Wiggle CRC Reported to be Bought by Frasers Group for Under £10 Million

 @Fix-the-Spade

Another company will be f*cked by greedy Mr Ashley ...
Shame as not meny good deals will be available in the UK bicycle market.
He already damaged Evans Cycles...

Confirmed by ex employee

 @allbiker: I nipped into an Evans recently as I needed some emergency brake pads for a trip. It was an absolute sh1t show. There was one member of staff in the entire shop looking beyond harassed the entire time I was there.....I just gave up waiting.

 @allbiker: I agree with that, but nobody else’s wanted it so shit, what can you do?

 @allbiker: Wiggle CRC got f*cked by Signa Sports United, not Mike Ashley. The company went bankrupt under Signa resulting in the employees losing their jobs and creditors - large and small - getting shafted.

No one wanted to touch the £100s-of-millions in outstanding debt left by the Germans that would have saved the company. Ashley only purchased Wiggle CRC's intellectual rights.

 @surreybcrider: are you confusing germans and austrians, or is it all the same to you.

 @Korbi777: Signa Sports was/is a German company.

SIGNA Sports United (SSU) is a NYSE-listed specialist sports e-commerce company with headquarters in Berlin. It has businesses operating within bike, tennis, outdoor, and team sports. SSU has more than 80 online sites and partners with 500 shops serving over 6.5 million customers worldwide. It includes Tennis-Point, WiggleCRC, Fahrrad.de, Bikester, Probikeshop, Campz, Addnature, TennisPro and Outfitter.

Source: www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230221005693/en/SIGNA-Sports-United-Annual-Report-on-Form-20-F-for-Fiscal-Year-Ended-September-30-2022

Happy now?

 @surreybcrider: ah, yeah well I was referring to the responsible party, which is austrian. I think it was the signa holding that was insolvent and it trickled down

 @surreybcrider: They also got £10m more than anyone else was paying

 @pigman65: I’m curious to know if the debts were discharged entirely or partial payments made

 @shredddr: as someone owed money I can confirm, no! Myself and many other get absolutely nothing for our hard work and time. I think the those who supplied product may have had some form of payout for stock sold but aside from that, we all got shafted.

 @Korbi777: kind of the same....you have Germans and the More Germany Germans!

 Yea hard to makes sense of it when you put it that way, but essentially all that’s being bought is the brand names and IP, nothing physical, still mad though.

 According to Singletrackworld, he's only bought the brand names and website. £10m for a logo and a domain. All the jobs go.

 @justanotherusername: well, at least I provided a source

 @justanotherusername: He's bought all the data; customer details, mailing lists, etc. He'll make all that back either selling off that data or from sales through advertising his other businesses to them.
He doesn't give a f*ck about the brand, just what the brand has on you.

 @TimMog: Is it legal to sell customer details - GDPR?

 @justanotherusername: this speaks to the actual profitability of the bike industry counter to all the griping about how expensive stuff is. Apparently these brands aren’t worth much.

 @TimMog: customer data isn’t worth all that much on an individual level. Best guess, $1 a contact, if that. I really doubt there’s millions and millions of people’s information in that database.

 @justanotherusername: GDPR rules seem to be incredibly vague at best, and mostly what the data is used for is set by the company collecting it. You're able to opt out, of course, but that doesn't have to be made particularly user friendly to do so. My wife works in marketing, and even she says the rules are mostly meaningless unless you're directly identifying people. Data is the new gold. Why do you think so many supermarkets have rewards apps and members card pricing? It's not about helping the customer...

 @TimMog: I understand data is valuable, I just question if one of the UK’s largest retail owners would buy a company so he can sell someone else the data vs just using it himself to sell bike stuff- sounds a bit far fetched to me, possibly illegal too.

 @shredddr: The word profit is extremely relevant here

WiggleCRC has been massive but unprofitable for the best part of a decade now. You can't go on forever in business without making some money at some point. There will come a time when the banks or individuals funding you will want their money back

It is a shame for the consumer though because WCRC couldn't have sold any cheaper if they were a charity - they were hooking up the consumer with sweet deals and then making a loss at the end of the year.

