Middleburn closes down

It’s a bit like british hifi, back when we had loads of really good hifi companies people would still go and buy substandard Japanese stuff instead.

The 90s wanted their product back, this happens when 26 years later 12 people in the world still hanker for something thats relatively surpassed by a 29 quid crank from shimano. Classic cars are shite for a reason just like retro components.

Surely you dont honestly think a business can survive on the whim of a tiny forum following 🙄

It’s a bit like british hifi, back when we had loads of really good hifi companies people would still go and buy substandard Japanese stuff instead.

awesome. someone tell linn. i have a bit of their kit at home they won’t even look at because it’s over ten years old.

middleburn made lovely stuff, for sure, but good engineering is only half the story. you roll with it, expand, and market effectively, or carry on doing the same old thing, and die on the vine. there’s help out there. it wouldn’t have been beyond the ken of man to get someone to do you a nice website and go and do some shows etc.
get that stuff in front of people and they’ll buy it, even if it is at a premium over shimano.

This is a real shame – they’re really good dependable chainsets with multiple options, not retro at all.
I’ve got them on all my bikes – just recently installed a super compact set on my road bike. To me they look a lot better than some of the Shimano road monstrosities out there and the Hope chunky look.
But, poor web presence and lack of modern marketing ability is surely partly to blame.
Now I need to buy a boost spider if possible as a just in case.

How long before Plannet x/ On-one buy up all their stock and start flogging them out cheap?

I’ve genuinely never seen a set in real life in over 20 years of riding. When most people buy complete bikes with Shimano, SRAM, FSA etc. on who was buying expensive after market cranks? They also always looked like something left over from the 1950’s.

The 90s wanted their product back, this happens when 26 years later 12 people in the world still hanker for something thats relatively surpassed by a 29 quid crank from shimano.

there’s loads of hifi from that period that you would still be very hard pushed to beat, particulary if you looked at the usual Jap stuff.

awesome. someone tell linn. i have a bit of their kit at home they won’t even look at because it’s over ten years old.

that’s Linn, but Quad (now Chinese) still look at their old stuff.

The point is that if the British Hifi indistry had the support it deserved back then it would be in a lot better place now.

Lots of people have kit still working from that era (the power amp I am running at the moment I bought in the early 90s) which represents exceptional value for money.

But, poor web presence and lack of modern marketing ability is surely partly to blame.

More than partly I reckon, based on how I used their products for years until it just kinda disappeared.

middleburn cranks do look lovely (to my eyes), and i’m told they worked/lasted well.

but (to most people, it seems) they didn’t really offer anything over a £50 deore chainset. Most of us had no reason to consider buying them beyond ‘they look really nice’. There are big gaps in the chainset market, that middleburn could have easily stepped into, they didn’t.

i’m sad to hear about this, but i am not surprised.

(and the shifting performance of their chainrings was terrible)

On a separate note if anyone has a set of rs7 arms(cheap) with spider/lock ring I’m interested 170mm please ideally 8)

What they did offer over the Deore chainset was a variety of chainring options from single to triple, Rohloff, XX1, all on the same crank arms as well as different BB lengths.
I fitted an 83mm width set with 1×11 to my hardtail a while back. Still cheaper than Hope I found. But that was a very specific build.
But hey, in the past now.

… and i’m told they worked/lasted well.

They do – my square taper ones are well over 10 years old and polish up nicely.

They just don’t look modern anymore, and a bit skinny. They looked awesome in the hey-day of CNCing everything, but times move on.

I’ve always run Middleburn chainrings, and I’d stock up if they weren’t so spendy.

Marketing and PR are key, if no one knows you exist it matters little whether your product is any good. You also need a USP, which Middleburn didn’t really have for the majority of people.

The Hi-Fi industry is dead more because of times changing, and peoples habits, who listens to a CD now?

Never had any problem having my Linn LP12 looked after, Del. If it’s an amp they won’t look at then might I suggest Naim? No issues having my 20 year old 250 serviced.

Sad news re Middleburn. Count myself as one of the 12. RS8 Uno’s on both single speeds.

If there’s a company that’s even more stealth than Middleburn, it’s Royce.

Yep. Glorious products, but seemingly they don’t want to sell them!

Contrast this with Hope, who have built up gradually from IPCO, to this;

bit more;

Steady now;

And now…

Nice work, folks. Nice work.

Middleburn or Royce could have done the same, but clearly they didn’t want to. That’s their choice, but I do feel it’s a shame. Hope are a great example of British manufacturing done well.

They just don’t look modern anymore, and a bit skinny. They looked awesome in the hey-day of CNCing everything, but times move on.

Skinny?

AIRLINES! 😯

Royce do have a chainset, admittedly very track but road and track is their specialist market.

Have to say in 10+ years of riding I have never heard of them. Contrast as CFH says with Hope who are my first choice for everything budget allowing

Yep. Glorious products, but seemingly they don’t want to sell them!

I guess part of the problem is if you make something that’s brilliant but doesn’t really change much – Royce bottom brackets for instance – it’s hard to get magazines interested in reviewing them. You rely on word-of-mouth, which can work very well, but is also limiting you to a select group.

Edit: Okay, now going to put Royce cranks on the next thing I build for myself, they are gorgeous.

Very true, Ben, but they could (should?) have evolved a little in my opinion. That would have allowed them to continue to focus on their core products. Hope still make great hubs and brakes, for example. The grips, rims, wheels, seatposts, bars, etc, etc just allow them to have a more solid financial footing on which to continue making good things. Oh, and employing more folks in making them. All of which is good.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be down on either Middleburn or Royce, not least because I love their products*, but it just feels like both businesses are/were hobbies rather than really trying to succeed.

