A new bike brand is set to hit the cycle trade early this year.
Vickers Bicycle Company will be built in Britain, creating city bikes at the luxury end of the market.
Launched by Ian Covey, the brand has been set up to ‘straddle the gap between mainstream manufacturers and independent artisan frame builders’. All bikes will be made to order, outsourcing steel frames, each handmade in Britain.
Covey told BikeBiz: “I’ve been riding bikes for as long as I can remember and joined my first club at 14. Cycling has always been a part of my life and I’ve long wanted to earn a living from it.
“I wanted to create a company that straddled the gap between the main stream manufacturers and the independent, artisan frame builders. So our bicycles will be all made to order, have steel frames that are handmade in England – not by me, I outsource both the frame building, wheel building and assembly – from high-end parts and materials but to a set design.
“That design is based on the English roadster, giving our bicycles the classic aesthetic and elegant riding style, but with contemporary design touches and part selection to make them into suitably modern machines. I’m hoping the bikes will appeal to those new to cycling who want a superbly made, British bike that fits their lifestyle.”
Customers will have the option to take the bike as is, or to tailor their build to a certain degree. Consequently, Vickers will – in the short term at least – sell directly rather than through a distribution network.
Covey explained: “As we become more confident in the process and our own abilities, and the brand becomes a little more mature, we’ll start to look for dealers – I imagine this is a little like being a new parent, you don’t want to hand your baby over to someone else to look after.”
Vickers Bicycle Company is planning to launch in January.
More details are available via ian@vickersbicycles.co.uk
vickersbicycles.co.uk