VANCOUVER, British Columbia (BRAIN) — Victor van Eijk is opening two Velofix mobile service franchises in the New York Metro area.

Vam Eijk's Velofix Sprinter vans will cover Brooklyn, Westchester County, Nassau County and Fairfield County, providing quick and convenient service on-site. The vans' mechanics are Gregory Benning and Christopher Diaz.

Chris Guillemet, the CEO and co-founder of Velofix, said, "We are very excited to have found the right partners to launch with in the New York Metro area. There has been a substantial demand from cyclists, corporate clients and events for our services in the region, so we're thrilled to initially launch two mobile shops to fill demand."

Velofix is now represented in many major markets in the East, including Philadelphia, Boston, Rhode Island, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Florida, Atlanta, and Washington, DC. The company has sold 110 franchises across North America.

LAS VEGAS (BRAIN) — The National Bicycle Dealers Association rolled out its Bikes Build ... campaign at Interbike last week. The campaign provides dealers and other NBDA partners with the assets to promote campaigns around the phrase "Bikes Build ... " The organization says the phrase can be used ahead of a variety of nouns. For example: Bikes Build Confidence! Bikes Build Community! Bikes Build Families!  

The program contains art work and guidelines for web, print or outdoor campaigns, tailored for dealers' particular markets and needs, all working off the concept that, like Lego blocks, bikes can be used to build almost anything.

The NBDA teased the Bikes Build program last year at Interbike, said NBDA's president, Todd Grant.

"Since we first pitched the campaign to the industry, I knew we had something great on our hands and while it didn't garner the initial support we had hoped it would, we also knew it would be another great tool for our members to use in their outreach efforts," Grant said.

He said that since last year's show, he has spoken to many across the industry who encouraged the NBDA to move forward with the program.

"We believe the program has a lot of legs and limitless possibilities with where and how it can be used," he said. "This can go across thousands and thousands of websites at little or no cost to members."

The program includes a selection of pre-existing creative assets that dealers can use immediately, and guidelines on how members can make the creative align with the specific nuances of their shop and customer base.

More information: nbda.com.

Join Interbike at the renowned U.S. National Whitewater Center (USNWC) for Fall CycloFest.

Ride the best new bikes from top brands. Explore more than 25 miles of world-class mountain bike trails and the area’s network of fantastic roads. Enjoy great food, craft beer, and live music.

LAS VEGAS (BRAIN) — BikeFlights.com donate a total of $10,000 to four bike-related non-profits at the Interbike show. The money was raised through the company's Buck Up for Bikes program.

At Interbike, the company presented $2,500 checks to the the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, the Amy D. Foundation, Trips for Kids and Little Bellas on Thursday, Sept. 21.

"At BikeFlights.com, we are cyclists serving cyclists in general, and our Buck Up for Bikes program is specifically about cyclists helping the next generation of cyclists," said BikeFlights.com's owner, William Alcorn. "We love encouraging young cyclists to get excited about riding and racing their bikes."

The program was started in 2016. Trips for Kids and Little Bellas are new to the program for 2017, joining NICA and the Amy D. Foundation.

BikeFlights.com customers have the option to contribute $1 to the organizations when they book their bike shipping online at BikeFlights.com, a bicycle shipping service for cyclists. BikeFlights.com collects and tracks all donations, supplements collected contributions and covers costs of administering and publicizing the program.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (BRAIN) — QBP is dividing two of its territories into four and adding two outside sales representatives, Kyle Stark and Jeremy Whitman, to manage these new territories. Current sales reps Greg Patterson and Chuck Hood will continue to serve shops in their regions.

Patterson will now be covering eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, northern Georgia, and northern Alabama while Hood will cover Oregon.

"These changes allow for QBP's outside sales reps to gain an even deeper understanding of their retailers' needs and to serve them better," the company said.

Stark's new territory will cover eastern North Carolina, South Carolina, and eastern Georgia. He has 8 years of bicycle retail experience working in both service and store management. Most recently Stark served the southeast as the QBP account manager before accepting the outside rep position.

Whitman will manage Washington and northern Idaho. He began working in bike shops at the age of 15. Most recently, Whitman managed Meridian Cycles in Boise, Idaho, after spending 8 years as a high school science teacher, and now brings his love of bikepacking and adventures to his new home in Wenatchee, Washington.

WILTON, Conn. (BRAIN) — Cycling Sports Group, a division of Dorel Industries has promoted Adriano Nascentes to general manager of Cycling Sports Group Europe. Nascentes was previously the COO for Cycling Sports Group Europe. Prior to that, he was the CFO for Caloi, the Dorel Sports business in Brazil, for six years.

"Adriano brings a strong record in delivering results to CSG Europe," said Peter Woods, the president and CEO of Dorel Sports. "I am confident that he will bring a new perspective and positive change to CSG Europe and, most importantly, our customers."

