Life Cycles auction: High-end bicycles, parts and kit to be auctioned off after Leeds company goes under

The auction includes Italian racing machines that retailed for as much as £3,500, children’s cycles that cost over £600 and even balance bikes for toddlers that had price tags of £180.

The mountain of parts going under the hammer covers everything from brake blocks (£45 a pair in the case of some Swiss productions) through to carbon frames that were priced at two and a half thousand.

The sell-off follows the liquidation of Leeds Bike Shop Ltd, the company behind Life Cycles on Stanningley Road. The site included a large showroom, bike fitting studio and what was described as one of the country’s biggest cycle workshops.

The firm ceased trading at the beginning of February and the restructuring and insolvency team of Quantuma, which is handling the winding up of the business, has instructed industrial auctioneers Eddisons to dispose of the stock.

Everything has been removed to the firm’s Scunthorpe Auction Centre where it will go under the hammer in the online sale next Tuesday (April 30).

Eddisons director Paul Cooper said: “The thirty bikes in the auction include a number of handmade Italian Basso road racing bikes that usually carry price tags ranging from £2,049 through to what’s expected to be the star of the show, a Basso Astra Ultegra that had a recommended retail price of £3,499.

“Meanwhile the company’s repair and servicing department handled work for cyclists all over the region - and indeed further afield - a business that involved carrying a huge stock of parts and accessories. The auction saleroom is currently an absolute sea of saddles, handlebars, wheels, tyres, cranks and all the other stuff that the serious cyclist needs to keep a mount, in absolutely tip-top condition.

“And there’s also a vast quantity of specialist clothing, we reckon over £25,000 worth of gear, from lightweight jackets with price tags up to £170, through to shoes that, in the case of Bont, sell for as much as £300 a pair.”

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Paul added: “The good news for the area’s cyclists is that we have lotted the online auction with them in mind. They have just as good a chance to get involved in the bidding as trade buyers. Furthermore everything is being sold without reserve, so despite the jaw-dropping price tags that much of this equipment once bore, on Tuesday it will go for what it goes for. There could be some bargains.”

The full catalogue is available online and viewing is 10am-4pm on Monday April 29 at the Eddisons Auction Centre on Dunlop Way in Scunthorpe. The online auction is scheduled to end at 1pm on Tuesday (April 30).