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Brian Montgomery, founder and chairman of the European Bicycle Manufacturers’ Assocation, has passed away. He had been ill for some time. The EBMA was a largely one-man protectionist trade organisation which lodged "anti-dumping" complaints against mostly Asian bicycle manufacturers. Montgomery was also formerly an official with Comité de Liaison des Fabricants Européens de Bicyclettes, or COLIBI, and in the 1990s and early 2000s he was in open revolt against the UCI’s anti-technological attempts to to make cycle racing more about the rider than the machine.
COLIBI was once a bicycle manufacturer’s association but, with the onset of bicycle manufacturing in the Far East, it steadily became a bicycle suppliers’ association. In 2000, Montgomery was ousted as the president of COLIBI thanks to his other role as chairman of EBMA.
Montgomery was based in Paris. He was longstanding member of the Pickwick Bicycle Club, the world’s oldest extant cycling club. His sobriquet was Captain Boldwig.
