Post-Brexit - buying bike parts abroad . . (incl. Rose/DutchBikeParts)

[al_yrpal]

It seems to me that most bike parts are produced in Asia. Thus European bike part suppliers are buying them from Asia. As they have become more expensive from Europe due to unecessary charges which add no value and this leaves a gap in the market for British suppliers to fill. Hopefully someone will fill it. Admitedly they wont have such a big market here but things will eventually change.

Al

the smaller market will presumably mean more expensive though won't it al?

I wouldn't be counting on the likes of wiggle/chain reaction, big as they are.

I think we can only wait and see. A few EU suppliers seem to have been a little cheaper in the past but Wiggle etc seem to have been untroubled by them.

Al

[PH]

I think we can only wait and see. A few EU suppliers seem to have been a little cheaper in the past but Wiggle etc seem to have been untroubled by them.

Al

For those products I've usually bought from German retailers, that simply isn't correct. The price differences have been 30 - 50%, which isn't a little by any standard. Of course Wiggle are untroubled by them, they're not interested in supplying the sorts of items popular in some parts of the EU but of little interest to the majority of UK riders, items such as dynamo lighting, or trekking specific components. Some of these items are stocked by the touring specialists, but their sales volumes were never going to make them competitive. Other items are just not available in the UK.

[Sweep]

It seems to me that most bike parts are produced in Asia. Thus European bike part suppliers are buying them from Asia. As they have become more expensive from Europe due to unecessary charges which add no value and this leaves a gap in the market for British suppliers to fill. Hopefully someone will fill it. Admitedly they wont have such a big market here but things will eventually change.

Al

the smaller market will presumably mean more expensive though won't it al?

I wouldn't be counting on the likes of wiggle/chain reaction, big as they are.

I think we can only wait and see. A few EU suppliers seem to have been a little cheaper in the past but Wiggle etc seem to have been untroubled by them.

Al

Rose has been way cheaper for lots of things in my experience al.
Yes wiggle chain reaction have seemed untroubled in that they continued to charge more.
They will be even more untroubled at the moment.
They have also long since freed themselves from the trouble of selling lots of down to earth bits for folk who don't race or follow fashion. I don't think they will be troubling themselves with that in the future, preferring to stick with higher margins on expensive bits. Rose could handle all this as in addition to selling to lots of sensible german and dutch etc folks they sold to a very broad market. I doubt a uk supplier will step in with anything approaching the rose offer - they will have a small uk customer base and will find it difficult to attract foreign customers in europe to say the least.

[philg]

I've bought a lot of stuff from Rose & Bike24 over the years, mostly B&M lighting & mirrors and Schwalbe tyres.
Not so much in the last 10 years though, well basically nothing as I don't need dynamo stuff any more and Spa usually do the Schwalbe tyres at better prices anyway. YMMV

PS - I hated receiving the huge Rose catalogue every few months which must have cost about a tree each - FFF you're an online retailer, I don't need your catalogue

[Sweep]

I've bought a lot of stuff from Rose & Bike24 over the years, mostly B&M lighting & mirrors and Schwalbe tyres.
Not so much in the last 10 years though, well basically nothing as I don't need dynamo stuff any more and Spa usually do the Schwalbe tyres at better prices anyway. YMMV

PS - I hated receiving the huge Rose catalogue every few months which must have cost about a tree each - FFF you're an online retailer, I don't need your catalogue

Why didn't you cancel the catalogue?
They cancelled it themselves years and years ago anyway.
Stuff i bought from them included lots of consumables, cassettes and chain rings etc so i tended to do a biggish order every year.

Mudguards.
Lots of stuff.
Also lots of tiny useful bits and bobs that the wiggle chain reaction venture capitalists/fund managers/marketing whizzes would doubtless scoff at.

[Jdsk]

I doubt a uk supplier will step in with anything approaching the rose offer - they will have a small uk customer base and will find it difficult to attract foreign customers in europe to say the least.