 @morphcycles: But just imagine how much they would've made if the stuff they were advertising killer deals on was actually in stock.

 @commental: Totally agree, the not in stock thing became a joke and put me right off even browsing the site.

 @TimMog: who would give a f*ck about a brand anyways? the guy bought IP to make money. The Company was dead. Do you have some emotional connection to a logo on the internet that isn't yours? lol

companies get bought out of the bin all the time. who f*cking cares.....

 @Mtbdialed: Not sure what your point is here, I think we agree? I was saying that Ashley wouldn't do something unless it made him money, brand be damned. He's absolutely f*cked the image of Evans here, the place is a failing mess now, but he will personally be making money from it somehow

In conclusion:

I don't mourn Wiggle
I do think Mike Ashley is a pri*k

 @TimMog: ‘MtbDialed / Nick the barman is a grade a dick head - he runs his own bike biz (some garage mechanic gig) he has no emotional attachment to business because his is utter shite.

 @justanotherusername: still in your head rent free I see. you amuse me greatly, you canuck limey prick!

 @TimMog: ah yeah, maybe misread you a bit....kind of sounded like you expect the buyer of a business in receivership should value said brand in some way.

 @Mtbdialed: I’m not from Canada Nicky, you know that, drank too many cute cocktails?

 And when the next load of tosspots, whoever they may be, get elected he’ll start donating to them, it’s what all the big businesses do in most countries, line the pockets of those who could pass laws that might effect your money making.

 Nice one because Ashely messed up CRC and Wiggle hahahahhaahah

 @cypher74: Maybe he'll donate enough that someone will be able to get themselves a campervan. ;-)

 @nismo325: Might want to look up what the net migration figures to the UK are each year, that number is normal. Unless of course you're talking about refugees, in which case that figure is way off, so might want to look at facts again.
Or, you can spout a comment that shows your opinions are easily influenced by dog whistle tactics from - let me guess - conservative supporting parties.

 Or maybe they happend to operate from a country whose citizens voted for loosing access to a market of 400mln people? I myself remember buying there, now I buy from Germany or Spain.

 @lkubica: I thought the german sites were always cheaper no? Till brexit I always bought from the germans, high end maguras for under 100 euros

 @lkubica: Mostly it's to do with the poperty developer who owned them betting everything on a property boom post Covid, when that didn't happen they were toast. However, the thing my country did to itself isn't helping.

 I heard Merlin cycles paid the web developers to deliberately build theworstwebsiteknowntoman.com and rebrand it as wiggle/CRC

 @lkubica: only 1/3rd of the country voted leave, the gov did it anyway. Never forget...

 CRC was my go to for anything I needed (or Merlins but less so) when I lived in the UK and even for the summer I spent in France - fast and efficient delivery - I could walk into my LBS, get shit service still have to order what I needed and then wait months for them to get it in or order it myself and learn how to fit it.

I used CRC a lot when I first moved to Canada too but the import duties got a bit silly and the Canadians finally started to understand the mail order model.

 @naptime: it's always like this, people should be obliged to vote, it's not a law, it's a duty.

@tempnoo1 They were a viable alternative, not always but it made sense sometimes. And the Nukeproof products were really good, I have Sam Hill pedals for like 5 years now, one seized recently and I panicked because repair kits are not available in Europe anymore. But took them apart, gave the some fresh grease and they are still rolling. Previous Spanks lasted 1 year and HT's lasted 6 months ...

Remember the SuperStar components? They had super cheap and good wheels and they are gone too.

 @tempnoo1: no, not always. CRC house brands had good stuff (NP HZN wheels, pedals) for cheap when on sale

 @lkubica: Yet the 2016 vote to leave the the European Union didn't stop Signa Sports United, a German company, from acquiring Wiggle CRC in 2017.

And Wiggle CRC is not the only bicycle-related company to go bust in the past couple of years. VanMoof (Dutch) and Internetstores Group (German and also owned by Signa) have gone belly-up and even MAVIC (French) had to enter into receivership only a few years ago.

This has all to do with poor management and people betting that the COVID-related bike boom would not end.

 @naptime: Using your logic, fewer that 1/3 of the country voted to remain in the EU.

