ABOUT £300,000 of high-tech cycling gear is to go under the hammer after one of Oxford’s upmarket bike shops reached the end of the road.

Ubyk closed the doors at its showrooms in Abingdon Road in Oxford without warning, in December. The business then went into liquidation at the beginning of January.

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Liquidators winding up the affairs of the company have now instructed industrial auctioneers Eddisons CJM to dispose of the stock - some of the best cycling equipment that money can buy - which has been cleared from the Ubyk’s former premises. It will go under the hammer in an online auction on Monday.

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Auctioneer Paul Cooper said: “Ubyk was about as high end as a bike shop could get. Their claim was that they sold some of ‘the world’s greatest bikes’ in gallery-like showrooms that were designed to show off their engineering magnificence.

Oxford Mail:

“Their range was eye-wateringly expensive. The cycles we are putting under the hammer include a couple made by an American company called Parlee that retailed in the £10,000 bracket. They’re hand-built, carbon fibre, with Zipp carbon wheels and you don’t even get pedals at that price.”

Chairwoman of cycling campaign group Cyclox Dr Alison Hill said: “With such high prices it’s not surprising that Ubyk has closed.

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“Some people do buy expensive bikes but if they do they have to worry about keeping them secure and insuring them.

“The majority of cyclists in Oxford are probably looking to spend no more than a few hundred pounds on a good road bike.”

Dr Hill said the high price of Ubyk’s stock was the most likely reason for its closure - not competition from dockless bike companies. She added: “We think it’s mainly tourists using dockless bikes, and residents who don’t want to take their own bikes into the city centre.”

Oxford Mail:

Kurt Grossmann, in the sales team at Beeline Bicycles in Cowley Road, said: “Business is booming here - lots of people are getting into cycling. Our prices range from about £330 for a hybrid bike to £10,000 for the most expensive.”

Mr Cooper added that other expensive items included a Cipollini carbon monocoque frame that had a £10,000 price tag.

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He said: “Even parts could cost a small fortune. We’ve got wheels that had price tags of £1,500 and lightweight saddles that cost £407.”

Oxford Mail:

Asked about the reason for the company’s collapse Mr Cooper said: “Ubyk actually started as an online business and only opened the stores in Oxford and Brighton later. There have clearly been other factors, not least that selling bikes for £5,000 to £12,000 is not so easy."

The online auction extends to over 750 lots and includes complete cycles, frames, forks, wheels, parts, helmets, footwear, clothing and ancillary kit. The full auction catalogue is available at eddisonscjm.com, with the auction ending at noon on Monday.