Aussies at Eurobike 2023
Frankfurt, Germany
Eurobike 2023 featured a record number of exhibiting companies, 1,900, for its second annual instalment since relocating from Friedrichshafen to Frankfurt.
It also lured an increased total of 66,590 visitors – 34,750 during the three trade days and 31,840 on the two ‘festival’ days open to the public – a rise of just under 1,000 for the trade days and 4,470 on the public days.
Visitors came to Messe Frankfurt from a total of 122 countries to view exhibits filling 150,000 square metres of hall space, outdoor displays and test tracks.
The 31st Eurobike also offered a strong showcase of new products, with around 200 world premieres reported and more than 300 entries submitted for the Eurobike Award.
Asiabike Heading to Australia
A Victorian business development manager is partnering with large-scale Sri Lankan bicycle manufacturer Asiabike for a venture into the Australian market.
Melbourne’s Clinton Graham was at Eurobike in June as part of his preparation for the collaboration with Asiabike, which was a prominent exhibitor at the annual German trade show.
Asiabike’s two factories in Sri Lanka and their Chinese plant produce road, city, MTB and folding bicycles for companies throughout the world, as well as producing its own brand, Rook.
Company heads at Eurobike said the family-operated business, which has been producing bicycles for nearly five decades, see Australia as a great opportunity.
One of its directors at the trade show, Shihan Seneviratne, is an Australian citizen and a founder and managing director of Melbourne commercial cleaning business Sunstar.
Clinton said he and Asiabike are now working on the specifications for the models they plan to bring to Australia initially, as well as brand and model names for the Australian market.
He recently launched wholesale company Down Under Cycles to undertake distribution in this country.
Mega Fumpa Pump
Melbourne’s Fumpa Pumps has revealed an industrial-sized ‘Mega’ prototype version of its pint-sized reciprocating air compressors.
The company’s founder, mechanical engineer Byron Walmsley, returned to Eurobike for the first time since 2019 to display his Fumpa Mega, which he says is designed for bike stores, inflating car and motorcycle tyres and other commercial applications.
Byron released the original Fumpa in 2017 as a palm-sized alternative to a track pump.
Then came lighter and more compact Mini and Nano versions, for cyclists to take with them on rides.
“They’ve been particularly popular with triathletes and people using them for wheelchair tyres.”
He says the Mega will inflate about 40 bike tyres between each charge, taking around 20 seconds per tyre, and enables users to dial in a preferred pressure.
He is taking orders for the first batch of 100 Megas, which he hopes to release late this year or early next year.
Fumpa sources parts from Spain, China and Taiwan and assembles them at the company’s headquarters in Notting Hill.
Byron says Fumpa is now selling in the US, using fulfillment centres rather than conventional distribution channels.
Sunail Solar E-Scooter
Chinese solar manufacturer Jiangsu Snail Zhixing Technology had the distinction of exhibiting the only solar powered e-scooter at Eurobike 2023, amid a vast array of scooter variations on display.
The company’s presence at this year’s trade show, with its Sunail S80 scooter, coincides with its push into the European market.
Australian John Bauce was among the Jiangsu team at the event and says its expansion into Europe is just the first step in a strategy to take Sunail scooters to the world.
John said the company is also looking to partner with one or two distributors in Australia.
The scooters, which will sell under the brand Agao in Europe and the US, have a solar panel attached to the handlebars and takes around seven to 14 hours of sunlight to fully charge the 468kW battery.
From full charge, the S80 has a range of around 35km.
Jiangsu, which has been producing solar panels in China for decades, has revealed the S80 is expected to retail in the US for $1,400 (A$2,113).
Melon Signs With TMO
Fashionable German helmet brand Melon has signed with TMO as its new distributor in Australia.
TMO sales director Manfred Otto was back for his regular visit to Eurobike and revealed TMO’s first shipment of Melon Helmets was due to depart in July and should reach retailers by September.
Melon produces urban and kids’ helmets with a mixture of elegant and bold design.
Structurally, they are minimalist and, at 265 grams, among the lightest on the market.
Australian Distribution Becomes CORE Objective
Young Swiss company CORE is looking at its options to better infiltrate the Australian market with its new technology to measure internal body temperatures.
Former Sydneysider Christopher Jones was front and centre at its Eurobike 2023 stand and said it was speaking to a number of Australian distributors and retailers about the best ways to approach the Australian market.
“We have a lot of elite athletes in Australia and we sell direct to consumer over there, but now we’re looking at the next step,” according to Chris, who was communications manager with CORE until last month.
“Establishing our distributor and retail network is an important step for us at the moment, it’s a young company with only a handful of staff.
“Up to now, we’ve really been busy educating people about why internal body temperature, and being able to measure it, is important.”
He said measuring internal body temperature with an external device, rather than more invasive approaches such as pills and rectal thermometers, is a very difficult problem that took several years of development by CORE to solve.
“Being the first to provide a solution puts CORE in a great position but it also means it needs to get its audience to understand why temperature is important and its connection to performance, he said.
“If you can measure it, then you know what you can do in training and what you can do in a race.”
CORE, which is a division of the company greenteg, uses a heat flux sensor made in Zurich to measure the transfer of energy from inside the body and to the skin. Algorithms can then calculate internal temperature with a level of accuracy of 0.26 degrees Celcius.
The company is officially supplying 13 ProTour cycling team and several Continental teams.
“The other ProTour teams are definitely using CORE as well because we are speaking with all the teams.”
Sportif Casts a More Precise Web
Group Sportif is substantially improving its online presence by creating individual website for almost all the brands it distributes.
Speaking at Eurobike 2023, Groupe Sportif director Guy Thompson said it had just launched its Look site specific to the Australian market and would focus next on a Mavic site.
He said a comprehensive web presence specific to products available in Australia and prices was even more important in a post-Covid market. Consumers are increasingly inclined to accumulate information, online and in store, to inform their purchases.
“You need to give clarity in the value of your product,” he added.
“How we sold stuff prior to the pandemic is very different to how it’s done now.
“It you are not changing how you are doing things you will be way behind the 8-ball.
“We don’t expect to see much through the site but it will give the consumer a clear and consistent message about the products.
“It’s difficult to get a retailer to show the full width of any range we do, so this should help create demand for our retailers.”
Groupe Sportif is creating most of the sites inhouse, in collaboration with its web provider.
“Rotor is on the same page as us and will create their own site,” he added.
He confirmed this week that development of all the additional sites is now well underway.
Sam’s Bikes
Mountain bike blogger Sam Wordley was scouring Eurobike for the next batch of reviews on his Sam’s Bikes website.
The Adelaide ex-pat has been living in Madrid for the past 10 years and steadily growing a following with the site, which focuses primarily on bike reviews and product rankings.
A photographer by profession, Sam had returned to Adelaide for a family visit when he rented a Merida eOne-Sixty e-MTB and took it to the local mountain bike parks.
Sam says he was blown away by the introduction to e-bikes and, upon his return to Spain, set out to research his best options to buy one.
“There was really nowhere to go to assist with that research, so I set up my own channel and now I’m making a good living from it.
