Buying British

pontarlier_pete

When recently looking around for a new high-level race bike, I was struck by the amount available out there, and the quality of that available. What I did notice though was that Britain doesn't seem to have a top level manufacturer (although I am interested by the new Comtec brand). Why is that? Germany has Storck (and maybe Focus), Italy may have one or two obscure brands, France have Time, Look, Cyfac, Belgium have Merckx, Ridley, the Yanks have Spesh (and maybe Scott/Trek). Hell, even the Canadians have Argon 18 and Cervelo (although I'm not sure which is Terence and which is Philip).

Why don't we have anything equivalent? Is it because our industry is based on custom frames and therefore have fallen behind in the carbon manufacturing process? Is it because our brands are snobbish and don't want to lower themselves to buying Taiwanese frames like 90% of other manufacturers? Or is it that brands like Brian Rourke, Pearson, Boardman, Ribble, Dolan, Planet X etc do offer products that are as good quality as your £3k Italian tart but us consumers are snobbish and think foreign is best? Surely a nation that is at the forefront of carbon technology in motorsport has the skills to also be at the forefront of carbon technology in bikes too? And how good would it be to have a top-line manufacturer so that our cycling money could stay in Britain, and then be put back into grass roots Cervelo style, instead of waiting for an Aussie media baron to have a play and then get bored?

markos1963

I don't understand what you're driving at or even if you are correct. Most of the foreign brands you mention use Tiawanese frames in their ranges and some of the British brands you mention have some very nice race mounts in carbon(Pearson, Boardman and Dolan) I don't think its market snobbery that we have a large range of custom builders, they have identified a market niche and are fullfilling it.

pontarlier_pete

markos1963 wrote:

I don't understand what you're driving at or even if you are correct. Most of the foreign brands you mention use Tiawanese frames in their ranges and some of the British brands you mention have some very nice race mounts in carbon(Pearson, Boardman and Dolan) I don't think its market snobbery that we have a large range of custom builders, they have identified a market niche and are fullfilling it.

What I'm driving at is why doesn't Britain have a pro-tour level brand to compete with the other super-bikes from around the world. Or do we but we just overlook them? I'm not correct as I'm not giving any answers - I don't know what the answer is - I'm asking questions.

markos1963

Pontarlier Pete wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

I don't understand what you're driving at or even if you are correct. Most of the foreign brands you mention use Tiawanese frames in their ranges and some of the British brands you mention have some very nice race mounts in carbon(Pearson, Boardman and Dolan) I don't think its market snobbery that we have a large range of custom builders, they have identified a market niche and are fullfilling it.

What I'm driving at is why doesn't Britain have a pro-tour level brand to compete with the other super-bikes from around the world. Or do we but we just overlook them? I'm not correct as I'm not giving any answers - I don't know what the answer is - I'm asking questions.

I think the problem is logistical rather than historical/technical. Most of our companies would probably find it too hard financially to get involved in a pro level team. Perhaps Boardman if it keeps expanding its customer base might get a pro level team contract after all it has been involved at national level racing recently.

FransJacques

Evans is the answer. Ask yourself, what do they sell in Evans? Well, actually they sell Charge Bikes, On-One now and maybe even Whyte. So quit your whining :-)

Don't forget Cotic. They're locally designed. But be careful with what you call local. After 25 years in the biz I find it hard to keep up with who produces their own stuff.

And Canada has Guru, Opus and daVinci as well, and Rocky Mountain, and Brodie, and Kona, and Cove, and the Norther Bicycle Company (aka Norco).

Cyclefit are all over guru this year: http://www.cyclefit.co.uk/guru.html That should cheese your buns...

giant_man

No Evans isn't the answer. They're just a box shifter, tha's all they are. Just another big retailer who wants to sell as many bike as poss and flood the market with the Evans name.

Interesting thread though .....

Chip \'oyler

Loads of British manufacturing has had to go specialist and niche. Can you buy a 'true' mass produced British car these days?

pontarlier_pete

I think the market is out there for it. To compare with the motor industry, we were lagging behind for a long time and everyone bought Audi, BMW, Merc etc, but when Jag brought out the new XK and XF, it showed that when a British (or "British" in their case ) company produces a comparable product, it's a huge success. Don't forget Land Rover/Range Rover either. Also look at how Team Sky are doing on a wave of "patriotism". Isn't it a shame they had to go Italian with their bikes though.

Maybe Boardman can do something. It would be great if he could get a tie-in with someone like McLaren, and really push the development boundaries. Just think what McLaren could do with their money/power/technology - Cervelo would be like something from the stone age . I'd love to be riding a British equivalent to the quality of a Prince/Dogma/S3/EPS. Probably two thingsfor the business model though:

1. Get rid of the distribution through Halfords thing. That's like trying to sell Armani through Asda.

2. You'd probably need to offer custom paintworks. British people seem to love having something "unique", everyone else on the same thing at your local club would probably stop many people buying it!

Chip \'oyler

Pontarlier Pete wrote:

1. Get rid of the distribution through Halfords thing. That's like trying to sell Armani through Asda.

2. You'd probably need to offer custom paintworks. British people seem to love having something "unique", everyone else on the same thing at your local club would probably stop many people buying it!

+1 on both points