BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news

This is the third year in a row Shimano products have been judged winners in the annual design awards handed out by Internationalen Forum Design of Hannover, Germany, in one of the most prestigious design contests in the world

Brit IBD org the Association of Cycle Traders has had a good start to the year, adding 35 members since January. For some number of years the ACT has been losing members but a membership drive, a more proactive board, and the hiring of a sales and marketing manager is now paying dividends. Over in Germany - Europe's biggest bicycle market - a trade mag has carried an article countering the fear the German IBD is about to become extinct...

Shortages of Chinese steel and Shimano parts continues to be the main topic of conversation at the Taiwan trade show. With lead-times on Deore parts now being 250 days, it's perhaps not surprising to hear that international buyers clapped when a product manager from one of the big global bike brands said 'this bike has no Shimano parts at all' in a show presentation. But it's not just a problem for Shimano speccers, prices are now so high for Asian raw materials that steel manhole covers are being stolen in Taiwan. Really.

An American inventor has patented a bicycle saddle that comes complete with a battery-operated vibrator. This is Bob Turudich's second successful saddle patent. Neither are yet in production.

The UCI official who is calling for the ban on ear-pieces, jersey-mikes and back-pocket transceivers is Jean Wauthier, the same official who rubbed the bike trade up the wrong way by freezing road-bike design and banning go-faster components.