Posts by Phil Latz
Road Bikes and Cruisers Headline China Cycle
Shanghai, China Despite the bicycle manufacturing business going through tough times in China, their industry is forging ahead with more sophisticated products, particularly relating to drive systems and electronics, according to one regular Australian visitor. Tony Morgan, founder and owner of TEBCO, a Melbourne based designer, importer and distributor of e-bikes, has been attending every…
We’re Officially Launching Premium Subscriptions Today!
Last month we announced plans to launch a premium subscription option for The Latz Report monthly newsletter. Since then we’ve done our set-up work and we’re ready to launch. From July 2024, if you’re a Premium Subscriber, you’ll be receiving your monthly newsletter two weeks earlier than regularly subscribers. Because I’m attending Eurobike in early…
Federal Government Announces $100 million Active Transport Fund
Canberra, ACT On Tuesday 7th May 2024 the federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King MP announced that the following Tuesday’s federal budget would include $100 million in funding to set up a new national Active Transport Fund. We anticipate that this money will be spent over four years at…
Retail Briefs: Popular Brisbane Bike Store Owner Dies During 53rd Birthday MTB Ride
Craig Saunders, long time owner / manager of River City Cycles in the Brisbane suburb of Yeronga, died suddenly and unexpectedly on Saturday 1st June. It was his 53rd birthday and he was out mountain biking with his son at one of Brisbane’s most popular trails. His family released the following statement on Instagram: “With…
World Bicycle Relief Plans to Exceed One Million Bicycles
Chicago, USA On Boxing Day, 26th December 2024 a huge earthquake caused a tsunami that swept across Indonesia and neighbouring countries, killing almost a quarter of a million people and leaving millions more homeless. F.K. Day and his wife Leah watched these events unfold from their home in the USA and wanted to help. That…
World News Briefs – Founders Buy Back Kona, Enve Sold
Kona Goes Back to its Roots Last month we reported here that the future of leading bicycle brand Kona was uncertain. Kent Outdoors bought Kona in 2022 but abruptly abandoned their stand at Sea Otter this April and then announced the brand was for sale. On Monday 20th May Kona’s founders Jake Heilbron and Dan…
Yearbook Correction – Yakima Australia.
In our 2024 Latz Report Yearbook, we made a complete mistake with the Listing of Yakima Australia. Since being alerted to the problem by Yakima, we’ve corrected the online flipbook version of the Yearbook which you can access here. But of course, we can’t change the print edition which has been mailed out to every…
Autonomous Driving is Here and Will Be Good for Cycling
I’m not an expert, but for the past decade I’ve been following developments in autonomous driving quite closely. I also consume a lot of podcasts with tech / transportation / cycling / micromobility themes. Like anything that’s radically different, there has been a lot of hype and fear in roughly equal parts in relation to…
How’s Business? – May 2024
Welcome to How’s Business, brought to you by our sponsor Dirt Works Australia, where right now, you can get Sunringle wheelsets for HALF PRICE. As always, we spoke to a wide range of dealers across Australia and New Zealand, with a mix of city and country locations and a wide range of store types. With…
MC Cyclery Takes its Own Road
Kensington, NSW MC Cyclery is a bicycle retailer that does things differently to most other Australian bicycle shops. This is in large part a reflection of the passions and complementary professional skill sets of its two key owners, Andy Walsh and Harvey Crabtree. Neither works full time at MC. In fact, both spend most of…