Dan Taylor Backstory: BMW s Olympic bicycle deal Within its official scope as Automotive and Sustainability Partner to the 2012 London Olympics, BMW has supplied the Organizing Committee (LOCOG) with 400 BMW bicycles. Yes, everyone is expected to follow the sustainability line even the suits. Left to right: Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson (Paralympic Olympian, retired), Ian Robertson (BMC), … Read more
MIYATA: Japanese road bicycle legend re-born 120 years since a former gunsmith, Eisuke Miyata, built the first Miyata bicycle, this esteemed name in Japanese bicycle history is returning to its manufacturing roots, with a new project that promises to deliver catatonic doses of nostalgia to Baby Boomers and Gen X ers. Unlike modern-day bicycles, dimensions … Read more
GreenEDGE launches | Beppu targets Giro, Japan Cup | Following a novel training session with the Melbourne Storm rugby league team yesterday, cyclists from the Australian GreenEDGE professional cycling team were today presented to a small crowd outside Melbourne s Town Hall by Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle. Looking on was team owner Gerry Ryan, founder … Read more
Vertical limit: surviving compression fatigue Consumers of cycling products have been taken for quite a ride during the last two decades. Bicycle brands, their distributors and retailers, demonstrated a remarkable endurance and capacity to sustain a profitable, trust-based supply chain model that ultimately could not resist a swell in capitalistic desire urged forward by the … Read more
Vertical limit: what just happened? The emergence of e-commerce in the bicycle market was an affront to almost every aspect of an industry business model that had for years thrived on handshakes, muffin-toting sales representatives and the seductive embrace of high margins. Though online stores had essentially evolved in full public view, a majority of … Read more
Vertical limit: 10 years on, the first cracks appear Year 2001. Taiwanese OEM production hummed along, retail prices were buoyant, and cycling was enjoying an upswing in popularity across the Asia-Pacific region. However, as the new millennium s first decade matured, so too did a trio of inter-related trends that would upset the bicycle industry … Read more
Vertical limit: bicycle industry supply chains 2011 is a fine time to be a consumer of cycling equipment. Brands and their downstream re-sellers are clambering over each other to cut through the noise created from market re-structuring. Many players in the bicycle industry have been left stranded as they ve failed to adapt to a … Read more
Vertical limit: bicycle business under pressure Accessibility used to be all that stood between a bicycle brand and a consumer. Today, it s more complicated. Multiple business models co-exist, creating a plethora of purchasing options for consumers. It is both exciting and confronting. Every node in the supply chain, from factories to bicycle retailers, must … Read more