AUSTIN, Texas (BRAIN) — In a space of one month, three Austin retailers will close their doors.

Weather woes, low oil prices, high real estate costs and market saturation are among factors that have put the squeeze on the city’s retail landscape.

Austinbikes, a road-focused store that opened 10 years ago in the Clarksville neighborhood northwest of downtown Austin, closed in late January. The closure and farewell party were announced on the shop’s Facebook page in early January. Inventory was liquidated and owners held a farewell party on Jan. 29, the store’s final day of business. BRAIN was unable to reach the store’s owners for comment.

Brother-and-sister team Sarah and Aaron Goeth opened Windmill Bicycles three years ago in Austin’s eastside Cherrywood neighborhood, and will close on Feb. 29. Bicycle Retailer visited Windmill as part of its Austin Dealer Tour in late 2014.

Catering to commuters and urban cyclists, the 1,000-square-foot store features local art and handmade goods alongside bikes from Austin-born Fairdale, Biria, Papillonaire and others. Sarah said the decision to close was not an easy one.

“A lot of things led to it,” said Sarah, who opted to open a bike shop instead of going to graduate school for business. “It’s very multifaceted, but we’ve really felt the impact of low oil prices and the weather. There’s just no telling what either of those are going to do, so we’re cutting and running while we can.”

Goethe said local gas prices have dipped to about $1.42 a gallon, some of the lowest in her lifetime, making it that much easier for people to get in the car instead of going by bike.

“Even I’m susceptible to it,” Sarah said. “On our days off, we’ll jump in the car and get out of the city to go camping rather than ride our bikes because it’s affordable to do that right now.

“But it’s been a good run and I had lots of fun learning and am coming away with three years of experience running a business rather than going to business school,” she added.

Across town on Austin’s busy Guadalupe Street, Ozone Bike Dept.'s doors are locked and the lights are out. The shop’s large sign, which typically contains entertaining messages like “Dream big, be the unicorn,” now reads “Adios amigos. Thanks for all the love.”

Ozone opened 23 years ago across the street from the University of Texas. It carried bikes from Kona, Fairdale and others, as well as used bikes. Owner Vytis Vardys Jr. told BRAIN during its Austin Dealer Tour that service accounted for about 50 percent of Ozone’s business.

Vardys could not be reached for comment about the store closure.

Mirroring the city’s boom in population in recent years, Austin also saw an uptick in new bike shops — to the point where many retailers there regarded it as being saturated. At the time of BRAIN’s Dealer Tour, there were an estimated 60-plus shops serving the city, which has just under 1 million residents. Small-business owners in desirable neighborhoods have also felt the pressure of rising real estate values.

Bicycle Sport Shop’s Hill Abell, who bought the business 30 years ago, will soon downsize his 22,000-square-foot Lamar Street location by subleasing part of the space to cut costs.

“It’s just too big,” Abell said. “Our sweet spot is about 6,000 square feet, which is about what our other stores are.”

Abell said that besides rising real estate prices, the Austin market has had to deal with unusually wet weather. In 2015, Abell said Austin received 61 inches of rain — nearly double its normal annual average.

“Around 80 percent came in the first five months of the year, and in May alone we got half of the annual average,” said Abell, who currently operates three stores. “That’s a month that is a big one for shops here, so I think that would put pressure on any shop that was already in a tough financial position — and for some, it could have been a nail in the coffin.”

Like Windmill Bicycles, Bicycle Sport Shop also feels the effects of low oil prices, but Abell said that in Texas, what’s going on in the oil industry impacts local economies in a number of ways.

“You would think extra money from gas savings would infuse dollars into the local economy, but it doesn’t always work that way,” Abell said. “Jobs get cut and people are a lot more conservative with their spending.

“And it’s an election year, and the nervousness about that has started early. People are just more cautious when it comes to buying right now,” he added.

But even so, Abell said good weather in January drew people out of the woodwork and his stores had their best January on record. Casual cyclists who normally wait until March or April to buy came out with the sun in January. And Abell is also in the process of opening a fourth store in Bee Cave, a suburb about 15 miles west of Austin.

