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There was an economic impact study done for the Sea-To-Sky corridor [i.e. Squamish and Whistler], and the significance of mountain biking to the region was huge, in the millions of dollars each summer: https://www.mbta.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/FINAL-Squamish-EI-Study-Dec-15.pdf
That study dates to 2016, and I wouldn't be surprised if things had become more lucrative over the last decade.
Can’t forget the bathrooms and people watching!
The freaks who use a shopping cart there get me spun!!
Small Rocky Mountain update: the creditors/managing bank have authorized Rocky dealers to sell bikes online for the first official time ever.
Apparently there are a number of sealed bids to be reviewed by the creditors, the future of the brand is likely going to be decided in the next few weeks.
RE: Rocky Mountain - they are going to be in REI so maybe the future is not that bleak?
https://www.bicycleretailer.com/retail-news/2025/03/27/rei-stores-add-r…
Multiple ways to interpret this:
1. Rocky is putting deals together! Hoooray!
2. Rocky's creditors have lots of bikes they want to dump and see mass market retailers like REI and online sales as a great way to do that, brand perception be damned!
Brose to sell ebike biz to Yamaha:
https://www.fraenkischertag.de/lokales/stadt-coburg/wirtschaft/brose-ve…
That's sad when you compare it to the job listings for bike industry jobs that get shared online - i remember a well known bike company looking for someone to run their warranty department for the same wage as the lowest tier on that board!😢
There is another source to this information? Very interesting indeed
Rocky going to REI.
Have any companies that have gone to these big retailers ever come out better?
Intense has been sold through every vendor available (Mec, Costco etc) and they still seem to be barely holding on. Never see a new intense. Cannondale went to Mec, not seeing any around even with a local shop selling them.
Hope that Rocky stays alive
REI also has a partnership deal with Canyon.
so far this is the only source, its a local newspaper from the area they are located in
Thanks! I assume we will know more next week. Will be interesting to learn the impact of this in some of the biggest Brose partners (like Specialized or Sram) but also in the bicycle-shared services that choose to equip their motors, since some of them may have long term contracts still in place
So, simultaneously, bikes and bike-related products are way too expensive, while the people who design and maintain them are underpaid.
This industry truly is a mess.
Don’t worry, 32” wheels will get us back on track!!!
I think rocky news will be around mid April, whatever was the date in december when they started into the process should be the date in April they announce whether there is a successful buyer or not.
Following up on this, Australia still isn't listed as a region on YT's website and Pushy's only has one Jeffsy spec and four Izzo specs left on its website. No news from YT either. I have to assume the brand is good as dead here now?
Bike brands moving to REI is almost never a positive sign for the strength of that brand.
https://global.yamaha-motor.com/news/2025/0331/spv.html
https://www.brose.com/de-en/press/brose-sells-its-ebike-drives-business-to-yamaha.html
One more take on it https://bikebiz.com/yamaha-motor-acquires-broses-bicycle-ekit-business-…
This part is interesting:
"“Brose is projecting a €53M loss in 2024, with turnover slipping €200M across the whole entity at €7.7B. A major restructuring is underway—700 jobs cut, operations streamlined; a retreat back to core automotive activities is in play. Despite producing over two million e-bike drives and building a solid name in the space, the cycling division simply didn’t fit in their survival plan, and cycling’s momentary lull made it ripe for the cutting board."
I hope YT stays up and going. I’ve really been enjoying my 2024 YT Capra.
I'm a former automotive technician, and for the past ten years I've been working in bicycle (mostly ebike) related jobs. To see the diference in quality and design standars between the two arms of this company was... Socking. Like, there is no sinergy between the automotive and ebike sides of the company. The automotive industry in Europe is hurting right now (it is probably the same for almost all western companies) so is not really surprising to see Brose struggling.
Yeah, ZF is in a lot of trouble now, Mahle cut about a quarter of the jobs in Slovenia's division (600 out of 2400), etc.
As for quality, I bet bike brands hardly even put up a spec sheet, at least compared to the knowledge automotive OEMs have about their products, so it's possible a lot of the design work was their own and it might have been a few wild guesses (new category after all)...
The crazy thing is that Yamaha just recently shut down the US ebike division..
Also, outside of Specialized, Bulls, and Sram, who is using the Brose motor?
Is quite a common choice for bicycle sharing system companies
They shut down the bike devision (they made a complete emtb),not the motor manufcaturing devision.
"sells it's ebike drive division"
"Said they will cut 600 jobs but our HR is too incompetent to fire that many people in time" words by an engineer working there when I asked him whats going on haha
With potential of new tariffs rolling in, im curious for how long this sport will stay healthy especially in the US. After the covid misery, this sounds like a good new nail into the coffin.
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