Online retailers see Brunei bike boom

From average bicycle stores selling run-of-the-mill products to lifestyle-conscious businesses like Bruwan Company, a high-end specialist store which plans to open its own cafe sometime this year, the range of options available for local consumers has never been so varied.

But while international events like Burt Heidelberg Tour de Brunei 2012 and government-driven cycling campaigns such as “Youth Love the Nation” have taken the sport further into the limelight and boosted sales in the cycling sector, some businesses are losing out to online retailers due to the small domestic market.

One of the country’s oldest bicycle stores, Triple Star, has seen healthy sales performance in the past few years but the figures have nonetheless been dampened by online competitors, which the store’s manager Lee Ming Hwa said offers wider range and better deals.

“We have to keep a reasonable price with our range of bicycles now because of our online competitors,” said Lee. “But we always emphasise on quality, and this is something you can’t always guarantee at online stores. We, on the other hand, have the items ready for our customers to try before they buy.”

The store, which has been selling bicycles in Brunei for the past 60 years, normally caters to young working adults these days, said the manager, whereas in the past its customers were mainly “pro riders”.

“I can see that many young people today are getting more interested in fitness and many are taking up gym memberships and different kinds of sports, so it has been good business for us recently.

“The challenge for us is that we cannot keep all of the available stock in our inventory because of the different bike sizes. Unlike cars, which are typically one-size-fits-all, bicycles come in different sizes for different-sized cyclists, so most of the customers have to make orders from catalogues and are forced to wait for a week or two,” said Lee.

Consumers are also willing to shell out more for quality products. According to Hussein, a worker at Awang Tum Tum Cycles, customers are willing to pay up to $10,000 for high-performance racing bicycles.

Such bikes, which are typically much lighter than conventional types due to expensive and high-tech materials used, can be found at the store in Jerudong. The store specialises in road bikes, mountain bikes and hybrids made by renowned international brands such as the UK’s Boardman and Jamis from US, with prices ranging from $1,500 to $4,700 for main frames.

“The number of customers have been increasing since we opened. We are constantly getting new customers coming in to place in orders for new bikes, on top of returning customers coming in for spare parts and servicing,” said Hussein.

Omar Ali, secretary of the Brunei Darussalam Cycling Federation, told The Brunei Times that the sport’s landscape has dramatically changed over the last few years due to the increasing number of new businesses in the cycling sector.

“Before, it was really difficult to purchase good quality bikes. It used to be very expensive too, and most riders did their shopping entirely online or abroad,” said Omar.

“Today, prices for branded road bikes and mountain bikes sold in Brunei are very competitive. Anyone can pick it up for just about $1,000 to $3,000 and start cycling,” said Omar.

The federation is hoping to attract more young cyclists to join the community and a healthy demand and a thriving market for the cycling sector in the country, he added.

National cyclist Muhammad Raihaan Abd Aziz said he hopes to see more Bruneians pick up the sport.