World News Briefs: Giant to Sell via ‘Big Box’ Retailer in the USA

Street view of sporting goods shop front

Giant Opens ‘Big Box’ Retail Accounts in the USA Giant Group announced in early February that it will be selling via “approximately” 25 selected stores within the huge Dicks Sporting Goods (DSG) chain in the USA. Those stores are branded House of Sport, Public Lands and MooseJaw. According to Wikipedia, Dick’s is the largest sporting…

Will Taipei Cycle Fully Recover in 2024?

Above view of bicycle expo

Taipei, Taiwan For decades, Taipei Cycle has been one of the top three global cycle expos, along with Eurobike and China Cycle. The island nation of Taipei was particularly isolated right through covid, with the expo forced to run ‘virtual expos’ online. Even last year when the full expo resumed in person, exhibit and international…

World News Round-up

Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles logos

The End of WiggleCRC in Australia? A recent article in Bike Europe implied that WiggleCRC’s days in Australia could be over for ever. At their peak about from about 15 years ago to a decade ago UK based Wiggle and Northern Ireland based Chain Reaction Cycles were both widely disliked names amongst Australian bicycle retailers.…

Ongoing Pain for Shimano from Huge Malware Attack

Sakai, Japan Cycling media around the world have been reporting on a malware attack that has seen thousands of confidential Shimano documents leaked to the public. The source of these reports is this article in the tech website Escape Collective. In case you don’t want to wade through that fairly long and detailed article, here’s…

First Mid-Drive System Further Entrenches Hyena at Heart of E-Bike Sector

Man with display at bicycle expo

Taichung, Taiwan Taiwanese manufacturer Hyena, a supplier of e-bikes and components to some of the world’s biggest brands, recently unveiled its first full mid-drive system, as the company moves towards its ambitions to provide a full solution for systems and complete e-bikes. Hyena co-founder and CEO Charlie Chuang said the Unidrive 60 mid-drive system, for…

World Briefs: Giant, VanMoof, Zipp, MINI, Greyp, Trek & POC.

Product shot of bicycle

Giant has released fifth-generation ranges for both its Defy endurance road bikes and Avail Advance line-up, featuring totally reengineered frames and purposed built components for each line. The Avail range, released under the company’s Liv brand of female-specific bikes, trims more than 100 grams off its framesets compared to their predecessors – 128 grams for…

Lithium Iron Battery Closes Performance Gap to Nickel Cobalt Systems

Lithium iron battery factory

Michigan, US A US energy storage technology company recently announced further progress in the range and energy density of its lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery system, as a safer option to nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) and with greater availability of raw materials. Michigan-based Our Next Energy (ONE) says its Aries II LFP battery pack has…

E-Bike Material Innovations: Ossby, Cyclik & My Esel

Two people with ebike on display at expo

Frankfurt, Germany Bicycle manufacturers continue to experiment with new materials – in their quests for greater sustainability, durability or just a better ride – with several major innovations on display at Eurobike 2023. While Madrid company Ossby attracted attention for the radical design of its Geo folding bike – and very rapid folding mechanism –…

Bosch Smart System Tweaks for Enhanced Flexibility

Man sitting with emountain bike on phone

Stuttgart, Germany Greater flexibility in lock activation and more opportunities to customise displays and drive modes are among Bosch’s tweaks of its Smart System for the 2024 season. Updates by Bosch eBike Systems to its eBike Flow App will allow riders to use their Bosch Kiox 300 and Kiox 500 displays to turn their bike’s…

VanMoof Bankrupt and Rad Power Retreats from Europe

Product shot of two ebikes

Amsterdam, Netherlands A former beacon heading the rise of urban e-bikes, VanMoof, has been declared bankrupt. On 17th July, the Court of Amsterdam declared the Dutch legal entities VanMoof Global Holding B.V., VanMoof B.V. and VanMoof Global Support B.V. bankrupt, confirming rumours about the Netherlands company that has been a darling of the industry and…