Raleigh are increasing prices by 10% as from August 1.

[Wisper Bikes]

It's true, our bikes on the continent have not moved much in price, we sell to our O/S dealers in US$. I think a few of us are already considering making bikes here, the problem is, as you point out, that most of the components are made in Asia and we would still buy those in US$, so the gain would be relatively small.

 

[flecc]

Great if we didn't need to import the parts to assemble here.

Peugeot will probably be even more pleased they closed their Ryton UK factory earlier in the year, production now in Slovakia.
.

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

Ford announce similar problems..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3714383/Now-Ford-blames-Brexit-warns-job-losses-rising-car-prices-750m-hit-Britain-s-decision-quit-EU.html

 

[Crockers]

Think all motor manufacturers would have done due diligence and have relocation plans as part of their strategy.

 

[Kudoscycles]

I'm not sure it works like that... the main problem will be that if eBikes are going up by a big jump, they won't be the only thing in the retail market that is experiencing this. Everything will go up, expect wages, so people will have less to spend.

But this could mean sales of eBikes actually go up, because more people look to save money on their transport costs. However yes, people might spend 20% less on their ebike, or might not go as fancy as they would, but I don't think price rises will kill the industry.

Colin I think you mean 'except wages' but you could be right in that they will expect wages,hehe.
KudosDave

 

[Kudoscycles]

you are somewhat shielded from the worst effect of brexit in your segment of the market, your customers are among the well to do with large disposable income. Importers of Chinese bikes don't fare so well. Some of their customers will compare the cost of public transport to the benefit of own transport while others are still on a tight budget or stuck with the ridiculous £1,000 C2W schemes.

Trex,your wrong..even those with deep pockets and have the money are reluctant to part with it...its not about the money its a physchological barrier at the moment,this Brexit thing has shaken everybody into questioning even their lifestyle choices.
Maybe some brave politician should stand up and ask whether this is a good idea,its sort of 'emperors new clothes' syndrome,we need a little innocent boy to say 'he is naked'.
I have many friends who run small businesses,many voted Out,principally a protest vote,now they understand the full implications they don't want anything to do with Brexit,but they think its a done deal and cannot be reversed. It can be reversed today but who is brave enough to do a U turn and admit we made a mistake.
Even the newspapers who stirred up the Leave vote are starting to change the tone to 'maybe',the weight of bad news is becoming overwhelming and difficult to ignore.
I heard a Mum moaning in the supermarket about how few Euros she got for the £,she clearly voted Leave because Boris said we could spend the money on the NHS,but would now have voted Remain if she knew it would hit her holiday Euros...how thick is that!!!
KudosDave

 

[Crockers]

yup, bad news Trex... its was at 1.3192 for us from our broker yesterday.

They also sent us this warning yesterday..

"Data compiled by Bloomberg suggests a 100% probability that the Bank of England (BoE) will cut its key interest rate next Thursday, 4th August.

If the BoE does cut rates, this is likely to cause sterling to weaken against currencies including the euro and US dollar."

So it looks like its going to get worse for UK imports.

I just got $1.3285

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

I just got $1.3285

That's quite a good rate... who do you use?

Ours is currently saying...
Rate:
GBP /USD 1.31183275

 

[Crockers]

That's quite a good rate... who do you use?

Ours is currently saying...
Rate:
GBP /USD 1.31183275

Revolut.

 

[trex]

the way revolut works is incompatible with commercial transactions. You can only get this rate because it has a reward element for using their prepaid Mastercard for the transaction. Normally, the fx market reports a bid price and an ask price either side of the market rate, the difference to the market rate is about 0.03%, it's the broker's own cost of accessing the market to buy/sell the amount for you. For commercial transactions, the broker's commission adds about 0.3% to the market rate, eg commision on purchase or selling of $100k is about $300.

 

[RobF]

It's true, our bikes on the continent have not moved much in price, we sell to our O/S dealers in US$. I think a few of us are already considering making bikes here, the problem is, as you point out, that most of the components are made in Asia and we would still buy those in US$, so the gain would be relatively small.

Did someone mention making something in this country?

At least one or two in the trade - if not most of the trade members on here - are starting to get it.

