Not The Chain Reaction They’d Planned

 We love to patronize our favorite local bike shop.  But I—and I am sure many of you—have bought stuff from an online retailer (or their predecessors—mail-order catalogues—remember those?) oh, once or twice.

One of the local dealers I patronized (until it wasn’t so local for me anymore) said he couldn’t blame people for buying parts from Performance or Bike Nashbar.  “Their prices are better than what I can get from my distributor,” he lamented.

Performance and Nashbar are in the tire tracks of history.  Now,’it seems, two more recent giants the online bike business may join them.

In 2016, Chain Reaction Cycles, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Wiggle, in Portsmouth in England’s south coast, merged. At the time, to join two companies that were already offering good deals on in-demand bikes, parts and related items into one that would have even greater buying power and would therefore offer even better deals to customers.

But another event that same year would contribute to the company’s current situation: the vote to secede from the European Union, a.k.a. Brexit. (Scotland voted to stay.) The “divorce” was finalized, if you will, at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020.

One effect has been higher tariffs, not only on imports to, but also exports from, the UK.  The latter included, in the years before the “breakup,” many orders from outside the country.  They included customers from EU countries—and, on a few occasions, yours truly.   American customers didn’t have to pay the Value Added Tax.  So, when the exchange rate was favorable to the dollar, I purchases not only Brooks saddles, but also French Mavic rims and Velox rim taped, Swiss DT spokes, German Continental tires and even Japanese Shimano cassettes for considerably less than I could have bought them Stateside.

The UK-EU split came early in the COVID pandemic. So, some of the losses Wiggle-CRC incurred from prices increasing for European customers were offset by the COVID bike boom.  That “boom,” however, seems to be going bust.  At least, people aren’t buying as many bikes and parts as they were three years ago.

According to industry insiders, Wiggle/CRC’s parents company, Sigma Sports United is “re-structuring” —which includes, among other things, ending its relationships with “underperforming assets” like Wiggle/CRC—and therefore de-listing from the New York Stock Exchange.  Those same insiders are saying that Wiggle-CRC has stopped paying its suppliers and intends to file for insolvency.

From what I’ve been reading and hearing, they’re not the only ones who have “buyer’s remorse” over Brexit.

Wiggle Ahead Of The Curve, Or Adventures In Online Ordering

I didn't start this blog to shill for anybody.  But I want to offer praise to an online retailer.


About two weeks before Christmas, I placed an order with Wiggle.  They were running a sale and, as I'd placed several prior orders with them, I got a couple of additional discounts. So I bought some items I didn't need immediately, but will probably use in the future.


All of my previous Wiggle orders arrived within ten days of my placing them.  However, the order in question hadn't arrived a month after I placed it.  I contacted Wiggle.   They shipped ("dispatched") my order two days after I placed it.  They promised to investigate the matter.  Two days later, they said neither they nor Royal Mail could find the package.  The US Postal Service hadn't seen it, either.


Wiggle then gave me a choice:  They would refund my money, or send me a new shipment.  I chose the latter, and paid an additional 3.99 pounds (about 6 dollars) for expedited shipping.  The original order, and my previous orders, were sent by the standard shipping service they offer for free with orders of 50 pounds (about 80 dollars) or more.


I received the order last week, ten days after I chose to receive a new shipment.  


So, while praising Wiggle, I also want to warn you--if you don't already know--that shipments between the US and the rest of the world have been a good bit slower than normal.  That is due, in part, to the severe weather that's been part of this winter in much of and Asia as well as North America.  But it also has to do with the tighter security that came with the perception of increased danger during the holidays.


What I think of the security alerts and measures is the topic not only another post, but another blog.  But I found out two things that should alarm (or at least annoy) anyone, regardless of his or her political apathy.  For one, packages of more than one pound (453 grams) aren't being allowed into the US unless the shipper fills out a form with detailed information about the recipient.  (Also see this link.) And, packages of more than one pound aren't being allowed on aircraft.  So, even if you pay for an airmail shipment, your package could end up on a boat.   And, of course, Customs procedures have become more intrusive.


So, in this Orwellian milieu the US is becoming, the government isn't banning shipments to the US outright.  Instead, they're making it so inconvenient, time-consuming and expensive that lots of people and businesses will simply stop shipping to the US.  Of course, the only ones these encumbrances won't stop are the ones who actually want wreak havoc.


OK...Enough of my rant.  The good news is that Wiggle has been good about it.  So is an eBay retailer named "stigshead," who are re-shipping two rolls of handlebar tape I ordered just after Christmas and still haven't received.