Halfords eyes bike range extension after GB success
Halfords is looking to develop performance bikes for children and teenagers to capitalise on the surge in interest in competitive cycling following Britain’s success in the sport at the Olympic Games.
A spokesman at the high street retailer says it has ‘started to think about’ developing smaller frame sizes in its performance bike ranges following feedback from cycling clubs that numbers of 10-14 year old members who are keen to get involved in competitions are increasing.
Increased interest follows Bradley Wiggins triumph at both the Tour de France and the Olympics, and fellow Team GB cyclists Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Laura Trott and others clinching a raft of medals in the Velodrome.
Twenty-year-old Trott will be seen as a particular inspiration to young girls to get involved in the sport after she clinched two Gold medals in the past week.
The chain is not revealing at this stage whether it plans to work with any of the newly created household names on its bike ranges. It already produces a successful range of performance bikes for men in collaboration with former cycling Olympic champion and world record holder Sir Chris Boardman, and a range of leisure bikes with Victoria Pendelton.
The latter says in a statement from Halfords that she may look to get more involved in bike design following her final competition at the Olympics this week.
“Maybe I could design more bikes, I really enjoyed doing the range with Halfords, “ she said when asked about future plans. “For a cyclist, designing my own bikes has been a dream come true,” she added.
Rival online bike retailer Wiggle has sought to capitalise on Team GB’s cycling success with targeted ads around YouTube clips of the Velodrome races, while sport industry brands from gyms David Lloyd and Virgin Active to specialist sports publishers Future are also launching campaigns to capitalise on a spike of interest in sport
