Souplesse Cycling’s business model will be familiar to customers of brands such as HelloFresh and Riverford Organics. Fork out for a subscription to either of these services and you’ll regularly receive a box stuffed with foodie ingredients delivered direct to your door. In essence, they’re shopping the essentials, so you don’t have to.
Souplesse Cycling works on a similar premise, but as well as providing nutrition, in the shape of bars, gels, chews and hydration powers, it also includes a wide variety of small but useful cycling accessories, including lights, tyre levers, chamois cream, sunscreen, degreaser and the like. I hesitate to call them perishables, which is HelloFresh’s USP, but it is the kind of stuff that we, as cyclists, break, misplace or run out of all the time.
It’s the seemingly insignificant products that we could easily buy ourselves but, for a variety of reasons, don’t. Well, rarely in time for the weekend ride anyway.
“The idea behind the subscription service was inspired by my riding buddies,” says James Harrison, director, Souplesse Cycling. “We’re all busy professionals, working 40 plus hours a week, but love riding our bikes, which we’d also like to do for a further 8, 10, 12 hours a week. Factor in sleep, plus other life commitments, and that doesn’t leave a lot of time to get organised.
“Did I remember to order enough bars? I’m sure I’m running out of chain lube? Have I still got some bike wash? I think I’ve lost that tool to change my pedals? All these little things, these questions incessantly circling the mind, add stress to what should be a pleasurable pastime. We wanted to win back some of that enjoyment, the freedom to just go out on a ride without having to worry about that stuff.
“Our box subscription makes it really simple," he adds. "Everything you need for the month turns up in single monthly delivery. There’s enough hydration, nutrition and maintenance tech. We think about seasonality too, so our summer boxes, for example, will feature sunscreen.”
James could be boxing clever here. HelloFresh boasted a net revenue of more than €2 billion in Q1 2024, with a global workforce numbering 20,000. Then again, perhaps not. Sub box pioneer Graze ceased its subscription model in early 2024, so we’ll be watching with interest to see how Souplesse Cycling fares.
Curated choice
James loves to repeat the word ‘curated’, which, incidentally, is also much used by HelloFresh to reassure its customers that significant effort, thought and expertise has gone into boxing up their weekly veg. How authentic this is I’m not sure, but I do know that in James’ case, he’s picking products from some decent brands, including Fizik, Silca, Le Col and Pirelli.
There’s a choice of boxes available too, ascending in price as the number of included items increases and/or individual products rise in cost.
For example, the top-tier ‘Pro Box’, priced at £125.99 per month for a six-month sub, includes clothing, maintenance tools, hydration supplements, bars, gels, Komoot routes, gadgets and more. In contrast, the lower tier ‘Amateur Box’, priced at £35.09 for the same period, features only gels, bars and hydration supplements.
According to James, both subscriptions will save you money over buying the same products at RRP – £45 in the case of the Pro Box. Subscriptions can be paused or changed on the fly too.
Although the content of each box is carefully curated – there’s that word again – there’s plenty of opportunity to personalise each month’s drop. Exact options will vary from month to month, but in mid-summer I could choose to receive either Styrkr or Maurten hydration products, a Castelli base layer over a Lezyne rear light, Ceramic Speed UFO Wash instead of Muc-Off Hydrodynamic Lube – you get the picture.
“We’ve calculated that there are 2.4 million different possible configurations,” says James, “but to keep things simple for our customers their order is sub-divided into just six to eight components. We don’t want to waste their time by making them navigate a complex ordering system.
“We’ve also made up a specific box for a sportives, so if you’ve got a big ride coming up in your calendar that option will have you covered. We hope to do more, perhaps a TT box will be next.”
I asked James if any products were clearly more popular than others.
“Customers have gone mad for Effetto Mariposa Flowerpower liquid wax this summer,” he responded. “That option was ticked again and again.”
My Souplesse sample box
James sent me a single ‘Semi-Pro Box’ (a £99.99 value) for evaluation purposes, but before it arrived, he asked me to decide which of the selectable items I wanted to choose.
My options were (with my preferences in bold):
Bars / gels / a mixture of both
Choice 1 (choose 1): Morgan Blue Degreaser, Effetto Mariposa Flower Power Wax, Muc-Off Bike Cleaner, Muc-Off Chamois Cream, or a Wheel and Component Brush
Choice 2: Pelotan Sunscreen, Muc-Off Bike Protect, Muc-Off Matte Detailer, Jagwire Hose Cutter
Choice 3: Muc-Off Tubeless Valves, Hutchinson Tubeless Plug Kit, Pirelli P-Zero SmarTube, or Lezyne Stick Drive Light
Socks - smaller or larger size
Once I’d submitted my preferred options, it’s no exaggeration to admit that I eagerly awaited the box’s arrival. Unlike a regular order from Amazon, it felt more of a guilty pleasure, a little like treating myself to an undeserved present.
The box arrived a few days later, packaged up securely in a robust outer carton. If you can imagine a shoe box fit for size 12 shoes – easy for me, I have size 12 feet – then that’s about the size of it. More specifically, it measured 32cm x 18cm x 9cm.
The packaging is beautifully executed, with bold Souplesse Cycling branding picked out in British Racing Green on the outer lid, with the inner printed in the same hue and bearing the slogan: ‘Effortless Cycling, Curated For You Are you ready?’ A stirring message, despite the odd grammar and capitalization.
The products are wrapped in tissue paper, and sealed with a branded sticker.
I received 1x Hutchinson tyre lever set, 1x 100ml SPF30 Pelotan sun lotion, 1x pair of Souplesse branded cycling socks, 1x 100ml Effetto Mariposa Flowerpower liquid wax, 1x Precision Hydration tube of electrolyte tabs, 1x Lezyne Stick Drive Light, 6x Maurten Solid 225 60g bars and 6x Maurten Gel 160 65g gels.
Verdict and value
Once the thrill of rummaging through all the products, and clicking the Lezyne light on and off a few times had subsided, I pondered whether I would be quite so excited next time a delivery was due. Justifiably, James offered only the one box (which was gratefully received) so we’ll never know.
However, a part of me is also thankful that it was just one box. You see, for me, this is an awful lot of stuff to get through in a month. Similarly, the corresponding annual cost on a rolling sub is the thick end of £1,200, which is a significant sum. Even calling man math into play, I don’t believe I spend that much on cycle accessories in a year. Honest.
Another part of me accepts that this may prove a fantastic solution for newbies who haven’t yet built up a vast collection of tools and accessories. It’s also a great fix for riders with more of a taste for gels, bars and hydration tabs than I have. I’m really not a big user.
You can, of course, order one of the lesser boxes, but the time-saving benefit associated with Souplesse Cycling becomes progressively less apparent.
I also appreciate that, for cyclists who are really short on time, or who favour pedalling over shopping the mundane, James has developed the ultimate convenience service. It’s an aid parcel for time-poor cyclists.
Currently, Souplesse Cycling only operates in the UK but, if there’s interest, James is hopeful of exploring opportunities in Europe and the USA.
Oh, for those with poor language skills like moi, Souplesse is a curiously French word that roughly translates as effortless, versatile and flexible. Very apt.