The company said Nascentes, who will continue to be based in Oldenzaal, will focus initially on building strong relationships with CSG's European customer base as the team in Europe brings the MY18 product to market.

Dorel said that as a result of this change, Elwin deValk, who had been a senior vice president and general manager of CSG Europe, will be leaving the organization.

APTOS, Calif. (BRAIN) —Anthony Trujillo, who has worked as a staff and freelance engineer for many of the top bike suspension brands, has launched his own brand, Off Street Only. The new brand will eventually offer shocks and forks; its first product, however, is a hand dyno — a tool to quickly test shocks and forks — being offered to retailers and service centers.

Trujillo has worked with companies including Fox Racing Shox, Specialized and X-Fusion. Since launching a freelance consulting business in 2011 he has worked with several more bicycle suspension brands, as well as consulted with non-bike companies such as Hosmer Dorrance Corporation, which designs and manufactures custom dampers for above- and below-knee amputee products.

Trujillo is partnering with Racing Bros, a powersport suspension manufacturer founded by Vincent Chen. Trujillo and Chen worked together at X Fusion, Fox and Specialized, before Chen founded Racing Bros. 

Trujillo expects to introduce a long-travel rear shock in the next few months. Currently, he is offering two Hand Dyno models. The devices are used to quickly test a shock's function — off the bike —  to diagnose problems and as a quality control check after service. It can also be used as a retail point of sale tool to demonstrate the difference between shock models and to teach customers how to adjust their suspension. 

While most suspension service centers and suspension manufacturers have built their own hand dynos, Trujillo said he's not aware of any being offered commercially previously. 

The company's shock Hand Dyno will sell for $999.95 and be available Oct. 2. A Fork Hand Dyno will sell for $1,199.95 and be available in mid-October. Off Street Only also is now offering a suspension hand pump with analog gauge that sells for $35.

More information: offstreetonly.com/product/?category=tools

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (BRAIN)  — QBP's annual Frostbike will be held Feb. 15-17, 2018, the distributor announced Thursday. Registration is free for all QBP retailers and opens Nov. 2.

The event kicks off with two days of retailer education on Thursday and Friday at Radisson Blu Hotel Mall of America. Registered retailers can attend an array of seminars focused on leadership and development, customer engagement and retention, sales, and more. On Saturday, retailers can connect with QBP brands and suppliers and check out new product at the Frostbike Expo at QBP headquarters. 

"We're excited to offer an additional day of education Thursday to retailers so that even more folks can have the opportunity to hone their skills and grow their businesses," said QBP's events manager, Meghan Gess.

There are several new seminars this year that resulted from past attendee feedback. They include a seminar led by Leah Benson of Gladys Bikes called "Seriously, Your Shop Serves Women?" The seminar will give attendees practical tips to better serve the women, trans and femme community. Also, new to Frostbike this year is technical education and demos on the expo floor Saturday.

"We take retailer feedback very seriously and we're looking forward to offering more technical education from our suppliers as requested by our retailers," Gess said.

Retailers are encouraged to register early in November as Frostbike is expected to reach capacity. A discounted room block is set up at Radisson Blu Hotel at the Mall of America, and reservations can be made in advance. To book, visit the hotel's website.

For more information and to register starting in November, visit frostbike.com.

CARLSBAD, Calif. (BRAIN) — Ride BMX, a 25-year-old website published by TEN: The Enthusiast Network, has formed an exclusive e-commerce relationship with Source BMX, an e-commerce retailer.

On Wednesday, Ride BMX launched the new e-commerce site at ridebmx.com/shop. The companies said the deal "will unite Ride's ability to create the engaging, regular content and massive audience of nearly 2 million riders with Source BMX's impeccable service, knowledge and dedication that's made them one of, if not the largest e-commerce website in BMX."

Ride will continue to produce editorial content for the site, with the addition of more focus on product editorial.

"The goal is for Ride and Source to become the leading product launch platform and use our engaging video-based content to reduce the clicks between when a rider learns about a new product to having that product show up at his or her door," the publisher said.

Source co-founder Richard Moore said, "Source is 100 percent focused on making the best BMX product available to riders worldwide. As lifelong riders, we strive daily to offer the best products, prices and service possible, and this partnership with Ryan, Jeff, Zach, and Adam at Ride allows us to take things to the next level."

STUTTGART, Germany (BRAIN) — Bosch eBike Systems has agreed to purchase COBI, a connected biking startup that allows cyclists to use their smartphone as an e-bike control and display unit.

COBI's systems, available as aftermarket and OE products, offer navigation, music, telephony and fitness. COBI also connects with other apps such as Spotify, Apple Health and Bluetooth fitness sensors.

