[Closed] Bike brands not in the UK

Parkpre bikes, not too sure if they're related to the old Parkpre.

[url= http://www.parkpre.it/2010/it/index.php ]Parkpre[/url]

Importing is easy - it's selling them on where the skill lies.

ah I'll not be put off that easily!
I helped get dekerf over here early 2000's and the shop I worked in squandered it..... Its been a long road but what can I say its my dream!

Do it then.

well thats what Im trying to do - just need to find a brand worth investing in!
had a commencal before there was a uk importer, picked up on lapierrer when the only time you saw them was on the TDF but didnt have the resources or time to bring them in..... its tough to find the brands when you are not operating in foreign markets

Sounds like you might want to research things a bit more?

thats what this is part of !

To be fair - and please do not take offence to this as i have no idea who you are etc - but brands like Commencal and Lapierre require resources on a scale that 1 man may struggle to provide. Smaller brands - bang on, no problems.

The larger companies need a clear route to market.

*imagines godihatehill's cold call*

"Hello? You make mountainbikes yes? You wish to sell them in teh UK yes? I heard of you in the internet yes. Would you like me import them thankyou please?"

thebikechain- I completely agree although to be fair commencal at the time were in their infancy - lapierre were massive in Europe though.

it is the smaller brands that Im trying to tap into now and thats why Im having such a hard time tracking them down- unless youre there you never hear about them until its too late!

cynical ...thanks I hadnt considered that....I might try and get them to give me their bank acct number and pin code while Im at it.

You will no doubt have considered that if you have not heard of them yet, then many other people have not either.

It's easy to overestimate the size of a market for a small brand. Some stay small - it may not be profitable (worthwhile) bringing them in. Bear in mind too the motives of some smaller companies - they may not be looking for someone to sell their products in other markets. Many are happy as they are.

What's the story with Dekerf at the moment? What are they doing etc?

godihatehills - Member
cynical ...thanks I hadnt considered that....I might try and get them to give me their bank acct number and pin code while Im at it.

Pretty much but he needs to have aself profile of what he can offer in terms of service to them and the customer.

Waves £20 investment.

godihatehills:
thats what this is part of !

I would just email a link to this thread when your bank asks for a business plan then 😉

when the guy I worked withg started iporting them there was massive lead times and dekerf werent sure quite what they wanted to do re europe... no commitment to the market as such they were quite tough to deal with (explains why the previous importer was so glad to be shot of them)
because it was easier to deal with spech giatn trek et al the shop then put no effort into marketing them and that was that....things fizzled out.
now it seems they are on the up and up, although production runs are still ltd they do what do very well (as always) but theyre being very focused about what they do and which markets they enter as you said earlier the motivation isnt there to be a global exporter, they dont have or want the capacity.

like I said this is PART of the research!
my bank manager is [i]very[/i] understanding though!

theyre being very focused about what they do and which markets they enter as you said earlier the motivation isnt there to be a global exporter, they dont have or want the capacity.

pick someone who does, that way you can make a living.

Walked into my LBS here in Italy, and saw a Kraftstoff that I really liked the look of. Never heard of the brand before, so may not be around. Yet.
[url= http://www.kraftstoff-bikes.com/ ]http://www.kraftstoff-bikes.com/[/url]

agreed thats what Im trying to find, Dekerf are wicked bikes but Id like something a bit more consistent than Chris changing direction every 5 minutes

As mentioned you need to have a very clear way to Market. Buying the stuff is easy as long as you have got a bit of money, it's the large amounts of money and unpaid time you will throw at the brand just to get people to notice, and don't expect any sort of profit for a good time, unless you are buying an established brand that already has a good route into the market.

Liteville are a top German brand, of which you *never see in the UK. the Germans love them. 301 is a great bike that can be built into a race machine with 12kg or a lite-freerider with 14/15+kg.

[img] [/img]

* i think ONE guy on this forum had/has one

liteville?

beat to the buzzer

KTM?

Last (bikes)?

http://www.kraftstoff-bikes.com/ very .... euro arent they !
thanks for that though- who knows could be the next endorfin?!

as for routes to market - again I couldnt agree more,

both last and ktm have importers
ta tho- loving liteville, think our marketing guy knows a bit of german....but lets be honest they all speak english better than we do

Seen Krafstoff for 2 years in a row at Eurobike...

Lovley bikes BUT - can you see your average UK mountain biker riding one in the rain across an open moorland or at a trail centre?

They are very Euro - sometimes all that serves to do is to outline how different our tastes are. As much as we think we like colour and new design, the market can still be very conservative.

KTM are here already. You wouldn't realise it though. They do have great bikes and a good rep but they just don't click with the UK IMO obviously.

Liteville - lush, absolutely lovely and i really really hope we see them here cause i would love to sell em.

