Giant’s Ebike Manufacturing Growing at 56% Year on Year

Giant expects to sell 600,000 ebikes in 2019, up from 385,000 in 2018. That’s a growth rate of 56% year on year. Giant recently announced that they had sold 290,000 ebikes for the first six months of 2019 and were aiming to sell more than 310,000 for the second half of this year. Giant is…

New Technology Will Mean Greater Range, Smaller Batteries for Ebikes

Bosch is investing approximately one billion Euros (A$1.63 billion) in new silicon carbide semiconductor technology that is due to enter production in the first half of 2020. In simple terms, the new semiconductors allow power to flow more efficiently from the ebike battery to the motor. Bosch says that semiconductors made of silicon carbide set…

Adventure Brands Goes Global

On 1st October Jamie Walsh, founder and owner of Adventure Brands announced the sale of his business to Global Fitness and Leisure. “We have experienced a significant increase in demand for our products,especially the iconic Rocky Mountain brand,” Jamie said in his official announcement. “To best enable the business to flourish, it was agreed that…

Australian Handlebar Dispute Makes US Trade News

You may not be aware that there is an Australian low volume, high technology carbon fibre handlebar brand named Eyropro. Based in Adelaide, South Australia Eyropro makes road racing bars that weigh just 200 grams. They have a unique upswept design that is now the subject of a patent dispute with USA brand Coefficient Cycling…

Wahoo Fitness Acquires Speedplay Pedals

On 24th September Wahoo Fitness announced that it had acquired Speedplay, the niche high end pedal manufacturer known for its unique colourful ‘lollypop’ shaped Zero pedals. In a joint press release Wahoo Fitness founder Chip Hawkins said, “Wahoo and Speedplay share a common approach of leveraging technology to develop products that enhance the performance of…

Bikesportz Takes Over as Bosch Service Centre

From 1st October Bikesportz has officially become the Australian Service and Warranty Centre for Bosch Ebike Systems. “It’s going very well so far,” Shannon Cramer told The Latz Report. “We’re working very closely with Bosch who are located nearby. Customer feedback so far has been very positive.’ In another new initiative, Bikesportz has taken over…

Over The Edge For Sale

Melrose is a historic town of just 400 residents, 2 ½ hours north of Adelaide. But this is not an ordinary country town. Tucked into the base of Mount Remarkable, Melrose gets over 100,000 tourist visitors per year of whom quite a few come for the great cycling on offer. Over The Edge in Melrose,…

Bike Society to Open New Flagship Store in Adelaide

Bike Society For Lease

Last month we ran a short story and photo saying that leading Adelaide retailer Bike Society were closing their Blair Athol Store. Soon after came an announcement to all of their customers and on their website that a new flagship store is opening somewhere within the Adelaide CBD. Although the announcement does not give an…

Wiggle Responds to Retail Pricing Claim

In our How’s Business column for October, one retailer made a comment about low retail pricing of Continental Tyres through Wiggle. Gina Ricardo, WiggleCRC Site Merchandiser & Marketing Manager for Australia and New Zealand wrote to us with the following reply: “I’ve got no idea how on earth how this customer of Wayne’s from Cyclemania…

How’s Business? October 2019

Welcome back to what was regularly the most popular item in my former trade newsletter. I simply ask bike shop owners and managers ‘How’s Business?’ I also ask a follow up question. Given that it has been a break of just over two years since my previous trade newsletter, this month I asked each person,…