Cycle Republic & Boardmans Performance Centre to close

[biggs682]

No it says that they are concentrating on Halfords and Tredz, who will be the premium specialist retailer

I wasn't aware that they owned Tredz anyway

 

[DRM]

Does that mean we can expect some pretty good deals from cycle republic soon?

I start rubbing my hands

I honestly doubt it, the better stock will likely go to the Tredz shop, the Boardmans and Carrera bikes to Halfords stores

 

[DRM]

View: https://youtu.be/KY_yX6JAV_g?list=PLUdAMlZtaV11mdJr3_cCZiFClL8PoKFlJ

GCN recently filmed at the Boardman Performance Centre.

 

[roley poley]

got my genesis day one 20 from cycle republic in leeds at half price on black Friday they seemed ok ...so our city centre will be down to one shop, evans,as cycle surgery is closing also

 

[DRM]

got my genesis day one 20 from cycle republic in leeds at half price on black Friday they seemed ok ...so our city centre will be down to one shop, evans,as cycle surgery is closing also

If your feeling brave there’s Halfords on Low Road

 

[wafter]

For the future, I think it just means expensive bikes.

The Boardman Performance Centre wasn't a shop, it was some sort of research, bike design, and training facility.

Boardman has a linked high end Performance brand of bikes.

I think some customers for a Boardman Performance bike could go to the Performance Centre to have a bike fit, and have their physiology measured like the pros.

Unlikely it ever made any money, but was a useful 'halo' to position Boardman bikes as bikes for serious cyclists.

To complicate matters further, there was a story a short while ago that the centre had been sold.

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/performance-centre/

I thought the same; the Performance Centre adding some legit value and kudos to the Boardman brand and setting it apart from just another cheapo product line from a generic chain store using the rights to a trusted name to enhance brand image.

I wonder if this is the beginning of something bigger and that Boardman (the man) will slowly distance himself and the R&D will slow / cease..?

End of the day I think Boardman are a decent brand on the whole (some reservations notwithstanding) and value-for-money rep notwithstanding
I think are a bit of a poor match for the Halfords retail model of shifting lots of cheap units through poorly-trained staff.

Given how poorly mine was put together the sale of higher end (CFRP) bikes through non-specialist shops with low-skilled staff is asking for trouble in the form of dangerous failures due to over-tightened / mis-treated CFRP parts.

 

[Pale Rider]

Higher end bike customers can often mean customers with higher demands, so shunting them through Halfords is asking for trouble.

Boardman's budget bikes look decent to me, but they may be trying to stretch the brand over too wide a market.

I'm not certain about the role of the man himself.

He certainly sold the brand to Halfords a while ago, that may have been more of a cashing in in that he is still doing some work on the Boardman brand.

Stories about the Performance Centre tend to speak of him as its owner.

Perhaps he kept it, only selling the rest of the Boardman brand to Halfords.

 

[kingrollo]

Can't see a boardman 2020 range of bikes ? - has that gone as well ? A guy at our club built up a boardman frame slr signature I think - and he really rated it - it did seem to me the high end boardmans were gaining some traction - but don't see anything about a 2020 range of bikes.

 

[Cycleops]

- but don't see anything about a 2020 range of bikes.

According to Cycling Weekly:
"Boardman doesn’t follow the model year format used elsewhere, so the range continues into the 2020 season".
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/group-tests/boardman-bikes-333601

 

[bikingdad90]

Cycle republic stores closing tonight and looks to be going mail order only. I tried to get the details for my local store and got the news!

https://www.cyclerepublic.com/stores-closed

 

[Duffy]

I liked cycle republic, decent kit and usually good service. I’m sorry for the staff there, they were a decent bunch at my local branch.

 

[Cycleops]

I’m sure they will try and absorb them into the Halfords empire somewhere. They could certainly do with a few more cycling experts in their branches

 

[DCLane]

An update: Cycle Republic's website is closing as well from 8th of June. All customers and information is being transferred to Tredz, which is also owned by Halfords.

As an upside, there's a 15% discount coming for all Cycle Republic's customers. The downside is that it's for Tredz and you may want to read this before ordering.