This time last year, the lockdowns were lifting and we were starting to understand the positive effect the COVID-19 pandemic was having on the cycling world. Sales were skyrocketing as people emerged from lockdown eager to try new hobbies and explore alternative transport options. Bike brands have been posting record sales since that time and that continues this quarter, however there are also signs that the bubble could be starting to lose some air. Let's get into all the key details from brands recent Q3 revenue reports.
Shimano sales up 56% despite signs of waning Bike BoomShimano has announced its bike sales division recorded a 56% increase in Q3 sales year on year to 319,007 million yen, and operating income increased 103.4% to 89,764 million yen. While previous statements from Shimano have highlighted
the strength of its Deore groupset, this time its recently released Dura Ace and Ultegra road groupsets. Shimano was also able to
increase its production in Japan and overseas despite tightening of logistics and temporary shutdowns due to local restrictions.
Shimano says that its inventories remained low across the globe but it noted that, "there were signs of a lull in the cycling boom" in North America, South and Central America, and Oceania and "demand for entry-level bicycles appeared to have settled down" in Asia.
More info, here.
Fox Records fifth consecutive record quarterFox has recorded a fifth consecutive record quarter with a sales increase of 33.3% to $347.4 million, compared to $260.7 million in the same period last fiscal year. The Speciality Sports Division, which includes Fox's bike brands, grew stronger than the company as a whole with a 48.1% increase.
"Through sheer perseverance Fox's global team has delivered a fifth consecutive record revenue quarter, despite the disruptive impact of the pandemic on global supply chains, inflation, and labor availability,” commented Mike Dennison, Fox’s Chief Executive Officer. “I am very proud of our team members who continue to exemplify dedication and commitment to our customers by exceeding expectations and strengthening our brand during this unprecedented operating environment."
For the full fiscal year, Fox is expecting sales of $1,272 million to $1,292 million.
More info, here
Giant revenue up 18% but profits downGiant set a third consecutive record quarter for revenue with a 2.5% increase over the same period last year up to NT$19.95 billion. This means that it is now 18% up year-on-year on sales for the first three quarters of 2021 to NT$61.94 billion.
However, increased component costs and logistics meant that these record sales did not translate into bigger profits for the quarter as net profit after tax was NT$1.28 billion for the quarter, a decline of 13.6% from a year ago. It also said that component shortages affected overall production.
E-bikes grew 37% over the three quarters and now account for about 31% of the Group's business.
More info, here.
Dorel Sales Down 1.7%This is probably the last time we'll feature Dorel's financial reports before its Sports division
gets absorbed into the privately held Pon Group, an $810 Million deal that is expected to be finalised before the end of Q1 2022.
The segment's third-quarter revenue was US$740.9 million, down 1.7% from US$753.4 million last year. It also reported a net loss of US$37.0 million vs a net profit of US$26.2 million last year.
Martin Schwarz, CEO and President, said, "The third quarter was highlighted by the agreement reached to sell Dorel Sports. The transaction has accomplished our major objective of unlocking shareholder value by monetizing Dorel Sports at a time when the demand for bicycles is strong. We will provide further details of the use of net proceeds once the deal closes, which is expected before the end of the first quarter next year. Our focus now is to replicate the success achieved in our sports business at Dorel Home and Dorel Juvenile."
More info, here.
MipsMips' net sales increased 81% year on year for Q3, which keeps it in line with the year-to-date growth of 82%. The sales aren't broken down by sector but apparently the increase in turnover is apparently mostly driven by the strong demand for bike helmets in the Sport category.
Max Strandwitz, CEO, said, "During the third quarter the great demand for all kinds of helmets in the Sports category continued. This was mostly driven by high sales growth for solutions for bike helmets. All over the world, inventory levels in retail remain low and our assumption is that they will not return to normal levels in the immediate future. As communicated in the last interim report, we see continued high demand for our products in this category also going forward."
More info, here.
We will give bicycle tourists up to three months of free accommodation in our charming off grid mountain cabin (solar lights and power, gas heated water) that sleeps 2 comfortably and a family of 4 cosily in exchange for their old (but mechanically sound) gravel, cx, enduro or dh bikes.
We also have more than 10 years of hospitality and tourism experience working in various agencies around the region so we can help you put together the most awesome itinerary.
