TRADE FOCUS
Although Cambrian Tyres isn’t a name that trips from the lips of many scooterists, the chances are that everyone’s indirectly bought something from the company at some point. In fact one third of all ‘motorcycle’ tyres sold in the UK have passed through its warehouse on the outskirts of Aberystwyth. Not only does that make Cambrian the largest wholesale supplier of motorcycle tyres to the British trade, it’s also one of the largest tyre wholesalers in Europe. With responsibility for brands such as Anlas, Bridgestone, Continental, Kenda and Risemouse, together with large stocks of Avon, Dunlop, Heidenau, Metzler, Michelin and Pirelli, this family-owned company is one of the greatest repositories of tyre-related knowledge in the world. Who better to ask the questions that are so often incorrectly answered on forums than its sales manager Rhodz, particularly as he’s a PX rider and member of Clwb Scwter Ceredigion SC.
SC: Over the past couple of years I’ve noticed that it’s become more difficult to find my favourite brands of tyre, why is that?
You won’t be surprised if I say ‘Covid’ will you? Like most of the manufacturing sector, tyre factories closed during lockdown. The process for manufacturing tyres is a complicated one that requires raw materials and chemicals from suppliers around the globe. Most of those are delivered ‘just in time’ for production and of course not every supplier returned to work simultaneously. Getting all the components together in the right place, at the right time, has been very difficult. On top of that, vehicle manufacturers also used up their stock of tyres and that’s big
