Atherton Bikes Crowdfunding Campaign Quickly Oversubscribed

Rachel Atherton pictured on the Atherton Bikes website.

Last year the Atherton Family launched their own brand, Atherton Bikes. Their bikes are UK made by joining carbon tubes with additive manufactured lugs (3D printing in titanium). This system allows them to custom make each bike for its rider, reducing stock holdings and lead times.

How’s Business? – November 2020

Welcome to our monthly conversation with bicycle shop owners across Australia and New Zealand. It would be lovely to have a break from talking about the Covid-19 impact upon the bicycle industry, not only for the relatively trivial reason of editorial variety, but because, as the pandemic drags on, it’s really starting to put a…

“I Don’t Want Bikes to Become the Next Hand Sanitiser!”

We recently visited Pon.Bike Australia, the only major bicycle wholesaler to be headquartered in Adelaide, SA. Pon’s major bike brands include Focus, Cervélo and Kalkhoff. It is a subsidiary of Pon Holdings, one of the Netherlands largest companies with over 12,000 employees worldwide and business units across automotive, bike and various industrial and engineering services.…

Bianchi Creates Australian Distribution Business

Effective from 1st November 2020 a newly formed entity, Bianchi Australia Pty Ltd will be taking over distribution of Bianchi Bicycles from the previous distributor, SOLA Sport. They will be based in a new head office in Sydney, NSW. In a press release, Bianchi CEO Fabrizio Scalzotto stated “The creation of Bianchi Australia will enhance…

POC Launches Australian Subsidiary

On 8th October POC announced in a press release that they were creating a new Australian subsidiary to distribute all of their products. POC Sports Australia became operational from 12th October. POC will distribute via third party warehouse in Sydney and will have a dedicated B2B platform ready early next year. POC has been most…

Are Bike Shops Missing the Boat on Electric Scooters?

May bike shops refuse to sell electric scooters and not without valid reasons. In most Australian states they’re still illegal to ride, apart from on private land. But despite this, major retailers such as Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi (pictured) seem to have no such qualms. The day we visited this store in NSW a…

A Metre Finally Matters in Victoria Too!

After years of lagging behind the rest of Australia, on 7th October 2020 the Victorian government has finally announced that it pass safe passing distance laws. Ironically Victoria is the home state of the Amy Gillett Foundation, which has worked solidly for 10 years to get their ‘metre matters’ campaign enshrined in legislation across every…

BikeExchange Hires ex CarSales.com CFO

BikeExchange, has appointed the former CFO of ASX listed carsales.com, Andrew Demery, to the new role of Global CFO. Following a 12-month period of rapid growth, BikeExchange has welcomed Demery to their global leadership team to play a crucial role in the company’s further expansion. BikeExchange is now an international company with operations in eight…

Zwift, Now Valued at Over $1.37 Billion, Developing Its Own Trainer

Zwift, a 350-person, Long Beach, California-based online fitness platform that immerses cyclists and runners in 3D-generated worlds, just raised a hefty US$450 million (A$616 million) in funding led by the investment firm KKR in exchange for a minority stake in its business. Permira, the Amazon Alexa Fund and Specialized Bicycle’s venture capital fund, Zone 5…

Magura Australia Launches Fully Factory Owned Subsidiary

Magura was established in Germany in 1893. They are a diversified global company, but within the bicycle industry are best known for their high end hydraulic brake systems. In Australia they were previously distributed and serviced by Eurocycles, but this company, owned by Rick Krassoi, has been steadily extracting itself from the bicycle industry over…