It's by no means an imminent collapse but Evans have just posted a £22.8 million loss for the financial year, so they're clearly struggling. It doesn't feel particularly encouraging for the industry as a whole.
Apparently there's quite a sale going on, so I might have to have a look later.
I'm no fan. of Mike Ashley but it must be worrying for the staff
https://road.cc/content/news/evans-cycles-reports-ps228m-loss-309791
They’ve also stopped doing small repair jobs, annoyingly. it’s either a service from their (very limited) price list, or nothing.
eg, they’ll do a full front and rear brake bleed & service, but not free up some sticky pistons on the front brake.
We're all going to have to get used to paying more for our hobby. Luckily I don't see any new/replacement bikes in my short/mid-term future and I've a small stock of replacement parts for most of my current fleet.
The Evans/Wiggle/Chain Reactions of this world lulled us into a false sense of security. Don't like to see staff lose their jobs, but we've all chased the lowest prices and are having to face the consequences.
but we’ve all chased the lowest prices and are having to face the consequences.
And in the meantime wiped out a significant proportion of good LBS's that used to be around the country, because they couldn't match the cheap prices of those places.
Slightly off topic, but I'm surprised there's still been no news of what's happened to Vitus/Nukeproof/Ragley.
Of the three Nukeproof seemed the best brand to be acquired, but not heard anything.
The Evans local to me are super helpful - they would definitely do small maintenance jobs .
Slightly off topic, but I’m surprised there’s still been no news of what’s happened to Vitus/Nukeproof/Ragley.
Of the three Nukeproof seemed the best brand to be acquired, but not heard anything
There's no mystery. Mike Ashley bought the IP as part of the CRC deal.
Nukeproof stuff is beginning to trickle back out on CRC with a mix of old stock and small new bits
I've seen that already, the old stock is online across the entire Ashley empire. E.g. can buy a Vitus Mythique from sports direct.
I mean more going forwards for the brands, after clearing out all the old stock as that's all this is currently.
What's happening with new stock, new bikes etc.
IIRC - they were hoping to get someone else to design and manufacture bikes, licensing the name off them. Not sure why anyone would entertain that idea though, piling money into a bike range, given who they’d be trusting not to devalue the brand selling other stuff with the logos on.
The Evans local to me are super helpful – they would definitely do small maintenance jobs .
Been in recently? This was maybe a month ago. I used to go to mine (Leeds city centre) all the time for small jobs, apparently I wasn’t profitable enough.
Trouble with Evans is they have nothing I want. They need to have words with their product buyers and get in the new interesting on trend gear that Evans used to have when they were successful. Might be a connection there? Someone gave me a gift voucher last year but I really struggled to find anything I wanted, or wasn't a lot cheaper elsewhere. Had it been Tredz or Sigma I'd have found something in no time.
Evans delivery or store pickup are both expensive and take up to 7 days. I can't use pickup anyway because both my nearest stores closed or went to Balfe's.
wasn’t a lot cheaper elsewhere
I am not entirely aure you understand how gift vouchers work....
I just had a look at their website as I'm looking for a new wheel set, found a set but the listing has none of the essential information you need like freehub type, weight etc.
Moved on to a work stand, found a fork mounted work stand, this had no details (Fork fitment?) apart from the part number.
How do they expect to sell things without a decent website? It looks like the person who created the listing on their website can't be bothered or hasn't got a clue what they're selling, it's almost as frustrating as the old Wiggle/CRC website search function.
Trouble with Evans is they have nothing I want.
I was given a £150 Evans voucher by work
Went in to try & spend it....
They have maybe some stuff I want, but all at rrp. Which sounds silly but same stuff is considerably less pretty much anywhere on the Internet
I was looking for a garmin instinct 2 solar, remarkably in a cabinet they had a dusty instinct 1, still at rrp£210 it looked very much like it had been sitting there since it was released 6 years ago! Anyway last week it was reduced down to £180... Which is what you can get an instinct 2 for.
The mechanics are super helpful tbf
Meh.
My nearest Evans is in a small corner of a Sports Direct
Its very sad looking, just a counter, bike stand and some tools surrounded by some random bike parts/clothes on racks
Everytime ive been in there has been no one working or even in the surrounding area, quite a difference to the old Evans shop which was nearly 7000 square foot of retail space
I am not entirely aure you understand how gift vouchers work….
Ha! Would you buy something that's £40 from Evans but £30 somewhere else just to use up a voucher?
Ha! Would you buy something that’s £40 from Evans but £30 somewhere else just to use up a voucher?
Yeah.
Because I’d rather have the cash in my pocket than a voucher.
Because I’d rather have the cash in my pocket than a voucher.
Erm, you're effectively spending money to use the voucher then. That seems like a waste of money to me. I kept looking and eventually found some Five Tens that were a good deal.
Same as the last time this came up. Not bought anything from them since the boy Ashley took over.
Went in the branch in the centre of Bristol a couple of months back as my wife was in the market for an E Bike . Their stock was nearly all cheap hardtail and just one E Bike that was totally unsuitable. Talk about missing a trick .
Also there's usually a discount price comparable with other online stores, but it's a Frasees Plus price, which appears to be some sort of online credit account - something I absolutely don't want from Mike Ashley
Just had a quick peruse of the "sale" - it's all the same Sports Direct tat at the same prices.