“There’s lots of growth out there and lots of families,” he said. “It’s a real prime area and it’s underserved by shops, so it really made sense to open a store out there. The last thing people want to do is drive into the city when they get off work to buy a tire or get their bike fixed, so hopefully we’ll fill that need.”

Abell is working with retail design guru Brian Hawkins on the 6,000-square-foot build-to-suit location. It should be open by mid-May.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (BRAIN) — Monuments of Cycling, founders of the Belgian Waffle Ride, have signed a two-year title sponsorship deal with Cervélo Cycles, a pairing that the companies described as “more harmonious than Roubaix and cobbles and moules and frites.”

Cervélo will offer its new line of endurance road bikes dubbed the C Series for demo at the ride, which has become popular among industry members. The 2016 Cervélo Belgian Waffle Ride presented by SPY will also include a two-day cycling and fitness expo and custom-brewed libations from The Lost Abbey. The BWR expo is set for April 23-24 at the Lost Abbey Brewery in San Marcos, California.

“Cervélo shares our vision of innovating and creating something special and unique from what's out there, making it a natural partnership in the evolution of the Belgian Waffle Ride,” said Michael Marckx, CEO of Monuments of Cycling and BWR creator.

“The BWR is an homage to the hardest one-day races in the world, with a few unexpected surprises that make our riders return for more. With Cervélo by our side and the C Series under us, we are excited to create a bigger, better, and more Belgian-er experience for everyone involved.”

“The Belgian Waffle Ride and the C5 are made for each other,” says Cervélo director of global marketing Antoine Ballon, who will be taking part in the event. “I can't wait to get out there on a fast, ultralight bike that's been engineered to ride on a variety of surfaces and in a broad range of conditions. As we like to say: The nicest roads are not always the nicest roads.”

The fifth Cervélo Belgian Waffle Ride and Wafer Ride will roll from the Lost Abbey Brewery in San Marcos on April 24, taking riders through San Diego's rural back roads and includes steep climbs, water crossings, gravel, sand and tarmac. There are two route options — the 144-mile Waffle and 68-mile Wafer — and proceeds raised will support the event's beneficiary, the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

To register, go to BelgianWaffleRide.bike. 

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A group of retailers dubbed the 20Collective has launched an initiative to grow cycling participation by establishing an industry-funded “Got Milk”-style marketing campaign for cycling targeted at the general public.

“We’re lacking any sort of direct marketing to consumers outside of the point-zero-five percent of consumers who watch the Tour de France,” said Ian Christie, 20Collective president and owner of Summit Bicycles with four stores in Northern California.

The 20Collective was born out of a two-year Shimano program launched in 2015 bringing together 20 dealers — representing 5 percent of North American IBD sales — four times annually to examine their soft goods business and service department component sales. The 20Collective idea developed from discussions during the group’s meetings.

“While Shimano brought us all together and they’ve given us a bit of leeway in terms of what we want to discuss, this is not a Shimano-driven initiative,” said Scott Helvie, 20Collective’s treasurer and chief operating officer of Bicycle Garage Indy, with three stores in the Indianapolis area. “I think they’ve been very supportive, but their intent of getting this group together wasn’t to drive this program that we’re trying to put together.”

The group is seeking support “at every level of the industry” to create an “industry advancement fund” modeled on efforts that have promoted such industries as RV’ing and fishing through public campaigns, said Alex Obriecht, 20Collective vice president and owner of five-store retailer Race Pace Bicycles in the Baltimore area.

Although the effort is being launched by independent dealers, participation won’t be limited to the IBD channel, 20Collective’s leaders said.

“It would be our goal to establish a voluntary contribution on a per-bike basis to this marketing fund throughout the industry, whether it’s Wal-Mart, or REI, or the IBD, or the Treks, the Giants, the Bianchis, the Jamises and Specialized — long term, a fund that’s paid into regularly so it’s sustainable year after year,” Obriecht said.

