FEATURE
PHOTO CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK ROBERT V SCHWEMMER
very last thing the public image of the bike shop standard electric bike needed to refocus the public’s minds on safe and sensible e-mobility.
This diversion of product, aside from boosting supply,
will likely do so with goods that are to be sold at rates that sit below the flow of European-made e-bike goods that are now far more common in shops. With consumer spending power at a low, there is a risk that without a strong marketing drive to promote the value of quality products, the UK consumer of the next few years’ first e-bike purchase may end up, for one reason or another, providing a sub-standard experience. It could be the Bicycle Shaped Object all over again. We’re due a miracle, mind, and love them or loathe them, the Labour Government has now outlined its intention to publish the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy following the conclusion of the recent spending review. This, it’s believed, will hold the clues to “long-term funding for active travel, as required by the 2015 Infrastructure Act.” On this, the UK bike industry and other stakeholders
28 | May 2025
are likely to be consulted. If we have learned anything from some of the trends above, it’s that you have to be in it to win it. That’s a lesson delivered courtesy of whoever is lobbying on behalf of the folding bike industry, because whoever that is has seemingly played a blinder lately in avoiding both rail bans and securing anti-dumping exemptions. The UK bicycle industry must now get heavily involved in politics and public education. This might begin with emphasising the difference between an e-bike, c-bike (conversion kit bike), plus e-motorcycle grade things, and fighting for clear legal and terminology distinctions between the products. This has become especially important now that ships full of unknown goods are likely changing their course.
Taiwan, technology and China’s control China began the spring by conducting live fire drills around Taiwan, and simultaneously, pictures emerged of some quite unusual-looking barges in the Guangdong province, which commentators suggest are part of training drills to land troops on beaches quickly. These movable land bridges are very clearly not designed for commercial
www.bikebiz.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
