard and what can you do to stay safe?
Credits
Luc Claessen / Getty
ITN / Getty
Bloomberg / Getty
London Fire Brigade
Electrical Safety First
https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:27 Wiggle & ChainReaction To Close?
02:21 Are Electric Bike Batteries Safe?
05:40 Is Now The Time To Buy Hookless Rims?
Ebikes: 9 BIG Questions Answered
→ https://youtu.be/8jstGPTb9z0
Best Bike For Commuting? Ebike Vs. Regular Bike
→ https://youtu.be/o2flIqDJvfQ
The Lightest Ebike Ever?!
→ https://youtu.be/rr2OY0yEQyk
5 ULTRALIGHT Hill Climb Bikes | 2023 National Hill Climb Champs
→ https://youtu.be/cK1DEJi6aq8
Expert’s Guide To Tubeless Tyre Setup | No More Mess!
→ https://youtu.be/uE5qynLx-L8
Liam’s Super-Light Custom Specialized Aethos! Hill Climb Diaries
→ https://youtu.be/jKVRQ1bA4oE
Listen to the BikeRadar Podcast
→ https://www.bikeradar.com/bikeradar-podcast/
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40 Comments
What is your chosen rim/tyre combination?
Just say "no" to hookless rims on high pressure (road) wheels. They are clearly inferior and unsafe ..(70 PSI?…are you kidding me?).
The costs of these bikes I have no sympathy
The amount of money I've spent
But in return arrogance I've received
Is insane
Scoffed at for not knowing mechanics (that's why I pay for a mech, it's not my job still sad tho to feel unworthy despite spending a mechanics monthly salary on a ride around, I'm scoffed at.
Come do my job, no training, we will laugh at you as your buried under a mountain of metal.
Recently had a refusal to fix a bike I hadn't bought from a shop I've spent about 50,000 uk in over the years, absolute joke
Then I took the bike that shall not be touched to another wall known chain
And they sent I lt back bottom bracketless, you can't make it up.
Maybe some sales would be nice and some high level full suspensions that come in at less than 5grand. We've been loyal for long enough when is loyalty to be rewarded by shops and manufacturers?
"the cycling market is weak" no, it's just finally rebounding from the pandemic rush. CEOs are being silly.
I think the current status of the upper end biking industry that BikeRadar represents & loves, along with its subscribers, isn't that hard to fathom.
First, many existing bike companies have jumped on the e-bike bandwagon. This is effectively an associated new industry, even though they're still "bikes" (primarily). This new industry has already muddied the water by cutting into regular bike sales. As usual, every associated new industry attracts many business startups and makes existing companies change direction. Many businesses both entering & jumping into a market creates a glut of availability & choice. Once the initial mass of the new industry buyers get theirs, well, you're down to newcomers and replacement/upgrade buyers. So, fewer buyers of regular bikes, many new e-bike companies, too many businesses with effectively the same e & non-e product. Result? New or old, big or small, any company or supplier with any sort of business flaw, starts bleeding. After enough bleeding comes death. Once enough deaths occur, both the new and old associated industries stabilize. Absent any other external impacts, it works out.
But now, throw in 1) a massive worldwide technology industry slump over the last year (the upper end bike industry runs on new tech, IS a tech industry!), plus 2) worldwide economic markets being more afraid of global recession coming than anytime in the last 10 years tightening all money, and massive issues in what's still a non-necessity (high tech bikes & e-bikes) should be the expectation, not the exception… not a surprise.
In fact, expect more!
.
Not to worry it's legal to ride a Sur ron at your local mtb trails since no one rides anymore.😂
Whatever Happens With Wiggle /CRC etc Will Probably Mean The Customer Just Pays More For Things,And Bike Shops Will Be Happy For You To Pay Them More as Well.Its Not Just E Bikes That are Exspensive it Bikes and Parts in General.
Anything to Do With Cycling Seems To Mean Being Taken For a Ride
🤫
Does this mean that Wiggle have gone out of business?
What is it with British cycling video makers: it seems that gloves, a basic safety item, are ignored.
What's going on?
Just for the hookless recomendation i also hope bikeradar soon go bankrupt
Interest rates and a squeezed consumer
Why are you lumping in tubeless with hookless as if you need hookless for tubeless which is not true. Anyone watching would think you need hookless to run tubeless, it's very misleading.
Every analysts said the bikes sales will come down to the normal level after the pandemic. The message was loud and clear. Any company which ignored it, perhaps had a reason for it such as a personal gain of few people in the management.
