News
Giant and Dorel Both Announce Record Sales and Profits
In the first round of reporting for publicly listed companies since the Covid impact upon the bike industry came into full effect, sales for both Giant and Dorel were up significantly. Giant Group’s sales for the second quarter of 2020 (from 1st April to 30th June 2020) were NT$19.7 billion (A$929 million) and its earnings…
New Marketing Manager Starts at Advance Traders
Ms Jo Kinsella has just started as Marketing Manager at Advance Traders head office in Brisbane. She is stepping in for Chris-Jane Lo who is taking 12 months’ maternity leave starting from 28th August. Jo has a background in the property, aviation and wholesale industries and is a keen road and MTB rider. In the…
Ebikes Praised on Better Homes and Gardens TV Show
Seven Network’s Better Homes and Gardens presenter James Tobin recently visited Sydney Electric Bikes (SEB) to film what became a five minute segment about the benefits of riding ebikes. Better Homes and Gardens is in its 25th year of production and has been hosted by Johanna Griggs since 2005. Even in this social media diversified…
Trek CEO Says He Saw the Boom Coming Quicker Than Most
In a lengthy but fascinating story first published on USA website marker.medium.com, Trek’s global CEO and owner John Burke says that he saw the sudden upturn in bicycle demand sooner that others in the industry and was able to place vital orders with suppliers, including Shimano in particular, ahead of the stampede that followed. Despite…
Survey of Australian Bike Dealers Documents Huge Sales Spike
Every bike industry member knows that bike sales have boomed since March. Empty bike dealer showrooms and wholesaler warehouses bear testament to this fact. But exactly how many extra bikes have been sold? Bicycle Industries Australia (BIA) recently conducted a nationwide survey of bicycle shops to answer this question. Before sharing the results, here are…
How’s Business – August 2020
Welcome to our monthly conversation with six bike shops selected from across Australia and New Zealand. Knowing in advance that bicycle stock shortages would be a topical response this month, our follow up question was, ‘Do you think it’s possible for a workshop to be a profit centre in its own right?’ Damien Lack of…
This TV Advertisement Was Banned!
Take a look at this TV advertisement for a new bicycle and decide for yourself if it was sufficiently offensive to be banned from TV. That’s exactly what happened when the Autorité de Régulation Professionnelle de la Publicité (ARPP) ruled that the film cannot be broadcast in France because it creates ‘a climate of anxiety’…
Cassons Comment Upon Their Stock Availability
Last month we ran this article in which we asked Australia’s leading P&A wholesalers to comment about disruptions to their stock supplies and other business impacts due to Covid-19. Given that stock shortages have been such a major issue, we were not surprised to see that it was our most popular article in last month’s…
Cannondale and GT to End Model Year System
As every dealer knows, most of the world’s bicycle brands have for many years operated on a model year system. The theoretical upside of this system is to drive consumer demand through a desire to own the current year model. But the reality is that most models don’t really change that much from one year…
Former Shimano President Yoshizo Shimano Dies
Yoshizo Shimano, third son of company founder Shozaburo Shimano has died at the age of 85. After earning his economics degree from Keio University in Tokyo, he briefly worked at an automobile sales company before joining Shimano Industrial Co., Ltd., now Shimano Inc. He established the company’s first overseas operation, Shimano American Corporation in New…