And I did not vote to leave the EU.

 @lkubica: Yet the 2016 vote to leave the the European Union didn't stop Signa Sports United, a German company, from acquiring Wiggle CRC in 2021 and that was even after the UK official departed from the EU.

And Wiggle CRC is not the only bicycle-related company to go bust in the past couple of years. VanMoof (Dutch) and Internetstores Group (German and also owned by Signa) have gone belly-up and even MAVIC (French) had to enter into receivership only a few years ago. This has all to do with poor management and people betting that the COVID-related bike boom would not end.

 @lkubica: Was SuperStar part of CRC/Wiggle? Or were they independent but also hit but the whiplash that the bike industry is experiencing currently? Either way, I didn't realize they were gone...bummed as I always thought they offered some pretty strong values.

 @thekaiser: SuperStar are independent, not related to CRC Wiggle.

They also appear to still be trading, their site is up and Facebook has deals for February.

www.superstarcomponents.com/en

 @thekaiser: superstar components is still going, with a big range of finishing kit/drivetrain components, they just stopped doing wheels which were one of their highlights, you could get a complete wheel set in fancy colours with adaptable hubs for less than the price of a hope rear hub at one point. I know a few people who had a set and they seemed pretty durable for the cost.

 @thekaiser: AFAIK Superstar is doing quite a lot of manufacturing for other people now.

 @surreybcrider: but the question shall we stay. We were already in..... The question was should we leave an only 1/3rd of the country said yes. Brexshit was all ready decided on the referendum was just for show... So corrupt gov could "blame the plebs" . I guarantee in a few years time there will be a public inquiry, just like the Iraq invasion. And just like the Iraq invasion.. those responsible will walk free.....

 @naptime: but over a third didn't vote, out of those that did, more said leave, and if you extrapolate the data, if everyone voted, over half would have said yes to leave. You can't use non votes as a no vote, that's not how democracy works, no matter how shit the outcome.

 @inked-up-metalhead: 1/3rd will never be bigger than 2/3rds NOTHING Changes that.............
ONLY ONE THIRD WANTED BREXSHIT..........
FACTS

 @inked-up-metalhead: If you can cast you mind back through the years and BS, before the vote the referendum was touted as a non-binding "test of the mood of the people". After the vote it became "the will of the people" and the govt decided it was a mandate.
Never forget, they moved the f*cking goalposts.

 @naptime: facts are
More voted to leave than stay.
Kids can't vote.
Neither can non citizens.
Nor people that can't be arsed.
Simple really?

 @naptime: The problem is those who did not vote voted "I give a f*ck", so the others could decide for them.

 @naptime: 42.5m electorate.
17.5m leave.
16m remain.
72% turnout.
Simple enough?
Mitmot.

 @dotman: I'll make it a little easier for you:

1.018m Leave
1.661m Remain
67.2% Turnout
Simple enough?

 @dotman: @inked-up-metalhead:
Yes - more people voted to leave than stay
No - it was not a legally binding referendum, therefore the threshold for mandate of "the will of the people" should have been >50% electorate or >65% of counted votes.
Yes - I accept what's done is done, it got f*cked, there's no un-f*cking things now
No - I don't think the lying twats who instigated this shitshow should get away with it.

Yes - Brexit had a part to play in Wiggle CRC's downfall
No - it's not entirely down to Brexit and/or COVID, there was serious mismanagement at play as well

Mike Ashley is only the final nail in the coffin

 @browner: ha the Peoples Republic of Scotland!
Leave the uk but stay part of Europe?
Splendid.

 @browner: Can't agree more, it used to be really easy to find exactly what you were looking for. I was looking for kids clothes and I could not find a filter for kids. I also enquired about buying a bike on cycle to work and was told by an employee the website was going through some changes and they would not be doing cycle to work for 9 months or so. Local bike shop got my business.

