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. If you don't have the latest version of the Cyclekit catalogue, click here to request your free copy.
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.
The Future...
Our company has a long and proud history, trading almost 90 years. 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.
In September '08 we announced our forthcoming distribution of 5 entirely new brands. The most significant of these is Rigida, a company that has been producing rims since 1908. Rigida International is the world's largest group of rim manufacturers. Their latest range of Rigida wheels - under the brand name RYDE - is used by the Pro Tour Merida team. U.K. based Henry Squire, lock maker for the last 225 years, are introducing new models in 2009. Other new listings are Las helmets, Vittoria tyres and Nalini clothing much of which is made in Italy.
We have invested heavily in state of the art IT and logistics services bringing our service firmly into the future, ensuring rapid supply of our range to your local shop or mail order supplier.
Professional teams use much of our product range - the ultimate test bench, where demands far exceed those of the amateur rider.
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 info@chickencyclekit.co.uk
Our History...
Building up a market for a brand is seldom the job of an import distributor. It is the creation of its maker, whom over the years uses a growing knowledge of particular mechanical processes. Today, one continues to see the re-birth of original ideas. They are not new, but like an old song, are given a modern treatment. Often, the product is the result of outright marketing effort. It can also be an archive product, brilliantly conceived many years before, that is particularly appropriate to the current retro environment in which we find ourselves.
Of course, this is only possible if one has a lineage of professional ability that identifies a manufacturer as one of the best in its field. Our company has seen a lot of changes in its 90 year history. Originally an agency importing German tubing, the manufacture of saddle bags was added in the 1950s, followed by an agency for Dutch tyres. The shortage of components in post-war Britain in the late 60's led to the import distribution of French chains to factories and wholesalers. By the mid 70's the Industrial Chain Supply co. as it was known enjoyed huge sales of brakes, also kickstands, from Switzerland as well as hubs from France.
By the 1980s numerous companies in Italy like Selle Italia enjoyed large scale sales in the U.K. prior to the rocketing MTB market at the end of the decade. It was at this point that Chicken opened a lightweight listing whereby dealers could buy T.A. chainrings and all number of more specialist product. Not everything was rosy, however, and following Sachs' decision to work with Chicken instead of their incumbent Huret distributor, 11 group sets were to remain on warehouse shelves, unsold, prior to the acquisition of Sachs by Sram.
A considerable vacuum had been created in Chicken & Sons sales. However, the tie up with Mavic saved the day and sales of wheels and rims 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. Adidas clothing and shoes was to also disappear overnight, as had the Nike cycle brand years before.
Historically, Chicken had stayed with the same suppliers through good times and bad. This led to a reliability and dependability in the trade on the name and the products it distributed. Every one of these suppliers ensured the continuation of the company following the devastating fire of November 1st 2007. They did this 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.
Specialist manufacturing knowledge, accumulated by our suppliers, had moved - albeit far too slowly - from engineer's workshops and design departments to marketing organisations. It was then that the true worth of these long established European companies became apparent. Service levels, availability of spare parts and short-haul delivery delays complete the picture. This is some of the finest product available with a high added value content.