I'd bet that way too.

Stepping slightly further back we're going to have some sort of economic depression. Cycling might become more popular in the UK, and there might be schemes supporting purchase of new bikes, but both of those will mostly affect mass market bikes, not the specialist stuff that's so valuable to so many in this parish.

Jonathan

[markjohnobrien]

the smaller market will presumably mean more expensive though won't it al?

I wouldn't be counting on the likes of wiggle/chain reaction, big as they are.

I think we can only wait and see. A few EU suppliers seem to have been a little cheaper in the past but Wiggle etc seem to have been untroubled by them.

Al

Rose has been way cheaper for lots of things in my experience al.
Yes wiggle chain reaction have seemed untroubled in that they continued to charge more.
They will be even more untroubled at the moment.
They have also long since freed themselves from the trouble of selling lots of down to earth bits for folk who don't race or follow fashion. I don't think they will be troubling themselves with that in the future, preferring to stick with higher margins on expensive bits. Rose could handle all this as in addition to selling to lots of sensible german and dutch etc folks they sold to a very broad market. I doubt a uk supplier will step in with anything approaching the rose offer - they will have a small uk customer base and will find it difficult to attract foreign customers in europe to say the least.

Same for me: I’ve bought loads of stuff from Rose over the years- cassettes, chains, dynamo wheels, disc dynamo wheels, dynamo lights (front and rear); Philips lights, etc.

[Jdsk]

Explanation of new rules for customs duties and VAT on Money Box, starts at 17':
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000sgwk

... includes backlogs for registration in HMRC and what to do if you think that charges are wrong.

Jonathan

[MikeF]

Explanation of new rules for customs duties and VAT on Money Box, starts at 17':
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000sgwk

... includes backlogs for registration in HMRC and what to do if you think that charges are wrong.

Jonathan

And those news rules are for Rose Bikes as well. Hope they listen. I think they have to register with the UK Government to trade.

[Jdsk]

Just checked again:

Jonathan

[philg]

Alternative reading?

'Due to a global shortage of cycling bits, we are struggling to supply our local markets so we CBA to bother with you lot'

See what the story is once 'normality' resumes?

[rogerzilla]

By the time they get their finger out, their German and other EU competitors will have eaten their lunch. It's a business decision for them.

[francovendee]

I've been buying from Rose, Bikester and Taylors wheel for years. The only reason was on price. Far less than the UK, certainly for what I needed to buy.
Luckily for me wearing my selfish hat and living in the EU, there's no change for me.

[philg]

By the time they get their finger out, their German and other EU competitors will have eaten their lunch. It's a business decision for them.

Or, since the Far East manufacture most of the stuff anyway, and being enterprising peoples, they might get round to establishing a direct supply chain to the world's 9th largest economy?

Just a thought.

[slowster]

Often in business making a substantial change involves significant uncertainty and risk of failure, especially something like attempting to expand abroad and break into a new market.

For Rose Bikes, Bike Discount, Bikester and the other german online retailers it's the complete opposite. They already knew to the last penny exactly what their sales were to the UK, and also how profitable those sales were. That is what they will all have based their decisions on, set against the extra burdens that now exist if they wish to continue selling to the UK.

The size of the UK economy is irrelevant. It is the size of the UK market for the particular products that they sell to UK customers that matters. Rose Bikes in particular has not resumed selling to the UK, unlike some of the other german retailers. That suggests to me that many of the products for which they were most appreciated by UK customers (and some of which are simply not available from other retailers), are also not particularly profitable lines. Without the sales also of more profitable/big ticket items, such as complete bikes and clothing (which I suspect have not been big sellers in the UK for Rose Bikes), the smaller niche sales are possibly more trouble that they are worth.

The fact that reduced barriers and costs to trade increases trade and wealth is at the heart of economic theory. Usually it is something which economists can only observe and measure when a trade deal results in increased trade between countries. Brexit is the first occasion where they get to observe the effect in reverse.