I've dabbled with tubeless. With bikes in various locales, all that results is a horrid coagulated mess to greet me when I arrive. Sometimes it requires having to cut an almost new tyre off the rim. I'm back with tubes. Thankfully.
E-bike batteries: It may be a prudent reminder why batteries are restricted for carriage by air…….
As a former Wiggle customer in Australia I'm blaming Brexit. Wiggle's international shipping rates and delivery times, which used to be good, became utterly unrealistic
If half go bust, as you want, we will get less competition, and uncontrollable price increases 🤷♂️
Im not surprised with the decline Wiggle and CRC is having. I used to use them for all parts as they were reasonably prices and has lots of stock. After the takeover immediately noticed they had reduced the stock lines and less competitive prices and I've shopped elsewhere.
It is interesting how battery fires are being characterized as a consumer failure – you bought the wrong thing or used it wrong – instead of a manufacturing error. How about making the sales of exploding batteries illegal?
These e bike battery fires are coming almost exclusively from low quality battery cells and BMS or battery management systems . top name brands that use high quality cells and excellent charging systems are almost unheard of in terms of fires . If you are going to go with crappy hub drive motors and batteries then charge it in a fireproof location , preferably the surface of the moon.
Wiggle et al,killed the lbs with massive buying capability, what happened to all the cheap stock, they have to have big markups to satisfy the shareholders greed😢
My ebike ended up costing me $2.5/km at time of motor failure. The economics of current prices don't work.
Sales are coming, I can feel it
You know the industry is
f!cked when Mike Ashley or Phil Green get involved
I bought a used 2022 Niner RIP e9 e-bike for $2800 USD, which is what it should have cost new instead of $6,700 in my opinion. Bikes of all types are crazy expensive. If manufacturers would offer less variations of each model they could lower overall prices as the scale of economy would kick in more.
Is there really chaos? Because I've expected to see a lot of smaller brands fold (e.g., Evil, Transition, Revel, etc) or at least show signs of collapse but I only see discounts bringing prices to what they were 4 years ago.
I was a big customer of wiggle for years but ever since their update they've had little options stock and competitive prices, leading me to competitors for my needs
Crc created its own problem by replacing its website so it was impossible to search.
They've made bikes too expensive. U can buy a dirt bike or two for what they want for a bike. 2000 grand for decent bike too much.
So they still made a shit tonne of money just the shares dropped so having to lay people off and cost cut. What a joke.
It's sad that the bicycle industry isn't the recognizing the financial struggles that many consumers face with today's high cost of living. Living costs will continue to get more expensive. Demand for bicycles will increase when people become forced to stop driving because of how unsustainably expensive it will become. There's a huge opportunity that's going untapped for companies to make simple, affordable and reliable commuter bikes for people that want an alternative to driving.
Hi guys,
I paid for a Nukeproof bike last week that was in the sale on Wiggle. Have you heard items not being delivered after payment has been made, because of the liquidation process?
What we need is higher prices for bike goods overall. Higher everything, especially high-end bikes. We need to make sure that bikes rival the cost of a nice used car or motorcycle.
The bike industry is staffed mainly by people with a single digit IQ… so it’s not a surprise that it’s all going down the drain despite the absolutely huge profits of the last several years.
I don't know how the bike industry is so weak. The amount of food delivery drivers is insane.
I work in a shop. The cycling market mirrors the economy; we’re still selling high end 10k+ bikes more than ever and people still come in for entry level sub 1k bikes every day. That middle tier 4-7k bike is not selling at all which was the lockdown bread and butter. I also don’t think the bike brands are ripping people off like a lot of people say. A new 1k is more than enough and is a great bike, just cause there are higher price bikes doesn’t mean the affordable ones are bad.
Selling bikes with a claris groupset and entry-level tektro brakes for £1200 is where I draw the line.
When making bicycle motor batteries , don't use cells .
It's astonishing how often cyclists replace their bikes these days and that's been the driver for astronomical pricing.
Lockdown, low interest rates and the relentless drive for growth and shareholder dividends all propped up by cyclists swapping out their almost new bikes for the latest bike.
The correction is long overdue.
Can't tell you how many of these videos I've watched over the last few months and it seems the overwhelming feeling in the community is the same. Customers feel the industry has taken the piss out of them and have absolutely no sympathy for bike companies. Going forward the industry needs to listen and pay attention to its customer base. It genuinely feels like people have grown to hate bike companies and that's not a good thing.
I did buy a new Specialized Stumpjumper s4 Expert for 3'300 Euros. So I'm Happy obviously 😁