Industry News

Updated with Fox Factory's employee-assistance fund.

HILDEBRAN, N.C. (BRAIN) — Residents affected by Hurricane Helene are only beginning to recover days after the storm left destruction from Florida to Virginia. Industry members are establishing ways to support recovery remotely.

Dean Yobbi photo

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (BRAIN) — Industry suppliers, retailers and others in western North Carolina are dealing with the damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Helene, which flooded many areas and left residents without utilities and with impassable roads. 

LOUISVILLE, Colo. (BRAIN) — The Pro’s Closet — which started out of its founder’s VW bus, evolved into an eBay store, and became a used bike and component e-commerce giant — will close in October after 18 years.

SEATTLE (BRAIN) — Rad Power Bikes announced Wednesday that its bikes will be sold at 150 Best Buy stores and at BestBuy.com. The company also announced it has hired bike industry veteran George Lee.

Tagged Electric bike

SALT LAKE CITY (BRAIN) — Specialized opened a new North American distribution center and office here on Tuesday that's about double the size of the previous one.

Bob Parlee

BEVERLY, Mass. (BRAIN) — Bob Parlee, the founder of his namesake bike company, died at home on Tuesday in Essex, Massachusetts, surrounded by family after a four-year cancer battle. He was 70.

PHILADELPHIA (BRAIN) — Trek Bicycle has agreed to sell its BCycle share bike business to Bicycle Transit Systems, which operates share bike systems in several major cities, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Las Vegas. The acquisition is expected to be completed next month.

Tagged Mergers, Acquisitions & Investments

MAGSTADT, Germany (BRAIN) — Taiwan bike maker Merida Industry Co. Ltd. has acquired an additional 39% stake in Merida & Centurion Germany GmbH from its founder, Wolfgang Renner, for 17.3 million euros ($19.05 million). Merida already owned a 51% share in the distributor.

DENVER (BRAIN) —  A U.S. bankruptcy judge has approved Giant Group's acquisition of Stages Cycling from Foundation Fitness for $20.1 million. The court approved a purchase agreement that had been opposed by some creditors and an inventor who is in a patent dispute with Stages. 

Tagged Lawsuits/legal
IBD support and Right to Repair policies make fans.

MINNEAPOLIS (BRAIN) — Co-founder Brendan Moore characterizes Wolf Tooth Components as a product-first company. The brand's 2,000 selling SKUs — including about 500 chainring spec' variations alone — and 10 engineers among a staff of 87 full- and part-time employees certainly bear that out.

Tagged Supply chain
Shaver said the Oscar shown in the photo is not included in the auction.

NEW YORK (BRAIN) — A vintage Colnago road bike owned by Steve Tesich, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Breaking Away," is being auctioned.

Deaths and injuries from battery fires in the city are down steeply from last year's figures.

While the total number of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries in micromobility devices is roughly unchanged — 141 this year compared with 148 at the same time last year — the number of resulting deaths decreased 92% (from 13 to 1) and injuries 40% (from 92 to 55).

Tagged Electric bike

ASOLA, Italy (BRAIN) — Industry veteran Steve Thomas calls Titici “a diamond in the rough,” referring more to the Italian brand’s presence in the U.S. than to its products, which appear to be anything but unpolished.

Tagged From the Magazine

MONTRÉAL — Montréal-based athletic wear company Lolë Brands has acquired Louis Garneau Sports including its three brands Garneau, Sugoi and Sombrio. 

Tagged Mergers, Acquisitions & Investments

 WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — The Biden administration Friday said it will propose new trade rules under executive authority to stop the abuse of the de minimis threshold that can allow imports — including e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries — to circumvent safety standards.

Tagged Electric bike

(BRAIN) — Former top BMX racer Harry Leary died Sept. 7 of heat exhaustion in the Arizona desert, according to a USA BMX Instagram post. He was 65.

Steve Yeager.

BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — For our September magazine edition, we asked our State of Retail panel members: What would be your TED Talk about bicycle retail? What do you wish someone had told you before your bike industry career?

Tagged From the Magazine

SAN FRANCISCO (BRAIN) — Bikeshare company Lyft announced a restructuring plan that includes laying off about 1% of its workforce — affecting about 30 employees — and no longer operating standalone dockless bikes and scooters.

Tagged Electric bike

SACRAMENTO (BRAIN) — A California bill that will more specifically define what is (and is not) an electric bike is closer to becoming law.

Tagged Electric bike

RENTON, Wash. (BRAIN) — Alta Cycling Group, the parent of Redline, Diamondback and IZIP, has scaled back significantly as its private equity owners wait out the industry’s current period of discounting and high inventory. 

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