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Forme bikes and cycling stock worth £35 million to be auctioned following Moore Large liquidation

Moore Large's stock of around 35,000 bikes as well as £10 million worth of bike accessories will be auctioned by John Pye from Friday...

Moore Large — the distributor of brands such as Forme bikes and Lake shoes — will see its remaining £35 million worth of stock auctioned.

The long-running Derby-based distributor, which formed from the bike shop opened by John Moore in 1947, entered liquidation last week, less than a year since board directors bought the business from the Moore family.

In an update by auction house John Pye & Sons — initially reported by Cyclingindustrynews — it was announced that the administrators appointed to sell off remaining stock would be auctioning bikes and cycling accessories through its service.

> Bike industry turmoil continues as Forme bikes and Lake cycling shoes distributor enters liquidation

The remaining stock of around 35,000 bikes worth an estimated £25 million  — including Forme, Barracuda and Vitesse models, as well as £10 million worth of cycling accessories — is to be auctioned from Friday 24 March.

Forme Monsal RCCR-1

John Pye's website explains that on behalf of joint administrators Rajnesh Mittal and Nathan Jones of FRP Advisory Trading Limited the auction house has been "instructed to sell the entirety of the Moore Large stock inventory of bikes and accessories".

Many of the brands distributed by Moore Large, including Forme bikes, Barracuda, Emmelle, Vitesse, Sonic, Apex helmets, Cuda, ETC, Freespirit, OE Bikes, ND Cent, One 23, Social, Bumper and Savage are listed as being included in the auctions, with John Pye telling customers they will have the chance to "ride away with premium stock at a fraction of the retail cost".

> REVIEW: 2022 Forme Monsal 1

Stock will be auctioned at all John Pye's sites, in Nottingham, Chesterfield, Port Talbot and Derby, and available for online bids, with all stock available for nationwide home delivery.

John Pye Moore Large auction

"We have the systems and knowledge in place to ensure we can sell the Moore Large & Co. stock with the highest level of efficiency and return for its creditors," John Pye's joint head of business and property Charles Loake commented.

"Our UK-wide footprint of close to 1,000,000 sq ft of sale space and a nationwide workforce of over 700 staff ensures we can handle the largest of insolvency cases. Since Covid, cycling as a hobby as increased exponentially, so this an opportunity for enthusiasts to potentially secure some big-name bikes and accessories at a great price."

John Pye will list lots on its website from Friday 24 March.

Dan joined road.cc in 2020, and spent most of his first year (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. At the start of 2022 he took on the role of news editor. Before joining road.cc, Dan wrote about various sports, including football and boxing for the Daily Express, and covered the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Part of the generation inspired by the 2012 Olympics, Dan has been 'enjoying' life on two wheels ever since and spends his weekends making bonk-induced trips to the petrol stations of the south of England.

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13 comments

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shutuplegz | 12 months ago
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I'll admit I don't know much about the bike industry, but 35,000 bikes seems a shit-load of bikes to have in stock? Surely no manufacturer or reseller would have that much in inventory at any time, except for maybe the biggest brands, just before a new range launch?

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Rendel Harris replied to shutuplegz | 12 months ago
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shutuplegz wrote:

I'll admit I don't know much about the bike industry, but 35,000 bikes seems a shit-load of bikes to have in stock? Surely no manufacturer or reseller would have that much in inventory at any time, except for maybe the biggest brands, just before a new range launch?

I read elsewhere that they got hit by a perfect storm of demand dropping off post-pandemic and loads of pandemic-delayed orders finally being fulfilled, leading to unprecedented and unplanned stock levels.

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shutuplegz replied to Rendel Harris | 12 months ago
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That seems quite likely I guess.

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Off the back replied to shutuplegz | 12 months ago
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The types of bike with be quite varied covering all corners of the market. Road bikes, Mountain, Hybrid, E-Bikes, Childrens, City. You name it they probably make it. So all in all its probably not as high a number as if it were 35000 Top spec road bikes. Thats not the case. I reckon very few of the total number of bikes going to auction will be drop handlebar bikes with middle to top end spec. That part will go pretty fast and in a very competive bidding process. The rest of it will be quite modest. 

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shutuplegz replied to Off the back | 12 months ago
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The website shows 318 bikes (types), so quite alot, and as you say, all kinds of bikes. However, that would be an average of 100-ish of each type! Conceivable I guess?

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Freddy56 | 12 months ago
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I would be happier paying RRP and keeing 130 people in a job at the wholesaler-PLUS the local bike shop gets a turn.

No joy in being a vulture

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Brauchsel replied to Freddy56 | 12 months ago
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Why? A failing business doesn't have a moral right to exist in perpetuity, and if people won't pay the RRP that tells the R that their RP is too high. 

It does nobody any good in the long run to prop up a bad company (especially one selling leisure goods where many other options are available), and I hope the redundant staff can use their skills at more productive firms. 

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Blackhound | 12 months ago
1 like

I live 2-3 minutes walk from the John Pye auction site in Derby, I may wander across and see what's occuring.

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Secret_squirrel | 12 months ago
3 likes

Something to be aware of.  The actual price you will pay at this auction is 50% higher than the bid price due to Auction fees and VAT not being included.

Caveat Emptor!

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Secret_squirrel replied to Secret_squirrel | 12 months ago
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Secret_squirrel wrote:

 The actual price you will pay at this auction is 50% higher than the bid price due to Auction fees and VAT not being included.

Caveat Emptor!

 

The auction is live and the piranahs are swarming.  There are a lot of people about to have a horrific shock when they see their bill.  Lots of stuff already close to or at 50% of retail.  The next 50% is going to hurt them.   There's no guarantee that the auctioneers will allow people to duck out of their contract either like eBay allows. 

Someone's gonna get hurt.

https://www.johnpyeauctions.co.uk/Event/Details/64493365/C-1648-SR40-DX-...

 

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Global Nomad | 12 months ago
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i would imgaine things will be sold in lots rtaher than individually....hard to imagine the logistics of selling that much stock one by one...so imagine there will be a 10 or 20 bikes as one lot, or something similar. BWTFDIK.

would be interested in drivetrains I think, will take a look on friday.

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ChuckSneed | 12 months ago
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I'm going to swoop in and get a few bikes to sell on locally.

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joules1975 replied to ChuckSneed | 12 months ago
1 like

If some of the bikes are from the Forme brand, then this could be interesting. I suspect though that the majority of the bikes will be Baracuda or similar 'marginally better than BSO' type bikes or low value city/hybrid and mountain bike look-a-like bikes.

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