Said Christie: “It was clear we don’t want to exclude anyone. This isn’t an IBD-only issue, and we are all of the opinion — even though we’re all IBDs — that we need to advertise cycling as a whole and not exclude online retailers or big-box stores. We need to raise the tide for all boats.”

For more information, visit 20collective.org.

OGDEN, Utah (BRAIN) — Amer Sports Corp., the owner of Mavic and several other outdoor brands, has bought Utah's Enve Composites for $50 million. 

Enve makes carbon rims, wheels and components and has annual sales of about $30 million.

"The acquisition accelerates Amer Sports' cycling business especially in the United States and provides further expansion opportunities internationally. Enve brings capabilities in carbon technology, and it offers operational scale and synergy benefits complementing Amer Sports' cycling category," the company said. 

Amer said the purchase was an all-cash transaction. The closing is expected in the first quarter this year. 

Amer is based in Helsinki, Finland. Its U.S. winter and outdoor sports division, which includes Mavic, is based in Ogden, where Enve also is based. Besides Mavic, Amer owns Arc'teryx, Salomon, Wilson, Atomic, Suunto, Precor and Louisville Slugger.

Edge Composites was launched in 2005 by Jason Schiers. In 2010 it changed its name to Enve because of a conflict with a European brand named Edge. 

PORTLAND, Ore. (BRAIN) — Zen Bicycle Fabrication has discontinued operations and is in the process of vacating its premises. The company is working to find production capacity at other builders for its current customers, but it will not be getting back into production framebuilding itself.

"We are closing down completely, we are not reorganizing," said David Woronets, Zen Fabrication's founder. "We built our facility based on maintaining a certain capacity, and we had too many months below that figure to continue our business," he added. When the company closed it had five employees.

Woronets had investigated going forward with a smaller facility and was seeking investment to make the change, but decided it was better to close completely than to reinvest.

"There is interest in domestic manufacturing, but there is not the volume needed to keep us going. We wanted to maintain a 100-piece minimum order, but much of the interest is in runs of 10s and 20s," he said.

Woronets and his team are working to match their customers, including the company's Zen Bike Company brand, with production capacity at other U.S. builders. Depending on how that goes, Woronets thinks there might be a need for a broker like himself to match available production capacity with customers and help shepherd products to the market. Woronets can be reached at Dworonets@gmail.com.

LA MESA, Calif. (BRAIN) — Brian Baylis, one of the giants of U.S. custom steel framemaking, died Saturday at age 63 of complications from pneumonia. 

Baylis was among the first U.S. workers to go to work for Faliero Masi in the early 1970s when Masi came to America to open Masi USA, said Jim Langley, a long-time cycling journalist and senior communications editor for SmartEtailing. 

"Brian’s bike history goes way back and he has influenced legions of people in the industry over the years," Langley said. His intricately made lugged frames are treasured by many, and he was notable among his peers because he painted as well as brazed, a rarity.

Former framemaker Dave Moulton wrote on his blog this weekend that Baylis was "a complex character."

"It is an understement to say Brian Baylis was a colorful character," Moulton wrote. 

On Baylis' own blog, he wrote that he entered framemaking on a bit of a whim, after learning that Masi had set up a U.S. factory.

"For some unknown reason, having never considered building bike frames, I sought out the English-speaking  manager, Roger Smith. I asked if they needed any people to work at the new Masi factory. It was disappointing to hear, 'I don't think we need anybody right now.'

"The following day, I had to deliver a Rolls-Royce for the dealer I worked for. The Masi factory was right off the freeway in Carlsbad, so I whipped the Silver Shadow off the freeway and stopped. Roger Smith was surprised to see me. There were no applications, I just wrote my name and number on a piece of paper. Asked if I had any previous experience, I told them I built some wheels and painted a frame or two in my garage with an airbrush. Apparently that was good enough;the following week I was working at Masi. I was the fourth American to be hired."

After learning his craft at Masi, he formed Wizard Bicycles with Mike Howard. He later returned to Masi for a time before starting to sell bikes under his own name. In addition to painting his own work, he did restorations and OE paint for other builders.

