Archive for May, 2009

Quick update from Indy

Posted on 27. May, 2009 by Josh in Bike industry, Client News | No Comments

Quick update from Indy

Today Zipp’s engineers gave us an all-access tour of the in-house manufacturing facility where every Zipp rim is made by hand. Having worked with Zipp for over a year, what really impressed me was that they put the same level of engineering and technology into their processes as they do into the products themselves. Many of their machines and tools are custom-built. Unfortunately, I can’t really show any pictures of those.

Gone from performance cycling, adidas goes fixed-gear

Posted on 19. May, 2009 by Josh in Bike industry, Trends | 1 Comment

Gone from performance cycling, adidas goes fixed-gear

The sneaker world has been abuzz this week with news of a limited-edition adidas fixed gear shoe, which is an interesting development given adidas’ departure from the cycling business at the end of last year. Granted, adidas Performance and adidas Originals are very different brands and separate parts of the company. But symbolically, it’s an intriguing statement for the bike industry

Universal Sports charging for Giro Race Tracker

Posted on 13. May, 2009 by Josh in Bike Racing, New Media, Sports Business | 4 Comments

Universal Sports charging for Giro Race Tracker

In a recent column for ROAD, I argued that teams and events should more directly serve and monetize the sport’s existing core fan base. One of my suggestions was that AEG charge for the Tour of California’s Tour Tracker website that features multiple live video streams, real-time GPS tracking per rider, photos, chat, etc. And guess what? Universal Sports has done exactly that with its Race Tracker for the Giro coverage that it scooped up from RCS just before the race started. At $3.95 for a stage and $34.95 for the whole race, the Giro Race Tracker is pricier than the $25 I suggested in my column for the Tour de France. But I gave it a shot today, watching side-by-side with Universal Sports’ free live online video. Here’s my analysis…

Team might be better off financially without Astana

Posted on 06. May, 2009 by Josh in Bike Racing, Sponsors, Sports Business | 1 Comment

Team might be better off financially without Astana

The Kazakhstan cycling federation pays Bruyneel’s program with money it receives from a consortium of Kazakh companies. Those companies are unwilling or unable to pay the federation, which has in turn put the team in financial straits. Luckily, if the Kazakhs pull out entirely, all the pieces will be in place for a new title sponsor to “save” Lance Armstrong’s team just in time for the Tour de France. Even in this economy, that’s a very saleable sponsorship. It might even be better in the long run than if Astana had stayed on. Why? Sponsorship activation and metrics.

Who rakes cycling’s muck?

Posted on 03. May, 2009 by Josh in Bike industry, Marketing | No Comments

Who rakes cycling's muck?

Herman and Chomsky’s ‘propaganda model’ of media posits that “the news” is simply a means by which to put advertising in front of people with buying power. The product is the audience, not the content, and the customers are the advertisers, not the readers. So stories that make people not want to buy stuff or that speak ill of advertisers may be subject to “filtering.” The problem of filtering affects all media but is compounded in cycling, where there’s basically nothing to write about except the products and sponsored athletes of current and potential advertisers.