We have the likes of KTM Col - a bike guy - in regular contact with a broker and checking exchange rates to, wait for it, eight decimal places.

Ludicrous - you are supposed to be entrepreneurs, not currency speculators.

KudosDave posts remain propaganda at every opportunity, although his oft-stated concern for the poor worker in this country looks less than sincere given his business is based on goods made at slave labour rates in China.

Market conditions may be changing, you need to think on your feet and use your business nous to profit from those changes.

Or go skint.

No one said it's going to be easy, only the strongest and sharpest will survive.

 

[trex]

market condition is changing as a result of brexit, nothing else, and customers are punished though not their fault, sellers are punished for 'not having contingency plan'. We can still avoid the whole impending recession and inflation by coming to term that the brexit is a bad move for all but a few isolationists and career politicians.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Rob,

You are a little out of date with your thoughts on slave labour in China. Labour is still not as expensive as in the UK for factory workers but for skilled technicians the wages are gaining very fast. We had our bikes made in Germany for one pretty disasterous year and they were slightly cheaper than having them made in Kunshan near Shanghai and not nearly as good.

I would like to start making bikes here but unfortunately the figures don't stack up. We would need to buy vertually all parts from Asia in dollars so no saving there and getting decent labour in the UK is pretty well impossible. I have been trying to recruit a single bike mechanic for over a month so far, so the thought of finding enough people to man even a small factory is daunting to say the least. Another big problem, since Brexit, is the flow of decent labour from Eastern Europe has started to dry up.

There are a lot of very sharp and strong entrepreneurs in the EBike market, they are the ones that survive. If there was an effective way to manufacture here they would already be doing it. In fact two that I know of have already taken the plunge but from what I hear are finding it pretty tough.

All the best, David

 

[Kudoscycles]

Not forgetting also....... A lot of these price rises will also be going on stuff that was purchased at the old rates, thus even yet more profit on that stuff.

Yam dude.....first of all Kudos is not raising its prices on current or new stock because that stock was bought at 1.47 £ v dollar,so we are not profiteering on the back of Brexit,though it is tempting to do so.
I suspect Halfords is reducing the price on their e-bike to get some sales and get some money in,I bet they are not making much profit at that price,maybe even a loss.
I am lucky that only 5% of my revenue comes from bikes,I am very interested in electric bikes and find them an interesting product but you would not enter the e-bike world solely to make money.
Since Brexit all bike sales are difficult,all big ticket items have taken a dive.
I just don't know where you get the conception that electric bike sellers are making big margins on these bikes,I try to get new dealers who are primarily sports bike sellers,sellers of Pinarello/Bianchi do have fabulous margins on those type of bikes and often reject the much lower margins that I can offer on electric bikes,hence why it's so difficult to find new dealers in low population areas.
Yam dude,if you really feel that e-bike retailing is a licence to print money then come and join us,I would welcome a new dealer in Somerset.
KudosDave

 

[RobF]

Hi Rob,

You are a little out of date with your thoughts on slave labour in China. Labour is still not as expensive as in the UK for factory workers but for skilled technicians the wages are gaining very fast. We had our bikes made in Germany for one pretty disasterous year and they were slightly cheaper than having them made in Kunshan near Shanghai and not nearly as good.

I would like to start making bikes here but unfortunately the figures don't stack up. We would need to buy vertually all parts from Asia in dollars so no saving there and getting decent labour in the UK is pretty well impossible. I have been trying to recruit a single bike mechanic for over a month so far, so the thought of finding enough people to man even a small factory is daunting to say the least. Another big problem, since Brexit, is the flow of decent labour from Eastern Europe has started to dry up.

There are a lot of very sharp and strong entrepreneurs in the EBike market, they are the ones that survive. If there was an effective way to manufacture here they would already be doing it. In fact two that I know of have already taken the plunge but from what I hear are finding it pretty tough.

All the best, David

There appears to be near panic from those whose businesses are based on a cheap import model at the prospect of Brexit.

Obviously, they weren't manufacturing here per-Brexit because it was more profitable to do so elsewhere.

But there are two responses to change - adapt to it, or try to resist it.

