News
Global Move to Increase Cycling has Accelerated Due to Covid-19
Lately there has hardly been a day go by without another city or nation somewhere around the world announcing temporary cycle lanes, increased cycling infrastructure funding and other steps aimed at facilitating more cycling. In this article we’ll give a brief summary of some of the latest developments. United Kingdom U.K. transport secretary Grant Shapps…
Shimano Files Patent for Artificial Intelligent System to Detect Parts Wear
Could a ‘Check Engine’ light be coming to bikes? Shimano is thinking that way, and has filed a patent application for using artificial intelligence processing paired with sensors to monitor wear and maintenance of bicycle components. US Patent Application 20200010138, published on Jan. 9, gives a glimpse of a system for bicycles analogous to the…
You Can Now Sign a Petition Calling for Safer Cycling
In our previous newsletter we posted this article about a letter signed by over 100 leading Australian health and transport experts, calling upon all levels of government to make cycling and walking safer. Now this letter is open to be signed by any interested party via an online petition that has already gathered thousands of…
Two New Cycling Friendly Initiatives by NSW Government Total $35 million
In an announcement reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday 8th May, Mr Stokes announced a further $15 million to encourage local councils to widen walkways, close roads and create new cycle paths under a new state government scheme designed to accommodate greater use of public outdoor space. Planning and Public Spaces Minister Rob…
Six New ‘Temporary’ Cycleways for Sydney
On Monday 18th May the NSW Minister for Roads and Transport Andrew Constance and the Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore jointly announced a number of temporary initiatives across the city to give people more options to safely walk, cycle and commute to work. These include six new pop up cycleways in key commuter areas across…
City of Melbourne Gets Proactive About Cycling
Car parks will make way for footpaths and 12 kilometres of pop-up cycling lanes will be built to allow people to socially distance in Melbourne’s city centre as COVID-19 restrictions start to ease. The move by Melbourne City Council follows the lead of cities such as Berlin and Milan, which are redrawing road markings to…
Eurobike To Proceed in November with B2B Only Format
Messe Friedrichshafen has announced that Eurobike 2020 will move to November citing that it was “practically impossible” to run on the planned date in September. The organisers will now hold a one-off Eurobike Special show from 24th to 26th November 2020, with a pure B2B format. Stefan Reisinger, Head of Eurobike initially proposed a “Plan…
As We Come Out of Lockdown, Cash in on Bike Tourism!
There have been positive outcomes for cycling as a result of COVID-19, including a boom in bicycle sales and mechanical services. These have come about as a result of many factors including more people enjoying the benefits of cycling for mental and physical health, commuting and family time together; grassroots and Government initiatives to make…
How’s Business – May 2020
Welcome to my monthly chat with six bicycle shops during which I simply ask, ‘How’s business?’ There’s almost as much significance in what you’re not reading this month as what you are. Firstly, you may notice that for the first time this month I am not including a New Zealand bike shop. That’s because New…
Seven Wholesalers Share Their Personal Impacts of Covid-19
On Thursday 9th April we sent a six question survey out to a range of wholesalers throughout Australia. We stated up front that anything they wrote could be published and that we also required their personal and company name. This last requirement in particular may have deterred some from responding, so we’d particularly like to…