Sports nutrition brand HIGH5 have added Protein Hit to their healthy snack portfolio.

With no artificial colours or added sugar, and ingredients that the brand report are of the highest quality,  the cold-pressed, gluten-free balls are designed to offer a balanced mix of protein, fats and carbohydrates. With the addition of whey protein, Protein Hit seeks to support the growth and maintenance of muscle mass, and is also suitable for vegetarians. 

“This has already been a hit with our community of world class athletes as a healthy snack in their busy lifestyles," said Wendy Lee, HIGH5 general manager. "Protein Hit bridges the gap between a sports and an everyday product.”

HIGH5 Protein Hit is available in three flavours, cacao and orange, peanut and caramel, and coconut, lemon, and raspberry.  

To enter a draw for a prize bundle worth over £300, visit here.

Tickets for the Cycling Media Awards are now available online, and selling fast. 

The CMAs will take place on November 10th, 2016 at the Islington Metalworks in North London. The event – organised by BikeBiz publisher NewBay – recognises the hardworking media representatives in the cycling industry. Visit here to view the list of finalists. 

CycleGuard will be supporting the night in sponsorship of the drinks reception, and for the first time ever, the BIKE Channel will act as the event's official media partner, televising the award ceremony. 

Tickets to the event cost just £89. If you want to mingle with the cycling media’s biggest names, act now by clicking here.

To find out more about sponsorship opportunities, contact Richard Setters on 01992 535647, or via rsetters@nbmedia.com.

0.2 percent of the roads in London have been equipped with protected cycleways yet the Sunday Times today claims that road congestion in the UK is caused by "the squeezing of road-space by segregated cycle lanes." Mark Hookham, the newspaper's transport correspondent, listed that as the second of four reasons blamed for worsening congestion in the UK. (The other reasons were the growth of white van deliveries thanks to internet shopping, increasing numbers of mini-cabs and badly planned roadworks.)

The claim that "segregated cycle lanes" – of which there are a tinier number nationwide than there are in London – are causing congestion in the whole of the UK is not backed with any evidence yet is now there in black-and-white on the front cover of a supposedly "serious" newspaper.

On 5th October a similar claim was carried on the front page of the Daily Mail, which also claimed that cycleways cause pollution, as if London wasn't already plagued with particulates.

The piece was headlined: "Cycle lanes lunacy!" and claimed that "more and more are being built across Britain," adding that "the maddest thing of all [is] they're often EMPTY." Many roads are also empty outside of the peak, but there has been no Daily Mail cover story on that.

Transport for London has said the addition of cycle superhighways has, in fact, seen a higher capacity of moving people, disagreeing with the view that they have increased congestion. Cars take up a lot of room yet often contain just one person – a road with fifteen cars on it looks full and busy; a cycleway with fifteen cyclists on it, using space efficiently, doesn't look busy.

Complaining about the cycleway on London's Embankment journalist Tom Rawstorne wrote that: "Traffic has been brought to a virtual standstill" ignoring the fact that the Embankment has long been jammed with motor traffic. The cycleway along the Embankment replaced not a travel lane but space set aside for coach parking.

But the “cycle lane lunacy” isn't just confined to London, claimed Rawstorne. "From Cambridge to Cornwall, lanes are being marked off for bicycles, and residential streets are being turned into rat runs by desperate motorists looking for a way past the jams," he wrote.

The articles in the Sunday Times and the Daily Mail are similar to many other motor-centric pieces that have been published down the years, written to appease the kind of folks sitting behind steering wheels looking to blame anyone but themselves for the amount of cars in front of them, or, as car satnav maker TomTom put it in a 2010 outdoor poster: “You are not stuck in traffic. You are traffic.”

Official government stats show why there's now more congestion on the roads: there are simply more motor vehicles on the roads. At the end of 2011 there were 34.2 million motor vehicles, of which 28.5 million were cars. At the end of June 2016 there were 37.1 million motor vehicles, of which 30.7 million were cars. So, in the space of just five years nearly three million more motor vehicles have hit the already congested roads of Great Britain. 

National newspapers could include such obviously pertinent statistics in their stories about impending gridlock, but don't.

The report in the Sunday Times was based on data crunched by traffic info specialist Inrix. Graham Cookson, the company's new chief economist, believes that congestion is a sign of a healthy economy, and London's jams, he said, are mostly caused by the construction boom. 

London's Road Modernisation Plan includes the installation of "intelligent" traffic lights, Cycle Superhighways and the redesign of key junctions. Cookson said the construction of the protected cycleways impacted on congestion but will reduce it in the long term. It's a “short term pain for long term gain," he said on the Inrix blog.

