Take a straw poll in your circle of cycling friends about B’Twin – go on, we’ll wait. Chances are, if you’ve heard of the brand, you’ll know it belongs to sports giant Decathlon, and that it makes some very cheap bikes.
You might suggest one to a cash-strapped friend looking for a way into cycling, but there’s a good chance you wouldn’t even consider a B'Twin for your next serious purchase – it's basically a catalogue brand, isn't it? Well no, not exactly.
Decathlon invited BikeRadar to visit B’Twin Village, the brand’s immense headquarters in the French city of Lille. The Village houses one of the largest bike shops we’ve ever seen, and it’s also home to B’Twin’s design headquarters, as well as a factory where the company assembles 180,000 of the 3.5 million bikes it produces every year.
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We got a very brief look at the production facility
The place has an odd atmosphere. Although it’s a shop open to the public (with a workshop, a restaurant and a gym for good measure), most of the people wandering around when we visit are employees. Those that aren’t wandering zip purposefully past on an indoor bike lane. They’re pedalling, or riding scooters of the kind popular with 12-year-old children. It’s less big-box bike shop, more tech startup in feel.
B’Twin 2015-2016 highlights
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