Dm us on our insta: @lacasaciclistavallesagradoperu
Likewise, racing opportunities for disadvantaged local kids are non existent. There is a vibrant local race scene, but the only competitors are the rich kids who’s dads own tour agencies or bicycle shops. None of them train (couldn’t climb 5meters) but they all think they are gonna be World Cup racers) while the poor kids who live at +3000 meters must ride shitty, broken hardtails or not bother to enter at all.. I recon a kid who grows up at more than 3000 meters and rides those trails daily on a piece of crap bike is far more likely to become a world champion than some rich slob who sits in his dads 4x4 shuttling all day, don’t you?
So please, go ahead and jest if you must but we take this very seriously and we believe that in 15-20 years we can produce multiple world champions from this valley.. we have only been operating for 6 months but have received no support from the local bicycle industry (almost every town in this valley has a bike tour agency- owned by some rich guy from the city or abroad) nor (not surprised) the international industry..
we’re just hoping there are cyclists of any persuasion somewhere in the world who
a) want to see Machu Picchu (obviously),
b) discover cycling paradise (seriously man, Whistler ain’t shit, and here there are no queues or other riders on the trails),
c) take a sustainable vacation (ok, not 100%, but every little bit helps) and
d) take an older bike that’s not getting used or can’t seem to be sold because it’s the wrong wheel size and use it to have a great holiday and then make some kid who’s cycling opportunities are null dreams come true..
Keep up the good work sir! Anyone helping disadvantaged kids to get on bikes gets a gold star in my books!
If I had an extra bike laying around, you could color me intrigued.
I prefer narrow, natural technical trails (more traditional “mountain biking”) and am not a fan of perfectly sculpted trails wide enough to fit a hummer down.. I like a challenge. Most of our lacalntrails are long as hell (6km is considered a short descent), natural (or made by the yearly erosion of the rainy season, cows and livestock or old Incan roads) and lead to or from spectacular locations (glacial lakes, forests and almost always some Incan or pre-Incan archeological site) so please Canada, nothing but love for you guys, just not my cup of tea
We tend to post stories regularly as we run club rides from our income generating project (bicycle cafe) and as we only have a staff of two (working both the cafe and NGO) a quick edit is about all we can manage at the moment.. we have made some contact with European influencers (gravel) as we are keen to target that market (no agency here is offering gravel tours, which is ridiculous as the last year of scouting has convinced us that this may also be gravel heaven) and cx and gravel bikes are best suited for our dispensary program to work as commuters, but we also need mountain bikes (as that’s the most popular form of riding here and what all the kids want to do) so we’re super keen to share this place with the global mtb community. So far we have found influencers to be a lot like pro’s and former pro’s who come here to ride and make videos, in that they expect to receive a lot of free stuff (including flights) which is deffo not possible on our current budget.. but we will keep improving hopefully in the next couple of years growing too!
In that regard, most of the park is designed around a DH bike, and wouldn't really fall under "traditional mountain biking".
The coastal mountains in BC vary quite significantly not only in style of trails, but grade, difficulty, and more significantly terrain itself. The roots, rocks, and dirt can change significantly by move one mountain over.
It's likely why its arguably considered the mecca of the world.
That aside, I think what your offering is a great opportunity for people to become more worldly, and is definitely something I think people should really consider.
As I stated, color me intrigued.
Sustainable vacation by flying around the world to Peru? Doesn’t add up. I get what you’re doing but please ease off the sustainability trip. The only half sustainable thing is you reusing old equipment.
Secondly, unlike 100% of local bike tour operators, we actually ride out bikes. Up and down. All local operators shuttle their tourists in cars to ride (and in some cases the distances warrant that) but mostly not. As an example, “maxima Urquillos” (look it up on trailforks) is one of the more popular epic descents in our back yard. It’s about 14km of descending from 4400 meters down to 2800. They ALL shuttle up but because of the roads and mountains, the shuttle has to travel in excess of 120km for a 14km descent (that includes pickup) which is hardly sustainable. Feel free to check my strava (fifty_shades_of_bicycle it’s not set to private) we often climb the 2200 meters in 48km to get to the trailhead on long travel enduro bikes (no carbon, no lockout, no clipless pedals, NO EBIKES) so that our leisure activities are not responsible for polluting more. We want our visitors to be of the same mindset but also understand if they’d rather pay for a shuttle. In our “backyard” there are at least 16-20 trails that can be pedaled to, but not a single one of them does this...we do.
