BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news

2Pure Ltd. - incorporated on 15th March - is the new UK distributor for Crankbrothers pedals and Lizard Skins products. The company employs four former employees of Raw Experience, the previous distributor of Crankbrothers but which was put into liquidation at the end of March. 2Pure Ltd. also employs George Bowie, one of the two former directors of Raw Experience.

UCI president Pat McQuaid has re-ignited the 'kilo debate' by claiming the kilometre time trial was dropped from the Olympics Games because Australia and Great Britain dominated the event. "It had come down to a specialised area among a couple of nations," said McQuaid at the World Track Championships in France. "It doesn’t really go along with the Olympic ideal.”

On a visit to South Africa, BikeBiz editor Carlton Reid talked to Ellen Feibig, co-owner of bike shop start-up Femme Sportif of Cape Town. Is this the first women-specific bike shop in the world?

BBC Grandstand is broadcasting live from the World Track Championships in Bordeaux; cyclingnews.com has AS0-sanctioned WMV videos of last week's Paris-Roubaix; and Cycling.TV has teamed up with the world's governing body for cycling to launch a new broadband TV channel, UCI TV.

Mark Alker was the quickest out of the blocks. He downloaded the long Bikeforall.net banner and placed it on www.singletrackworld.com. Peter Eland of Velo Vision was a close second. The Rush was the first IBD, Madison was the first supplier and Bike Week was the first org. Join the (growing) list...