*Those cranks……Oh my!

All these retro looking road bikes around with big Shimano cranks that look wrong… surely there’s a business there for somebody?

Gusset make some lovely retro road cranks – I’ve used them on some Brompton builds.

I’ve got sympathy for Middleburn and Royce, basically because I know I’m like that too. Much prefer messing about in the workshop and making things, not much interested in marketing, corporate stuff and looking to expand.

surely there’s a business hobby there for somebody?

Sadly.

A tiny, tiny market share within cycling, which is, let’s face it, a very small market itself.

@ben – I suppose you’re the example here. Busy enough doing your own esoteric orsumnezz to have a happy life (I hope!) but not needing/wanting to get bigger. You are a little different, however, in that you’re not really producing a product intended for retail sale/installation (Unless I’ve missed something!). There’s a very fine balance between the two.

By way of illustration, a chap I know called Stig* runs a brewery. It turns over enough for him to be happy, and makes some lovely beer. To get bigger for him would be quite the leap in terms of financial commitment etc, so he’s chosen not to. Good for him. As long as I can still buy his beer, that is.

*Yes. Really.

Love my middleburn cranks. Light, strong and look great. Timeless design. I have other cranks(xtr, campag) but so pleased I went for middleburn Uno on my steel hardtail.

Great guys, had time for a chat at Bespoked. Had trouble buying a fat thin ring. Last December, Ordered, paid, waited 10 weeks then had to cancel with the shop. I emailed them directly, no response! A real shame.

Cliff at Royce has all the money he needs. He likes solving problems, not marketing.

He’s also in his 70’s so, how long before Royce goes the same way? Not long.

Sad to see them go. For now.
I think they are still lovely. Just showing the misses. She said, ‘wots that? A pedal stick?’
A PEDAL STICK! A PEDAL STICK! FFFKN PED….oh she’s taken her wine upstairs…

TurnerGuy – Member
The 90s wanted their product back, this happens when 26 years later 12 people in the world still hanker for something thats relatively surpassed by a 29 quid crank from shimano.
there’s loads of hifi from that period that you would still be very hard pushed to beat, particulary if you looked at the usual Jap stuff.

awesome. someone tell linn. i have a bit of their kit at home they won’t even look at because it’s over ten years old.
that’s Linn, but Quad (now Chinese) still look at their old stuff.

The point is that if the British Hifi indistry had the support it deserved back then it would be in a lot better place now.

Lots of people have kit still working from that era (the power amp I am running at the moment I bought in the early 90s) which represents exceptional value for money.

Naim FTW!! CD3 ,72, Hi-Cap, 250 here. Im sure it’ll outlive me! 😀

The thing with cranksets is that beyond the likes of Shimano and SRAM you’re just into “fashion” territory. OK, you can dress it up with engineering and technology, but in reality it’s difference for the sake of it…and that takes product, and product means new models all the time, and that means development, and advertising and that means investment and cashflow. Once that stops you’re screwed. where where the BB30? thick thin teeth, oval rings…?

If you’re not moving forward in retail, you’re dying on yer arse, might take a while but it is inevitable

Much prefer messing about in the workshop and making things, not much interested in marketing, corporate stuff and looking to expand.

don’t you come with that “eccentric english inventor slant” those days are gone if you wish to be awesumz…… 💡

don’t you come with that “eccentric english inventor slant” those days are gone if you wish to be awesumz

You’re in the shit now mickmcd 😯

I’m a Scottish inventor – I already know I’m awesumz 😀

😀

The thing with Middleburn was not only are the products well made but there is such a wide choice of sets up – I have their Incy compact double spider on my gravely bike so I can run a 22/40 set of rings up front now i’ll have to do what Shimano tells me I can do. Always found Hope stuff a bit meh.

I run several sets of their cranks and rings. They last for a VERY long time. I have still to try a chain set that is in any way better. In an age of comedy expensive cassettes and carbon cranks, nowt comes close to matching them for longevity. I wonder how many Eagle chain sets will be running in 5 or 10 years time?

How long before Plannet x/ On-one buy up all their stock the brand name and start flogging them out cheap knock off pastiche bits?

Doesn’t Mike Ashley own Planet X now.

It’s really sad this. I’ve been dealing with them for as long as I can remember and you’ll not find many people more enthusiastic about their job than Mathew. The structure of the company is odd and I’m pretty sure that had more to do with the demise than the product offering itself. We also shouldn’t forget that there’s a few people out of a job with practically no notice. I spoke to Mathew yesterday and he’s completely gutted and shellshocked.

I’m sad to say that despite being a fan of British manufacturing I thought Middleburn were American and I never considered looking at their components because I got the impression they were just for retro single speed type use. Although I rode MTBs through the ’80s and ’90s I only returned to it in 2009 and despite being pretty clued up on gear by now I’d had literally no exposure to them through the usual channels.

Sorry to hear of their demise and I wish they’d had marketing to match the quality of their products!

This is such a shame.
Lots of posts above highlighting the fact that remaining in business is more about effective marketing than producing excellent products 🙁

I can understand riders looking for a stanard crank grabbing the latest shimano offering but the beauty of middleburn for me was when doing stuff which is a bit unusual (thanks shandcycles 🙂 )

I just recently bought my third set of fatbike middleburns to replace a busted carbon E13 crank…says it all really.