World
World News Briefs – September 2024
Mixed Financial Results for Global Bike Companies Everyone in the Australian bicycle industry knows that times have been tough for over two years now since the end of the covid boom. But exactly how tough has it been on a global scale? We don’t often report upon the financial results of global bicycle companies, but…
Aussies and Kiwis Make Their Mark at Eurobike
Frankfurt, Germany Many Aussies and Kiwis make the long journey to Eurobike each year. Most are trade visitors, looking for new products and catching up with their existing suppliers. But a growing number are also exhibiting. In addition to the photos below, we also saw exhibits from Australia’s Knog, Steadyrack and New Zealand’s Aeroe. Here…
Inside London’s Bicycle Retail Scene
London, UK Recently I had the opportunity to spend a week in London and visited eight diverse bicycle businesses. This article, which is the first of two, gives an overview, then looks at four of them, with four more in depth visits to other stores documented in a separate article entitled “Ideas from Four Unique…
Software and Collaborations Headline Bosch Launch
Frankfurt, Germany When in comes to who has the biggest market share of mid-mount e-bike drivetrain systems few dispute that Bosch is the leader. According to one industry expert, for the European market Bosch has a 60% market share, followed by Shimano at 22%, Bafang at 8% and all others combined for the final 10%.…
Creativity On Show at Eurobike
Frankfurt, Germany There was plenty of creativity on show at Eurobike this year, not just in the new products but in some of the displays. Creatives Take on “Dull” Market Bicycle locks are big business. And only getting bigger with the explosion of high value e-bikes worldwide. But the lock industry has not been seen…
Vast Array of New Products at Eurobike 2024
Frankfurt, Germany Welcome to Part One of our Eurobike coverage! By the numbers it was a record breaking show. There were 35,080 trade visitors from around the world, plus 33,090 public visitors. Both of these numbers were up slightly on last year. They came to see over 1,800 exhibits, which ranged from small booths up…
European Bike Sales Down, But Far from Out!
Frankfurt, Germany As you would expect, there was a lot of talk at Eurobike about the post-covid boom downturn in the bicycle industry, just as there has been in Australia. But rather than just base articles on subjective conversations I’m always keen to ask, “What does the data say?” The following article is based on…
Road Bikes and Cruisers Headline China Cycle
Shanghai, China Despite the bicycle manufacturing business going through tough times in China, their industry is forging ahead with more sophisticated products, particularly relating to drive systems and electronics, according to one regular Australian visitor. Tony Morgan, founder and owner of TEBCO, a Melbourne based designer, importer and distributor of e-bikes, has been attending every…
World Bicycle Relief Plans to Exceed One Million Bicycles
Chicago, USA On Boxing Day, 26th December 2024 a huge earthquake caused a tsunami that swept across Indonesia and neighbouring countries, killing almost a quarter of a million people and leaving millions more homeless. F.K. Day and his wife Leah watched these events unfold from their home in the USA and wanted to help. That…
World News Briefs – Founders Buy Back Kona, Enve Sold
Kona Goes Back to its Roots Last month we reported here that the future of leading bicycle brand Kona was uncertain. Kent Outdoors bought Kona in 2022 but abruptly abandoned their stand at Sea Otter this April and then announced the brand was for sale. On Monday 20th May Kona’s founders Jake Heilbron and Dan…