Andreas Gahlert founded COBI in 2014. "With Bosch as a strategic partner, we see huge scope for worldwide growth in the area of digitally connected products and services in the bike environment. For us, this is undoubtedly a significant step into the future," Gahlert said.

Claus Fleischer, the CEO of Bosch eBike Systems, said, "The acquisition of COBI GmbH provides the ideal opportunity to expand the product portfolio of Bosch eBike Systems in the area of connected products and services. COBI offers the necessary expertise and experience, as well as the appropriate technologies for a successful partnership."

The parties have agreed not to disclose the acquisition price. The transaction is subject to the approval of antitrust authorities.

LONDON (BRAIN) — Folding bike maker Brompton is recalling thousands of bikes — all bikes sold between April 2014 and May 2017 — to replace a bottom bracket that can fail.

The company announced the recall Thursday.

"Through our warranty and quality assurance process we have become aware of an issue affecting a component manufactured between April 2014 – May 2017. The axle of the third party supplied FAG Bottom Bracket has had higher than expected reported incidence of failure. Although this still meets international safety standards this does not meet the standards which Brompton sets for its components. We have therefore initiated a programme to recall all affected bikes and replace the bottom bracket cartridge with a new and tested part, free of charge to all of our affected customers," the company said.

The bikes affected have serial numbers from 1403284144 to 1705150001 and can be any Brompton model. The serial number can be found on a curved plate or silver sticker applied to the frame, as shown in the image.

On its website, the company said the incident rate for incidents involving the bottom brackets has been 0.02 percent. However the company said a failure could result injury from loss of control and from the sharp edge of a broken axle. Brompton said the failures are a result of metal fatigue so bikes that have had heavy use are at more risk of failure. 

More information: brompton.com/recall.

KENT, Wash. (BRAIN) — Chris Speyer, managing director for Accell North America, is leaving the company to join REI as vice president of private brands. He will take on his new role Oct. 30.

"After 11.5 years with Accell, I am leaving the company to pursue a new and exciting opportunity," Speyer said in an email to BRAIN. "Working at Accell has been a great ride, but it is time for new leadership to spearhead ANA's direction.

"I want to thank Accell, and its predecessor Raleigh America, for providing me with the opportunity to take on a leadership role for more than a decade and to be ANA's managing director for the past 3-plus years. Believe me when I tell you that I have put my heart and soul into building the business and personally taking on active role in service to the industry."

Speyer's last day with Accell North America is Oct. 13. ANA is expected to name his successor soon.

Speyer will oversee all private label development for REI — not just bike, but also softgoods and hardgoods.

Speyer grew up selling skis and bikes at a store in Ottawa, Canada. He managed ski and bike purchasing for the Forzani Group for 10 years and then worked at Worldwide Cycle, distributor of Iron Horse and other brands, for two years before joining Raleigh.

Speyer began his career in 2006 with Raleigh America and played an active role in the May 2012 sales of Raleigh America to Accell Group as well as SBS's sale to Hawley-Lambert North America in March 2016.

He's held various stints including VP of marketing and product for Raleigh, COO and CEO of Accell North America and most recently managing director. Accell North America is parent company of Raleigh, Diamondback and Redline.

Speyer is a member of the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association's board of directors and board member of PeopleForBikes.

GHENT, Belgium (BRAIN) — The electric vehicle association for Europe is surveying e-bike manufacturers and distributors on their opinion of a proposed test of e-bike power. The European Commision is considering introduction of a test of how much electricity e-bikes consume, for the purpose of categorizing the bikes.

The Light Electric Vehicle Association for Europe (LEVA-EU) has created a web survey for e-bike companies who operate in the EU. The survey is at: https://goo.gl/forms/YMvqvwtRbggY0pmw2

The survey consists of 13 questions and takes about 5 minutes to complete. The survey will be online until Oct. 9; the EC has asked for results by Oct. 15. 

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BRAIN) — Swiftwick is contributing a percentage of the proceeds from sales of its Vision product line to various non-profit initiatives, including a regional IMBA chapter.

The company has created the Community Vision Fund, which has already made donations to several groups. A new limited edition Vision Five Beer Series of socks will specifically support SORBAmidTN, the IMBA chapter for Middle Tennessee, where Swiftwick is based.

"I am proud of our team's commitment and their desire to create the Community Vision Fund," said Chuck Smith, the president of Swiftwick. "We are fortunate to receive a lot of positive energy and support from our community and we are grateful for the opportunity to give back." 

LAS VEGAS (BRAIN) — Lezyne's new Digital Drive Family includes road, offroad, fat tire and suspension handpumps with a newly designed integrated digital pressure gauge. The line also includes a standalone digital pressure gauge.

