Evans Cycles

First years and development

The business was created by a London cyclist, Frederick W. Evans. He created what The Bicycle UK magazine described as a quick-release and reversible rear wheel device, for which he received an award for.

Evans edited the Cyclists' Touring Club's Cycling magazine before opening a bike shop in Westminster Bridge Road known as F.W. Evans Cycles in 1922. He is credited with inventing frames with a double fixed hub and rear-dropout screw adjusters that became almost standard on quality frames. He specialised in building touring bikes and in the 1930s offered French-designed Cyclo derailleurs allowing up to 12 gears at a time when most UK bikes were fitted with 2 or 3-speed hub gears. He also offered touring refinements such as braze-ons for racks, and hub brakes.

In 1924, Evans became the first president of the newly formed cycle racing club, South Eastern Road Club, a position he held until 1944.

With the outbreak of war in 1939 he joined the Royal Air Force and left the business in the charge of his manager. The shop traded from this site for 30 years. Evans died in a road accident in 1944, having never again run his shop. He was by then in the educational engineering branch of the RAF.

When Evans died during the war (knocked down by a milk float) his wife took over the business for several years, before selling it to Joe Smith in the 1950s. At the time the shop built frames and sold cycles and toys and later moved to Kennington Road. In the 1970s Smith handed the business to his son, Gary, who expanded the business dramatically. After more than 50 years at Kennington Road, the site came up for development. The shop moved to Waterloo, at 77-79 The Cut (which closed mid-2019).

During the 1990s the stores were mostly franchised but in the 2000s, Gary worked with Mike Rice, the Croydon store franchise owner, to buy back the franchised stores to become part of F.W. Evans Cycles (UK) and by 2013 there were 47 stores. During this time the Evans Cycles mail order catalogue was launched, requiring a central distribution centre, later established in Leatherhead, Surrey. This coincided with the Evans Cycles website being established. The business outgrew its distribution centre in Leatherhead. In 2001 the head office and distribution centre moved to Gatwick, Sussex, which has now moved to Shirebrook.

Acquisitions

The company was acquired by the firm Active Private Equity in 2008 for £30 million. British private equity firm ECI Partners then acquired a majority stake in the company in May 2015 for £75 million.

On 30 October 2018, Evans Cycles entered administration, and was purchased by Sports Direct (now, Frasers Group) in a pre-pack administration for £8 million. At the time of its insolvency in 2018 the company had 60 stores UK-wide.