So Decade is the latest distribution company to be taken over by Chain Reaction Cycles.

Add this to Hotlines and its quite an outfit, but one that is growning slyly and done so in such a way that folk dont realise.

How many people realise their ACTUAL size, not just that they have a big shed in NI! First 12 pades in Dirt are all CRC adverts!

Clothing for example, Answer, Gaerne, Azonic, Brand X, IXS, Leatt, Rock Gard’n, Speed Stuff, EVS, Urge, No Fear and Royal are already under their wing.

Its more a case that shops dont realise that i think is the problem. Shops universally hate CRC but will buy all their stock from Hotlines???

No. Not all of us hate CRC.

How often do you see that kit on the trail compared to other brands, though? Aside from Azonic (and now Royal) the others aren’t massively common.

Their older brands seem unusual (like Speedstuff) but the ones they get now are massive- Lapierre, Nukeproof etc. Good equipment, and we’ve found Hotlines efficient enough to deal with.

There’s no denying the size of CRC- one of my old workmates is there now and was saying on one Friday they sold around 400 Cubes. Not bikes, just Cubes. Then all the rest on top of that. Incredible.

Its a good point, well made, but I’m torn.

CRC have proven themselves good operators for the UK bike scene and I confess a friendship and respect for Brant Richards who is now Angel of Death working with so many of their brands.

But you’re right to be concerned. I dont think there’s necessarily anything dark behind the way they keep brand buying low key, in an industry like bikes it probably would erode brand value if you started doing that annoying Unilever scroll thing they do on adverts showing you how big the “family” is.

Local boys done good innit – I (just) remember when it was a wee LBS in Ballyclaire.

Personally I like one or two of the other shop chains much less.

I wish the CTC had gone with Chain Reaction rather than bloody Wiggle for the CTC Shop. And at least they’re not Evans.

Andy

I prefer Wiggle. Their website is much nicer to use.

Less chavvy brands on there too.

so what brands did Decade distribute?

I have found dealing with CRC has become such a horrible experience I’ve stopped using them completely now. The last time I did use them they certainly demonstrated the ” we are so big we don’t give a “damn” attitude that sometimes bigger chains do.
There are loads of other on-line shops now so I still get the products I need but also get to deal with nice friendly people who care about what they do and their customers.
Wiggle have always been better imo.

I think CRC should make it clearer that a lot of their stock is unwanted OEM stuff taken off bikes. My SIDs, while excellent, had a rough cut steerer tube, no star nut and no shock pump. They’ve sent the pump after I questioned them but should they be claiming big discounts off rrp when the products they offer are not comparable to retail items?
Having said that, if you know what you are dealing with, the service is good.

I’ve never had any issues with them. Wiggle? Worse than Evans in my experience.

Surf-MAt – normally they indicate if an item has a cut steerer and no forks come with SFN’s – those are with the headset.

I guess with most buying experiences the issue comes when the retailer fails to meet your expectations – whatever they do from that point on is really only trying to get back to where they were before you were disappointed.

My experience with CRC has always been positive – even when there has been an issue with an order or I’ve needed to make a warranty claim but I can understand that a sample of 1 isn’t a universal endorsement.

Bland: and your point is?

I don’t hate CRC. I stopped using them about a year ago though. They’ve stopped being automatically competitive on price. You can find other places that are cheaper now.

Yes they are massive. From memory they send out over 5,000 orders A DAY worldwide. (please correct me if I’m wrong).

Wiggle seem uncompetitive on price. About the only thing I buy from them these days is in the sale or their (very good) dhb range of clothing.

There are loads of good online retailers out there I normally have a look at a few before I buy anything. Off the top of my head

Ribble (provided it’s a small item)
Merlincycles (used to be my LBS)
Allterraincycles
Rutland cycles
Cyclestore.co.uk
JEjames
SJScycles
Woollyhatshop

Mat, the forks you bought weren’t ‘taken off a bike’, otherwise they would have had the steerer cut down, and finished, and a star-fangled nut fitted. plenty of other vendors supply OEM without necessarily stating they were destined for manufacturers and not joe public. merlin spring to mind. i think you’d have to expect ‘cheap’ forks to be OEM, or at least, i certainly would do. it’s been going on for years. in fact i i don’t think i’ve bought a set of forks that came with a shock pump, now that i think about it!

