Bikes and cycling accessories sold for huge discounts including road bikes for £110 as Moore Large stock auctioned

The auction of liquidated distributor Moore Large's remaining stock began on Friday, with bargain hunters already snapping up bikes and accessories at heavily discounted prices.

Bicycles from brands such as Forme, Vitesse, Barracuda and Emmelle are just some of the products going for well below recommended retail price (RRP) in the first few days of auctions by John Pye. Accessories such as wheels, lights, inner tubes, mudguards and tyres have also been auctioned in bulk.

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Sonic balance bikes have been going for as little as £24, a reduction of 62 per cent on RRP, while other children's bikes as well as five-product multipacks of ETC lights (RRP £150) and lots with three Kenda Pinner Pro ATC tyres have all gone to successful top bids below £40.

Barracuda children's bikes worth £209 have been auctioned for £50, with Emmelle Snapdragon children's bikes also going for £54, a reduction on retail of around 75 per cent.

In the adult market, Barracuda's steel Corvus road bike model has been available for around £100 and its MTB models for less than £200, while Flite Rapide women's bikes have been going for half of retail price.

Forme bikes have been snapped up at big discounts too, the Hartington model sold for £129, £260 below retail, and the Buxton Pro e-folding bike sold for around £700, half of retail price.

One of Vitesse's Stream folding e-bikes, retail £1,100, went to a bid of £443, while the brand's Advance e-bikes have gone for as little as £430, well below the £999 RRP.

At the top end, Forme's e-MTB Alport model has been available at discounts of more than 50 per cent, successful bids of around £1,250 for the RRP £2,900 electric mountain bike were spotted on John Pye's online auction house.

It's worth mentioning these prices don't include the "25% Buyers Premium + 20% VAT" you have to stump up if your bid is successful, but even adding this on top, many of the sold prices plus the levies would be much lower than RRPs. 

The auctions come after the long-running Derby-based distributor, which formed from the bike shop opened by John Moore in 1947, entered liquidation earlier this month, less than a year since board directors bought the business from the Moore family.

It was announced that administrators had been appointed to sell off remaining stock and would be auctioning bikes and cycling accessories through John Pye, starting last Friday.

The remaining stock of around 35,000 bikes worth an estimated £25 million as well as £10 million worth of cycling accessories will be available to the public.

"We have the systems and knowledge in place to ensure we can sell the Moore Large & Co. stock with the highest level of efficiency and return for its creditors," John Pye's joint head of business and property Charles Loake commented.

"Our UK-wide footprint of close to 1,000,000 sq ft of sale space and a nationwide workforce of over 700 staff ensures we can handle the largest of insolvency cases. Since Covid, cycling as a hobby as increased exponentially, so this an opportunity for enthusiasts to potentially secure some big-name bikes and accessories at a great price."

All lots available to bid on, as well as those completed, can be viewed on John Pye's website.