Are Frasers about to resurrect Nukeproof & Vitus bikes?

Not sure if I should be mildly excited or filled with BSO dread……..

I guess we’ll have to wait and see…..

My money is on them just asking the factories in Asia to make more of the same bikes CRC were knocking out.

They’re still contemporary enough.

The real test will be when they have to develop new products.

My money is on them just asking the factories in Asia to make more of the same bikes CRC were knocking ou

Isnt that just about what every known brand do, very few actually design and build.

or they have bought the stuff that was in transit on a boat

Isnt that just about what every known brand do, very few actually design and build.

I think they meant more of the same bikes rather than going back to the drawingboard and re-launching them entirely as most of the range is still very much up to date.  The question is do they have any intention to actually start designing the next iteration or will they just keep churning out the same bikes until people stop buying them because things move on?

I would imagine as above that there could have been a whole stock of finsihed or partially finished bikes or frames in the factory or maybe even in transit somewhere as the whole CRC saga unravelled. Frasers have just done the deal with the factory to buy it all.

It could even be that the original Nukeproof/Vitus teams had some new stuff for 2025 that was fully or partically designed and developed, and the new owners will simply ask the factory to ‘build whatever those guys designed for you” and then no doubt take the credit and flog it.

I think we can assume that at very least least they’ve ordered down tube size stickers

There were new colours due for this year as some of the samples ended up on the CRC eBay store during the clear out.

Don’t believe the geo had been changed.

There were some models launched via PR, but never actually put on sale.. IIRC. There may be stock of those waiting in limbo.

The big question on whether they can transition from their ‘BSO’ business model will be whether or not they bother to order spares.

With a BSO, if a small part of the bike fails, the whole bike goes in landfill and you start again. That’s not viable with higher end kit but holding spares is a major expense and logistical challenge.

We shall see.

They may be the same bikes, but they fired everybody, so it’s Nukeproof with Mike Ashley brand values, instead of the customer service and warranty backup that was there before which was by all accounts very good. (and the products were generally very good too, especially with the discount prices factored in)

snotrag

It could even be that the original Nukeproof/Vitus teams had some new stuff for 2025 that was fully or partically designed and developed, and the new owners will simply ask the factory to ‘build whatever those guys designed for you” and then no doubt take the credit and flog it.

They’re full entitled to do that, they bought the IP, it’s their product now. I’d be a lot slower to buy one now than before, though.

Interesting…. Wonder what this could mean for the parts availability and/or warranty situation for frames sold under chiggle.

I know that no liabilities for past chiggle warranties are being taken on by HOF…but it would look very strange if identical frames bought after a particular time could be warrantied whereas earlier frames couldn’t.

Also interested to see what they might do about developing the brands. Seems like a major mistake step to let all the designers/engineers go as part of the sale to HOF

It could even be that the original Nukeproof/Vitus teams had some new stuff for 2025 that was fully or partically designed and developed, and the new owners will simply ask the factory to ‘build whatever those guys designed for you” and then no doubt take the credit and flog it.

Good shout, they must have been at the drawing board for the next Mega, Escarpe etc.

The big question on whether they can transition from their ‘BSO’ business model will be whether or not they bother to order spares.

Excellent point.

Do we know what they did re. the Pinnacle bikes in that regard?

very few actually design and build

I think many are designed by the brand at least in conjunction with the manufacturer, and then made overe there no?

Pinnacle bikes came from the same factory that made Vitus and NP for CRC. The relationship was already there.

Do we know what they did re. the Pinnacle bikes in that regard?

Nothing since Evans team moved on apart from adding P+A and clothing under the brand, but in that time why would they have done much with the bikes apart from re-order – it’s been chaos for 3+ years and FG can just hoover up other brand’s clearance stock instead. Don’t think there’s many spares listed now.

The former Nukeproof designer is now at Deviate so the talent behind the old brands likely wont be there

I’m not bothered about warranties, I bought mine a couple of years ago, but some spares availability would be nice.

It could even be that the original Nukeproof/Vitus teams had some new stuff for 2025 that was fully or partically designed and developed, and the new owners will simply ask the factory to ‘build whatever those guys designed for you” and then no doubt take the credit and flog it.

There were people already out on the new Reactor, so it was already designed & being manufactured.

I’ve just noticed the OP has 65 tabs open in his/her browser!!!

It could even be that the original Nukeproof/Vitus teams had some new stuff for 2025 that was fully or partically designed and developed, and the new owners will simply ask the factory to ‘build whatever those guys designed for you” and then no doubt take the credit and flog it.

It could be a lot of things, my money is on FG just placing orders for existing, approved designs and/or taking over any orders abandoned as they imploded. If there is any effort required beyond picking a paint colour they will probably not touch it.

So even if a particular new frame design was 98% of the way towards being made into a finished product they’ll either opt for its established (already tooled) predecessor or just drop the product.

Basically what was the Chiggle empire producing in ~2022 that people liked? Odds are you’ll get more of that I reckon.