I think everyone seems to be missing the OP point – its not about CRC’s retail performance rather the fact that they now OWN so many brands that their size (in terms of marketing budget, manufacturing purchasing clout, capital capacity for stock building etc) means they can squeeze the market for the smaller manufacturers/distributors until their pips squeak.

There’s also a risk that they could start demanding larger wholesale discounts from other manufacturers to sell products not from their own stable because with such a portfolio of brands they do control (and can trim margin on) they dont “need” to stock as many other manufacturers.

In relation to the OP, what do they expext CRC to do? Grow in size until they hit a certain point then stop? Of course not. As a successful business they will continue to grow exponentially, and if to do that means expanding out into distribution/importing, then that is what they will do.

As mentioned above, it is not as if their stable of brands is the likes of Gore, Endura etc. If anything Wiggle and their DHB brand are a more dominant force than CRC’s clothing lineup.

wiggle are at it too. not sure what the relationship with dhb is? owner/ distributor.

wiggle own the gill brand (for cycle clothing)
and verenti is an in house brand

I must probably be one of the first generation of bikers to grow up on CRC without an LBS. Back when I started (in the days of dial up) they had 2 or 4 page spreads listing all their stock.

I probably spend more money in LBS’s now as I have a disposable income that allows me to say “I want that now, for 50% more than anyone else will sell it to me for online” or in the case of brake pads, 400%!

On the one had we’re told that LBS’s provide a better service and can fix problems. But on the other hand being able to build your own bike means less mechanical failiures on the trails and safer riders.

As for their branding, thats just common sense, no one would buy unilever deoderant or washing powder, they do however buy lynx, and have a choice between fairy and persil or ariel. I presume CRC is following the same business model and decade will be competing against nukeproof and ragley which can only be a good thing.

p.s. Decade were previously part of upgrade weren’t they? Which IIRC is more than a little to do with Kinesis? Hardly a micro brand being sold out there!

Manufacturers and distributors are placing themselves in a dangerous position by having such a large percentage of their items being sold through 1 or 2 retailers.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out what damage a brand could undergo by having all it’s business funnelled through one outlet over time.

Consider this – to maintain a consistent margin at that kind of size you need to control your supply chain from factory to customer… how many non ‘compliant’ manufacturers will want that to happen?

There is a growing trend for brands not to work with CRC.

I must probably be one of the first generation of bikers to grow up on CRC without an LBS. Back when I started (in the days of dial up) they had 2 or 4 page spreads listing all their stock

in true STW onupmanship…

me and my brother used to have to get our mum (credit card) to call the phone number before the interwebs!!

I’ve not read the other posts but…

Yes I do come out in a rash when I have to use downmarket supermarkets.
It’s not just Tesco, Sainsbury’s is pretty bad, ASDA is torture, Morrisons sees me actually break out in uncontrollable fits.

Reportedly Monday last week they took £1 million in the day.

I’ve not read the other posts but…

STW in a nutshell.

Yes I do come out in a rash when I have to use downmarket supermarkets.
It’s not just Tesco, Sainsbury’s is pretty bad, ASDA is torture, Morrisons sees me actually break out in uncontrollable fits.

Waitrose is ok though ya?

Ya, Waitrose is simply lovely sweetie. Mwah.

I find it a struggle to tolerate Fortnum and Mason – full of scallies these days.

Reportedly Monday last week they took £1 million in the day.

Reported where, by who?

iDave… send the boy?

on here by ianpinder, obviously 😉

me and my brother used to have to get our mum (credit card) to call the phone number before the interwebs!!

I ordered by cheque as they wouldn’t take SOLO Debit cards :p

No one laments the rise of unilever and the subsequent lack of availability of carbolic soap?

FCOL Yeti, get a grip. 🙄

You’re beginning to resemble that ghastly mythical figure Captain Flashheart. 😯

on here by ianpinder, obviously

Oh. He must be spending less these days 8)

Sorry C_G I’m really a humble girl of working stock… 🙁

Ah OK Sammie. 🙄

Sorry C_G I’m really a humble girl of working stock…

Oh so you’re ‘new money’….that’s even worse.

Oh so your ‘new money’….that’s even worse.

Not as bad as not knowing when to use ‘you’re’ rather than ‘your’, though 😉

only a seriously dumb shop would buy all their stock from Hotlines

Not as bad as not knowing when to use ‘you’re’ rather than ‘your’, though

I don’t know what you mean? 8)

Exactly why I always quote when entering pedant mode now the edit button’s available 🙂