Steve Frothingham

Steve is in his second stint at BRAIN. He was here at the beginning in 1992 while still working for a bike shop in Santa Fe, N.M. He wrote several articles for BRAIN's first issue and later joined the staff, eventually becoming managing editor and then executive editor.

After leaving BRAIN in 1997 he worked for several news organizations including The Associated Press and VeloNews before rejoining BRAIN as web editor in 2011.

He is based in Longmont, Colorado, and is an enthusiastic (and slow) road, mountain bike and cyclocross rider.

sfrothingham@bicycleretailer.com
/twitter.com/#!/stevefroth

All articles by Steve Frothingham

Trump threatens tariff increase this week

May 6, 2019
Wikicommons photo by 500px.com/jasonknauer

BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — President Donald Trump on Sunday said he would increase the punitive tariffs on some Chinese goods, including bikes and bike products, from 10% to 25% on Friday. Trump repeated the promise Monday morning, even as the news rattled international stock markets.

Posted in Industry News

Fox Factory bike-related sales up 13% in Q1

May 1, 2019
Costs of patent lawsuits with SRAM total over $2 million in the quarter.
Annual bicycle and power vehicle revenue for Fox, through 2018 fiscal year.

BRASELTON, Ga. (BRAIN) — Fox Factory's bicycle business, through the Fox suspension, Marzocchi suspension, RaceFace and Easton cycling brands, was up 12.7% in the first quarter this year, to $65 million. The company also said equipping e-bikes will be a bright spot for Fox in the next two seasons.

Posted in Industry News

Dutch industrial lubricant company Interflon flirts with US bike market

April 30, 2019

SWANTON, Vt. (BRAIN) — Interflon, a Dutch company that sells industrial lubricants in 52 countries, is slowly making its way into the industrial market in the U.S. and along the way is exploring opportunities in the U.S. bike shop market.

Posted in Industry News

BPSA members approve merger with PeopleForBikes Coalition

April 25, 2019

BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — The final hurdle has been crossed — a majority of the members of the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association have voted to approve their organization's merger with PeopleForBikes.

Posted in Industry News

Hubs and sprockets included in Trump's threatened EU tariffs

April 15, 2019

WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — Some hubs and sprockets would be among the $11.5 billion in goods subject to retaliatory tariffs of up to 100% proposed by the Trump administration.

Posted in International

Midway distributes to shops and programs overlooked by other suppliers

April 11, 2019

ST. PAUL, Minn. (BRAIN) — While the rest of the industry battles over market share in the enthusiast market, Midway Bicycle Supply is finding growth providing parts and accessories to nonprofit shops and other programs that serve consumers in need of lower-priced bikes. Those operations, as well as some mobile service and service-only shops, often can’t establish accounts with larger distributors.

Posted in Industry News

Spinlister returns with new bike-share capability for IBDs

April 11, 2019
Spinlister’s kiosk bike rental system works with nearly any iOS tablet.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (BRAIN) — Spinlister, which started as a peer-to-peer bike-share platform in 2012, has been reborn with technology that can help IBDs dip a toe into the micromobility boom.

Posted in Retail News

PBMA brings mechanic schools, brands together to work on standardized training

April 10, 2019

DEL MAR, Calif. (BRAIN) — The industry is moving ever closer to a long-held goal of creating a standardized mechanic certification.

Posted in Retail News

Unsecured creditors sue 'insider group' to recover debts from ASE

April 8, 2019

DURHAM, N.C. (BRAIN) — A committee of unsecured debtors — whose members include a long list of bicycle suppliers owed millions by the bankrupt former owner of Performance Bicycle and ASI — is suing some of the companies that hold preferential positions in a bid to increase the amount of debt they are ultimately able to recover.

Posted in Industry News

BRAIN apologizes for phrases in Guest Editorial

April 8, 2019
We’ve removed the phrases from the web posting.

On behalf of BRAIN I’d like to apologize for a phrase that appeared twice in a Guest Editorial published in our April 1 print issue and on our website this week. The phrase, which appeared twice in the column, was offensive and unacceptable and we regret that it survived our editing process.

Posted in Industry News

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