Mountain Biking’s $100 Million Jump!

Blue-Derby-Trails

On 7th February 2015, 20 kilometres of world class mountain bike trails were opened at the then almost ghost town of Derby in a relatively remote corner of Tasmania. The rest, as they say, is history. Derby has boomed. People of all over the world have come to visit. International events have followed with successfully…

Four Children Killed, ‘Riding Bikes’

Sunday Telegraph snap

On 2nd February 2020 I woke up early on a Sunday morning to the news that the previous evening, four young children, three girls and a boy, were killed on a suburban footpath in Sydney. Three more children were hospitalised. At appears that a 29 year old male drunk driver, behind the wheel of a…

MTB Trails Cause Real Estate Boom and New Bike Shop

Giant-St-Helens

The sleepy coastal tourist and fishing town of St Helens in Tasmania has seen real estate prices jump 20% and a brand new bike shop open, thanks to new MTB trails opening. With a population of just over 2,000, St Helens would usually be too small to support a bike shop, but Giant St Helens,…

Cycling Booming as Paris Prepares for 2024 Olympics

Paris-Cycling

Paris is already a famous city for cycling fans, with the Tour de France finish on the Champs Elysees every July seen by millions of TV viewers around the world. But a quieter revolution has been underway in Paris over recent years. Under the leadership of Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Plan Vélo has seen an increase…

Customers Literally Move a Bike Shop… By Bike!

Customers assemble in the laneway

Omafiets is a large bike shop that was located for about six years at 17 George St Redfern, just south of the Sydney CBD. In January 2020 it was time to move to a new premises about two kilometres further south of the city at 278-282 Mitchell Road on the corner of Mitchell Rd and…

ACT Government Legalises e-Scooters

Ride Scooters

Although they are in widespread use e-scooters are not actually legal in some Australian states. But just before Christmas, the Australian Capital Territory became the latest jurisdiction to legalise them. “Many ACT residents are keen to take advantage of e-scooters and similar e-mobility devices. I’m pleased to announce that these devices will be legal for…

Landmark NSW Rail Trail Opening Soon

Bells creek bridge near rosewood

A rail trail is created when abandoned rail corridors are converted into shared-use paths for walking, bike riding and sometimes horse riding. Rail trails are a proven generator of business for the bicycle industry with some popular Australian rail trails recording counts of 3,000 cyclists on long weekends. NSW currently has only 11 rail trails…

Cyclists Deaths are No Accident

Oslo Cycling

Oslo, the capital city of Norway has just recorded its first full year without a single cyclist or pedestrian fatality. In contrast, pedestrian deaths in New York City were up from 203 to 219 in 2019 and cyclists deaths were up from 10 in 2018 to 28 in 2019, which is the highest level in…

Will Your Customers Start Hiring and Subscribing to Bikes Instead of Buying?

Swapfiets car and people with bikes

Tech savvy media commentators, futurists and other technophiles are very eager to tell anyone prepared to listen that this is the age of the shared economy. They say that instead of buying products, customers, especially younger generations, are happy to share, hire, subscribe, rent or swap. While this may be beyond dispute for products such…

Research Shows that Ebike Riders are Not ‘Cheating’

e-mountain bikers

A research paper published by members of Brigham Young University in the USA has concluded that eMTB riders are working their bodies almost as hard as those on regular bikes. In the study, 33 regular MTB riders aged 18 to 65 formed the pool, with each participant tracked via Strava over a 10 kilometre loop…