 @naptime: but less than 1/3rd voted to stay. You can't use non votes as votes to stay, because they weren't. They were either indifferent, unable to vote or couldn't make an 'informed decision'. And, going off the numbers who voted, and extrapolating the data to 100% turn out, it would have been the same result, and if you can't see that, you need to go back to school and learn percentages and how to interpret data. So, to go off your logic,
LESS THAN A THIRD WANTED TO REMAIN
FACTS
f*ckTARD

 @inked-up-metalhead: YOU DUMB DUMB c*ntS. The question shall we leave or stay... WE WERE All Ready IN HOW CAN WE JOIN SOMETHING WE WERE ALL READY IN?????
how f*cking stupid can you be???!

 @naptime: imagine in your therapy group there was a vote for what the most popular colour of crayon was, red or blue.
Out of seven of you special fellows two were too busy licking the windows, three voted red the other two mitmots blue.
Red is the favourite crayon yay!!!
Same sort of thing, you dig?

 @naptime: WHERE DID I SAY ANYTHING ABOUT JOINING ANYTHING? NO ONE BUT YOU THINKS ANYONE DID. WE ALL KNOW WHAT THE QUESTION WAS. WE ALL KNOW THE RESULT, AND DONT WANT TO COUNT NON VOTED AS NO VOTES, YOURE THE ONLY ONE WHO SEEMS CONFUSED AS HOW THESE THINGS WORK HERE. YOURE THE STUPID ONE APPARENTLY, YOU CAN'T SEE HOW 17.5 MILLION IS BIGGER THAN 16 MILLION.

 How can we join something we're allready in...............................?
you dumb dumb DUMB c*nt

 @dotman: now factor in to that BLUE WAS ALLREADY THE MOST POPULAR COLOR allways has been an allways will be.....................
an im the stupid one?? yeah f*cking right

 @naptime: why are you repeating the same non information? No one's saying it was a vote to join, it was a vote to leave, you can't leave if you're not already in...

 @dotman: this is fun, I can just imagine him having an aneurysm over something that happened 8 years ago because he doesn't understand that 17.5 is bigger than 16.

 @inked-up-metalhead: or maybe its to do with the FACT that our company, pre brexshit used to go through over 150 tonnes of Alu a month. Now e're luicky if we process 30..............

but yeeeaaahhh keep believing brexshit was a good idea............
f*ckiiiiiiiiiing face palm

 @inked-up-metalhead: " you can't leave if you're not already in..." except we were
i actually feel sorry for you an your intelligence level

 @naptime: am I missing something here? You seem to be agreeing with me, but also arguing? I'm saying we were already in, you cant say 'except we were' when my statement says we were.

And where have I once said I thought it was a good idea? Your arguing against yourself with your indignation now.

 @inked-up-metalhead: " you can't leave if you're not already in..." your words

 @naptime: how the hell can you not understand?
THE ONE WITH THE MOST VOTES WINS.
Does your water still come through lead pipes?

 @dotman: in an election yes... NOT in a referendum... do they have education in wales?
its not a footy match you dumb FK!!
just a shame we ALL lost eh?

 @naptime: good god man, so by your logic the one with the least votes wins???
Twll dyn bob saes.
Book in the G.P's for a scan, maybe a clot ar yr pen?

 @dotman: there is no "win" it's not an election its a referendum.. Two different things... An election is legally binding governtent has to honor the result.... A referendum is NOT legally binding.. it's a gauge of public opinion...
I really can't make any clearer for you f*cking morons

The gov did what they wanted regaurdless of the result

 @naptime: a referendum is a question put to the electorate on a single subject.
Of course it's legally binding you mitmot, just as the referendum was which took us in to the single market.
Go give your head a wobble good boy.

 @dotman: yeah might wanna fact check that before you post.........
Mitmot

 @dotman:
fullfact.org/europe/was-eu-referendum-advisory

 @ROOTminus1: the referendum was not legally binding but there are no facts to prove this are the first lines of the legal part?

 @surreybcrider: slow hand clap for pointing out the completely fckng obvious.....

 Signs only acquired them in 2021 and raised $645mil to do so - how the hell has that happened

 @tomo12377: Signa as a whole owed something like 5 billion Euros when it collapsed. But CRC-Wiggle's been bleeding money for a while, when they were bought out $400million-ish was covering the company's debts.

