Speaking to a select group of media, a Pearson representative began with the statement, “High-performance bicycle retail is broken.”
His argument centred on the lack of any proper handover between a brand and their customer, many relying on the bike shop, and others assuming that the customer is happy and able to set the bike up at home, themselves, correctly.
It also touched on a particular gripe of mine, which is when bikes come with a preset handlebar width, crank length, seatpost setback and more, with no option to change before buying. Handlebar width is a particularly pertinent one this week, with the UCI having announced changes to its rules, much to the detriment of smaller cyclists, women in particular, who compete.
Some brands do an excellent job of allowing riders to choose their spec. Factor is a good example, but even more value-oriented brands like Ribble allow pre-purchase customisation. Others do not, and many customers are forced to take their new, many-thousand-dollar bike as it comes, sell the ill-fitting components second-hand, then buy the correct ones at full price, not to mention the time for a bike shop to swap all the components over.
But where these other brands, and evidently the UCI, forget to consider the bike fit needs of cyclists, Pearson thinks it has a solution.
Specifically, if selling in one of its stores, the brand will never sell a bike without first providing a bike fit. Where necessary, it will swap out fit components such as the handlebar and stem free of charge.
For online sales, there will never be a ‘touchless’ sale. Each bike sale will involve the submission of a bike fit document, followed by a conversation between the brand and the customer to discuss their needs. A ‘white glove’ delivery will then ensure the bike is delivered, built, and set up appropriately.
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The brand is so confident in its method that, in certain circumstances, it will even give customers a £200 voucher to have a bike fit. It will also offer 30 days free exchange on any parts or components after the customer has received their bike.
The move forms part of a wider rebranding strategy of the brand. Gone is the swirly cartoon-like logo, replaced with one that is angular, modern, and dare I say, premium. The brand was at pains to speak about the attention to detail that’s gone into the design of its new bike, and that carries through to the logo design, which is angled at 73.5° to match the new bike’s seat tube.
The new bike
Called the Shift, the new bike is an out-and-out aero race bike.
Gone is the brand’s comical nomenclature. Where once it was home to bikes called ‘I May Be Some Time’ and ‘I Think I Left The Oven On’, the brand’s bikes nowadays are a little more serious, with the Shift joining the Forge endurance bike and the On&On gravel machine.
With its T1000 carbon fibre, it claims to have a 20% weight loss when compared to its predecessor.
Builds start at 7.6kg, so the Shift is unlikely to win any weight-weenie competitions, but Pearson was keen to highlight how well the bike transfers power to the road.
In fact, it claims the Shift is both seven watts more efficient than the S-Works Tarmac SL8, and four watts more efficient than the Cannondale SuperSix Evo Lab71, in pedalling tests performed at 35km/h.
These figures were achieved using the Pedalling Efficiency Rig at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub, the same facility used in our road tyre rolling resistance tests.
The Pedalling Efficiency Rig tests the difference between the power at the pedals and the power at the drum beneath the rear wheel to measure the ‘total system loss’. Cyclingnews wasn’t present for the test, but Pearson says that by standardising the groupset, rear wheel, tyre, pressure and rider, it was able to calculate the difference between frames.
Elsewhere, the new Shift has clearance for 32mm tyres, and is available in four builds, with Ultegra costing the least at £6,100, Dura-Ace priced at £8,800, and SRAM Red topping the range at £9,400.