+++

[The 0.2 percent mileage stat at the head of this article was calculated thus: miles of London’s roads = 9197. Miles of protected cycleways = 18.]

Specialized Bicycle Components has announced that Simon Homer will take the role of managing director for Specialized UK.

Homer joins Specialized having recently served as the managing director of TaylorMade Adidas Golf, Pacific.

The new managing director has lead various teams across a multitude of senior management roles throughout his career.

Discussing his new appointment, Homer commented: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining the UK Specialized team. As a passionate cyclist, I have always had great admiration for Specialized. I am attracted by the core values and passion for both the rider and our independent bike dealers.  I really look forward to becoming part of the Specialized way and to meeting and getting to know everyone next month.”

He concluded that he was, “looking forward to leading and working closely with the UK team, and also working with Specialized Bicycles’ network of independent dealers, to drive the future of such a great company.”

Homer will officially begin his new role on November 7^th, and will be based out of the UK office. 

On October 22^nd hundreds of cyclists will light up the Southsea seafront as part of the Pedal Portsmouth Glow Ride.

The free event is taking place for the first time this year, as attendees are encouraged to don glow-in-the-dark and hi-vis clothing and accessories to raise awareness for cycle safety.

The family-friendly ride is taking place in partnership with the "Be Bright, Be Seen" campaign, which reminds cyclists to make themselves visible to avoid road collisions.

Participants will cycle on a traffic-free route along the Southsea seafront, making use of the road closures that are already in place for the Great South Run. The ride starts at Blue Reef, and will last one hour from 6pm to 7pm, allowing cyclists of all age ranges and abilities to ride the course at their own pace. 

Councilor Jim Fleming, Portsmouth City Council's cabinet member for traffic and transportation, said: "Following the success of our last two Pedal Portsmouth cycling events, we are delighted to offer something a bit different with our first Pedal Portsmouth Glow Ride. 

"We hope lots of Portsmouth families will get into the spirit of the event by decorating their bikes and dressing up brightly and that it will encourage them to continue cycling safely all year round. Make sure you sign up to be part of the spectacle!"

The registration desk will be open from 5pm, and more information can be found here. 

Specialized is using Tannus's puncture-free airless tyres as standard on its new Alibi range.

South-Korean company Tannus’ history in airless tyres dates back to 2003, when the brand started testing the concept of airless road tyres. A definite prototype tyre was created a year later, the basic principles of which are still at the heart of the current range.

The brand has been supplying the Nimbus tyre to Specialized for the budget Alibi hybrid since mid-July 2016, when the company concluded that punctureless tyres were a logical solution for casual road users.

The solid, one-piece tyres are made from a micro-closed-cell polymer resin called Aither. The compound is similar to that used in the creation of running shoe soles.

The new 38mm tyres, which will ship as standard on the Alibi fitness bikes, are secured to a standard 21-milimeter rim with 40 plastic pins that penetrate the base of the tyre and fit underneath the inner lip of the rim.

The weight of the 700x38 tyre (the only size that Specialized is currently producing) is 900 grams, the same as a standard Nimbus Armadillo tyre and inner tube. The tyres are currently only being offered on the Alibi bicycles, and as warranty replacements.

Chad Price, director of core products at Specialized, initially planned to use the airless tyres on children’s bikes: “We thought this would be a great feature for kids and their parents. In our initial testing we had some issues with skid wear, so we decided to apply the technology to the Alibi.” 

Dorel's Cycling Sports Group has appointed Henning Schroeder as the global vice-president product. An eleven-year veteran of the company, Henning has steered the development of a number of Cannondale bikes, including the EVO, Scalpel SI, Slate and Quick.

“Product innovation continues to be our number one priority for Cycling Sports Group. It’s what we’re known for and why consumers demand our bikes,” said Peter Woods, president and CEO of Dorel Sports.

CSG also promoted David Guzik to global  vice-president ngineering, and Brian Immel to global vice-president arketing. Guzik has been with CSG for two years and is a 17-year veteran of the industry, and formerly worked for Trek. Immel has been with CSG for five years, leading marketing for Cannondale.

Scott Rittschof, SVP of Global Marketing and Product Development will be leaving the business at the end of the month. “Scott led the CSG product and marketing teams during an important time in the industry and I’d like to thank him for his contributions,” said Woods.

British cycle clothing brand Vulpine has launched the Rainy City range.

The new line of urban cycle clothing is aimed at keeping riders dry, even in severe weather. 

