Ikea is to start selling bikes. BikeBiz reports that they should be available in all of the retailer’s stores by August.
According to Bike Europe, the offering will initially be limited to a single model. The Sladda will be available in 26-inch and 28-inch versions and will cost €499 or €699 for non-members.
Designed in partnership with Oskar Juhlin, Jan Puranen and Kristian Eke of Veryday design studio, the Sladda was recently named Best of the Best in its category at the Red Dot design awards.
An aluminium unisex bike, it is described by Ikea spokesperson, Annique van der Valk, as being, “like a tablet with apps: there’s the possibility to endlessly add accessories for enhancing the ease of use.”
A click-system means that a bikebag, carrier or trailer can easily be added. Gears are sealed within a hub in the rear wheel, while a corrosion-resistant, supposedly maintenance-free cogged drive belt is employed instead of a chain. According to Core 77, Ikea reckon the latter is good for 15,000km (9,320 miles).
In 2014, Ikea announced plans to sell an electric bike. However, this was only a trial in two stores in Vienna in Austria. Priced at €749, it featured a 250W electric motor with a range of 60-70km.
14 thoughts on “Ikea to start selling bikes from August”
I’ll go first then shall I?
I’ll go first then shall I? Will you have to put it together yourself with a crappy little Allen key (supplied)?
Beatnik69 wrote:
And a difficult-to-understand exploded diagram showing you how to get the back wheel off.
brooksby wrote:
But the back wheel is missing from the flat pack.
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Chuck out the chains!
Bikes as furniture. Cycling
Bikes as furniture. Cycling is finally becoming normal.
They must have teamed up with
They must have teamed up with cycling widows as I suspect it’s all a ploy to replace the sunday ride this a trip to look at soft furnishing
If it’s the bike shown; with
If it’s the bike shown; with just 2 gears & a rear coaster brake, it is very euro & doesn’t seem typical IKEA value. At least it’s not disposable.
The ‘click system’ seems more interesting, but please allow it to be a universal standard. Use the headtube location for a front rack/basket/bag/light(?) & at the rear for rack/bag/child seat/light etc. When not in use, the bike headbadge would use the headtube fitting. If unobtrusive, such a system could be useful for all but racing bikes. Bikepackers, audaxers, commuters etc could all benefit when desired.
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Erm – isn’t that the same as most bikes?
very happy to see this
very happy to see this
The more bikes are sold as lifestyle requirements like a sofa or a bed and less like a piece of technical sports equipment the closer we come to the dutch model of transportation.
Is there a matching lampshade
Is there a matching lampshade?
At €699 it’s a bit steep, but
At €699 it’s a bit steep, but Ikea Family is free so you’d be a fool to not be getting the €200 discount. At which point it appears to be a pretty good price if it’s well built with decent components.
Could do with not being white, mindyou
Al__S wrote:
It also comes in various wood laminate finishes.
I approve of the simplicity.
I approve of the simplicity.
So many in the UK buy cheap bikes made of fragile components that they don’t know how to maintain. Once they’ve developed a few faults, they’re never used again. Anyone who has communal storage will be familiar with this problem, especially if you’ve got renters who leave them behind when they move out.
It wouldn’t be my spec, but if it comes to the UK it’s a good thing to have more bikes like that easily available at retail.
Nice to see mudguards as standard, being Ikea I assume they’ll be selling a rack right alongside it.
If I was on the market for a
If I was on the market for a robust city bike with hub gears and minimum maintenance, I’d go for an Elephant Bike. A refurbished, bullet proof, ex-Royal Mail bike for £250 that also gives a bike to someone in Africa:
http://elephantbike.co.uk/