We've gone a long way down the road of importing everything on the cheap, so reversing that will not be a fast process, will never fully happen, and doesn't need to - there's nothing wrong with importing some goods.

But a re-balance may be required.

Not just in ebikes, but I can see a first step where it may become cheaper to repair a failed component rather than replace with new.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Did someone mention making something in this country?

At least one or two in the trade - if not most of the trade members on here - are starting to get it.

We have the likes of KTM Col - a bike guy - in regular contact with a broker and checking exchange rates to, wait for it, eight decimal places.

Ludicrous - you are supposed to be entrepreneurs, not currency speculators.

KudosDave posts remain propaganda at every opportunity, although his oft-stated concern for the poor worker in this country looks less than sincere given his business is based on goods made at slave labour rates in China.

Market conditions may be changing, you need to think on your feet and use your business nous to profit from those changes.

Or go skint.

No one said it's going to be easy, only the strongest and sharpest will survive.

Rob....I am very respectful of your posts,don't always agree but there is respect.
I spoke to one company who are selling a mountain style bike,assembled in the UK, at about £1700.00 but that bike is no better than my similar bike at about £1200.00,I just cannot see how they can compete,there is no cache on a UK built bike,I don't think they sold many.
I was the first in the after market performance auto industry to go to China,it's not all about price....I made a product in the UK that needed machining/fabrication/painting/assembly. I might order 500 of the product,at every stage in the UK,I heard excuses on delays,2 months later I might get 200,thrown in a box,scratched.....don't chase me,you are not my only customer,Fred assembles your bits-he's on leave back in a couple of weeks,you can have the rest when I've got time
Contrast that with China....all made in one factory,packed well in bespoke box,properly labelled,on time,no excuses,beautifully made and £7.00 cost against £20.00... Where would you buy?
Having said that I am moving some product back to the UK,some UK manufacturers have improved enormously,they want the work and have invested in NC to reduce costs,the cost difference is less and we can control easier.
There still is cheap labour in China but skilled labour wages are climbing fast....which is why many of my suppliers are investing in NC and robots to maintain quality and costs. I don't know how they raise finance so easily but they are not frightened to invest.
The problem with Brexit is nobody,including May,knows what Brexit means,there is no plan,no decisions,so businessmen like me cannot make decisions.....I am usually a very decisive guy but Brexit has left me so uncertain as to how to plan,the safest route is just to put 10% on everything.
I must be honest that there is an element of spite in my mind........
YOU GUY'S WHO VOTED BREXIT CAN DAMN WELL PAY FOR IT.
KudosDave

 

[LEBC Tom]

Oh dear...... someones not happy.... a disagree right back at ya.
But that's the thing about the truth...... it often hurts those that would like to bury that truth.

What a complete load of BS, come and sit in my shoes pal...

 

[RobF]

Rob....I am very respectful of your posts,don't always agree but there is respect.
I spoke to one company who are selling a mountain style bike at about £1700.00 but that bike is no better than my similar bike at about £1200.00,I just cannot see how they can compete,there is no cache on a UK built bike,I don't think they sold any.

Respect here too, Dave.

It's a simple matter of fact you will have forgotten more about running an ebike business than I will ever know.

My simple point is the business landscape may be changing, so an import and resale model that worked (for those who knew how to do it) previously, may not work in future.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Rob....I am very respectful of your posts,don't always agree but there is respect.
I spoke to one company who are selling a mountain style bike at about £1700.00 but that bike is no better than my similar bike at about £1200.00,I just cannot see how they can compete,there is no cache on a UK built bike,I don't think they sold any.

I understand they had to drop the price to £1,299 to sell them through Dave.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Respect here too, Dave.

It's a simple matter of fact you will have forgotten more about running an ebike business than I will ever know.

My simple point is the business landscape may be changing, so an import and resale model that worked (for those who knew how to do it) previously, may not work in future.

Hi Rob,

Unfortunately unless the £ recovers and we get back to the status quo, for the next few years I think it's more likely that we in the UK will just be poorer and will not be able to afford what we could in the past pre Brexit.

It's unlikely that the import of goods will end anytime soon.

All the best, David