CABDA Day 2 highlights

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (BRAIN) — CABDA Midwest closed Thursday with its traditional bagpipe serenade, and retailers and industry members packed up and headed out into the snow until next year.

A few highlights from the floor from Day 2:

Pedro's showed a new modular bottom bracket and rotor lockring tool that reduces the number of such tools a shop needs to buy and keep, and lightens the load for team mechanics and mobile mechanics. Instead of buying a batch of traditional external cup tools, the new Pedro's design uses a single aluminum cup with steel ring inserts to fit various cup configurations. The gold-anodized aluminum cup has magnets to hold the rings in and the full kit comes with a spring-loaded rod with various spacers to securely attach the tool to the bottom bracket (or hub, in the case of a rotor ring.). A full kit with eight rings, the socket and the rod and spacers will have a shop cost of about $120. Rings and cups also will be sold separately. Pedro's will release new rings as standards evolve, making the tool future-proof, said the company's Matt Bracken. More information: pedros.com.

Kinekt has produced multi-colored anodized parts for its seatposts (right) at shows for a few years but not offered them for sale. Now the brand is offering the color options for customers looking to add some accent, said Lindsay Cousley, who joined Kinekt's parent company Cirrus as president last year. The brand was showing four color options at CABDA. Cousley said the posts remain good sellers especially for e-bike commuters; the Netherlands is their largest market. More information: cirruscycles.com.

AIMA is said to be the second largest e-mobility device manufacturer in China; it has made bikes and scooters for Juiced and other brands and has been in the U.S. market with its own line for two years, said Sally Liu, AIMA's central manager in the U.S. The brand sells through dealers exclusively in the U.S. and Canada and currently offers two models for this market: The Big Sur ($1,899) and the Santa Monica ($1,849). Both feature full Bafang drive systems and hub motors — Bafang and AIMA are strategic partners and work closely together, Liu said. Liu said the company emphasizes developing a strong relationship with its dealers, bringing a handful of U.S. dealers to China last year to tour its factories, and bringing some to last month's CES show in Las Vegas, as well. "We like to build a bridge between the countries, so Chinese people will meet some real American people and the Americans will meet more Chinese people," she said. More information: aimatech.us.

Bikey Wipes and Bikey Lube has their North American debut at CABDA; the products have been available in Australia for about two years. The biodegradable wipes come in three varieties: a disc wipe for brake rotors, a cleaning wipe for frames and other parts, and a degreaser wipe. They came in canisters of 40 wipes for about $30 retail, or in single-wipe packages for travel. Bikey Lube is a plant-based lubricant for chains another parts. The company is selling consumer-direct and direct to bike shops in the U.S. and founder Greg Griffith (right) said he's open to distributor inquiries. More information at bikeywipes.com.

Midway Bicycle, the Twin Cities-area distributor, is a CABDA mainstay, and co-owners Benita and Michael Warns (below) proudly wore CABDA badges with gold "10 Years" badges. The distributor specializes in the kinds of parts needed to refurbish bikes at non-profit shops and others who serve low-income transportation riders. Benita is holding Midway's custom 27x 1 3/8-inch studded snow tire, perfect for winterizing older road bikes. Be sure to check out Benita's streaming radio show on WNAPFM.com. More information at midwaybike.com.