Patrick Brady, publisher of Red Kite Prayer, said, "Baylis once told me that he didn't build for fame, for the money or for performance. He wasn't even building for the customer. When my jaw dropped he let another breath pass and then clarified: 'I'm building for the next generation, or the one after that. I'm building heirlooms.'"

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (BRAIN) — SRAM is releasing a new line of mountain bike disc brakes, called Level. The new line of 2-piston brakes will replaces some SRAM and Avid brakes in the company's model line.

The Level group was designed to bring some of the technology SRAM used in its 2015 Downhill racing brakes to a smaller, lighter package for cross-country and trail riders. 

The five new models in the line include the Level Ultimate (replacing SRAM XX); the Level TLM (replacing SRAM XO); Level TL (replacing SRAM DB5); Level TR (replacing Avid DB3); and Level (replacing Avid DB1).

The Level lever is a new design based on SRAM's Guide brakes but more compact and lighter. The lever also features the Guide lever's Timing Port Closure mechanism, seals and expandable bladder reservoir. It has a new detent design for the tooled reach adjust.

The Level caliper also borrows technology from the Guide Ultimate S4 caliper, including its heat shield and Bleeding Edge bleeding feature. The Level caliper has two 21mm pistons. 

Retail pricing: Level Ultimate:$297. Level TLM: $190. Level TLM: $102; Level T: $82; Level: $63. 

BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — Jeff Wilbur has left CatEye America after 12 years with the company. "The timing was right for separation, as I understand the challenges midsize, dealer-direct models face when it comes to their marketing needs," Wilbur said.

Wilbur joined the U.S. branch of the Osaka, Japan-based cycling accessory company in 2003 as its customer service manager, and went on to serve as VP of operations and most recently as VP of marketing. Previous to CatEye, Wilbur managed a boutique road shop in Upstate New York and later two larger multisport shops in the Colorado Front Range.

"I'm incredibly proud of everything we accomplished during my years at CatEye, especially working with so many inspiring people in the industry — editors, media reps, athletes, agencies, distributors, sales reps and retailers," Wilbur said.

"I'm looking forward to the next challenges and opportunities that are coming into focus. " Wilbur said he is currently in negotiations to purchase and renovate a historic property that will house a full-service bike shop and café.

He can be reached at jeff@houseofspin.bike or via LinkedIn.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (BRAIN) — Tom Roth and Framed Bikes have agreed to part ways, Roth announced Tuesday.

"I have enjoyed my time working with Framed and as a group, we have grown into a strong bike company that is poised for aggressive growth," Roth said. "Framed now has a dealer base of of close to 300 dealers and will be expanding into much more than just fat bikes in the near future."

Roth said he is exploring several options to further his more than 30 years in the bike business.

He can be reached at (609) 827-9573 or troth1@verizon.net.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (BRAIN) — Josh Hon, the founder and team captain of Tern Bicycles, will deliver a talk on "Accelerating the Goal of Sustainable Transportation in Asia" at the Velo-city Global 2016 conference, behind this weekend and early next week in Taipei.  Hon's presentation will be next Tuesday. 

Hon said Tern, a Taipei-based folding bike brand, offers unique lessons for designing products that help urban transportation scale sustainably.

"Folding bikes amplify public transportation by extending the range of accessibility," says Hon. "When people commute intermodally, cities can be re-imagined. Whether that means parking spaces turned into parks, or lean yet efficient public transit networks, folding bikes catalyze innovative thinking about urban planning and governance. We're excited to meet with other transportation advocacy leaders, to share inspiration for building a sustainable future."

Tern has worked with government leaders and business people throughout the world to encourage sustainable transportation. 

Hon will participate in a Velo-city panel that also includes Claus Fleischer, the CEO of Bosch eBike Systems, and Han Wu, CEO of Design Capital 2016.

Other industry speakers at Velo-city include Armin Landgraf, the director of Pon Bicycle Group; Antony Lo, the chairman of Taiwan Bicycle Association and president of Giant Bicycle; John Burke, the president of Trek; and Robbert de Kock, the secretary general of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry. 

