Chain Reaction Cycles – behind the scenes

<source media="(max-width: 320px)" srcset="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=90&resize=160%2C208, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=45&resize=320%2C416 2x, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=45&resize=409%2C532 3x" type="image/jpeg"> <source media="(max-width: 375px)" srcset="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=90&resize=190%2C247, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=45&resize=380%2C494 2x, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=45&resize=409%2C532 3x" type="image/jpeg"> <source media="(max-width: 992px)" srcset="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=90&resize=136%2C176, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=45&resize=272%2C353 2x, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=45&resize=408%2C530 3x, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=45&resize=409%2C532 4x" type="image/jpeg"> <source media="(min-width: 993px)" srcset="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=90&resize=155%2C201, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=45&resize=310%2C403 2x, https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=45&resize=410%2C532 3x" type="image/jpeg"> <img class="wp-image-326441 size-portrait_thumbnail image-handler__image image-handler__image--aspect no-wrap js-gallery-grid-src-image" src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e.jpg?quality=90&resize=409%2C532" width="556" height="723" data-crop-width="" data-crop-height="" alt="Ever ordered anything from Chain Reaction Cycles? This vast warehouse is where it was dispatched from" title="1299151912493-18uoutzch0dcg-f5a467e" style="width: auto; height: 100%;"> Ever ordered anything from Chain Reaction Cycles? This vast warehouse is where it was dispatched from James Costley-White/BikeRadar

Chain Reaction Cycles proudly proclaim that they’re “the world’s largest online bike store” but it’s not until you arrive at their headquarters in Doagh, a quiet village just outside Belfast in Northern Ireland, that the full scale of the operation hits you.

Chain Reaction Black Friday deals The first thing you see is a massive industrial unit, entered via a gleaming showroom where the latest bikes, components and clothing are on display (and available to buy). Can’t see what you want? Log on to www.chainreactioncycles.com using the in-store computer terminal and staff will fetch you whatever you want from the huge warehouse out back.

<img class="wp-image-326444 align size-full image-handler__image image-handler__image--full no-wrap js-lazyload" data-src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151481338-13jr5ovy3uifn-042557d.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C465" width="800" height="600" alt="Chain Reaction Cycles are based on an industrial estate in the small village of Doagh, near Belfast" title="1299151481338-13jr5ovy3uifn-042557d"> Chain reaction cycles are based on an industrial estate in the small village of ballyclare, near belfast: chain reaction cycles are based on an industrial estate in the small village of ballyclare, near belfast James Costley-White/BikeRadar The rural village of Doagh is an incongruous location for Chain Reaction’s massive warehouse

Combined with another unit across the road, which is where new products arrive and the website team and photo studio are based, the Doagh site covers some 150,000sq ft. On top of that, CRC have another 65,000sq ft unit two miles down the road where all the new bikes are stored. Not bad for a family owned business that began life as a tiny shop in nearby Ballynure 25 years ago!

Products arrive at the goods-in unit over the road from the showroom and are then stored in Chain Reaction’s main 100,000sq ft warehouse. This place is vast, with dozens of aisles and stock stacked several storeys high. It takes a small army to fill the tens of thousands of orders being received daily – in total, CRC have around 420 staff.

<img class="wp-image-326461 align size-full image-handler__image image-handler__image--full no-wrap js-lazyload" data-src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299151895463-57fq6cciureo-d3db64e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C412" width="800" height="532" alt="The CRC warehouse is vast – and this is just parts and clothing. Bikes are kept in a separate storage facility a couple of miles down the road" title="1299151895463-57fq6cciureo-d3db64e"> The crc warehouse is vast – and this is just parts and clothing. bikes are kept in a separate storage facility a couple of miles down the road: the crc warehouse is vast – and this is just parts and clothing. bikes are kept in a separate storage facility a couple of miles down the road James Costley-White/BikeRadar The CRC warehouse is vast – and this is just parts and clothing. Bikes are kept in a separate storage facility

Customer orders are relayed to pickers wearing radio headsets and the goods are then put into plastic crates and sent to the packing room. Here they’re sorted by size – large objects like rims or tyres are packed by hand, while the other 75 percent of products are put into one of two queues to be boxed.

Ever wondered why even small items ordered from Chain Reaction tend to arrive in a cardboard box? CRC say their automated system is so efficient that it’s quicker to pack items in a cardboard box than an alternative like a jiffy bag, it doesn’t cost any more, is more environmentally friendly, the contents are better protected and the uniform shape of the boxes makes them easier to fit in the back of vans.

Goods are then transferred from the crates into open cardboard boxes: goods are then transferred from the crates into open cardboard boxes James Costley-White/BikeRadar This machine calculates the size of each order and then folds the cardboard box to fit

The company only have two sizes of cardboard box. Orders are put into one or the other, depending on size, and the lid is left open. The box then enters an amazing machine which works out the size of the order and custom scores and folds the box to fit. A postage label is then affixed and the package is ready to be dispatched.

During our whistlestop tour of Chain Reaction, which coincided with the relaunch of the Vitus bike brand , we were also shown the sales and customer service centre, where staff were answering calls in nine languages – yes, you can actually call CRC and speak to a human being. We were taken around the workshop, where wheels are built and parts are serviced, and also had a quick visit to the design room, where early drawings of the 2012 Vitus range were on display – look out for more on these bikes soon on BikeRadar . See our image gallery for loads more pictures .

<img class="wp-image-326508 align size-full image-handler__image image-handler__image--full no-wrap js-lazyload" data-src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2019/03/1299153392207-unzo0ctay5g8-3117b1f.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" width="800" height="533" alt="Sean Kelly, who's helping Chain Reaction to relaunch the Vitus brand, checks out some of the parcels" title="1299153392207-unzo0ctay5g8-3117b1f"> Sean kelly, who’s helping chain reaction to relaunch the vitus brand, checks out some of the parcels: sean kelly, who’s helping chain reaction to relaunch the vitus brand, checks out some of the parcels James Costley-White/BikeRadar Sean Kelly, who’s helping to relaunch the Vitus brand, checks out some of the international parcels