Vulpine has arranged the launch to coincide with what is statistically the wettest period of the year in Britain, with the average rainfall at its highest between October and February. 

The centerpiece of the collection is the waterproof Deluge jacket, which the brand claims is designed to combine heavy-duty weatherproofing, with urban city style. Vulpine has constructed the jacket from a material that offers both 20k waterproofing and 20k breathability, and designed a venting system which allows riders to keep cool whilst riding.

Other features on the Deluge jacket include waterproof zipped pockets for storing valuables, reinforced shoulders to prevent wear from bag straps, and availability in either Mandarin or Charcoal colours.

Joining the jacket in the range are the tailored rain trousers, which are made from Italian Epic cotton. The wind and water resistant trousers have increased stretch and durability, with a cut designed specifically for cyclists.

Rounding off the range is Vulpine’s signature Harrington jacket, which is made from the same Italian Epic cotton, and which is water resistant even in heavy rain showers. 

More information on the range can be found here.

Scottish Cycling CEO Craig Burn will talk at the international conference in November, as a key speaker.

Burn joined Scottish Cycling as chief executive in 2011, bringing with him a sports management career spanning more than 20 years.

His experience in commercial leisure management and sports development across local, regional and national levels has brought key skills to a high-performing moderns sports governing body.

In his early career, Burn worked on leading programs and initiatives for Sports Scotland, where he successfully set up the country’s first ever Regional Sports Partnership. Currently, Burn is working with a strong senior management team to drive the organisation’s four-year strategy, which paves the way for its vision for the future of cycling.

Burn commented: “At Scottish CycIing, we strive to develop the sporting pathway across all disciplines and have been working hard, alongside our membership and stakeholders, to deliver inspirational success and provide opportunities to grow participation – whether that be club coaching, leisure or racing.

“I am looking forward to speaking at another Scottish Mountain Bike Conference to share the work that we have been doing, and what we aim to do over the coming years. Mountain biking is incredibly important to Scotland and therefore we must continue to grow the discipline in a sustainable and planned approach and work with the MTB sector to innovate, collaborate and demonstrate its wider societal impacts as part of our long-term strategy.” 

Developing Mountain Biking In Scotland will be the lead organizer of the event after a successful conference in 2014, which attracted 230 delegates from 13 different countries.

More information on the event can be found here. 

The first Repack race – the event that kickstarted mountain biking – was held on October 21st 1976. The event's fortieth birthday is being celebrated at an event on Friday at the Marin Museum of Bicycling in Fairfax, California.

Repack served as the testing ground for a series of modifications and innovations crucial to the early development and evolution of the mountain bike, which were originally called "clunkers". These were modified Schwinn paperboy bikes. The Repack was so named because the coaster brakes on the 1930s bikes had to be repacked with grease after every descent.

The Repack downhill time-trial race series of 1976-79 only ever had about 200 entrants across those four years, but they included legendary figures such as Charlie Kelly, originator of the race which took place on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California, over the bridge from San Francisco. Pioneers such as Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Otis Guy, Tom Ritchey, Charlie Cunningham and others helped kick-start a bicycle revolution which eventually spread around the world.

The Repack riders didn't know this at the time. In 1975, after a ride on Mount Tamalpais, Breeze said to Guy: "This sure is a lot of fun, but who else would want to do it?"

While Fisher, Breeze, Ritchey and others are generally considered the fathers of modern mountain biking (there were mothers, too, such as photographer Wende Cragg and racer Jacquie Phelan) there were earlier Northern Californian innovators, such U. C. Davis professor John Finley Scott who, in 1953, produced his "woodsie" multiple gear balloon tyre bike. Santa Barbara riders and Cupertino's Morrow Dirt Club members experimented with off-road bikes in the 1970s. But it was a core number of the Marin County clunker riders – and some enterprising Japanese bicycle engineers – who turned a hippy recreation into a global movement.

Joe Breeze, Otis Guy and Charlie Kelly

Fisher and Kelly co-founded a company called Mountain Bikes of Fairfax, California, and this became the generic name for the new breed of fat-tyred bicycles.

A facsimile Repack rock with Gary Fisher's fastest time down the Mount Tamalpais trail

Fisher still has the fastest time on the course, Breeze the second fastest. The fire road where the race took place is now mostly off-limits to mountain bikers.

Prize Giving Rock is still there, where the awards were handed out, "mainly ‘smokables’” remembers Breeze.

“To us the mountain bike was a lark,” Breeze has said “but, by golly, it got more people onto bicycles than any machine since the 1890s."