 Insane.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_Reaction_Cycles :

CRC closed their Northern Irish warehouse to integrate their stock into Wiggle's 'Citadel',[12] but retains its own branding and website. The combined Wiggle CRC group generated an annual revenue of over £300 million.

In October 2017 Wiggle CRC bought German company Bike24 for over £100 million, which continues to operate separately. The group's combined revenue is now estimated at £500 million.[13]

 Tbf I think £10 million is probably fair - all he gets are brand names after all and IP.

 @cashew: I somehow missed the info that Bike24 is under the same umbrella. Fingers crossed for them, good shop...

 @iznotiz: Bike24 just released its 2023 financial numbers. The financial picture is not rosey.

bnnbreaking.com/finance-nav/bike24-holding-ag-faces-revenue-decline-and-adjusted-ebitda-margin-drop-in-fy-2023

 @justanotherusername: This. He bought the rights to send bicycle frame drawings to taiwan, to get them manufactured with this logo and sell them on a website with that logo.

 To be fair, Nukeproof has been rebranded before. Not sure what it was back in the days, but I think it now is a really strong brand with already a legendary racing history. As for the name though, the thought of nuclear conflict may be not too funny anymore whether these Horizon flats will survive or not.

 @vinay: Nukeproof started out in the 90's as an American owned company (based in Michigan if memory serves) making light weight hubs with carbon fiber center shells bonded to 2 aluminum spoke flanges. They expanded to a pretty wide range of components like handlebars and stems, and even a hardtail frame with their own integrated linkage suspension fork: www.mtbr.com/threads/1997-nukeproof-reactor.843826

They shut down, I think due to financial problems, and then CRC bought the brand name and re-started the operation in the UK with an entirely new/different product line. It's kind of funny as, for years after that, I'd thought of the CRC iteration of Nukeproof as a cheap re-brand, but they finally cemented themselves as their own legit entity in my mind. Now I need to start all over with another iteration under the new-new owners...hopefully they don't turn it into a cheap department store brand.

 @vinay: As it Vitus. Vitus was a French bicycle tubing company that went bust in the early 2000s. It's best known for being a pioneer in aluminium tubing (Vitus 979 frames) and their steel tubing such as Super Vitus 971 and 980 was high regarded by frame builders.

 More than likely. He did it with Karrimor. They used to be a well respected outdoor brand until Ashley bought the name, now their products are just cheap shyte.

 @thekaiser: A boy I cycled with back in the very early '90 had a set of Nukeproof hubs, I was only 15 or so and riding a Raleigh Massif. I thought they were the absolute bee's knees. I since bought quite a few Nukeproof products. Sad to think the brand might descend into a cheap Muddy Fox like entity.

 But having 10 bikes didn't used to be the norm. That's been made more possible due to online retailers selling stuff barely at a profit, allowing you to own multiple bikes. Pull that supply plug, and of course that's unsustainable. Way back, you'd have one bike, maybe two bikes, and buy from your local bikeshop. I understand the world has changed, but now more than ever it's important to support your LBS. Direct to consumer brands selling bikes online aren't going to fix and service people's bikes on a day to day basis. Imagine needing a puncture fixing and waiting 5 days for it to be collected, fixed and sent back.

 @TimMog: How can you say what the norm is if you don't know the size of the household?

 @commental: That's true, I was assuming there were less than 10 people in the household.

 @TimMog:
There are 4 people in the house hold. I do love bikes and enjoy working on them and putting them together. Alot of the parts used in my ten bike are secondhand. I'm 48 yrs old and I bought my first complete bike for myself last year. Sure I have bought plenty of new parts online but the secondhand market is pretty good. I have the knowledge fix and assemble bikes and that is the main reason for being able to have so many bikes on the go.

 @markdoyle75: That's outrageous. You shouldn't be able to afford multiple bikes. It's only through your disdain for the LBS that you're in this position.

 Can't say you didn't try!

 LOL at thinking he has a generous side.

 No you will not. I was looking for a rebuild kit recently, only one on ebay and the shipping = cost of the kit. Buying anything from the UK is a nightmare.

 Are these some proprietary pins then?

