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news
2024 Orro 2025 Gold Evo 105 Hydro Bike - riding 4.jpgMajor UK cycling distributor behind Orro Bikes enters administration and 'all staff asked to leave without September pay'
All staff at UK-based cycling distributor I-ride, best known for its popular in-house bike brand Orro Bikes, have been made redundant and are still without pay for last month after the company entered administration, sources have told road.cc.Â
I-ride distributed many major brands' products across the cycling industry, including those of Continental and De Rosa, and had last year moved to a new multi-million pound facility in East Sussex.
However, road.cc has heard from a source at the company that it has entered administration, with all staff made redundant and asked to leave yesterday. The source also suggested that nobody has been paid for September, a claim that has been backed up by others.
I-ride's parent company Martlet Group has not yet commented, nor has the distributor itself, Martlet Group's Companies House page so far unchanged too. We have contacted I-ride for confirmation of the accounts emerging from those formerly employed with the distributor but had not received a reply at the time of publication.
(PAU Run and Ride Trentham on Facebook)
A source told road.cc that the news came as a shock to employees, with anger reportedly mounting about the situation, and on the surface there were few indications that the company was so deeply troubled. Orro Bikes, I-ride's flagship in-house bike brand, had an active Instagram account up until around five days ago at the time of writing, and over the weekend Sir Bradley Wiggins was pictured riding an Orro bike as part of his 'Ride With Wiggins' charity sportive departing from Sandon Hall in Staffordshire. Â
I-ride calls itself "the specialists' specialist" and distributed products for SeaSucker, Kool-Stop, Gemini Lights, Green Oil, DeFeet, Cyclus Tools, Catlike, Seatylock, Token and more, in addition to the bigger name brands listed earlier in this article.
In August, the distributor advertised a "huge overstock clearance" sale with "cheapest prices ever" on a host of products, including some from Shimano, SRAM, FSA, Fulcrum and Continental, suggesting I-ride may be struggling with the inventory troubles felt across the bike industry since Covid.
Last year, fellow distributor Moore Large entered liquidation, the distributor for brands such as Tern Bicycles, Lake and Forme going under one year on from the long-running business being sold to board directors from the Moore family.
That meant stock worth ÂŁ35 million was auctioned off, with 35,000 bikes and ÂŁ10 million worth of bike accessories listed via John Pye. The inevitable scrum saw road bikes sell for as little as ÂŁ110 and further huge discounts elsewhere as Moore Large's stock was shipped off at whatever price could be got.
Two months later, Livingston-based distributor 2pure entered administration, before another UK cycle distributor FLi ceased trading shortly after.
FLi Distribution's director Colin Williams was outspoken in the aftermath, citing the impact of Brexit, the complexities and restrictions surrounding UK and EU trading, and the difficulties facing the bike industry in the post-Covid lockdown period as the main reasons behind FLi's demise.
"If you voted for Brexit, please realise this is 90 per cent because of your decision back in 2016," he said. "I'm done fighting, I'm done with the red tape and the barriers to trade. It hadn't been fun for some time, so the time was right to end it now, life is too short."
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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52 comments
Reminds me of the following.
(Obviously this has dated fast - who has heard of carbon paper now? Or meetings where everyone's physically present?)
I used to enjoy Dilbert cartoons, but the author's political leanings (especially the racism) leaves a bad taste nowadays.
I must have read this, but it passed me by.
As satirical, sarcastic humour you can have too much and I did... But does it stop being funny if I find out that the author did bad things / had opinions I disagreed with? Obvs. we can't help looking back and trying to interpret what we laughed at before for signs of those.
Separate the art from the artist if you can, though how no one saw thru' his Elbonians routine is beyond me.
I thought his Elbonians were simply taking advantage of corporations trying to offshore to get a really cheap workforce. However, it was a long time ago that I read that.
I do agree with separating the art from the artist, but that doesn't mean that I want any of my money going towards funding racism etc. He can continue drawing comics, but it's just that newspapers (or anyone else) aren't going to pay him for them.
It was a long time ago that I read the Dilbert cartoons and they didn't strike me as pushing racist themes. I also got bored of them long before Scott Adams started losing business due to his views.
On the one paw, I like to try to keep the creator's views separate from the artwork, but on the other paw, I don't want to be supporting their hate.
"Cancelling" people never used to be considered a bad thing, as TV channels dropped anything with Jimmy Saville as soon as the facts were broadcast enough - not early enough though as John Lydon was "banned" by the BBC for trying to spread the truth and Saville's abuse was well known about in some circles but he brought money coming in, so the higher ups either ignored or encouraged him.
I disagree. I have no experience of carbon frames as I have never owned one, so cannot comment on them,  but their aluminium and steel bikes are excellent. Well designed and good quality. I have one of each. It would be more likely that their problems have stemmed from their recent move to very expensive new accommodation, in  addition to other pressures in the industry which are well documented.
Is a great loss for those who will lose their jobs
That video is full of inaccuracies, for a start Orro frames weren't formed using bagsđ€ŠđŒââïž
I would agree after watching that Mapdec video (and he's no clickbait chaser) - Orro Gold quickly came off my shortlist.
The writing was on the wall sadly when Orro were constantly trying to sell Ultegra Di2 bikes for not much more than the cost of the Shimano shifting system.
Feel very bad for the staff. Hope they get sorted with another job quickly.
Ah, the armchair expert who has an opinion with one data point.
You and Hambini should pair up.
I must be the kiss of death. The bike shop I got my Orro Venturi went out of business not long after I took delivery, and now this.
Im still not clear on the relationship... has Martlet Group gone into administration, or I-ride as a separate entity?
Wow, does this mean Orro are about to vanish? That's horrendous, I've wanted a Venturi for years.
Me.Too. Thats horrific for all the staff but particularly a UK based brand that was doing something a little bit different than the generic far east carbon molds.
I hope Orro is sold as a going concern.
I am pretty sure that Orros are exactly that...I seriously doubt they actually own the molds.Â
Also, a little birdy tells me one of the owners is over in Taiwan shopping around...rather than paying his staff. So don't feel too sorry for them.Â
It was Taichung Bike Week last week so much of the industry is out there at the mo. Though folks with bills to pay tend to avoid those shows.
Im pretty sure you are wrong. There was an interview (on Road.cc I think) where it clearly stated that they owned the moulds.
I picked up a Venturi SC Signature from CRC when they were closing down with 60% off
Absolute top spec including Black Inc finishing kit, SRAM Force AXS etc.
It's stunning and very, very fast.
Proper gorgeous, is that!
I'm probably miles off.. but is that tixall gatehouse, Stafford in the background? if yes.. I'll have a guess and say you were on a 60 miler round blithfield reservoir ? đ
Â
Yes it is but no I wasn't.
Well, probably there'll soon be a fire sale going on so your wish may be granted. But still s**t for the staff.
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