Core Bike Show will return to Whittlebury Hall, and will take place from January 22^nd to 24^th 2017.

The Core group of exhibitors return with notable additions ZyroFisher, Felt and Magura.

As one of the UK’s leading cycle trade events, the show will cover all aspects of the market from high-end road, to fat bikes and a range of e-bikes. Once again Core Bike will be offering business and hospitality in line with previous years with accommodation, entertainment and launch products available to see for the first time in the UK.

Exhibitors include: Silverfish, Ison, Upgrade, Windwave, Extra, Hope, the Electric Bike Corporation, Assos, i-Ride, Chicken Cycle Sport, 2Pure, Hotlines, Endura, Oakley, Gore, Mojo, Multi Sport Distribution and many more. 

A representative from the Core Bike Show group added: "We can't wait to be back at Whittlebury Hall this coming January. We have more brands, exhibitors and products to share with you than ever before. The Core values of the show that started 13 years ago continue today with amazing 2017 products on show in a relaxed and friendly environment.”

Registration is now live, more information can be found here.

Bike PressCamp Summer will again be staged in Deer Valley, Utah. The nine-year-old ECRM-owned event has been hosted in the resort village close to Park City for seven consecutive years, with the 2017 event being the eighth.

Unlike traditional trade shows – currently reeling from visitor number drops and date swaps – PressCamp is a tightly-focussed brand-to-journo event, with companies spending quality time with high-profile editors, including from the non-endemic press.

The Deer Valley ski resort is a 40-minute shuttle uphill from Salt Lake City International Airport.

"Aside from its stunning beauty, it offers world-class road, urban and mountain bike riding and has proven year after year to provide a relaxing environment, conducive in producing or rekindling relationships with important members of the media," said Lance Camisasca, ECRM VP of Sports.

(Camisasca is a former organiser of the Interbike trade show.)

“We were thrilled with the results from Bike PressCamp last June," continued Camisasca, “but never satisfied: we are determined this year to assemble the best media with the finest brands eager to launch their products at our critically-acclaimed event."

Participation is limited to 25 brand and 25 media outlets.

The 2017 event will be staged Monday, June 19th through Friday, June 23rd. PressCamp also has winter and outdoor spin-offs.

High-end helmet, eyewear and protection brands Shred and Slytech have hired SOAR to handle their PR and brand communications.

SOAR (or Sports, Outdoor, Athletics and Recreation) was founded in 2004 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Key principal Chip Smith formerly handled marketing communications for Shimano American Corporation and Specialized Bicycles. Smith is a 25-year veteran of the sports and outdoor industries and an avid mountain biker.

The agency began working with Shred and Slytech in conjunction with the brands’ exhibits at the Interbike convention in Las Vegas last month. At the event, Shred launched three new helmets and Slytech introduced three new protection products.

"Our company has grown to a point where internally, we can focus on product development, operations and sales, and entrust our communications with professionals," said Shred and Slytech co-founder and chairman Ted Ligety.

"We chose SOAR because it's well known and highly regarded by journalists in the bike and snow industries. They have a collaborative, go-the-extra-mile approach to PR that won us over," said co-founder and CEO Carlo Salmini.

Shred and Slytech also hired Michael Sudmeier, a freelance journalist and a former managing editor at Teton Gravity Research, to work with SOAR on outreach efforts to the core action sports and snow industry media.

For more information on SOAR, click here. 

Italian company Pinarello has issued a press statement following reports that it is in takeover talks with the parent company of Louis Vuitton. The LVMH Group also owns other luxury brands: Pinarello would fit well with its other high-end marques.

Rumours of the talks first surfaced on Italian bike website Tuttobiciweb.it, and now Pinarello has responded by saying:

“With reference to press leaks, the Pinarello family confirms that they have been evaluating, since a few years, different assets reinforcement options with a strong industrial base, in order to further strengthen the Pinarello brand in the world.

"The Pinarello family is not considering to exit the business and will continue to follow the company in its future growth, as it has always done and with the same passion.”

The LVMH Group also owns Moet & Chandon champagne, Fendi, Donna Karan and other luxury marques.

The ninth installment of the BikeBiz Awards will return in 2017, now in partnership with the Telegraph’s London Bike Show.

The awards ceremony has been delayed to February 16^th so as to coincide with the cycling exhibition at the London Excel International Convention Centre.

The BikeBiz Awards celebrate the best of the UK cycle trade, and present a chance to congratulate the hard-working individuals who render the industry such an innovative environment.

