News
Giant Profits Halved But Mid-Term Optimism Remains
Taipei, Taiwan Giant Group’s nett profits have halved in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, the Taiwan-based company revealed in a financial report released last week. Its consolidated financial report for the 2023 first quarter shows the group’s nett profit after tax was NT$836 million (A$40.49 million), a decline…
£19 Million Injection for Supercharged Brompton Growth
London, UK Folding bike specialist Brompton’s desires to grow even faster than its 20% organic expansion in recent years has sparked a £19 million (A$25.51 million) capital injection for the UK company. Growth capital investor BGF recently took a minority stake in the English manufacturer, securing £19 million in equity capital to further accelerate growth.…
Warburton Manager Calls For MTB Industry Organisation
Warburton, Victoria Australia’s mountain bike industry has reached a level of maturity that now demands its own industry body, to effectively regulate the industry and collectively represent its interests, according to the project manager behind the recently approved Warburton MTB Destination in Victoria. The unprecedented campaign to gain approval for Australia’s first gold-level mountain bike…
How’s Business – May 2023
Welcome to our monthly conversation with bicycle shop owners across Australia and New Zealand. In last month’s How’s Business column, Leighton Thomas from Geraldton Bikes commented that he was spending a lot of time on warranty claims on new bikes that had various faults. He suggested that we ask other dealers if they were also…
Continuing Very Low Bicycle Imports are Actually a Positive Sign
Canberra, ACT We’ve just received the latest bicycle import data for the months of January and February 2023. In summary, the number of bikes that were imported was way below average. In normal times, this might be cause for concern, but given our current industry situation of overstocks and discounting at both wholesale and retail…
2023 Micromobility Conference Postponed – A Personal Letter from Phil Latz
Wollongong, NSW I’m writing to announce that we’ve decided to postpone the 2023 Micromobility Conference. We ran the first Micromobility Conference in November 2022 and although it was a great success in terms of fantastic speakers, encouraging reviews from delegates and many other positive aspects, it ran at a financial loss. It’s about a month…
Portugal Return Prompts Albion Cycles Sale
Sydney, NSW Former Australian Olympic team mechanic and national road team manager Frank Conceicao is selling his Albion Cycles store, which has been a feature in Sydney’s eastern suburbs for more than four decades. Frank, who has also mentored elite cyclists and triathletes and ran coaching camps attracting top athletes from Australia and abroad, is…
Push Begins to Elevate Mechanic Training Rating in WA
Perth, WA A push to increase the status of bike mechanic traineeships in WA has been launched by Bicycle industries Australia. The peak industry group last month submitted an application for intent with the WA Department of Training to get the State’s bicycle mechanic traineeship raised from a Class B classification to a Class C.…
New BIA Sustainability Committee to Assess Industry’s Performance
Melbourne, Victoria Bicycle businesses throughout Australia will soon be consulted on their recycling practices, to determine current levels of resource reuse in the industry, after a new Bicycle Industries Australia Sustainability Committee convened for the first time late last month. BIA general manager Peter Bourke said the committee’s initial tasks will include quantifying existing recycling…
OKGO Takes Digitisation Further
Taipei, Taiwan Taiwanese manufacturer OKGO is continuing the progression of e-bikes towards integration and digitalisation, with its carbon-framed Smart E-Bike unveiled at Taipei Cycle. With a futuristic monocoque carbon frame that hints at the technology contained within, the urban e-bike has a handlebar-integrated Smart Bike Display that receives voice commands, can use fingerprint scans to…