Boardman bikes where is it made

Not bad for a man who by had taken a break from professional cycling to indulge his first love, scuba diving including a monthly column in Diver magazine , when he received an email from a complete stranger. That stranger was Alan Ingarfield, a keen triathlete and the man who came up with the idea of brand Boardman. Of course, former professionals launching their own range of bikes is nothing new — see Eddy Merckx, Mario Cipollini and Sean Kelly for examples.

I wanted to make innovative bikes. Around the same time, Halfords was looking to sell more bikes but was struggling to interest established brands. A commitment from Halfords to stock the range in stores attracted investment from businesswoman Sarah Mooney, and in Boardman Bikes was launched.

It also employs high-modulus unidirectional carbon for a light but stiff offering. His reputation for detail — he used to tape up window frames in his Wirral home, switch on the heater and turbo train for hours on end to simulate racing in warmer climes — and technical acumen propelled him to 4km pursuit gold at the Olympics in Barcelona.

It also highlighted the influence of technology on cycling performance like never before. Burrows produced a prototype and, with car manufacturer Lotus, created a bike that not only launched Boardman to Olympic gold but also brought his attention to the benefits of wind-tunnel testing and carbon — both of which are at the heart of the Elite range. Boardman has proved a master at recruiting the most innovative minds in the business — never more so than when working with British Cycling.

After the Athens Olympics, where GB won two cycling medals, performance director Dave Brailsford and Boardman had one of their regular meetings in Starbucks. Dave and I discussed it and we felt there was a huge number of smaller developments that could make you go quicker. So I was officially appointed Head of Stuff. It ended up as marginal gains but really it was Head of Stuff.

This article is more than 7 years old. With the Tour de France and Commonwealth Games this summer, Halfords anticipates a sales boost of elite bikes. A customer inspects bicycles at a Halfords store. Topics Halfords Retail industry Mergers and acquisitions Cycling news. This position led to Chris overseeing the product used by the riders competing in the Olympics and the record breaking games in London.

At roughly the same time the idea was born to create a British bike brand with Chris and his passion for performance at its heart. Over the next 3 years through a process of design, development and investment, the concept became reality. The first bikes were launched in July and success followed quickly, not just in sales but also through the independent reviews and out on the road with Nicole Cooke winning Gold at the Olympics. Roll forward and Boardman bikes is going from strength to strength.