Jan-Willem van Schaik

GENT, Belgium - The take-over by supermarket owner Colruyt in 2019 saved the future of the Belgium bicycle retail chain Fiets!. A year earlier Fiets! already filed for chapter 11 and that was not without reason. According to a publication in Belgium newspaper De Tijd, Colruyt had to invest another €10 million in Fiets! to make it future proof.

VELKE ORVIŠTĚ, Slovakia - "After more than 20 years, we are going to get rid of the high fragility of standard resin carbon composites, by introducing a new generation material," said Kellys Bicycles CEO Michal Divinec at the presentation of the company's MY 2021 range. The Slovakian company partnered with Belgium frame manufacturer Rein4ced for the introduction of their new e-bike frames for the Theos F series.

FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany - 'Mobility 2025', 'green tail wind for bicycles' and 'bike biz 2025' are the three themes of the conference during this year's Eurobike Digital Days. The three topics selected by Eurobike for their conference reflect the impact of COVID-19 on the industry. The online conference is scheduled for September 1.

EASTLEIGH, UK - Selling one tool in one market, making his kitchen table his office. That's how Chris Parr founded Pro Bike Tool in 2015, like so many start-ups in this industry. Now, five years later, he co-directs the business with his wife Nicole, and together they manage a small team of expert specialists working across the globe.

TURNHOUT, Belgium - The Belgium start-up Classified Cycling presented an all new smart shifting technology which will make conventional front derailleurs a thing of the past. The company is strongly embedded in the Belgium cycling culture with former road racer Tom Boonen as ambassador as a new shareholder and Ridley as launching partner.

KARLSTEIN AM MAIN, Germany - As global innovator in the battery industry and an open system provider in the e-bike market, the German BMZ Group presented a new performance benchmark. The BMZ V10 Intube is the company's latest in 725Wh integrated lithium-ion battery with a stylish look.

MILPITAS, USA - Carbon frame printer Arevo has announced the introduction of the next generation high speed additive manufacturing system for large continuous carbon fiber composite structures. In addition to higher quality, the Aqua 2 is able to print four times faster than its predecessor. This enables the rapid, on-demand production of large (up to one cubic meter) custom composite parts.

BUSNAGO, Italy - Prologo has presented its most versatile line of saddles ever. The AGX line contains all road saddles developed for almost every condition. Prologo took a lot of inspiration for the design of this new line of saddles from its training project 'Explore the World'.

MONTREAL, Canada - Dorel Industries Inc. reports a spike in demand for all types of bicycles during the second quarter of 2020. For the owner, sales of brands such as Schwinn, Mongoose and Cannondale rose dramatically and was maintained throughout the quarter.

"Promote yourself to a wider audience," said Fiona Bull, Programme Manager at the World Health Organization (WHO) at last year's World Cycling Forum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Her presentation has been going through my mind a lot in the past months. All media reported on the cycling boom in many cities as people are looking for alternative means of mobility in the post-corona era.