Likewise we use a haggerd new gravel bike to get as much of our food and supplies as possible from the main market in the town over. Every other agency in the area will send a car or a mototaxi for this but we feel every little contribution makes a difference and we’d rather be on a bicycle anyway.
Obviously international air travel has large scale environmental costs, we’re not denying this. The difference is we take sustainability seriously and are willing to actually do a small something about it, unlike most tourism here which just uses the word “sustainability” to justify higher prices for tourists with no real difference in how they operate. And we know this because we have worked for many of these companies and regularly ride with the guides and owners of such agencies. We can’t take away the emissions costs of a long haul flight, but if you were taking a holiday to a place like this, do you think it’s better to do so for a week and a redeye to Machu Picchu or is it more value for the cost to stay for 3 months and get real value for money and an unforgettable, really authentic experience as opposed to seeing a truly magical place from the window of a car? You decide.
Personally, I think you now need to message the @pinkbike: team (@mikelevey: @brianparks: etc) to actually get an article written about your charity concept.
That way, like previously mentioned; you won’t get lost in the Ether of PB comments for today.
I would love to see more content of what you’ve started over there. Videos, imagery and maybe event a mini vlog to get the interest really set in.
Also, we have a strategic plan for our programs and rollout of bikes. We’d love to just be able to put up notices in all the towns of the valley telling locals they can get a free bicycle for whatever they need (racing, commuting etc) but if we did this we’d have about 10 thousand people queuing outside our door the following morning, which with a staff of two who have to run both the ngo and the income generating bicycle cafe is just not realistic or possible- and we just don’t have that many bicycles (actually, at the moment we don’t have any!)
So our plan is to use our cabin to host small groups of cyclists and gradually, over the next couple of years build up an inventory of bicycles to dispense. Likewise, having worked in a number of development NGO’s here and back home in Africa I’m well aware that just giving people bicycles isn’t enough. You need to provide training, education and offer support. So our dispensary of bicycles will function with an academy which we hope to launch in a couple of years. Basically, we will start in local schools offering cycling as an extracurricular program after school to any kids who are interested starting from kindergarten. We’ll also offer this after hours to parents to encourage families to get involved (there are a lot of schools in the area, so we will only be able to offer it to some of the schools nearby that we have relationships with already, but we have earmarked the expansion route of schools along the whole valley already!) youngsters and parents in the academy will have to take classes in skills, bicycle maintainence, safety, nutrition (we aim to provide a comprehensive bicycle education program) and once the program is completed they get a free bicycle. We’ll also start our youngsters racing on the local scene at around 16 years of age which should give time to build up an inventory of bikes for that purpose. We’ve also considered the difficulties of expansion, as this program will need a steady stream of mechanics, guides and skills coaches to come here and volunteer with us so we have already made arrangements with our legal team to get volunteer visas for them for longer stays but this also means we will, by that time need more income from our other projects to feed and house volunteers (I’ve been involved with volunteer programs a long time and can confirm most are actually pretty exploitative, charging money and seriously skimping on what they give volunteers). We don’t want to be like that and therefore will not charge anyone who wants to volunteer for anything. Moreover, as we do now with the volunteers who come to help us in the cafe, we prefer to give them as much as we can so as noted, accommodation is free, two meals a day are free and plenty of free time, weekends and holidays provided.
I guess the point of this essay (sorry) is that good development work takes time, building good relationships and patience and we understand our project (considering the prohibitive barriers to entry cycling naturally comes with being an expensive hobby) will likewise take some time to get to where we want to be (unless someone huuuuuge like Trek or Giant suddenly decide to offer us their full support- but that is not realistic- which is why we started an income generating business because we realized early on that unless we do that, our likelihood of survival wasn’t going to be that good). Maybe one day Pinkbike can come ride with us and be amazed by this place but everything in its own time. For now, we just want folks like you to come out and shred or grind miles with us!