The Velo-city conference is being held immediatly prior to the Taipei Cycle Show, which opens next Wednesday.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BRAIN) — Joan Hanscom has joined USA Cycling as its new director of event services. 

Hanscom most recently worked at ABUS Mobile Security in Chicago. Prior to that she worked in cycle event production and management; she was a partner with Pro G, an event management company that was behind the first successful bid to host the UCI's Elite Cyclocross World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2013.

As the USAC's director of event services, Hanscom will oversee the renamed and restructured Event Services Department, which will provide a range of services to event directors including online registration; provision of officials; results and rankings; anti-doping testing; marketing to USA Cycling's audience; and comprehensive insurance coverage. 

"Joan is a deeply experienced race promoter, a longtime cyclist and racer, and a leader," saiod USA Cycling CEO Derek Bouchard-Hall. "She shares our event director community's passion for hosting great events and she understands their challenges. She is uniquely qualified to drive USA Cycling to be the customer-focused and value-creating organization that we aim to be for all cycling events in America."

"I'm tremendously excited to be joining the team at USA Cycling," Hanscom said. "In a way it's a deeply personal move because I love the sport in all its forms and it feels right to be returning to my roots. I'm also very much looking forward to being part of USA Cycling's efforts to grow the sport from the grass roots, and to use my past experience as a promoter to work with other promoters to dramatically enhance the value of USA Cycling's support for cycling events."

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BRAIN) — 3T Cycling is naming Memphis' Victory Bicycle Studio its first Customer Service and Repair Center for 3T wheels.

"This is a new, cutting-edge industry being created in Memphis, and it's going to have a large, positive economic impact on the city of Memphis," said Victory owner and CEO Clark Butcher.

Butcher founded Victory Bicycle Studio in 2010.

3T president René Wiertz said, "We are delighted to have made this alliance ... Victory Bicycle Studio is a highly skilled outfit with all the resources needed to maintain and repair our wheels.

"We have no doubt Clark Butcher's team at Victory Bicycle Studio will meet the high standards we set for 3T Service Centers. Our customers in the United States can buy our wheels with the assurance of world‐class service backup."

Clark said he will focus on the socio-economically distressed community of Binghampton for the new 3T service and distribution center. With Victory Bicycle Studio already located in the neighborhood, Clark said the service center will continue to revitalize the area by staffing the center from youth of the neighborhood.

"My main goal for the repair and customer service center is for it to be located within walking distance to Binghampton," Clark said. "I want to give young men and women in the community the opportunity to learn a skill that leads to a full-time career and clear path to prosperity."

TAMPA, Fla (BRAIN) — A federal court judge, in a stinging review of an ongoing case involving Giant Bicycles and Florida retailer Frances Kane, has denied appeals by Giant's attorneys to overturn a jury's verdict.

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Steven D. Merryday said no to Giant's request for a new trial and a request that he reduce a $3 million punitive award to Kane.

In a separate decision, Merryday also denied Giant's request to keep documents and testimony about Giant's finances confidential.

The judge's rulings, part of an ongoing appeals process, is the latest round in a more than two-year-long battle in which a Florida jury awarded Kane $250,000 in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages.

Last September, a nine-person jury, in a unanimous verdict, concluded that Giant had fraudulently induced Kane, owner of Flying Fish Bikes, to order $120,000 worth of bicycles to be sold in the spring of 2013. At the same time Giant executives were planning to terminate their relationship with Kane and open a Giant store less than two miles from Kane's operation.

Giant's lawyers said at the time that they would appeal. Giant executive director John Thompson told retailers that BRAIN's coverage of the verdict failed to tell both sides of the story. "We want to assure you that the picture presented by the media coverage of this case is not the way Giant Bicycle does business. We sincerely hope you agree,” Thompson said in the letter. Giant executives have declined to comment on the case because of the ongoing litigation.

Merryday, in a 43-page order, pointed out that Kane had been a Giant dealer since 2006 and that Giant could have terminated its dealer agreement with Kane with a 90-day written notice.

