In Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, Lapierre gives customers the opportunity to order bikes online in the Lapierre Plus webshop - and then collect them from an authorized dealer.

The US manufacturer Trek, for example, is already relying on such a mixed concept - probably driven by the hope of combining the best of the offline and online worlds. Web-savvy customers can surf at home and put together the bike of their dreams. If adjustments, warranties or repairs are then required, the customer has a reliable specialist dealer nearby who will take care of the bike purchased online.

In Helvetia, everything remains as before

For the Swiss market, Lapierre is relying on the familiar and established system with an importer. The specialist dealers order the bikes from this importer - currently Primus Sports, based in Romanel-sur-Morges - and these specialist dealers then also deliver the bikes. This means that the Lapierre Plus web store is not available to Swiss customers, nor is the associated distribution model.

Christophe Prior highlights the Ultimate models as being particularly interesting for the Swiss market. These are the most highly equipped bikes from the road and mountain bike sector. There are a total of 12 of these for the model year, and Ride presents a few gems in the series of pictures.www.lapierrebikes.com