Have a mate who lives here who did a lot of amazing documentaries in another life, but we can’t ask him to do things for free.. he’s a professional and the advice and ideas he has given me free of charge is way more than I could have asked for anyway! (Thanks George, you’re the shit!)
But yeah, I have soooooo many great ideas for a killer YouTube page.. just not the skills or means..
Like i said, everything will happen when it’s supposed to!
Quick insta snaps and videos are all people will initially want to see. Focus on the little details of what the accom location looks like and the views from the windows, trailhead snaps, a few more POV runs of parts of the tracks around the area.
Get the ground truth on the locals documented as well. Show people why you want to do it. I’m a dad of two and the team riders are also parents so, seeing what you’re planning to do for future generations will instantly hit home with our demographic.
Humanise the concept and the environment.
As I said, love the whole idea and will keep an eye on it all. Give it a year or two and I’ll spend the kids inheritance to get over and visit. Hahaha.
People are going to travel, that is inevitable. And people who travel to this part of the world are inevitably coming this way. We’re just doing what we can (which is a hella lot more than most others) to make that as much of a sustainable experience within the current model of how people travel. You seem to view this as some kind of zero sum problem.. like it’s either this or that. It’s not. It’s complicated and in a complicated world it is hard to do anything that makes even the smallest difference. Thank you for your trolling.
They are called bicycle backpackers or bike packers and many of them have helped us define and refine our concepts here.
Hopefully our scheme will save you enough money that you only have to dip into the kids college fund and the inheritance can stay put
Bikes have become ludicrously expensive and supplied with worse components as time goes on, newer less experienced buyers will fizzle out leaving people more interested and knowledgeable about cycling.
The new trek top fuel as an example. Is a bike that's close to £5000. It comes with un branded shimano brakes, while I have heard these are fantastic. If I'm paying 5k for a bike I'm expecting XT at least!
I've got a bike up for sale, and part of me wants to keep it as I know that buying a new bike will put me back at square one with regards to buying upgrades for the bike I get again, possibly the same parts too.
I'd be hard pushed to buy a new bike at the minute.
I have ordered mine last January. By the time it came, the price on the web site was around 300€ more expensive. Now, less than a year later, the same bike is more than 500€ more expensive.
And this was a relatively cheap bike.
Cycling was never a cheap sport, but now it's becoming ridiculously expensive.
Dont get me wrong, i suffer myself. I priced up a Trek Slash via the custom paint program, and there was no way i would pay 7k for a bike with a GX drivetrain.... despite the fact GX is a solid performer.
My current bike is a Norco Optic. I bought the C2 build, which was mid range at the time, but there are only one or two original parts on it. Over time i have upgraded or changed parts. Maybe thats how more of us need to buy? Get a lower end model, which will do all you want it to, then upgrade to the bling parts when things wear out or you fancy a change?
I look at the spec of my capra base 2017 model and it was phenomenal for the £2100 i paid in total. it had gx 11 speed (eagle didnt exist), guide r brakes, lyriks rct3, monarch plus (supers didnt exist yet), dt swiss wheels, raceface finishing kit. Not many bikes come anywhere near that spec and price these days. A bird bike a la carte comes in at 2700 which is closish. Now for £2500 you get level brakes, unbranded wheels, nx or worse sx.
Now i buy the low end model and upgrade the parts i want with what i want. Its defo a better way to buy.
The Deore build of the new Ibis Ripley is $5,100.
What the absolute F
PS: France is lovely... if you say so, but Italy is sexier from my point of view. It's often a matter of POV actually Salute!!!
Personally I disagree, I think it's only Parisiennes who don't deserve the rest of the country. But then I live in SW England, I feel more affinity for Bretagne than either of our capital cities.
Italy is lovely though, really enjoy it.
Dutch are people I like to play with 'cos here in France they often gather in campings amongst themselves talking to no one or they buy country houses that they refurbish with crafters and materials that they exclusively import from the NL... which is not very appreciated from our side, you'd admit. The Dutch are stingy, that's not a legend for anyone, but it's related to your history, how you became wealthy thanks to your talent for trading, etc... We all have our upsides and downsides, don't we?
Proost then!!!
Of course, as a British, in Bretagne you'll find some acquaintances, and it's normal: Isn't UK called the Grande-Bretagne on our side?... celtic origins, musics, cultures, bla bla, why not. It makes sense somehow...
