3.2 Product management
In respect of Raleigh’s marketing during the period under review, the dominant personality was Yvonne Rix, formerly Yvonne Fisk. Joining Raleigh in 1962 as secretary to chief designer Alan Oakley, she saw at first hand development of the RSW16 and Chopper. When Oakley moved from design to marketing, Rix went with him, seeking a change of career and a new life following divorce. Further advancement was difficult in the design department because of the high levels of technical expertise required. Marketing, she reasoned, depended more on common sense, the ability to perform analyses, flair and being aware of what people wanted. Rix had always liked bicycles and had strong views on marketing, particularly to women. She could not understand, for example, why ladies’ bicycles had to be the same colour as gents’ models and have the same saddle.
Via evening classes, Yvonne Rix obtained a diploma in marketing and was promoted to assistant product manager. She continued studying by day release, was awarded a diploma in management studies and became product manager in 1975. This involved developing products, analysing the market, working out pricing, costing and profitability, and programming the factory. In this role, she reported to the marketing director, a member of the Raleigh board.
Below are the significant models for which Yvonne Rix was responsible, starting with some inherited from the recent past.
3.3 Significant models in the TI period
3.3.1 Small wheelers
The Raleigh Twenty, launched in 1968, and its derivatives were still selling well in 1975. A folding version, the Stowaway, had been introduced in 1971, although the vast majority of Twenties were rigid framed. From the mid-1970s, production of Twenties gradually declined but continued well into the 1980s.
During the time that the Twenty Stowaway was in production, the model was under pressure from an increasing flood of cheap foreign imports. U-frame small-wheeled folding bikes, particularly from Eastern Europe, were available from cycle shops, through mail order and even from petrol stations. In 1984, Raleigh replaced the Stowaway with a U-frame folder of its own, again giving it an ex-Moulton name, Safari. In 1987, it was renamed, this time reusing the name of the RSW16 folder, the Compact.
3.3.2 Purpose-designed juvenile cycles
The Chopper had been the first Raleigh cycle designed specifically for children: hitherto, all juvenile machines had been scaled-down versions of adult machines. Launched in 1970, the Chopper remained a significant seller, although sales were now falling. In the words of former Raleigh marketing man Melvyn Cresswell, ‘years of selling sports light roadsters, with just the odd change of décor, seemed to leave people unprepared for the phenomenon of fashion and product life cycle.’ The first replacement product, the Commando, had been introduced in June 1973 but had not had major impact.
3.3.3 First response to BMX
The next follow-up to the Chopper was the Grifter, launched three years later, in June 1976. It resembled a BMX bike but with mudguards and a three-speed hub.
The Grifter was originally developed not primarily as a Chopper replacement but to compete with BMX. However, the limited roadster-oriented technology at Nottingham meant that every joint of the Grifter’s frame would have to be brazed. Therefore, it could never compete with the welded frames being introduced in the US. However, as Chopper sales continued to slide, the Grifter was presented as the natural successor. It sold well.
3.3.4 A precursor of the mountain bike
The models discussed thus far already existed when Yvonne Rix became product manager. Following her appointment, she noticed older teenagers in England riding conventional cycles fitted with dirt track racing handlebars and sorbo protective padding. This observation led her to instigate the Bomber. To get the desired image and line while minimising the need for retooling, the front end came from a bicycle already in the range, a Nigerian roadster providing the sloping cantilevered back end. Equipped with chunky tyres and specially-made handlebars, the Bomber somewhat resembled an early mountain bike but was well ahead of the MTB craze and was developed independently of it. Launched in 1981, it was promoted in an advertising campaign featuring pop star Toyah Wilcox.
3.3.5 BMX
Raleigh was very late into BMX. The board was reluctant to introduce single-speed stripped down junior machines, as there was less profit in each compared with the Grifter, especially for Sturmey-Archer. They hoped BMX would be a passing fad. It was not and the company initially missed a big opportunity. There were consequently some high level sackings. The high street auto accessories and cycle chain store Halfords was meanwhile heavily and successfully promoting BMX. This followed a major initiative by their cycle marketing manager David Duffield (who had launched the Moulton and had later worked for Raleigh). Halfords, Raleigh’s biggest customer, had been involved in building the first BMX track in the UK and helping local authorities around the country set up their own tracks. As he could not source BMX bikes from Raleigh, he instead started importing from the USA.
Therefore, soon after the Bomber launch, Yvonne Rix was sent on a research trip to the USA. She came back with the Burner range, which was launched in 1982 and rapidly sold over a million units. This had a major impact on Raleigh’s overall UK sales: in 1983, they were up 57% on 1981. The Bomber and Burner also temporarily helped arrest Raleigh’s declining market share. In 1980, this had slipped to 31% but by 1982, Raleigh had half the UK market. Indeed, for the period covered by this paper, 1983 was Raleigh’s best year for sales in the UK, with almost a million units sold.
3.3.6 Mountain bikes
When Yvonne Rix visited the USA and the Far East in 1981, she formed the view that mountain bikes would eventually come down from the hills and onto the streets. The reaction from the Raleigh board was, who needs mountain bikes in England where there are few mountains? Yvonne Rix’s response was that neither do you need a 4x4 to drive in London, but you see plenty of Range Rovers in Chelsea. Not a woman to be easily dissuaded, she kept up the pressure for several years. Yet there was still very little interest in mountain biking in the UK: a review of the UK cycling scene in the International Cycling Guide 1983 made no mention of it.
Eventually, Yvonne Rix persuaded the Raleigh board that a move into mountain bike production made sense. In spring 1985, Raleigh launched Maverick, its first range of MTBs. Offered in 5, 15 and 18-speed versions, it was built using traditional Raleigh roadster-style brazing. However, initial sales were disappointing. The MTB market in the UK remained relatively small, with few domestic players and no meaningful presence yet from American or Taiwanese companies.
3.3.7 Bicycles for women
Product manager Yvonne Rix believed that Raleigh needed ‘totally creative, stylish images and fantastic looking bicycles that people want to buy’. Evidence of this approach is particularly strong in her marketing towards women. The Wisp (not to be confused with the earlier RSW-based moped) was a Rix concept bike, with a mixte frame finished in pale blue with dark blue flashes and matching handlebar tape and saddle, both finished in blue suede. Launched in 1983, it sold 50,000 in the first year.
Rix shared the view that advertising aimed at women was very important. With the Raleigh Collection, comprising the Wisp, Cameo and Misty models, a PR company was used to present bicycles in the manner of a fashion clothing collection.

Fashion-oriented advertising aimed at women.

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