Instead of terminating Kane, Giant's then general manager, Elysa Walk, along with Thompson, regional sales manager Geoffrey Godsey and Florida account executive Mickey Singer induced Kane to order inventory for the upcoming 2013 season. Last October, Walk left Giant for a job at Burton Snowboards and Thompson was promoted to general manager.

Merryday, citing emails between Giant executives, pointed out that Gregg Frederick, at the time Giant's director of retail services, had advised Godsey and Singer that it wasn't right to sell Kane bicycles knowing that Giant was about to terminate him and open a store less than two miles from Flying Fish.

In an email, Singer responded: "I have three kids to feed. I need the order." Godsey responded: "I'm here to sell bikes and we need to hit numbers in (the fourth quarter), so we need to do what we can to sell bikes."

Godsey then sent an email to Thompson noting that Kane had accepted Giant's terms. "This should keep us in position with product in the market until the distribution change associated with Outspokin (Bicycles) materializes," Godsey wrote.

"Since 2006, Giant had not suggested exercising this right to terminate. Rather, during the negotiations, Giant re-emphasized renewed and lasting relations with Flying Fish," wrote Merryday, a 24-year veteran of Florida's Middle District U.S. District Court.

The judge noted other emails from Godsey to Thompson that outlined the transition plan from Kane to Outspokin. "As for Flying Fish, (I) began laying groundwork to make (the) transition out of that relationship. At this point (Kane) has ZERO idea about what is about to take place. I played things very cool, remained calm and (Kane) is all BARK and no BITE as I suspected," Godsey wrote.

Two weeks after Godsey wrote that email in November 2012, Giant and Outspokin owner Steve Tavanese, a Clearwater, Florida, Giant dealer, began work on the interior of the new store. On Dec. 20, 2012, Godsey told Kane Giant was terminating him as a dealer.

Merryday, as part of his order, wrote, "Giant devised a scheme in pursuit of a single goal — maintaining Giant's 'momentum' in the market by defrauding Flying Fish." Giant coordinated with Outspokin to acquire a retail site and stock it with Giant products, while promising Kane a lasting relationship.

"Giant fastidiously kept information about the new store from Flying Fish. Each course of action required months of careful attention and implementation," Merryday wrote denying Giant a new trial or a reduction of damages.

Editor’s note: Fred Clements is the vice president of the National Bicycle Dealers Association. Clements’ previous blog posts can be read on bikedealerblog.wordpress.com.

As independent businesses fight for their place against chain stores and Internet giants, there may be some significant push-back against the big guys. A new survey shows many independents are doing well and even better than their bigger competitors in several areas, including 2015 sales growth.

The Independent Business Survey, conducted annually by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Advocates for Independent Business, gathered data from over 3,200 independent businesses reporting solid sales in 2015, with revenue growing an average of 6.6 percent. Among independent retailers, revenue increased 4.7 percent in 2015, including a 3.1 percent gain during the holiday season.

These figures are significantly better than that of many national retail chains. Overall holiday retail sales rose just 1.6 percent in December according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Overall employment at the independent businesses surveyed expanded by 5.6 percent in 2015, with more than 30 percent of respondents reporting the addition of at least one employee.

Local First initiatives are also making a difference, the survey found. Two-thirds of respondents in cities with an active Local First, or "buy local," campaign said that the initiative is having a noticeable positive impact on their businesses.

Competition from large internet companies is a top challenge, particularly for independent retailers, and 70 percent ranked it as very significant to their business. Another obstacle is the fact that large competitors market power to secure better pricing and terms from suppliers. The rising cost of commercial rent is another difficulty, with 59 percent of retailers reporting being worried about the increasing cost of rent. The steep swipe fees set by credit card companies are also a challenge. A large majority of retailers favored government action to cap credit card swipe fees, as the E.U., Australia, and other countries have done.

