About Us
Where do you get the best service and product selection ?
The Cyclekit listing is highly specialised. The product available to the serious cyclist is superb - we supply some of the most famous brands for both the road and mtb rider. Carbon components, lightweight wheelsets, featherlite saddles; the choices are endless.
A listing as complex as ours will not always be available from any one shop at any time, BUT, we will almost certainly have the product in stock at our warehouse. Give our catalogue ref number to your dealer who will get the product for you within a few days.
We keep a huge stock of Campagnolo group sets as well as parts and spares, also wheels. so this minimises any possible delay in getting you back on your bike. Spare parts are available for most products we sell, which make our products even better value for money.
Your dealer will always have the most up-to-date price information. Please remember that we do not supply the public direct - a complete dealer listing is available here.
Our History...
At any one time you might reflect and think - I wonder what happened to so-and-so, it used to be a big brand. Like business in general, bike companies come and go enjoying periods of growth and enduring set-backs of all types. Today, brand names are more important than they ever were. If they are old brand names they can be even more valuable. Ours have been built up by specific manufacturers over periods of 50, 75 even 100 years. Quite something, but then the bicycle hardly changed till the 70s. Bikes are now seen as cult objects and the parts that make up the whole are under scrutiny. Long established companies that have been able to keep abreast of modern technology have the added benefit of years of experience. Until relatively recently some of our old suppliers kept their knowledge of particular mechanical processes to themselves. Now that marketing plays so much more of a part in our lives this accumulated information is published far and wide. This is considerably advantageous to our company. We are talking about particular companies who make particular parts for all types of bikes. We are not talking about the "sizzle" - we are talking about the "steak".
Our company has seen a lot of changes in its 90+ years of history. Originally an agency importing German tubing, it turned to the manufacture of saddle bags in the 1950s, followed by an import agency for Dutch tyres ultimately leading to a bi-lateral joint stock company 30 years later. The shortage of home produced components in the late 60's led to the importation of French Sedis chains in what we used to call "lollipop bags". By the mid 70's the Industrial Chain Supply Co. as it was known enjoyed large scale OE sales of Swiss-made brakes and kickstands, as well as chains.
Italian companies like Selle Italia were working with us by the early 1980s. Sales of titanium rail Flite saddles reached for the sky. It was at this point that Chicken opened a lightweight division to service the needs of cycle dealers, whilst still retaining a large wholesale and OE manufacturer customer base. Not everything was rosy, however. Sachs' groupsets didn't work as well as Shimano and Chicken had little to offer in a U.S. led market dominated by mountain bikes. Our European suppliers had been caught out by a short-term BMX market and had been slow to react to the MTB craze.
A considerable vacuum had been created in Chicken & Sons sales until Mavic agreed to supply Chicken with rims and wheels. Sales continued to increase throughout the 90s. Finally, as the sole remaining Mavic importer Chicken lost the distribution when the holding company decided to sell direct to dealers. Production of adidas clothing and shoes, which was linked to Mavic also stopped. As the old saying goes, when one door closes another opens. Historically, Chicken had stayed with the same suppliers through good times and bad. But change was needed and quickly. Nalini clothing replaced adidas, Ryde/Rigida replaced Mavic, Vittoria replaced Vredestein, Miche came in to compliment Campagnolo, Las helmets put us on the right path, Velomann gave us a much needed line of computers and, least expected of all, Jet Black turned up from Australia.
However, the newly opened door was to slam in our face. The entire business was destroyed by a devastating fire on November 1st 2007. The perpetrator was caught on site by the police and subsequently imprisoned. A small off-site warehouse became our temporary home. Every one of our suppliers ensured the continuation of our company by immediately re-directing to the U.K. all the most urgent supplies that were needed. They ensured that Chicken Cycle-Kit was not going to disappear. The trade reaction was so positive that our name for reliability and dependability hardly came into question. The support the company received was incredible. Most recently, Dedacciai Strada bikes, framesets and forks; also Deda Elementi handlebars, stems and tapes have been added to our portfolio.
We continue to build business based on well established values; good customer service, value for money and proudly supplying goods from some of the best cycle component suppliers in the world. Guarantees are generous, short-haul delivery delays from Europe ensure quick stock replenishment. Spare parts availability ensures that some of the finest product available also has high added value content. We have invested heavily in state of the art IT, updating all admin functions and posting the very latest information on our various websites. Additional warehousing now assists logistics services ensuring the rapid supply of our range to your local shop or mail order supplier.
The listing of stockists on this site represents just some of the specialist dealers we supply nationwide. If you have any questions please contact us on sales@chickencyclekit.co.uk
