Opinion
Welcome to 2022! Here’s Why I’m Still Optimistic…
Wollongong, NSW Welcome to this brand new year called 2022. I hope you were able to have at least some holiday time over the New Year period. I’ve just returned from three weeks of travelling through the back roads of NSW and Victoria. Holidays are always a good time to learn, reflect and set yourself…
Letter to the Editor: Retailers Should Have Freedom to Choose
To the Editor, I own Tower Systems, a local Aussie software company serving several hundred bike retailers with locally made and supported software. I was disappointed to discover that Specialized has advised retailers that the new version of their electronic invoice platform will only link with the Lightspeed and Vend software products. Lightspeed recently bought…
If You Read Nothing Else Read This! Bike Supply… The Sequel
From conversations with various industry members over recent weeks it seems that, after a brief respite, bicycle stock supplies are tightening again – just as we lead into our busy summer season, potentially leading to a bike shortage in Australia. Right now, some of the biggest questions on most Australian bicycle retailers’ minds include, ‘When…
When Will Our Governments Start Joining the Dots?
In this article I’ll look at two recent decisions by two different governments, that are equally disturbing for a slightly differing set of reasons. Banning Scooter Trials Andrew Constance has deep roots in the Bega region on NSW’s far south coast. In the 1860’s his great-great-grandfather, James Constance, drove a team of bullocks through the Bega…
What Will Happen to Bicycle Demand in 2021 & 2022?
Just before Christmas I shared with you my opinions about what would happen to bicycle supply over the coming year. In case you missed the article, which was entitled, ‘If You Read Nothing Else, Read This! My Predictions for 2021 Bike Supply.’, then I suggest you read it first here, before reading this article that…
If You Read Nothing Else, Read This! My Predictions for 2021 Bike Supply
Is It Fair We’ve Virtually Legislated the Necessity to Own a Car?
By Christian Haag* Decades of transport planning policy that has given the car unchallenged primacy of place has proved and continues to prove destructive to our social, economic, physical and environmental wellbeing. Decades of ever-expanding suburbia, with little or no thought put into affordable, sustainable transport solutions other than to drive, locks us all into…
Let’s Seize This Golden Opportunity!
Clearly we’ve seen a global tragedy unfold over the first half of 2020. At the time of writing this (23rd July 2020) we’ve seen over 15 million Covid-19 cases leading to over 624,000 deaths worldwide, according to official figures, with actual numbers likely to be much higher. Meanwhile Australia is battling the much feared ‘second…
Increased Global Bicycle Demand Could Mean Re-Stocking Delays for Australia
It’s becoming apparent to me that the Covid-19 related bike boom will have two distinct phases and that the second phase will be larger and longer than the first. In Australia we’re already coming out of Phase One. That’s been when bored people, chafing at the bit from lockdown: closed gyms, closed theatres, closed sport,…