"The ability to achieve the perfect tire pressure shouldn't be limited to your bike shop or workshop. By integrating the Digital Strip Gauge into our most popular hand pumps, the accuracy and precision of a floor pump can be with you on every ride," the company said.

The line includes the Micro Floor Digital Drive in HP, HV, and XL versions, for high pressure road, high volume MTB and very high volume for fat bike and plus-size tires, respectively. The line also includes the smaller Digital Pressure Drive, Digital Road Drive and Digital Alloy Drive, and the Digital Shock Drive and the Digital Check Drive, the standalone gauge.

More information: blog.lezyne.com/digital-precision-worlds-advanced-hand-pumps.

WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — A new study being released by the National Retail Federation finds that despite the growth of e-commerce, only about a fifth of U.S. consumers are primarily online shoppers; more than three-quarters of Americans continue to shop at brick-and-mortar stores as much as or more than they did a year ago.

"This report shows that the bricks-and-mortar store is still the cornerstone of American retail and likely will be for many years to come, as consumers seek authentic interaction and experiences with retailers," said NRF's president and CEO, Matthew Shay. "Despite the changes in our industry, there is an appeal to seeing and touching merchandise in person and being able to engage with fellow human beings that has yet to go away. Even younger shoppers see the value of the store."

The study is part of the NRF's new quarterly report, called Consumer Review. Toluna Analytics produces the report with NRF, and Toluna conducted the study that is referenced in the first edition of the report. Toluna surveyed 3,002 consumers for NRF between July 20-25. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points, the company said.

According to the report, 21 percent of consumers surveyed are primarily online shoppers, defined as those who purchase more than half of their items online. By contrast, 79 percent said they purchase half or less of their items online. Among Millennials and Generation Z, 34 percent are primarily online shoppers, but the majority still make most of their purchases in stores.

Demographically, those who shop primarily online are younger, wealthier and more likely to live in a larger city. The survey found 49 percent are aged 18-34 compared with 72 percent of in-store shoppers aged 35 or older, while 53 percent of the online shoppers make $75,000 a year or more and 71 percent of in-store shoppers make less. And 53 percent of online shoppers live in a city of 50,000 people or more while 63 percent of store shoppers live in a smaller community.

Among shoppers overall, 69 percent said they go to a store because they need something right away and 65 percent wanted to see an item before purchasing. Among Millennials, 55 percent go to stores as a social activity, 50 percent to pick up an item bought online and 44 percent to talk to a sales associate. In both groups, 66 percent said they go to stores simply because they prefer to shop in stores.

Compared with a year ago, 50 percent of all consumers said they shop in stores about the same amount, while 28 percent said they do so more often, for a total of 78 percent. 22 percent shopped in stores less often. Among Millennials, 34 percent are shopping in stores about the same but 49 percent are doing so more often and only 17 percent less often. Millennials said they go to stores more often because a new store had opened, for entertainment or food options or because they are picking up items bought online.

The survey found that consumers like technologies that transform the store experience. For consumers who had tried buy online and pick up in store, 68 percent said it improved their shopping experience. Similarly, 66 percent of those who had tried in-app store navigation and 65 percent of those who had used mobile payment while shopping said it had a positive impact. Other innovations have made less of an impression, with 44 percent saying in-store digital displays had no impact on their shopping experience and 43 percent saying the same about the use of tablets or smartphones by store associates; the same number dismissed messaging apps.

More information: nrf.com/resources/consumer-research-and-data/consumer-view.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BRAIN) — Brick, a subsidiary of Darby Communications, is a new digital marketing service designed to help specialty retailers drive foot and online traffic, and increase their competitive advantage by promoting products, services and brands they represent via one or more digital channels.

"Our goal at Brick is to strengthen brick-and-mortar retailers' relationships within their local and online communities," said Angie Robinson, the vice president of Darby Communications. "Based on our research, we know there is a need for social media support, education and overall coaching for retailers so they can compete and succeed in the rapidly evolving digital landscape."

Brick works with retailers to define their online target audiences, build custom content and tailor online brand messaging.

"The team at Brick will help connect the dots with important vendors to maximize partnerships, create and track targeted social ads that will drive traffic in-store or to a retailer's online shops, or both, and optimize the retailer's channels to guarantee effective digital marketing strategies, with the end-goal of increasing sales," the company said.

More information at darbycommunications.com/BRICK or email Robinson at angie@darbycommunications.com.

FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany (BRAIN) — Folding bike brand Dahon says that Brompton has ended a lawsuit that Brompton filed in Germany on the first day of Eurobike this year.

The suit alleged that Dahon was violating a Brompton trademark. and asked for injunction barring the sale of a new Dahon bike model introduced at the show.

According to a statement released by Dahon, Brompton has voluntarily withdrawn the injunction request, and has opted to pay for Dahon's legal costs. Brompton officials did not respond to a request for comment last week.