Far from retiring from the business world now he’s sold Boardman Bikes to Halfords, UK cycling legend Chris Boardman tells 220 he will be more involved in the company and its product development than ever before.
“I imagine that some people have assumed this means 'retirement for Chris', but in fact it's quite the opposite,” he told us earlier today. “I will be significantly more involved with the business than I was before, both as chairman and head of design. This deal just means I can have even more fun making bikes!”
He also indicated that Boardman Bikes will get more resource to develop its Elite product series and start new R&D projects that he has been “dying” to get going on. It seems to be good news too for the independent bike shops that sell the Elite series, with Boardman saying that they plan to invest more in shop support and training.
The biggest addition in recent months to the Elite series is Boardman's new top-of-the-range AiR/TTE bike, unveiled in Hawaii just before the 2013 Ironman World Championship. The Elite range is currently ridden by Britain's Brownlee brothers, who tell us in the 300th anniversary issue of 220 Triathlon (on sale now) about their favoured set-up for the AiR/9.8 and AiRTT/9.8.
Chris, a former World Time Trial champion who famously broke Eddie Merckx’s Hour Record in 2000 by just 10m, adds that the company needed more investment to cope with the growth it has seen recently. The same team – which includes Andy Smallwood as CEO – will continue to run Boardman as an independent business.
Do you ride the Elite series? What R&D changes would you like to see made? Let us know in the comments below!