World
European Cargo Bike Sales Growing at Over 50% Per Year
Results of a comprehensive European Union funded survey into the cargo bike industry’s sales suggest that sales across Europe are likely to increase by just over 50% this year. The ‘CityChangerCargoBike’ project undertook the inaugural study of 38 brands operating in the sector who provided anonymised data. Here is a summary of European cargo bike…
Vittoria Tyres Sold After 30 Years of Growth
The owners of Vittoria Group, including founder and president Rudie Campagne, have sold their global bicycle tyre business to Wise Equity, an Italian group. Campagne, who is 76, will retire this month. Wise Equity partner Stijn Vriends is being named president and CEO. Campagne bought the Italian company Vittoria Spa in 1990, when it was…
USA Bike Shops Looted During George Floyd Riots
Some bicycle shops nationwide suffered theft and damage over the weekend in the wake of the George Floyd protests that flared into riots in some cities. Jay Wolff owns five shops across LA including I. Martin Bicycles and possibly the largest and best known shop in LA, Helen’s Cycles Santa Monica. “Most of the stores…
Shimano, Trek Respond to Covid-19 Impact Upon Demand
Shimano’s shares have surged since mid-March, touching a record now investors see that more and more people will turn to bicycles as a way to avoid congested public transportation. The Japanese component supplier confirms that sales are picking up across the globe. “People are realising how effective a bicycle can be,” said Shimano’s CEO Yozo…
Five Times Tour Winner Bernard Hinault Pledges Support to Mavic Restructure
As we previously reported here, iconic French brand Mavic was recently placed into receivership. According to the French sporting newspaper Lequipe, The rescue bid has inched forwards with five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault’s support, who has gone public with his involvement. He joins a team of Ronan Le Moal and Didier Poulmaire, who…
Major Bike Companies’ Share Prices are Hitting Highs
With the Covid-19 induced global bike boom showing no sign of abating, share prices of listed bicycle business including Giant, Accell Group, Thule Group, Fox Factory, MIPS and Dorel Industries (owner of Cannondale, Mongoose, Schwinn, GT etc) have been on the rise. Shimano quickly zoomed past the price it was trading at before the pandemic…
Time Bike and Pedal Business Has Been Sold
Groupe Rossignol has announced the sale of the Time bike and pedal business to WhaTTfornow, a four-year-old e-bike brand. Rossignol said it would concentrate its bike market activities on its Felt and Rossignol bike brands instead of Time, which has failed to reach sales goals since its acquisition in 2016. According to the release, the…
Mavic Placed Into Receivership
On 2nd May 2020, French manufacturer Mavic was placed into receivership. Last year Mavic was sold by its former parent company Amer Sports to a Californian based private equity firm, Regent LP. There are a range of further complications around the ownership structure. Mavic was founded in Lyon, France in the late 1800’s by Charles…
Shimano Cycling Sales Down 15% for Jan to March
For the quarter ended 31st March 2020, Shimano’s net sales from the bicycle components segment decreased 15.4%, compared like-for-like with the same period last year, to 58,868 million yen, (A$841 million) while operating income decreased 26.1% to 10,298 million yen (A$147 million). In Europe, Shimano noted strong retail sales of completed bicycles, particularly e-Bike’s, but…
French & UK Governments Subsidising Bicycle Repairs
The French government is tackling the travel challenges of the pandemic lockdown directly by offering its citizens €50 (A$85.50) to spend getting their bicycles repaired. Members of the public can spend up to €50 at registered mechanics as part of a €20 million (A$34.2 million) scheme. That cash total will also be used for cycle…