The micro and the macro - CRC WIGGLE restructures

[2manyoranges]

Well, I like it when I go into the workshop to find a small component which has lain dormant for 25 years, was originally bought in a small town specialist bike shop and now someone wants on here…a few messages, an exchange of very modest funds, and the world turns…

….meanwhile, the multi-billion cycle industry churns out product and the consolidation is extraordinary. The behemoth which is CRC-Wiggle now is joining Bikester and other parts of the massive German sports group.

New Owner of Chain Reaction Cycles & Wiggle Goes Public, $1 Billion Corporation Sets Sights on US Bike Industry - Pinkbike

A merger with a sports e-commerce giant means that CRCWiggle is now part of a publicly-traded online retail group.

www.pinkbike.com

Maybe this will encourage people to maintain their own bikes. Or maybe it is just one more step towards the death of small independents. What I do know is that innovation has come from the small guys … Transition’s SBG, The Soul from Sheffield… Long may that continue….

 

[hamster]

Consolidation into big-box online retailing. It's going to be the Amazon of cycling. Sadly I also fear even less choice in the UK.
There again all the modern stuff leaves me cold - 1x and any number of speeds beyond 9 seems pointless to me...along with 140mm suspension travel.
Bah humbug! Happy Christmas all.

 

[Rod_Saetan]

No matter how big they are, they still can't do what the Indy can, they will only ever have 'best price' (OK, maybe the ability to get it NOW), they can't give you advice, or explain why the part you are ordering might not be the best option, or not fit at all, or fix that part onto your bike, or introduce you to a personal insight of why an individual uses a specific part. The smart Indys don't sell the brands (outside of Campy/SRAM/Shimano) that are heavily price-shagged on the online stores, they find alternatives and revel in the personal, the handbuilt, the guided by humans and personal experience, your off the peg algorithm can't do that.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Quite a lot of choice (and cheaper prices) died when Wiggle took over CRC. The bredth of options changed to just a few quite quickly.
Obviously it's better than shutting down completely.

But hey ho, it's the way things are going.

Small places will pop up if they can provide a better and different alternative. Pure shopping is going to be online catalogue shopping and delivery in a way Argos, Littlewoods and Index could never do.

 

[greencat]

There's always room for niche - and the internet may help keep small shops viable. Many, perhaps the majority, will be happy with the big box retailers. It's a shame to see consolidation here though as after all, what's the point of maintaining separate brands if they are going to sell exactly the same stuff for the same price.

Shout out to my favourite brompton retailer:

Bikes, Spares and Accessories for sale | Brompton Specialists | Free UK delivery - Brilliant Bikes

Brilliant bikes from Brompton including Brompton Electric, Intense, Frog and Commencal and a wide range of spares and accessories with fast, free UK delivery

brilliantbikes.co.uk

 

[mattr]

No matter how big they are, they still can't do what the Indy can, they will only ever have 'best price' (OK, maybe the ability to get it NOW), they can't give you advice, or explain why the part you are ordering might not be the best option, or not fit at all, or fix that part onto your bike, or introduce you to a personal insight of why an individual uses a specific part. The smart Indys don't sell the brands (outside of Campy/SRAM/Shimano) that are heavily price-shagged on the online stores, they find alternatives and revel in the personal, the handbuilt, the guided by humans and personal experience, your off the peg algorithm can't do that.

Most indies can't do that either. At a conservative estimate, half of the indies i've used over the years would have been better off never existing.

 

[BlackCat]

Well, I like it when I go into the workshop to find a small component which has lain dormant for 25 years, was originally bought in a small town specialist bike shop and now someone wants on here…a few messages, an exchange of very modest funds, and the world turns…

….meanwhile, the multi-billion cycle industry churns out product and the consolidation is extraordinary. The behemoth which is CRC-Wiggle now is joining Bikester and other parts of the massive German sports group.

New Owner of Chain Reaction Cycles & Wiggle Goes Public, $1 Billion Corporation Sets Sights on US Bike Industry - Pinkbike

A merger with a sports e-commerce giant means that CRCWiggle is now part of a publicly-traded online retail group.

www.pinkbike.com

Maybe this will encourage people to maintain their own bikes. Or maybe it is just one more step towards the death of small independents. What I do know is that innovation has come from the small guys … Transition’s SBG, The Soul from Sheffield… Long may that continue….

Guys. Let’s be fair here.

I’m from Northern Ireland and I bought (or rather, my parents bought) my first proper adult MTB from CRC. A ‘95 Pine Mountain..

At the time CRC was a tiny little LBS in a tiny little village called Ballyclare. The whole shop couldn’t have been more than 10’x20’, with a glass trick bit case on the left hand side and a row of Marins and ‘Dales on the right.

It was literally a Mom & Pop shop then, with the beginnings of the exponential growth it experienced still a year or two away, when Chris (their son) took the reigns (who, IIRC ran through an AMP research, a Manitou FS and a Super V 4000 DH, as his rides over the couple of years I visited that particular shop).

The business then moved to an industrial estate nearby and became, without doubt, the greatest LBS on the planet.. Imagine an LBS, if you will, that had every component in every colour in every size - in any brand, just out back in the warehouse. No pre-ordering, no waiting. “You need Ti axles for your V12s sir? No problem. Two seconds”. “What’s that sir? A Foes DHS? Certainly sir, what colour?”. “Yes, of course we have the new Intense Socom in the factory naked finish - in fact we have one out back built up to only 30lbs - wanna try it out?” Oh… and they were the cheapest place on the market for everything back then.

Whilst I morn that version of CRC, pls don’t forget that once upon a time, it was a small town specialist bike shop like all the others. Let’s not frown at someone’s hard work and success. CRC was a huge winner from the growth in demand for bikes, sure, but would you really rather it was just another small business struggling to survive? I don’t know Chris Watson, though I met him, his father and mother many times when I was much younger. I am sure their success was hard earned.

 

[2manyoranges]

Black cat - spot on...the origins of CRC are right there in your excellent account, and I remember the steps on this way....and if a company retains its values, that’s great. Quite a few have. The risk of course is that they don’t. Lehman Bros forgot theirs.

 

[Nob]

CRC haven been very good getting stuff at to Saudi in the 20yrs I was over there….but now when you want to order something it out of stock & they can’t tell you when it’s back in….just feel they’ve got to big for there boots & the customer feel has gone as they chase profits only now……sad to see…..

 

[FluffyChicken]

CRC haven been very good getting stuff at to Saudi in the 20yrs I was over there….but now when you want to order something it out of stock & they can tell you when it’s back in….just feel they’ve got to big for there boots & the customer feel has gone as they chase profits only now……sad to see…..

because not to many years ago, Wiggle (who have been under Bridgeport brand since early 2010's) took them over and became one (with two websites).
I still not sure why they didn't drop CRC and become Wiggle CRC for a while until they dropped CRC.
But then serving two different website doesn't cost that much more and you get two brands you can target.

I don't think the (customer) databases have been merged either.

Still I would have thought they would target one to MTB/BMX/Alternative sport and the other to the Road/Tri/Swimming sports.

Anyway we'll see how the new owners Signa deal with it and the branding.



BUT the current situation is probably because no bike shop has a lot of stock and doesn't know when they'll get it. Or has that got better yet ?