 @vinay: nopes, all the wear parts of those pedals (pins, bearing, bushing) except for the seal are standard ISO components

 @Arierep: Yeah, that's what I was expecting as well, hence why I was surprised the OP is worried. I'd be more worried about snapping or bending a pedal axle. Not sure whether these Horizon pedals are notorious for that, I only recall Sam Hill destroying his Funn pedals but then again he might smash things a little harder than any of us.

 Saudi owners next?

 Allegedly, Thanos of the retail world. Buys mid market to upscale retail brand IP, usually brands close to death, keeps them alive, to drag them down to the value end of the market.

 Buys companies, sacks all the staff, then tries to re-hire them on a zero hour contract with no benefits, refuses to pay landlords, part pays suppliers, runs companies with less than minimal staff numbers leading to stress. Rinse and repeat

 He treats his workers legendarily badly, as close to At Will employment as UK law allows. Plus his entire business model is buying the companies you used to love and wearing their skins until they're too rotten to pass for living anymore. He'll use the CRC brands to sell cheap Chinese shit from a catalogue until people figure him out, then he'll move onto the next recently bust company and start again.

 And hella large tote bags, to carry clothing and bedding across International borders.

 It actually is great. Less bike shops losing sales to an overseas company selling parts at or below dealer cost. This is a perfect example of companies in Europe racing to the bottom for pricing. They can't enforce MAP by law so it's a free for all when it comes to pricing.

 I don't know, for the UK at least there is plenty of competition. For the employees it's about as bad as it gets, I feel bad for them and it's a crap way for Nukeproof/Vitus to come to an end after their first resurrection.

 @Fix-the-Spade:
It's a shame to lose Ragley too. I'm sure Brant is already working on something though.

 @notthatfast: Brant left a long time back and started a menswear company (HebTroCo) which appears to be doing very well

 @showmethemountains:
Oh, well good for him.

 @Fix-the-Spade: It is a bummer to see Nukeproof/Vitus go away. Those were legit bikes at a great price.

 @notthatfast: Brant has'nt been a part of Ragley for a very long time.Or bikes for that matter. He is very busy with Hebtro.co

 @ryane: Your comment is exactly why it sucks for consumers. Yeah it's likely way better for LBS to reap their rewards for overpricing. Luckily, there are still other European sites to get deals for bike parts and accessories. The bike industry really don't need to gouge everyone looking for affordability - just make it affordable so that everyone can enjoy rather than making it accessible to only the ones with deeper pockets. It's no longer free enterprise when there is less competition and the LBS are practically colluding to control prices. Check the prices for practically all LBS in Canada and US. All their prices are basically MSRP!

 @CSharp: I have worked in the industry for 10+ years and I am a strong believer of MSRP and MAP policies. We are the largest market in the world for cycling, something must be working. It's not price gouging, it's the bike industry.

Bike brands, components, parts are all built around the tiered distribution model. Bikes and parts are priced appropriately based on costs where everyone makes a little money by the time it reaches MSRP. It's been this way for 30+ years, not saying it's perfect but that is the foundation of the bike and moto industry. If we got rid of distributors(QBP, BTI, JBI, Norco, KHS), than you would see an MSRP drop of like 20-30%. That could work but companies would lose access to thousands of dealers.

I think what we need are more direct to consumer brands offering lower priced options, let the consumer decide ultimately.

 @CSharp:
Would you like all your local bike shops to close because they can't afford to pay their employees? Think about that next time you or one of your friends needs mechanical help, or to try something on or test ride a bike before you buy it online. That's what you're suggesting. Margins are ludicrously low, and you'd like them to be lower?

I'll tell you a secret: Nobody works in the bike industry because the money is good. Nobody.

 @notthatfast: Completely agree! Maybe I'm too invested in this conversation because I worked in shops, now the bike industry, and have several friends with shops.

 @ryane:
For sure, same here, but honestly the 'price gouging' comments made by folks that have zero idea bother me.
Your LBS are not price gouging - they're trying to make an honest living. MAP policies are there to protect the small bike shops.
Besides, most of the 'price gouging' comments are made in reference to ultra high end bikes that simply didn't exist before. The low end options are still there, and I could find you 20+ examples of affordable bikes that have gone back down to their pre-covid prices - which account for inflation actually makes them a better deal. But people will always complain. Go figure.

