Posts by Phil Latz
Cycling’s Friends Speak Up in Federal Parliament
On Tuesday 16th February the second ever Parliamentary Friends of Cycling event was held within Australia’s parliament house in Canberra. There are over 100 Parliamentary Friendship Groups (PFG’s) covering a huge range of interests mainly across environmental, health and social issues. Although these groups do not hold any formal legislative power, they provide an important…
Bike Industry Share Prices Surge in 2020
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the huge covid induced increase in demand for bicycles and related products, 2020 was a banner year for share prices of those bike companies who are listed on stock exchanges. Here is a summary of some of the better performers: Company Stock Exchange Main Product/Activity Change in Share Price Bafang Electric Shanghai…
SRAM Buys Time
SRAM has completed the purchase of the Time Sport pedal business from Rossignol Group. The acquisition adds another brand to SRAM’s portfolio of RockShox, Avid, Quarq, Zipp, and Truvativ and gives it a distinct pedal brand and technology should it choose to re-enter the growing market for pedal-based power meters. Other than some Truvativ flat…
Team Changes at The Latz Report and Micromobility Report
Effective from today, Ed Price is taking over from Mel Doyle as Media Sales Manager for The Latz Report, The Latz Report Yearbook and the Micromobility Report. Publisher Phil Latz said, “I’d like to thank Mel Doyle for the outstanding job she’s done through a difficult Covid affected year. Catie, Linda and I all wish…
BBC Produces Documentary on the Bike Boom
In December 2020 the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) released an interesting new 23 minute documentary about the global bicycle market and its covid induced boom. The program is one of an eight part series entitled Made on Earth: Road to Recovery. As you would expect from the BBC, this is a very well-produced program that…
New Federal Legislation Appears to Ban Throttle Powered Ebikes
Ebikes legally ridden in Australia have until now had to confirm with one of two standards which could be broadly summarised as 250 watt ‘pedalec’ or 200 watt throttle. Most bikes sold by dealers conform with the 250 watt pedalec standard, also often referred to as the European standard. But there are many bikes sold…
South Australian Programmers Create Virtual Charity Ride App
Cycle tour operator Yvette Fuser of Maglia Nera Tours usually runs a full season of cycle tours, including many in Europe. Her company finishes its season with an annual charity Tasmania Circumnavigation ride. Thanks to Covid, this event also had to be cancelled in the physical version, but GoCycle app initiator Greg Goodman and developer…
Young American eBike Brand Raises $194 Million in Funding
Rad Power Bikes, which lays claim to being North America’s largest e-Bike only brand, has attracted US$150 million (A$194 million) in investment from major institutions such as Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), the Fidelity Management and Research Company and The Rise Fund, among others. Fitting a trend of private equity investment in some of the world’s…
Booming Share Price Prevents Dorel Going Private
As we reported previously in the bottom section of an article here, Canadian based Dorel owner of major bike brands including Cannondale, GT, Mongoose and Schwinn was set to revert to private ownership. However Dorel has now cancelled its proposed bid to take the company private following a backlash from a significant portion of the…
Shimano Takes Over from Mavic as Neutral Support for Tour de France
Shimano will be taking over the neutral support role at the Tour de France and other marquee races this year, replacing long-time partner Mavic that began race support with its distinctive yellow vehicles in the 1970s. Shimano’s deal with ASO, owner of the Tour de France includes all of ASO’s season of men’s and women’s…