Any time i go into their Glasgow city center store all the staff are missing, presumed lost, and the only things I've bought from them at price was a hero 7 and a pair of endura humvee gloves(which didnt even last a year before the right brake finger wore through)
It took 5 of them to try to open the cabinet the gopro was in, and my joke of 'How many Evans staff does it take to open a cabinet', didn't appear to go down too well.
One other annoying thing , though company policy, so not the fault of the staff was i bought a tub of electrolyte mixer, paid for it, then realized it was the wrong flavour 60 seconds later and tried to simply swop it over. Nope. They wanted my name, address, phone and email.
As he was still holding my 20 quid note I snatched it back with a keep your ******g mixer and walked out.
Balfe's should offer to buy Evans off Mike Ashley
I'm not suprised they're struggling.
Their website is awful to navigate so I just don't bother any more.
They charge for delivery where most other online retailers are free once you spend a certain amount. Delivery to a shop is chargeable. If you do get something delivered to store and decide you don't want it or it doesn't fit, you can't get a refund in store. It has to be posted back and then you can claim the postage cost back.
There are so many better, cheaper and easier places to shop. It's like they're not even trying to be competitive.
Balfe’s should offer to buy Evans off Mike Ashley
The top guy* at Balfe's is the former MD of Evans way back before it was sold and sold again.
* I'm actually not sure if he's the CEO or if he's just done consultancy work for them or if he's like a Non-Exec Director but I know he's involved. He was really good when he was at Evans but that was back when they had about 5-6 shops in London, the blue FW Evans frontage. Then it had a rebrand to the green and gold and just called Evans Cycles before The Great Expansion.
That would have a satisfying feeling about it.
Evans delivery or store pickup are both expensive and take up to 7 days
This is the main kicker for me. I used to use them fairly regularly when I could order something into the local store for free and pick it up a day or two later on my way home. Stopped since your man Ashley started 5 quid store delivery.
Might have bought a pair of shorts or jacket in the sale but could be arsed trying to filter out all the non-cycling crap they are pedalling.
I wonder if it's just a certain part of the market that is in trouble. Here in Belgium I'm seeing new bike shops pop up all the time and others expanding. It feels a bit weird. There might also be a cultural thing going on as most folks I know will out their bike into a shop for almost everything rather than do the work themselves so it's not parts sales that are driving this. I don't know of any big chains like Evans here
And in the meantime wiped out a significant proportion of good LBS’s that used to be around the country, because they couldn’t match the cheap prices of those places.
Now apply that line of thought to supermarkets and food. Eek.
I don’t know of any big chains like Evans here
=
I’m seeing new bike shops pop up all the time and others expanding
?
Trouble with Evans is they have nothing I want.
TBF to them, they're a cycle shop not a mountain bike shop. Their market is the casual cyclist, families and commuters. I've picked up bits and bobs from them (brake pads, chains etc) but the nearest store to me , under the ski slope on Trafford Park isn't massively convenient.
The website is absolutely abysmal.
The top guy* at Balfe’s is the former MD of Evans way back before it was sold and sold again.
* I’m actually not sure if he’s the CEO or if he’s just done consultancy work for them or if he’s like a Non-Exec Director but I know he’s involved. He was really good when he was at Evans but that was back when they had about 5-6 shops in London, the blue FW Evans frontage. Then it had a rebrand to the green and gold and just called Evans Cycles before The Great Expansion
Likewise I'm not sure of his exact title now but he is there and he's a great guy. He was MD when I was at Evans and I have only good things to say about that era. A lot of Evans HO staff went with him to Balfes, they were all bike people 100%.
Trouble with Evans is they have nothing I want.
That's because you don't want knock-off Oakley clones, trainers rebadged as bike shoes or an e-bike shopper.
The Ashleyfication of Evans was rapid. He's probably used the name to flog enough tat by now in any case.
The Ashleyfication of Evans was rapid. He’s probably used the name to flog enough tat by now in any case.
This - our local one was stuffed inside a huge TriUK (with masses of really flash triathlon kit) went crazy in the pandemic - was selling nothing but tat recently - in one of our roughest areas.
It's a plundering business model.
I didn't mind Evans generally.
I wonder if it’s just a certain part of the market that is in trouble
It's the UK more than anywhere else. Our EU business is strong and growing while the UK struggles. To be fair I'm in France at the moment and I see why. There's so much more progressive an attitude to cycling whereas in the UK it's gone backwards 20 years in the last 5.
How long can CRC /Wiggle go on? I mean has anyone bought anything from there since they switched to a branch of SportsDirect?
I live a five minute walk from their "flagship" store right by the Fraser Group HQ. I noticed a few months ago that they seemed to be running their stock down, all the high end E bikes they had a year ago seem to have gone and they now have mostly Muddy Fox and Raleigh BSO's I'll pop in later on day for an update.
I've not touched them for a few years. The web site is terrible. Shame really as I used to use them as we had 3 stores within a bike or car ride and bought my wife's Pinnacle hybrid from them (and a tag a-long).
There’s so much more progressive an attitude to cycling whereas in the UK it’s gone backwards 20 years in the last 5.
Yep, with the exception of Central London, pretty much elsewhere in the UK all horrible.
How long can CRC /Wiggle go on? I mean has anyone bought anything from there since they switched to a branch of SportsDirect?
nothing.
used Bikeparts, Merlin and then couple of the german suppliers.
