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Tech editor Zack Vestal tries a saddle made specifically for time trialing and is pleasantly surprised by its comfort. - [Read more]

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Team Type 1s criterium squad — nicknamed the Money Team — were just under the radar in 2009, but scored podiums in almost every crit in the second half of the year. This year they are aiming higher. - [Read more]

Less than eight months after an horrific crash on the Tour de France, Jens Voigt is already looking ahead to this years race. - [Read more]

Germanys Linus Gerdemann grabs victory in the first stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico. The Milram rider beat off second-placed Spaniard Pablo Lastras of Caisse dEpargne.

Slovakias Peter Sagan wins the 153-km third stage of the Paris-Nice race between St Yrieix La Perche and Aurillac. Spaniard Joaquin Rodriguez was second and Irelands Nicolas Roche came home third. German Jens Voigt snatches the overall lead from Dutchman Lars Boom.

Message by Jered Gruber
Powermeters have long been a chore to setup, maintain, and always demanded a distinct weight penalty. Things are changing though - with the explosion of ANT+ wireless resulting in the fantastic Garmin 705, continued developments in PowerTap hub design, and the completely redesigned Zipp 404s, well, the future is now. - [Read more]

Message by Edmond Hood
James Moss (Endura Racing) first spoke to us before Xmas; it was his intention to do a neo-pro’s blog for us from the Tour of the Med, Haut Var, and the Tour of Murcia. However, the life of a pro cyclist being as it is, it didn’t come to pass due to a variety of factors, not least being dud wi-fi; Caisse d’Epargne mistaking the first stage of the Tour of the Med for the Olympic team pursuit final and - oh yes, his hitting the tarmac at 56 kph. - [Read more]

A 21-year-old Tasmanian cyclist died after a collision with bus during training over the weekend. Tasmanian officials identified the cyclist who was killed in a head-on collision with a bus on Saturday.

William Alexander Robinson, 21, the winner of the prestigious Burnie Wheelrace in January, was killed when he crossed the center line on a steep descent in North-West Tasmania and collided with the front of a motor coach traveling in the opposite direction.

Two other riders also hit the bus, but were treated at a local hospital and released.

LAGUNA HILLS, CA (BRAIN)—The Taipei Cycle Show gets underway next week and Bicycle Retailer & Industry News will deliver daily coverage of the four-day event. Each day manufacturers, suppliers and North American retailers will receive a link via email to a multi-page PDF newsletter filled with detail about trends and products, event coverage and newsmaker interviews.

Readers who visit the magazine’s Web site also can read the newsletters.

“We produced a similar series with up-to-the-minute coverage while at Taichung Bike Week,” said Marc Sani, the magazine’s publisher. “So many readers, including retailers, sent notes thanking us for the coverage that we decided to increase coverage for the Taipei show,” he added.

Staffing this year’s show is staff editor Nicole Formosa and Sani. Companies exhibiting at Taipei can send information about new products, mergers, acquisitions or other news to Nicole at nformosa@bicycleretailer.com or to Marc at msani@bicycleretailer.com. Sani also can be reached in Taipei on his cell phone at 949-322-8392.

In addition, advertising and sponsorship opportunities are still available. If your company wants to reach the broadest market possible during the show, please contact Robert Torrico, associate publisher for sales, at (949) 206-1677 ext. 204 or email him at rtorrico@bicycleretailer.com.
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WESTPORT, CT (BRAIN)—Annual sales for Fox Racing Shox fell 7.8 percent in 2009, but the company saw signs of recovery in the fourth quarter with double-digit growth during the last three months of the year.

Fox reported net sales of $121.5 million in 2009 compared with $131.7 million in 2008 and $105.7 million in 2007. In the fourth quarter, revenue rose 13.4 percent, from $30.6 million in 2008 to $34.6 million for the same three-month period last year.

Bookings for 2010 are well ahead of 2009 for this time of year, said Joe Massoud, CEO of Compass Diversified Holdings, Foxs parent company.

The decrease in sales for the year comes from a $12.7 million decline in the mountain biking sector “due to the impact of the global economic recession, which created excess capacity in the industry, particularly in the first half of the year, according to an annual report filed by Compass to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

International sales totaled $84 million in 2009—$35.6 million of that to Taiwan—compared with $92.5 in 2008 when Taiwan business accounted for $44.8 million.

In 2010, strategies for further growth include expanding revenue powered vehicles business, similar to last year’s partnership with Ford for the F-150 Raptor Off-Road Truck, seeking opportunities for international growth and growing aftermarket sales, which declined $2.4 million in 2009 to $29 million.

"The sale of aftermarket parts typically carries higher gross margins than a similar OEM sale," the company said. " Fox is further investing in its aftermarket sales infrastructure to foster sales growth in 2010 and beyond. One of the simplest and most effective ways for customers to improve their performance is the purchase and installation of an aftermarket Fox suspension product when compared to the expense of purchasing an entirely new platform."

Fox sells its suspension products for mountain bikes, snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles, motorcycles and off-road vehicles to more than 200 OEM and 7,600 aftermarket customers.

—Nicole Formosa - [Read more]

Isle of Man cyclist Peter Kennaugh fractures a collarbone after crashing at the Strade Bianche Eroica race in Italy. - [Read more]

New Zealander Greg Henderson delivers Team Skys first victory in Europe with a gritty sprint finish in stage one of the Paris-Nice race. - [Read more]

PARIS: Hollands 2008 world cyclo-cross champion Lars Boom won the Paris-Nice cycling prologue on Sunday in an eight-kilometre time trial in the town of Monfort-lAmaury just outside the French capital.

German veteran Jens Voigt was second, three seconds behind Rabobanks Boom, while American rider Levi Leipheimer took third.

Slovakias Peter Sagan, the events youngest competitor at 20 years old, finished in fifth place 10 seconds off the pace, while defending Paris-Nice champion Luis Leon Sanchez trailed the 24-year-old leader by 12 seconds. - [Read more]

USA Cycling announced today the eight-person U.S. roster for the upcoming UCI Track World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, March 24-28. As the defending world champion in the individual pursuit, 19-year-old Taylor Phinney earned an automatic nomination to the mens squad. The 2009 world championships in Poland saw Phinney become the first American male to win an elite world title on the track in 13 years. - [Read more]

USA Cycling announced today the eight athletes it will send to round one of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Madrid, Spain, March 26-27. The Madrid Supercross is the fifth event that factors into the 2010 USA Cycling BMX Power Rankings. The final race that will factor into these rankings will be the UCI BMX World Championships in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa on July 31. - [Read more]

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