Saddleback Cycling, one of the UK’s leading bike/component/accessories distributors, has entered administration.
Based in Yate, near Bristol, Saddleback was founded by husband and wife Andy and Sarah Wigmore in 2004, and grew to be the UK home of mid-to-high-end brands like Castelli, Silca, Sportful, Chris King, Sidi, and too many more to name here. Italy’s Castelli, in particular, has enjoyed massive growth in the UK since starting to work with Saddleback 20 years ago. Those scorpion logos are everywhere.
In the past, Saddleback distributed brands like Felt Bicycles, Enve, Bont, 3T, and Cannondale.
The Cannondale connection is an interesting one that not many saw coming, in that it’s a huge US brand with a worldwide reach across many sectors of cycling, from kids’ bikes to WorldTour race bikes.
Saddleback announced in early 2025 that it would be distributing Cannondale and that that would mean a massive expansion in the size of its operation. We went along to the launch of that partnership and were left in no doubt that this was much larger than anything that Saddleback had done since launch. It was going to be massive for the company… as long as everything went to plan.
At the time, Andy Wigmore told Cycling Industry News, “We see this as a great opportunity to not just increase the size of our business, but actually to increase our value to the trade in terms of our proposition… It’s really exciting, with a tonne of work, obviously. We’ve hired additional people – six initially…
“We will need to add more in the warehouse and customer service as the business continues to grow, but we expect to double our business this year, which is just looking at the historic Cannondale numbers for 2024. Obviously that was in a suppressed market but by adding that level we’ll double our business. So we’re super excited and trying to keep our feet on the ground.”
After two consecutive years of losses adding up to £3.3 million, the business hoped that the Cannondale partnership would spur improved economic performance. However, the warning signs were there in the company’s latest set of accounts, with “material uncertainty” coupled with refinancing attempts contributing to the company’s concerns.
In their strategic report accompanying the accounts, Saddleback also acknowledged that “there exists a risk that existing competitors will seek to expand their share of the UK bike and associated products market, or that new brands will seek to enter these markets”
In March 2026, just over a year later, Saddleback and Cannondale reported that they’d mutually agreed to end the distribution agreement. Cannondale said that it was in “the best interest of both parties to return to a direct-to-dealer model with immediate effect” under its parent company, Pon Bike UK.
Enve had already announced in February 2026 that it would be moving away from Saddleback after 15 years and servicing the United Kingdom through its European distribution partner based in Paris. On the other hand, Saddleback took on Princeton CarbonWorks a few weeks ago, so it hasn’t all been one-way traffic.
We don’t know whether investment in the Cannondale venture was the root cause of Saddleback’s current situation. But yesterday, administrators were appointed, resulting in 42 job losses, though The Times also report that some employees will remain in the short-term to assist with winding down business operations.
The news comes after months of optimism that the British bike industry might be steadily returning to growth after years of slump post-Covid. At one point, bike sales slumped to their lowest level since the 1970s.
6 thoughts on “Administrators appointed at major cycling distributor Saddleback”
Sad to see for Castelli. I had ordered a Cannondale from my local shop Clapham cycles but didn’t arrive and they happily put me onto a Merida in November.
Their website is still live and running. Not sure how current and future orders will be honoured, but there may be a stock sale unless other supplies buy it all up.
@Toon Army As of now, it’s not. Shame. I’ve bought quite a lot of stuff from them.
Sad to see this – I’ve had a few technical Qs for products distributed by Saddleback and have found them to be very responsive.
Sad for the staff. Cannondale hmmm
Very sad for the company and laid off staff.
I’ve bought loads of Castelli stuff over the last 20 years, unaware who the importers were simply because you buy from shops. More recently I had a problem with a couple of Gabba jackets which were both just over a year old and their customer service was brilliant. They basically offered me a big discount on a couple of Sportful jackets, direct from themselves. I then became aware of their website and bought some pairs of Sportful bibshorts too. Just as good quality as Castelli really, infact made in the same factory apparently. So because of their great customer service I ended up buying more stuff from them, which is as it should be.