Posts by Phil Latz
How Accurate Were Our Covid Bike Industry Predictions?
During the Covid pandemic I wrote two articles predicting what would happen in the future of the bike industry as a result of Covid’s ‘big disruption’. The first one was posted on 17th December 2020 and the follow-up was posted on 23rd September 2021. There’s a strong chance you might have read either or both…
Inside Bikecorp – Before and After Photos
Melbourne, Vic Back in May 2021, we managed to sneak into ‘Fortress Victoria’ between Covid lockdowns and take photos of Bikecorp’s then brand new headquarters while it was still a hard hat construction zone, about a month before they started to move in. The new warehouse is located in a brand new industrial precinct next…
Bicycle Imports in Freefall but Unit Value Soars
Canberra, ACT Bicycle import numbers in Australia were on an earthbound trajectory when The Latz Report last reported on the data late last year. My article on the data to the end of September 2022 reported: “It appears that after two years of stratospheric bicycle imports, numbers are starting to fall back to earth.” One…
Revolve Recycling Aims to Fill Important Gaps in the Bicycle Industry
Sydney, NSW Revolve ReCYCLING officially launched its expanded facilities in Sydney last week, within the Bingo waste management depot at Alexandria in the city’s inner south. Speaking at the launch on Tuesday 14th February, general manager Guido Verbist gave an overview of Revolve’s operations and reason for being, using 10 numbers in ascending order. “Six…
Where is He Now? Curating an Amazing Bike Collection!
Rochester, Victoria If you’ve been in the industry for a while, you might remember that for two decades we featured regular columns by Greg Griffiths, across both Bicycling Trade and Bicycling Australia magazines. In particular, his ‘Behind the Counter’ column often drew wry smiles from other bike shop owners/managers when writing about ‘slice of life’…
How’s Business – February 2023
Welcome to our monthly round up across Australia and New Zealand, where we talk to independent bicycle dealers to ask them “How’s Business?”. The entire global bike supply chain has gone from famine to feast in most, but not all, bike categories, with manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers all struggling with high inventory levels. With that…
Pon’s Global CEO is Upbeat About Industry’s Future
Adelaide, SA At the start line of Stage 3 of the 2023 Tour Down Under, all eyes of the huge crowd were on the elite professional cyclists. Few people would have noticed the casually dressed Janus Smalbraak unobtrusively visiting some of the teams. A study of his online media shows that Janus likes it that…
Still a Market for Framesets Only, Says Chapter2 Founder
Adelaide, SA Back in the olden days, that this author well remembers, it was virtually impossible to buy a complete high-end bike off the shelf. You would have the frame made by a local hand builder, buy the components through a bike shop and either build it yourself or have your preferred bike shop piece…
Tour Down Under Final Wrap – Great Ideas and Personnel Changes
Adelaide, SA Every bicycle dealer knows they spend many precious wage hours per year on building bikes. Depending upon the price point and level of assembly required, even working with maximum speed and efficiency it might cost 20 to 30 minutes of valuable labour time per bike. And it doesn’t end there. All of that…
Adelaide’s Newest Bike Shop Opens Just in Time for Tour Down Under
Adelaide, SA Just a week before the first races rolled away at the 2023 Tour Down Under, a new bike shop crossed the starting line. Contour is located on Hutt Street, at the leafy, affluent eastern side of the Adelaide CBD just around the corner from the East Parklands and the former Grand Prix motor…