When did muddy fox sell out?

[willn]

This is just something I've been wondering about, as a teenager in the late 80's and early 90's I seem to remember Muddy Fox being quite an enviable brand. Now I seem to see them for sale in Argos and Sports Direct and they look really shit. Did they sell out somewhere along the way?

 

[passiflora]

the name has changed hands several times I think

 

[CTK]

Day 1.

Some great bikes in the early years but always put the £ first.

(I have a Sorcerer and its nice)

 

[willn]

thanks guys, was just curious

 

[drcarlos]

Mid 90's they went bust and universal (shitty catalogue bso fame) bought the remains for the name.
Wouldn't say they always sold out there were some nice details on the early bikes (up to 1990) like the paw print on the seat tube lug and the bottle bosses that were diamond shaped, these were all on models as low as the courier comp. They were keenly priced though and the courier comp was one of the lowest priced bikes in 89 With the then new 21 speed transmission, which was made possible by only speccing lx where it mattered and exage country where it didn't. Course having a range MTB tubing frame and fork meant an upgrade to full lx is not wasted.

Carl

 

[jonnyboy666]

Day 1.

Some great bikes in the early years but always put the £ first.

(I have a Sorcerer and its nice)

i think that is a bit harsh!

i think the bikes were reasonable up to about 1992 then i think they started to drop off in many ways, the mtb boom was booming and they did without a shadow of a doubt try to cash in but then so did others at the time, the problem was i think they tried to cut too many corners, which again i feel others did aswel.

each time the brand was sold initially it seemed like the owners wanted to do it properly but then decided after a year that it wasn't worth the hassle/effort.

i seem to remember they did have a bit of a comeback in the late 90's when i sold them at a shop, and they sold well and were nice quality steel bikes, that said the last time i sold them was when they had dropped off in quality massively which was around 2000/2001, but we only took a couple of models to fill in gaps in other ranges price points, but they were mainly hybrid bikes and the PDI checks we did before they went out was more like a strip and rebuild! i had to remove the BB's, grease them and reassemble them, same with the hubs aswel as tensioning the spokes, once that was done the rest was normal, if you didn't do this then it was likely the bike would be back with issues within a few weeks riding.

i love my courier comp though

 

[Chute55uk]

the early ones were the kings in london, a brilliant bike for those that couldnt afford boutique and they cleverly used the name 'courier' just in the right era. I remember racing at a muddy fox dirty weekend in harrogate in the late 80's, it was a great event. the very early s&g bikes are still sought after and a decent 'plaque' courier goes for not a lot of money for a very nice frame.
I have a feeling that they may make a come back ala GT, Mongoose and saracen but they will need to get out of sports direct and toysrus for that to happen.
personally, even having never owned one I would love to see them back on the street as a quality bike and have always had a soft spot for them.
If you didnt see one of these on a daily basis in London then you were walking around with your eyes shut

 

[velomaniac]

Making bikes is about making money. How you make money is about how you navigate the market. Muddyfox have often steered the wrong course in hindsight but at the time it may have seemed sensible. Sold out is a strange term to use, it could happen to any company dependent on market, strategy and even chance.

 

[The Hundredth Idiot]

As another retro noob, I'm with the OP on this. When I was a teenager (1980s), Muddy Fox were really cool bikes. These days, more BSOs than bikes.

Would be good to see a return to form for them.

 

[jimo746]

I imagine that Muddy Fox as a brand is where it is now purely because it makes the company money, witness the Muddy Fox branded bikes and extensive clothing range sold in places like Sports Direct, cheap as chips low-end stuff but no doubt sells in quantity (actually some of the MTB clothing looks "ok").
Now consider the costs in R&D, advertising etc to re-enter what is surely a very competitive high-end MTB marketplace, where yes the bikes may cost 10 x what a Muddy Fox sells for now, but also the quantity sold is probably 10 x less.

I remember Muddy Fox from the early days of my MTB'ing, and always had the impression that they were a "quality" MTB brand, but much like Saracen et al they have slid down the slippery slope towards bulk selling cheap BSO's (though Saracen have made a resurgence of late) and I fear that no amount of clever marketing or advertising will really change peoples minds about the brand now