World
E-Scooter Racing World Circuit Gathers Momentum
Not many people would wish to hit speeds in excess of 100kph on a transport device with no roll cage, completely open to the elements and riding on 16 centimetre wheels travelling just a few centimetres off the ground. This is, however, what anyone taking a trip on an eSkootr S1X racing e-scooter can look forward to.
Bike Industry Share Prices Surge in 2020
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the huge covid induced increase in demand for bicycles and related products, 2020 was a banner year for share prices of those bike companies who are listed on stock exchanges. Here is a summary of some of the better performers: Company Stock Exchange Main Product/Activity Change in Share Price Bafang Electric Shanghai…
SRAM Buys Time
SRAM has completed the purchase of the Time Sport pedal business from Rossignol Group. The acquisition adds another brand to SRAM’s portfolio of RockShox, Avid, Quarq, Zipp, and Truvativ and gives it a distinct pedal brand and technology should it choose to re-enter the growing market for pedal-based power meters. Other than some Truvativ flat…
BBC Produces Documentary on the Bike Boom
In December 2020 the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) released an interesting new 23 minute documentary about the global bicycle market and its covid induced boom. The program is one of an eight part series entitled Made on Earth: Road to Recovery. As you would expect from the BBC, this is a very well-produced program that…
Young American eBike Brand Raises $194 Million in Funding
Rad Power Bikes, which lays claim to being North America’s largest e-Bike only brand, has attracted US$150 million (A$194 million) in investment from major institutions such as Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), the Fidelity Management and Research Company and The Rise Fund, among others. Fitting a trend of private equity investment in some of the world’s…
Booming Share Price Prevents Dorel Going Private
As we reported previously in the bottom section of an article here, Canadian based Dorel owner of major bike brands including Cannondale, GT, Mongoose and Schwinn was set to revert to private ownership. However Dorel has now cancelled its proposed bid to take the company private following a backlash from a significant portion of the…
Shimano Takes Over from Mavic as Neutral Support for Tour de France
Shimano will be taking over the neutral support role at the Tour de France and other marquee races this year, replacing long-time partner Mavic that began race support with its distinctive yellow vehicles in the 1970s. Shimano’s deal with ASO, owner of the Tour de France includes all of ASO’s season of men’s and women’s…
Clip On Ebike Power Within Seconds
Despite the boom in ebike sales over recent years, there are still far more non-ebikes on the road than ebikes. E-bike conversion kits have been around for many years. But they are relatively expensive and labour intensive to install. There have been some attempts to make conversion simpler such as the much hyped Copenhagen Wheel,…
Latest UK Data Shows Huge Scale of Bicycle Market Growth
If Australian dealers are wondering why it’s so hard to get bikes, a new report from the UK gives an indication of the competing demand from just one other country, albeit one with more than double our population. The Impact of COVID-19 on the UK Cycling Market in 2020 is an 89-page report providing a…
European Bike Sales Forecast to Grow Dramatically
A new detailed forecast developed by three major European cycling bodies is predicting the European bicycle market to grow by 47% in terms of annual sales, during the decade to 2030. This translates to an increase of 10 million bikes sold per year, from approximately 20 million bike sales in 2019 to 30 million in…