Features
What Does Our Bike Industry Future Look Like?
As we all know, Australia’s bike industry went through an unprecedented two-year boom from about March 2020 until it started to taper during 2022. During that boom, I wrote two opinion pieces here and here predicting what would happen next and then, early this year, this article in which I summarised which of those predictions…
Letter From America – Banks Shaping Bike Industry
Sante Fe, New Mexico The US banking industry – turned topsy-turvy with the demise of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March – is quietly reshaping the bicycle industry. Retailers, facing a raft of cash flow issues, are finding it increasingly difficult to refinance older loans, refinance and pay for overpriced inventory, or seek loans to…
Bicycle Academy Growing and Evolving to Train the Nation’s Mechanics
~ Sponsored Content ~ Expanding training organisation the Bicycle Academy is swiftly implementing its own lessons, to ensure Australia’s only national bike mechanics apprenticeship program accurately matches the needs of the industry. It’s a little under a year since the Bicycle Academy, a joint venture by training provider Industry Graduates and leading bicycle wholesale and…
Letter from America – New Bugbears for US Industry
SANTA FE, New Mexico It seems the US bicycle industry has set aside – at least for the moment – worries over supply chain disruption, overseas shipping costs, and tariffs on some Chinese imports. That’s not to say these concerns are unimportant, but the industry is moving full speed ahead into other hot button issues.…
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…
Custom Kits a Tailored Slice of Castelli’s Extraordinary Heritage
~ Sponsored Content ~ Italian cycling garment manufacturer Castelli has spent almost a century and a half at the head of the pack – as one of the industry’s most influential innovators and as the garment of choice for athletic royalty. Fine tailor Vittore Gianni founded the company in Milan in 1876 and created garments…
Polisport Bottles Go Bigger, Lighter and Brighter
~ Sponsored Content ~ Portugal-based plastics and two-wheeler specialist Polisport moved into the high-performance bottle market when it released its lightweight R550 range in 2019. Tipping the scales at just 53 grams for the race-approved 550-millilitre option, the R550 narrowly pips the Elite Fly as the lightest bottle on the market and both are just…
Better Formulas Drive Beta Fuel Popularity
~ Sponsored Content ~ Science in Sport’s newest nutrition range, its Beta Fuel Dual Source Energy Gel, had a perfect launch when multiple Grand Tour winner Chris Froome used it to fuel his memorable 80km solo breakaway victory in the 2018 Giro d’ Italia. SiS was supplying Team Sky (now Ineos Grenadiers) with the product…
Lofty Standards Driven by Performance Not Fashion
~ Sponsored Content ~ Italian apparel and protective clothing brand Alpinestars is focused purely on what makes riders faster and safer. It works hand-in-hand with many of the world’s fastest athletes in a ‘race on Sunday, innovate on Monday’ approach to develop the best apparel and safety equipment for riders of all abilities. Emboldened by…
Maxima Track Record Gets Premium Partners Along for the Ride
~ Sponsored Content ~ Actions speak much louder than words and a host of Supercross Championships says a thing or two about Maxima and its expertise in lubrication. Its incredible track record doesn’t stop with its successful association with Factory Kawasaki. Maxima has developed a host of bicycle products to offer factory-level performance to any…