Among the respondents were 115 bicycle retailers. Among bike shops:

• 58 percent said their revenues were up in 2015, with 2.5 percent average growth.
• Only 41 percent said their holiday sales were up, with average growth of 1.1 percent.
• While only 37 percent said they had Local First campaign in their cities, a majority of 73 percent said they feel public awareness of the benefits of supporting locally owned businesses is growing or staying stable in their markets.
• 87 percent of bike shops said competition from Internet retailers is a "4 or 5" on a scale of 1 to 5 of importance.
• Other issues were health insurance costs (60 percent rated it a 4 or 5), difficulty in finding qualified employees (5o percent), competitors receiving better pricing and terms (33 percent) and competition from larger brick-and-mortar chains (33 percent).

"While the survey shows a number of positive trends for small businesses, especially the impact of buy local programs, independent retailers are under more financial pressure than ever before, due to increasingly thin margins," said Todd Grant, president of the NBDA. "In light of the significant value these local entrepreneurs bring to both their communities and their industries, we believe they need an opportunity to compete and that suppliers in particular need to step up to ensure pricing parity across channels."

More on the survey is available from the ILSR website: ilsr.org/2016-independent-business-survey.

PHILADELPHIA (BRAIN) — Advanced Sports International is working with Philadelphia bike advocates to support a "community bike build" this weekend. The event includes assembling the 100 bikes that ASI promised to donate to charity on the occasion of the Pope's visit to the city last year. 

The Second Annual Cadence Community Bike Build will be held at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia in Center City on Sunday.

At the event, the Philadelphia bicycling community will convene to assemble donated bikes for four local nonprofit organizations — Cadence Youth Cycling, Neighborhood Bike Works, the Philly Pumptrack, and Gearing Up. This year the assembly will include the 100 pledged bikes from ASI's Fuji, SE, and Breezer brands.

"This Sunday is the fruition of a pledge made in September after an inspiring visit," said Larkin Silverman, ASI's communications & advocacy coordinator. "As Philadelphia's bicycle company, it is incumbent upon us to make our products accessible to as wide a ridership as possible, especially here in our hometown. We can't wait to get these bikes to their new homes."

All Philadelphia residents are invited to join Sunday's event. There will be several professional bike mechanics on hand. Bike-building participation is not mandatory to attend. Bicycle Coalition sponsors Chipotle and Lagunitas will be providing food and beer. A small donation is recommended for attendance.

A commemorative replica of Pope Francis's custom Breezer Downtown 8 will be on display at the event; and ASI's Karen Bliss, who is chair of the Mayor's Philadelphia Bicycling Advocacy Board, will be on hand to answer questions.

The First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia is at 2125 Chestnut Street. The event is from 10 a.m-4 p.m.

BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — Nelson Vails, the only African-American cyclist to win an Olympic medal, will preside over five screenings of a new film about his life, "Cheetah – The Nelson Vails Story," at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show this weekend. He'll also be available to answer questions after each screening.

The film highlights "Nelly's" improbable ascension from a New York City bike messenger from the streets of Harlem to the podium at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, catapulting him onto the world stage. 

"In honor of Black History Month, I am so excited to attend this year's NAHBS event and celebrate the many years of my cycling success," said Vails. "Most of those were spent on custom, handmade racing bicycles from some of the best framebuilders in the world, just like the ones on display at this show."

Show director and custom builder Don Walker said Vails "was certainly an inspiration for me and so many riders all over the world back in '84 and beyond. And he has since committed his life to inspiring others around the world to overcome the odds and become their own champion."

NAHBS attendees can also join Vails on the road on Sunday, when Mike's Bikes will host a Go Ride With Nelly event at 8:45 a.m. from the store in downtown Sacramento, a couple blocks from the show. Vails may also ride along on one or more of the free NAHBS group rides, which depart at 7 a.m. Friday and Saturday from the show.

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (BRAIN) — Haibike has chosen Backbone Media as its U.S. public relations agency of record.

Haibike was established in Germany in 1995, and has been distributed in the U.S. since 2014.

"E-bikes are the fastest growing segment of the bike industry and we need an agency partner that can help us speak to new audiences," said Ken Miner, director of sales for Haibike USA. "Backbone represents a broad spectrum of active-lifestyle brands and we're confident in their ability to tell our story to both endemic cycling and mainstream media."

