Wiggle moves offline to offer bike repair and servicing at business parks

Many of us are PAINFULLY awaiting the mainstream adoption of electronic shifting, having already done a course on them, I've just to fix any

Many sections of the bike industry must be quite gleefully anticipating the mainstream adoption of things like electronic shifting - high value items (thus appealing to the affluent) that need specialized knowledge and diagnostic (*other atheist welshmen are available.....) equipment.

The problem with stocking a massive selection of parts and obsolete ones is you will only ever sell a few of this or that.

Financially that just doesn't make sense at all. This is why most LBS only stock a bare minimum and order things in as needed.

There is no point in having thousands tied up in stock that you are unsure of being able to sell, it is just a way to go bust quicker.

I agree with doing custom builds, must from experience, most custom builds come on the back of the frames and bikes you already stock and people wanting to change things to suit themselves. That way, they have a test ride of the bike and then say, I like the way it rides, but I want X wheel set, Y handlebars and Z gearing....

The best LBS, and the one most likely to survive probably doesn't sell any or many complete bikes, but will stock a massive array of parts (including obsolete ones) and have a 'can do' workshop with a reasonable labour rate. They will also do full custom builds, rather than a stock if boxed bikes.

The big guys just can't compete, it's too specialist.

I live in fareham and use wiggle a lot for parts, I also feel the pain of not being about to collect directly. That said I also use a great local chain of bike shops, solent cycles. I'll continue to us wiggle online but everything else will I'll be going to solent, they give great service and have fare prices.

I wouldn't bet on that Neil, they have the infrastructure in place already, they have tools beyond what they could ever need.

So all the need to do is employ some decent mechanics, cover their wages and thats it. Their overheads will already be factored into their existing costs.

good to see wiggle expending but its a shame there will be no parts available to buy, lots of locals hate the fact that we have one of the uk's largest online bike companies on our door step yet they wont allow us to collect orders and we have to wait days for items to be delivered via royal mail etc..

even if they charged £1 per collection to pay for a staff member to man a collection desk i think everyone would be happy to pay it.

there are no shops that stock good selection of road parts at decent prices in portsmouth and its frustrating when you realise u need something in a hurry so you can go for a ride at the weekend yet you cant get the part you need that day.

That'll see a few LBS in those areas struggling or giving up completely. As soon as someone that big moves into your market, you are screwed.

It's all very slick and cleverly done - at least in Rapha's case; but you can see why this sort of thing is taking off. The kind of 'brand loyalty' and associations that businesses are looking to develop in people's minds can't really flourish if the said brand is nothing more than a single website floating around in the corners of the internet. It's like trying to get people to be friends with a ghost. I'm sure Rapha's 'Cycle Clubs' have helped establish them no end as purveyors of not just cycle clothing, but 'the spirit of cycling itself'. Which is probably why they can get away with charging so bloody much. They sell lifestyles as much as clothing. And they're irritatingly good at it.

On a less cynical, businessy note; there are certainly advantages in having both the conveniences of 'try before you buy' and a near infinite online catalogue to potentially choose from.

I wonder how the market changes will affect LBSs... This connection between online and instore seems to be the way things are going, so I wonder how they'll fit in... perhaps they'll become more 'online based', just as the online companies are becoming more 'instore based'. I don't know. Regardless, I expect/hope the 'cycling boom' (if it continues) can keep them busy and active, even if if some of the market share becomes increasingly online based.

Oh, and after having done all that Rapha comparison, I don't actually think Wiggle and Rapha are particularly alike as businesses. Wiggle are a bit like a general supermarket, whereas Rapha is a bit... I dunno, Heinz - a single brand. So I'm sure there will be differences between how the two operate.