Industry News

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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

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?

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

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.

DENVER, Colo. (BRAIN) — Spot Brand is suing Gates Corp. alleging the Denver-based belt-drive maker hasn’t been paying its licensing fees for the use of its patent for a frame feature allowing the installation of Gates’ seamless Carbon Drive systems.

WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — National Park Service superintendents will continue to have authority over e-bike usage on the lands they manage after an environmental assessment was completed as required by a judgment in a lawsuit.

BREA, Calif. (BRAIN) — E-bike manufacturer Aventon was the victim of a fake Facebook page and website, advertising discounted models of up to 70% off retail.