 @ryane, @notthatfast : MSRP "is for dummies". I heard this saying years back and it's pretty much what it is. Unless if you one of those people who can't wait to get your hands on the latest and greatest because you've got money to throw away, go ahead. This is why consumers have gone to places like CRC and bike-discount.de to make tones of purchases. When manufacturers start dictating prices for their products and all the LBS in North America follow the same price schemes and then you see oversee merchants sell the same things for almost half the price, you gotta ask WTF's going on. And consumers have spoken and did go to those cheaper places. Of course no one wants local businesses to go belly up, no one. However, nobody wants to get ripped off as well. If margins are really that ridiculously low, why is it that you can get the same part, accessories, and even a whole bike for 30% or even more elsewhere? I can guarantee that even at 30% off sales for any given store, the business is still making some profit. Nobody is in the business to just break even or to lose money. LBS do have a place to supply servicing for the bikes they sell or for those who don't have time to service their own bike or have the expertise to do it.

And yes, someone should tell SRAM, Shimano, and a bunch of other manufacturing brands to go f*ck off with their North American vs European pricing contracts. "Margins are ludicrously low, and you'd like them to be lower?" Yes, because they can be lower when there is no restrictions for competition. It's ironic how the capitalist society created a free enterprise system for capitalism to thrive on yet the some of them, namely Americans can't compete on a global scale. Canadians can't compete because we've always been doing things on a much smaller scale.

 @CSharp:
While you've got a point regarding european vs north american pricing (I'm originally from the UK and everything in Canada is ludicrously expensive), all getting rid of MAP agreements would do is allow online retailers to drop prices to next to nothing while ensuring local shops DO go belly up. Getting rid of MAP would not affect the distributors, because they're the ones setting the prices, so they'll still be making their full margin while shops suffer. A good/average margin for a shop is around 35% by the way, and that doesn't account for any costs outside of the bike's wholesale itself. I'll let you do the math there, but profit margins are not high.

Regarding many of the 30% off sales, some manufacturers/distributers are crediting shops after the fact for ost margins, but only if the bikes were ordered after a certain date. I can assure you that on many of these bikes, YES we are unequivocally losing money. I can't imagine the distributors are making much either. I think we're at the point where money in the door is better than old stock sitting on the shelf, even if it only breaks even.

I also think exchange rates have a lot to do with north american/european pricing.

 @CSharp: You make some great points. I will point out that margins to dealers are between 35-45% on bikes and parts. I sell to dealers every day in that range and it's the norm. End of year sales at 30% off makes sense but not all year long. Some small parts like tubes and consumables are closer to 50%. The Ski/Surf industry is a little better on margins but it's either boom or bust for them depending on the season. I believe the service department is what keeps the lights on in the modern bike shop. In the next 10 years, there will be an even larger gap between the online sellers and brick and mortar shops. One is for parts the other is for service. Labor rates will shoot up another 30-50%.

 They did but it was their owners (Sigma) that brought then down.

 Have a read up on this - it’s a purchase of IP / brand only, the company is dead, lots preceded this.

 They were hundreds of millions of GBP in debt. No company or private equity firm was going to rescue the company as it operated until recently and cover these massive loses. Their German parent company has also gone belly-up. Mike Ashley's group has only purchased Wiggle CRC's intellectual property rights.

 No

 Yes but you have to take your broken bike into a branch of sports direct in Perth, Scotland and ask the guy who fits shoes but if shoe man says no then it's no, unless it's a Saturday in which case you go to the front desk and the bike must be in a box, where the checkout person can tell you it's no.

 The company is gone, warranty is gone, buy spares now if available

 @browner: Wiggle CRC's downfall has nothing to do with Sports Direct. It has all to do with the failings of Signa Sports United.

Mike Ashley has only purchased the intellectual property rights of Wiggle CRC - just as Wiggle CRC did years ago when they acquired the rights to use the names Nukeproof (it use to be a US company) and Vitus (a French frame tubing company).

 Computer says no.

 Nothing much

 Autocorrect on phones doesn’t always help does it