How’s Business – December 2023

Rural shopfront with bicycles parked at the front

Welcome to How’s Business, brought to you by Knog – Australian designed and lighting up the world. With Christmas approaching, for this month’s follow-up question I asked, “What do you think the Christmas holidays and summer season will be like for you and your store?” In keeping with this holiday theme, I spoke to a…

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…

E-Bike Import Value Is Approaching Conventional Bikes Value

Canberra, ACT As all Australian bicycle industry members know, for more than a year now we’ve been in a situation of overstock, leading to discounting that is eroding profit margins for both wholesalers and retailers. Therefore, while it would normally be a concern to see import levels falling, right now it’s good news. We recently…

Rob Eva Retires After Over 25 Years Leading SRAM Australia

Group of cyclists

Warburton, Vic One of the best known faces, and voices… in the Australian bicycle industry is retiring on Friday 15th December after a lifetime of deep immersion in all aspects of cycling. When I first started Bicycling Australia magazine, Rob featured prominently as a mountain bike racer, including our front cover photo in late 1993…

Fully Amp’d and on the Move

Bicycle store front

~ Sponsored Content ~ Simplicity and authenticity sit at the heart of WA wholesaler and retailer Future Bicycle Innovations, and have underpinned its enduring success. Its strong emphasis on electric bikes and trikes with quality components, longevity and bang for your bike have served the company extremely well since its origins way back in 2008,…

How’s Business – November 2023

Exterior of bicycle store

Welcome to How’s Business, brought to you by Knog – Australian designed and lighting up the world. I’ve recently been hearing about multiple stores, spread across three different States and Territories, where senior bicycle mechanics or workshop managers are being offered or already being paid salaries in the vicinity of $90,000. This is higher than…

Staff-Starved Store Finds Solution as Shop With No Bikes

Bike store interior

Geraldton, WA Northern WA bike store owner Leighton Thomas has received plenty of puzzled expressions in recent weeks, as he outlined plans to reinvent his business as a “bike store with no bikes”. “I’ve never stumped so many people before,” according to the industry veteran of 33 years, including stints as some of bicycle retail’s…

How’s Business – October 2023

Bike Culture Belconnen store exterior

Welcome to How’s Business, brought to you by Knog – Australian designed and lighting up the world. Even though it’s one of the first things dealers talk to me about, it has been six months since we last specifically asked our How’s Business participants about the ‘d’ word … discounting. So for this month’s follow-up…