David Millar's cycling clothing brand CHPT3 enters liquidation and ceases trading immediately

CHPT3, the cycling clothing brand founded by former pro racer David Millar, has entered liquidation and ceased trading with immediate effect.

The brand's website now just displays a statement communicating the news, the notice saying that Wilson Field Limited has been instructed to assist in the liquidation and CHPT3 has "now ceased to trade".

It states: "The Directors of CHPT3 Limited have instructed Wilson Field Limited to assist in the formalities of a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation. The Company has now ceased to trade. Creditors will be contacted by Wilson Field Limited in due course. Any queries can be directed to Wilson Field Limited who can be contacted on +44 (0) 114 2352 6780."

The news comes just three months after the launch of the brand's Transit shoe, a £200 urban commuter shoe that aimed to combine the "power of a pro cycling shoe and the comfort of a luxury sneaker" and was brought to life by ex-Adidas designer James Carnes.

It was a product launch that made plenty of noise in the cycling world and the Transit received an impressive 9/10 score when we reviewed it. We've contacted Millar for comment but had not heard back at the time of publication.

> "I've rediscovered my love of cycling": David Millar and James Carnes of CHPT3 on appealing to every cyclist and designing a commuter shoe you can wear with a suit… and down a Swiss mountain

Back on the other side of the autumn when the Transit was released, Millar told the road.cc Podcast how the last few years have helped him "rediscover my love of cycling" and that it had "given a whole new impetus to what we want to do, which is to start to change people's perception of all types of cycling", through CHPT3.

"It's very easy to find yourself locked in and only think about people who are in your 'area'," he told us. "Whether it's road cycling, mountain biking, or urban commuter cycling, it's a really strange world, cycling, where every niche has its moat around it, and everyone stays very firmly within their island. And with CHPT3, we really wanted to start to bleed out of that and transfer across, not only those different ideas within cycling, but to start thinking of things outside it that we can bring in."

While the exact circumstances around CHPT3 have not been disclosed, it has been a turbulent and challenging time for the bike industry in recent years. 

Just last month, Scottish cycling clothing brand Endura posted a £14m loss, while we recently revealed that fellow clothing manufacturer Rapha's losses had doubled to £22.7m, the brand's seventh consecutive year in the red.

More recently, the major UK cycling distributor I-ride entered administration, although its British bike brand Orro was subsequently saved following investment.

> Collapse of major UK cycling distributor "huge shock" after investor pulled out of Orro Bikes deal "at the very last minute" – but hope "someone in the industry" will rescue business

In August, Evans Cycles posted a £22.8m loss, while last week we revealed that Wiggle's administrators reported the beleaguered retail giant made £10.4m profit during its administration, the intellectual property and brand subsequently being bought in a cut-price deal by Mike Ashley's Frasers Group.