Every Bike Shop Owner’s Worst Nightmare Happens in Melbourne

Interior view of a fire damaged bicycle store

Melbourne, Vic Gary Cookson, founding owner of Melbourne-based store Cargocycles has been doing it tough since he received a call in the middle of the night from his security contractor and then arrived to see his premises and stock destroyed. Subject to the outcome of police investigations yet to be finalised, it appears he was…

12 Tips to Help You Succeed – Part Two

Person standing on top of mountain with hands in the air celebrating

Wollongong, NSW It’s taken me 38 years in business to learn these 12 tips, most of them the hard way! You certainly don’t have to agree with all of them, but I hope that at least some of them help you. I gave a detailed introduction to this series at the start of Part One.…

Global Active Transport Pioneer Enlightens Audiences Australia-Wide

Advocates and Politicians posing in a group photo at official event.

Canberra, ACT Wales is a small country, whether you measure it by land area or population. It’s part of the United Kingdom, but usually overshadowed by its much larger neighbour, England. But over recent years one politician in Wales has been making global news in relation to two “radical” policies in particular. Lee Waters has…

Bicycle Import Volumes Heading for Financial Year Record Low

Infographic chart

Canberra, ACT The number of bicycles being imported to Australia is remaining at very low levels, as the “covid stock overhang” continues. When we last wrote about bicycle imports here, January and February 2024 data was showing signs of a rebound after 18 months of low imports. But now that we have data for March,…

Retail Briefs – Commuter Cycles Goes Off Course

A bicycle shop team at the front of store exterior

Brunswick, Victoria In 2008 Huw Vellacott opened a one person workshop called Commuter Cycles. Based in inner city Melbourne, he was looking to serve the growing cohort of daily cycle commuters. But over the next 16 years as his team and product range expanded, the name no longer fitted the business. So from June 2024…

Trade News Briefs: New Australian Distributor for Cinelli

Melbourne, Victoria Cinelli the iconic Italian brand founded in just after World War II by professional racer Cino Cinelli recently announced a new partnership with La Dolce Velo, appointing them as the exclusive distributor of Cinelli bicycles, frames, components, apparel and accessories in Australia. La Dolce Velo will also handle the non-exclusive distribution of Columbus…

Inside Rapha – Sydney and Beyond

Sydney, NSW I recently visited Rapha’s Sydney ‘Clubhouse’ and was kindly given permission to take the photos that you see accompanying this article. A Global Brand We’ll look more closely at the Sydney premises in a moment, but first a global overview. Rapha was founded in London, UK in 2004 by Simon Mottram. It quickly…

Record Low Bicycle Imports for 2023

E-bike standing in front of a shipping container

Canberra, ACT Bicycle import data for December 2023 has now been made available so we can compare the total imports for calendar year 2023 with previous years. The decline has been dramatic. In total 666,393 conventional (‘analogue’) bicycles were imported in 2023. That’s a drop of almost half a million units, 490,697 to be exact,…

Everything Electric Show Includes E-Bikes

Above view of bike expo

Sydney Showgrounds, NSW Everything Electric returned for their second annual Australian expo, held from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th February 2024 at the Sydney Showgrounds. Last year, the event was branded the Fully Charged Show, matching the name of the YouTube channel founded by British actor Robert Llewellyn in 2010 that now has over one…

Bike Industry Feels the Rush at TDU

Tour Down Under’s Tour Village

Adelaide, SA The Tour Down Under is heading for its 25th anniversary with some renewed momentum after a successful event this January. This article will barely mention the race itself – leaving that for consumer media, but instead will focus upon trade events and related activities that surround the race. From an industry perspective, the…