Last - yep, another great brand but still very very small. Think single easy up at Eurobike small.

I like the look of that Kraftstoff M1.

I can't see past the hideous colour schemes!!!

I'm still a bit annoyed that Tune dont seem to have any decent distribution in the UK.

24
msc
canyon
Q bikes
asterix
labyrinth
Rage

sure there is plenty of German and small spanish/french brands if you look

Steppen Wolf, Germany
Capic, Germany - although i think the LBS buys in some standard frames and puts his crappy stickers on them.

as for firms such as Tune, there is also Syntace (although i've seen a few bikes in the UK via this forum with Syntace bits).

alutech-bikes.de
a one-man-show ..nearly..., handmade in germany,..longer toptube, shorter headtube..whatever, as long as it makes sense, jürgen will weld it...

cheetah.de, a small brand, also handmade in germany...

2soulscycles.com ..just one steelframe so far, the "41.5"..with a unusual geo...

just to add a few -interesting- ones...

accu, i take it you're in germany.... whereabouts are you?

> me, split my time between north and south Bavaria (munich).

[img] http://www.mdebikes.com/plugins/content/fboxbot/thumbs/PLAYER-2010- [/img]mdebikes.com

Easton tubing, exellent engineering.

Italian

wasn't it the fridge in penge that used to distro dekerf?

i help out ged the head who imports brooklyn machine works. ged imports for the love of the brand, not to make money. which is lucky cos all the people he's helped out i think it's cost him money over the years.

Fusion?

KTM just arrived in LBS here (Tenerife) They look fairly decent for the better models.

wasn't it the fridge in penge that used to distro dekerf?

That was in the 90's though, did cross my mind that maybe godihatehills was associated.

Have Superco(makers of steel dh bikes, american i think) got a uk importer? Not sure on how big the range is though, ive only seen one, lovely looking thing though.

Are you sure importing is wise in the current economical climate? The pound is so weak that whatever you import will have to be sold at a higher premium to make it worth doing.

There will always be more buyers looking for cheaper bikes than ones looking for expensive ones, and buyers aren't fickle enough these days to buy just because of the brand name - they just want to ride a bike and there's such a huge range of quality bikes to choose from! Of course, there are always going to be people with money to burn on 'boutique' bikes like DeKerf, but there's hardly any of them out there. You have to ask yourself, are DeKerf making bikes that ride better, faster or are more fun than UK Brands such as Orange or Cotic? I doubt it, but I bet they're more expensive.

From what I remember, DeKerf were beautifully made yuppie bikes. If you enjoyed riding your bike more than looking at it then you wouldn't buy a DeKerf. I've no idea what they're like now though...

thebikechain - Member

KTM are here already. You wouldn't realise it though. They do have great bikes and a good rep but they just don't click with the UK IMO obviously.

A friend of mine was working for a start up here in Dublin importing Euro bike brands that aren't well known here. The guy was/is bringing in KTM's to Ireland. He is very well connected & did a really good job of drumming up interest in them. Problem is/was that KTM are huge on the continent & his orders just weren't large enough to warrant major interest on KTM's part. As a result of which he's having trouble getting stock for his dealers. Who are now as a result of which loosing interest in the brand as customer orders aren't being met. I would suspect the case is probably similar in the UK. Which is a shame really cause anyone that has one raves about them.

I don't think canfield bros has a UK importer. I had to order my crampon pedals from the U.S anyway. They tick the boxes with the rad freeride bikes that are so strangely popular in this land of small mountains. Get quite alot of press attention as well so its not like you would be introducing a brand that no-one has heard of

Are Sintesi still going?
do Jamis have a Uk distributor?

Rotwild. Yet another german brand. Won at dalby on the weekend.

I lived on East coast US round ten years back and the boutique brands on the trails was stuff like DeKerf, Independent Fabrication, Seven and Litespeed. Given the Ti fetishists that exist worldwide, I'm sure the last two are taken care of as far as importers go. Do IF have a distributor in the UK?

i lived on the east coast US around ten years back (echooo) and Eastern woods research were our home town niche brand, building bikes with geom aimed at the tight twisty technical riding they had there in the appalachians (that their giant neighbour cannondale emulated with their Beast of the East frame).

Quick google shows theyre still around with similar looking frames.

http://www.ewrbikes.com/

Most Euro brands (other than the French who seem to finally have it sussed) won't shift over here.

What about Jamis? They've been conspicuous in their absence lately.

Ive just imported a Devinci frantic which is not well known over here, there are somone that imports already I think, but they arnt very well advertised. The price I got mine from Canada was mega cheap at the side of bikes like santacruz and intense.
All of which ive had before and the devinci blinds them all. Its even got a lifetime warrenty on the frame