"Ebikes can be a polarizing topic in the cycling world," says Backbone Media's managing partner, Nate Simmons. "But the truth is that they make cycling more accessible for more people, whether you're commuting 20 miles every day or riding a mountain bike for the first time. Haibike is a dominant brand in Europe and the potential for them in the U.S. is massive."

Haibike will be exhibiting at the Sea Otter Classic April 14-17, 2016 in booths 739/740 and is the title sponsor for the Sea Otter's first e-MTB race.

Backbone has offices in Carbondale and Denver, Colorado, and Jackson, Wyoming. 

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (BRAIN) — The QBP Fund — Quality Bicycle Products’ $1 million charitable trust benefiting bicycle advocacy, projects and organizations — has earmarked $50,000 for Nevada-based programs including the Nevada High School Cycling League and Bijou State Park. Reno, Nevada, is home to QBP’s newest distribution center, Q-Reno, which opened in December.

The QBP Fund’s first donation was allocated to Reno Bike Project, a community bike shop.

“RBP is thrilled to partner with QBP in making Reno a better place for cyclists,” said Noah Chubb-Silverman, director of Reno Bike Project. “QBP's advocacy — whether it be for cycling, healthy communities or a cleaner environment — sets the standard for the industry, and we look forward to being a part of their movement."

Initiated in late 2015 by a contribution from QBP founder and chairman Steve Flagg, the QBP Fund is a separate entity from QBP’s own charitable Advocacy, Community and Environment (ACE) program.

“Bicycling has enriched my life and (wife Mary Henrickson’s) life in so many ways. Key to QBP’s success has been the passion and drive from our dealers and our suppliers, so creating the QBP Fund is our way of expressing gratitude,” Flagg said. “By supporting projects and advocacy to help create better cycling environments and get more butts on bikes, we’re honoring dealer and supplier commitment with a strong commitment of our own.”  

CLEARFIELD, Utah (BRAIN) — Vista Outdoor Inc. has agreed to buy BRG Sports, Inc.'s Action Sports division, which includes Bell, Giro, C-Preme and Blackburn. Vista, still little known in the bike world, bought CamelBak last year and also owns the Bollé brand, in addition to a variety of hunting and fishing brands. Vista did not buy BRG's Riddell helmet brand.

Vista said its new brands will be integrated into the company's Outdoor Products segment, and will better balance its brand list between Shooting Sports and Outdoor Products.

"This acquisition is consistent with our strategic growth objective of becoming a world-leading outdoor sports and recreation products company," said Vista Outdoor chairman and CEO Mark DeYoung.

"This is our third acquisition since becoming an independent public company one year ago, and demonstrates our commitment to creating a solid leadership position in the individual outdoor recreation market with top-tier brands and market-leading capabilities. The Action Sports acquisition, combined with our strong CamelBak and Bollé brands, positions Vista Outdoor as a leading company in cycling and snow sports equipment in both North America and Europe. Adding these innovative and well-known consumer brands to our portfolio creates a channel leadership position, enabling us to sell a broad suite of Vista Outdoor products to specialty outdoor shops, wholesalers and leading outdoor product retailers."

Vista is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the VSTO symbol. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Vista Outdoor said it expects to close on the deal in the next 30 to 60 days.

In addition to the $400 million payment, Vista Outdoor will pay additional contingent consideration if incremental profitability growth milestones are met within BRG's powersports product line. It said it expects the newly acquired brands to generate sales of about $350 million in 2016 and said the purchase price is approximately 10 times the expected 2016 EBITDA for the acquired brands.

BRG Sports' executive chairman and CEO Terry Lee said, "Vista Outdoor is a perfect new home for the Action Sports division as they join an expanding outdoor sports and recreation company comprised of market-leading brands. Under Vista Outdoor ownership, we are confident Bell, Giro, C-Preme and Blackburn will continue to drive product innovation and lead the industry. We know they will continue to foster the strong people and product culture that makes these brands great."

The acquisition will include more than 600 employees.