Retail prizes will recognise high-achieving stores, local independent shops and giant online retailers; awards will also honour distributors and wholesalers, brands and those providing essential specialist services for the industry, from training to advocacy. Equally important is the chance that the BikeBiz Awards offer for the trade to meet, chat and make new business contacts.

Nominations are officially open, and will close on November 23^rd, 2016. Tickets can be purchased from the official website at £49: www.bikebizawards.com.

A limited number of sponsorship opportunities are available – contact Richard Setters at rsetters@nbmedia.com or 02073546028.

Award categories are as stated:

RETAILER AWARDS

Specialist Retailer
Mainstream Retailer
Online Store
Independent Bike Dealer
Retail Event 

DISTRIBUTOR, BRAND & PRODUCT AWARDS

P&A Distributor of the Year
Bike Brand of the Year
Sales Team
P&A Brand of the Year
Innovation From a Newcomer
Bike Distributor of The Year
Specialist Distributor
Marketing Team
Breakthrough Brand

SERVICES AWARDS

Retailer Services
Cycling Advocacy Achievement
Training
Non-Cycling Brand

British Cycling, with the help of UK Sport, has appointed Positive Dynamics to assist in the recruitment of a performance director for the Great Britain Cycling Team.

Appointing a performance director is part of the strategy laid out in anticipation of the Toyko Olympics in 2020.

The strategy was submitted to UK Sport in February. It will enable the Great Britain Cycling Team to build upon the successes the team enjoyed this year at the Rio Olympic Games, and provide greater support to performance staff and athletes.

This will include an initial scoping exercise followed by an open recruitment process. Further updates will follow in due course. 

Programmes director Andy Harrison, who stepped in to lead the Great Britain Cycling Team for the last phase of the Rio cycle, during which the team achieved their ambition of finishing top of the medal table at the Olympics and Paralympics, will remain in charge until a performance director is appointed.

For more information, click here. 

The 2017 Taipei Cycle will be the thirtieth staging of the event. The Spring show will move to the Autumn in 2017, confirmed the organisers as new branding was unveiled.

The new brand identity – “A New Worldview on Cycling" – was unveiled by Peter Huang, the CEO & President of TAITRA, and Giant's Tony Lo, the chairman of the Taiwan Bicycle Association (left and right in the pic).

The show is organised by TAITRA, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, and the 2017 event will be staged 22–25 March at the Taipei World Trade Center, and opens with a Demo Day, the show's first. In 2018 the show will move to the end of October and early November.

At a press conference Tony Lo said that the value of Taiwan complete bicycles export in 2016 has dropped 20 percent so far this year.

OutdoorGearLab already tests cycle clothing and accessories but now it's branching out into testing bikes. The founder of the US gear-testing website said he plans to "change the bike purchase process with a new standard of bike reviews." Chris McNamara added that "we buy all the bikes ourselves, no manufacturer freebies or advertising payola."

OutdoorGearLab – which now gets up to 1.5 million individual users per month – sprang from what was originally the climbing-gear review section of SuperTopo, a climbing guidebook publisher and rock-climbing website. The site's first bike review is of Enduro MTBs (hint: the Yeti won.)

Unlike bike mags which make their money from cover sales and ads, OutdoorGearLab is funded via Google ads and affiliates, including links to online retailer sites. 

McNamara said: “We have set out to change bike purchasing for the better by providing the world’s most in-depth, scientific, and objective side-by-side comparison of bike performance."

The OutdoorGearLab testing process is done with a team of four expert enduro bike testers, two bike mechanics, and six mountain bike consultants. Together, they spent a combined 1000 hours testing the bikes.

"Most reviews today are based on one rider heading out for an afternoon ride in isolation and how the ride ‘felt’," claimed McNamara.

"We’re not interested in what bike ‘feels’ faster. We want to know, to a precision of 1/100th of a second, how much one bike is actually faster than another. Competing reviews will sometimes say, ‘that bike pedals as hard uphill as it shreds downhill.’ That’s not good enough for us. We want to know exactly how fast, compared to competing bikes, based on a scientific and objective measurement process.“

Too many reviews from mags and bike websites are influenced by linked advertising, continued McNamara.

“We think most bike reviews today are strongly influenced by marketing budgets. The result is reviews that are sugar coated by advertising dollars, often based on a brief ride on a loaner bike, offering an inevitably positive spin."

Next OutdoorGearLab plans to publish its review of trail MTBs followed by a road-bike review, and then a head-to-head of fat bikes. “We’re just getting started,” smiled McNamara.