News
How’s Business? February 2022
Australia and New Zealand Welcome to our first How’s Business column for 2022. Now that we’ve gone to twice-monthly newsletters, you’ll only see How’s Business in every second newsletter. With Omicron in full flight when we interviewed these shops in late January, our follow up question this month was, “In what ways has covid been…
influencers! interview with F.K. Day
Our sixth interview in the influencers! series is with F.K. Day, co-founder of SRAM and World Bicycle Relief. Of all F.K. Day’s fine attributes, one of the strongest themes that defines this interview is his genuine humility. Take a journey into the beginnings of SRAM, the SRAM Cycling Advocacy Fund and how the 2004 Indian…
Here’s a New Bike Shop With a Unique Flavour
Tumut, NSW Ian Downing could be described as a long-time, dedicated cyclist who spent many years as an integral part of the Canberra bike shop scene. Due to some personal reasons, he recently decided to have a ‘tree change’ and headed for Tumut, located in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains in southern NSW. In…
Lithuanian Factory Continues Pon.Bike Growth
Kėdainiai, Lithuania Dutch bike giant Pon.Bike has announced it will build a new factory Lithuania, as the company steps up its production capacity in a number of countries. The Lithuanian factory is scheduled to open in 2024 and will be capable of scaling up to produce 600,000 bikes annually for several of its brands, including…
Which Bike Company is the Most Valuable?
Wollongong, NSW Bike Europe recently published a table – sourced and updated for many years by journalist Jo Beckendorff – of 45 bicycle-related companies around the world that were listed on a stock exchange as at the end of 2021. With so much money flooding into the bike industry, more outside investors than ever are…
Signs of the Times
Children’s Bike Imports Up, Adults Down for Current Financial Year
Canberra, ACT As we previously reported, despite supply shortages, the 2020/2021 financial year was by far an all-time record for bicycle imports to Australia. But how is the current financial year faring so far? At the time of writing, we have Australian Customs import data for the first five months of the current financial year:…
Industry Demands Crackdown on “Bikes Built to Fail”
Denver, US An alliance of US bike stores, mechanics and cycling advocates has launched a campaign to end the manufacture of what they call “built-to-fail bicycles”. The campaign, spearheaded by the program director of Denver-based cycling advocacy group Bikes Together, includes an online petition calling upon cycling industry manufacturers to “stop producing and selling bikes…
BikeExchange Purchase Set to Deliver Massive Growth for Kitzuma
North Carolina, US BikeExchange Limited’s recent purchase of US-based ready-to-ride bike delivery and logistics business Kitzuma is set to bring fast and substantial growth for both organisations, according to executives from the two parties. Melbourne-headquartered BikeExchange is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange under the code BEX. The US$3.375 million ($A4.75 million) purchase, announced on December…
COVID Sales Boost Hits Second Wave
Sydney NSW Australia’s COVID-induced surge in bike industry sales is entering a second wave, with many cycling newcomers ready to step up their equipment, according to industry veteran Robert Thomson from Sydney store Bicycles Plus. Robert said he was starting to see a surge of buyers keen to upgrade to bikes more fitting to their…