I'm from Limousin, middle of France, and I can tell you that the Brits are really happy here. So many of them settled here for.... I don't know, decades (I'm 47, and when I was a boy they were already here, god damned!), and we/they appreciate the fact of being here. Since Brexit they're pretty much in a deep shit actually, but they'll stay here, and that's OK for us. You know what? It's only my POV, but the French and British are pretty "similar" in fact, that's what I noticed on my side. But I might be an idealist Cheers Bro!
Nothing to do with MTB, but Xmas present before Xmas. Santé Camarades!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0B4Zddc9j0
youtu.be/R8orEh7v1ZQ
Can you understand how in order to meet huge demand a business needs to take action, or in their own words show ‘sheer perseverance’?
Do nothing and you can’t take order so can’t take advantage of the increase demand - get it?
Fantastic contradiction - So first you write:
'It’s got nothing to do with the performance of their team'
Then follow up with:
'They had to do their jobs rather than do nothing in order to capitalise on the huge volume of orders that fell into their laps. Pats on the back all round!'
Which one is it? - Nothing to do with the team or the team doing their job to capitalise on order volume?
Seems you finally get your misunderstanding at least.
The initial lockdown was also well over a year and a half ago now - the last one will be a year ago in the UK at least soon.
But ultimately all of this is due to Covid in one way or another or it would be almost the same now as 2019 pre Covid, nothing else has changed.
So a £15.00 bar is now £32.00 - hopefully this comes down in the near future.
Other industries don’t really have to offer to pay more, it’s costing more to manufacture aluminium so we need to pay more, getting hold of it for us at least is a non-issue albeit with lengthened lead times (nothing too excessive though)
I'm sure you're right that a lot of people who impulse bought bikes aren't going to stick with it. The same has always been true of most sports. But at least around here I'm noticing that people who never thought of themselves as bikers (for transportation, recreation, and of course for mountain biking) discovered that there was something they really enjoyed about it. Of course, it could be that our little town is one of the places that's seen a lot of people move here in the last few years (something that started before the pandemic, and hasn't slowed down), and mountain biking as well as our bike-able everyday environment has always been one of the draws for that. Hence my curiosity on whether that bears out in data across the US in general, and in other countries and regions.
1) The pendulum has to swing the other direction a bit before stability; meaning crazy record profits will lead to some losses before settling on the "new normal" (somewhere in the middle). As a middle of the bell curve consumer (not starving #vanlife nor a overweight #dentist), I'm looking forward mostly to getting back to a consistent supply chain. It's grossly apparent I took being able to get what I wanted when I wanted it for granted.
2) Venture Capitol & Corporations... if you're a shareholder, put those earnings & portfolio's aside for a minute. I see these CEO statements above about huge profits and start to cringe. Not because I think making money is wrong, but because I've been tied to four or five different VC groups in my professional career and they've all sucked. Record profits are never good enough; continue to work your workers into the ground is what I've seen over and over. Does or has anyone ever worked for a "good one"? I read stories (rare, but they're out there) from people who work for great corporations. I never have and wonder if it's BS. I would love to experience that if true. I'm coming to the realization that borderline evil is profiting from my knowledge and I'm not cool with that. Unfortunately, I'll swallow the pill that keeps me in the Matrix as I have responsibilities (people I love) that rely on my income, but damn son... there's got to be a better way.
Pinkbike is in a decent place to observe this, it'd be interesting to see if they can monitor metrics over the coming months or year to see if there is an increase in used sales and what segment of the industry they are in.
A hybrid for £300-£500 (or less) is all that’s needed to commute - any more than that is irrelevant if it’s for transport only.
I think a commuter of 300 to 500 GBP would either need constant attention and repairs, or it will die a swift death under my use.
I will absolutely guarantee that in the UK a lot of people commute on bikes that cost well under £500 - there are very different commutes and most will commute very short inner city distances.
This is basic logic but if your production is full, you can't sell more so your number will not grow. This is not the end of a bubble, it's just the production top limit.
So just having food and a roof over your head could become desperate, let alone having a $15,000 bike.
I still greatly wish Good riding to all!
Am I understanding this right? $1,272 million is 1.272 BILLION dollars? Have a hard time believing that.