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Wiggle swap bike for Twitter follower's car

...and the cyclist has definitely got the better of the deal

Wiggle.co.uk have swapped a Twitter follower’s car for a brand new bike. Last weekend they handed over a Mekk Poggio 2G Ultegra bike to @shotbyjohnson in return for his MG Rover – which puts a strange twist on the usual “You could get a car for that” line that has been used on every cyclist who’s ever spent more than about a grand on a bike.

Back in October, Jonny Heneghan – to give @shotbyjohnson his real-world name – asked the online retailer if they’d take his car in return for the Mekk bike. How serious he was to begin with we’re not sure, but Wiggle responded with, “Sounds like a fair trade,” and the wheels were set in motion.

Jonny’s approach made it clear that this was a man with a passion for cycling, his interest in the sport having been spurred on by romance. He had started cycling to save money to marry his fiancée (who doesn’t have a name, apparently). It was a great idea until Jonny was faced with having to strike a balance between saving money and developing his newly discovered love (for cycling, that is; we’re taking his love for his fiancée as a given).

Feeling inspired to train harder and ride longer distances, Jonny wanted a better bike and had to come up with a cost-effective solution. That’s when he played his genius move of tweeting Wiggle and offering swapsies, he got the idea he says after he saw a news article on a chap who managed to blag a free holiday via Facebook. “ My Fiancé's Brother and I just thought ‘let’s tweet a bike shop and see if they’re game!’

“When Jonny got in touch, we leapt at the opportunity; it was such a unique proposition that we really couldn’t say no,” said Wiggle’s Social Media Executive, Daniel Loots. So they said “yes”.

“We would like to wish Jonny and his fiancée the best of luck with their wedding and hope that they go on to have many happy years together – with plenty of cycling, of course.”

And so would we. It’s the feel good cycling-based story of the year.

No word on what Wiggle are going to do with the car by the way.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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18 comments

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pwm_dcc | 11 years ago
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Will Wiggle swap a bike for my wife?

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OldnSlo | 11 years ago
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think halfords will do the same for 98 plate volvo ;-p

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musicalmarc | 11 years ago
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Hopefully he doesn't have to deal with their customer service department any time soon.

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therevokid | 11 years ago
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Hello Condor, .... Yes, I have a 51 plate diesel Golf
now about those trade ins ... hello .... hello ...  1

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new-to-cycling | 11 years ago
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Sounds like the guy got a pretty fair deal. I would definitely trade my car in for a nicer bike

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OldRidgeback | 11 years ago
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The car looks like an MG Rover or a Peugeot with a go-faster spoiler, which means it's probably broken down 15 times already and is about to fail its MOT due to some major electronic fault that'll cost more than its worth to fix. He's well shot of it.

As no-one with any taste in cars would want to drive it, best thing to do is just to scrap it. In th old days it would've been pushed into a quarry and set on fire, or left down the nearest estate with its keys in the ignition and the door unlocked, but you can't do things like that any more.

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mattheww385 | 11 years ago
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I'm sure I read this story a few months ago?

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Mykal | 11 years ago
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I'm now intrigued as to whether Wiggle have a sliding scale for trade ins. What can I get for a 58 plate Fiat Punto, FSH?!

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Mat Brett | 11 years ago
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Nope, it's the sound of you missing the target.

Twice.

You're trying to make out it's an invasion of privacy when Wiggle sent us a press release and @shotbyjohnson told everyone on Twitter, in relation to the swap story, "my fiance is Jennifer-Anne, don't want her thinking I've got 2 on the go".

Have another try if you like.

We just thought it was a really cool story for everyone to enjoy.

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a.jumper | 11 years ago
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Is that the sounds of Voicemail pin guessing I can hear?

Leveson can't be implemented soon enough!

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petescales | 11 years ago
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Notice it wasn't a tandem!

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ron611087 replied to petescales | 11 years ago
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I think he's read the rules:
http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/

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Dog72 | 11 years ago
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Her life is ruined. Its all Cav & Wiggos fault. Big shots.
I'm never wearing Rapha either.

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jollygoodvelo | 11 years ago
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Great idea. If Wiggle want to swap my MX5 for a Cannondale SuperX, I'm reachable at my email address.

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notfastenough | 11 years ago
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Matt's right, it really is angry wednesday.

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a.jumper | 11 years ago
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Quote:

his fiancée (who doesn’t have a name,
apparently)

Oh wow. Road.cc expects everyone to name everyone, or they'll make fun of them? No privacy for anyone, huh?

Please consider removing that snarly dig and respecting his fiancee's right to privacy.

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drheaton replied to a.jumper | 11 years ago
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a.jumper wrote:
Quote:

his fiancée (who doesn’t have a name,
apparently)

Oh wow. Road.cc expects everyone to name everyone, or they'll make fun of them? No privacy for anyone, huh?

Please consider removing that snarly dig and respecting his fiancee's right to privacy.

Perhaps she really doesn't have a name?

I was mildly amused and I think the line should stay, if you haven't got a sense of humour why don't you try commenting on the Daily Mail in the future?

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Mat Brett replied to a.jumper | 11 years ago
0 likes
a.jumper wrote:
Quote:

his fiancée (who doesn’t have a name,
apparently)

Oh wow. Road.cc expects everyone to name everyone, or they'll make fun of them? No privacy for anyone, huh?

Please consider removing that snarly dig and respecting his fiancee's right to privacy.

Okay, seeing as you asked so nicely, I'll just consider it...

Hmmmm!

Hmmmm!

Nah. Her name is Jennifer-Anne - he just updated everyone on Twitter.

You've got the wrong end of the stick here, a.jumper. Possibly the wrong stick altogether. No one is having a dig at anyone. No one has an issue with privacy.

Thanks for your comment though.

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