Dean Yobbi

Dean's love of bikes bloomed after receiving a Schwinn Pea Picker Krate for Christmas 1972. After escaping serious injury despite that model having a Hurst-inspired stick shift mounted on the top tube, he moved on to BMX bikes and racing. Discovering girls in his late teens, he abandoned his bike somewhere in the front yard, probably upside down by the rake.

It wasn’t until middle age and excessive weight began to creep when Dean returned to cycling, specifically off-road riding in South Florida. As the weight came off, his love of cycling took off and soon one bike became three, one-hour rides became four and leisurely solo rides became 26-person races through the woods until somebody puked.

Dean is a 30-year veteran of the Florida newspaper wars, most recently at the Miami Herald as an editor for 16 years, where he was privileged to rub elbows with some of the country’s finest writers and fellow editors. Dean began his career as a staff writer for The Palm Beach Post, covering sports.

He still enjoys racing, particularly 12-hour solo events on a singlespeed, and participating in gran fondos on his road bike.

All articles by Dean Yobbi

November 16, 2022

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BRAIN) — Kitsbow Cycling Apparel has emphasized community since relocating three years ago from California to the tiny textile town east of here in Old Fort. From helping with a mural project celebrating efforts to desegregate schools in the South to creating living wage jobs, Kitsbow quickly became a neighborhood business leader.

Posted in Industry News
November 4, 2022

GREENVILLE, S.C. (BRAIN) — Boyd Cycling suffered a data breach Tuesday with the wheelset manufacturer locked out of its Instagram page and losing control of its advertising account.

Posted in Industry News
October 21, 2022

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (BRAIN) — The industry's first U.S. e-bike battery recycling program nears a notable milestone seven months after it was established.

Posted in Industry News
October 20, 2022
The guidebook will be online at the end of the year.
Opus Bike has redesigned packaging to reduce the use of plastic.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (BRAIN) — PeopleForBikes announced at the SHIFT '22 conference on Tuesday the completion of its first Sustainable Packaging Guidebook that will be available to the industry at the end of the year.

Posted in Industry News
October 13, 2022

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BRAIN) — With Clint Spiegel leading an Industry Nine manufacturing tour, you'll need to hustle to keep up. His enthusiasm for what he and his team accomplish daily obviously puts a spring in his step. He's not so much in a rush as he is just excited to show and tell his company's story of quickly becoming one of the bike industry's most iconic and innovative brands.

Posted in Industry News
September 22, 2022

CARLSBAD, Calif. (BRAIN) — The city recently took short-term measures in response to a 233% rise in collisions involving bikes and e-bikes in the past three years while it works to present a longer-term solution to the City Council on Tuesday.

Posted in Industry News
September 15, 2022

WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — The industry expressed disappointment that the Inflation Reduction Act leaves out an e-bike tax credit and other initiatives that were part of more ambitious but failed climate-change legislation earlier this year. But proponents won't stop advocating for federal subsidies and expanding those on the state level.

Posted in Industry News
August 23, 2022
The longtime components company enjoys rebirth after coming close to bankruptcy.
Cane Creek hand-builds its Helm fork and rear shocks in N.C.

FLETCHER, N.C. (BRAIN) — It's the kind of failure that can ruin a company, but for Cane Creek Components, its Double Barrel Inline rear shock debacle nearly 10 years ago led to a gradual reawakening of the brand. Call it a pivot point in its history.

Posted in Industry News
August 3, 2022
Mark Mattei, right, with longtime employee Earl Russell.

CHICAGO (BRAIN) — For Mark Mattei, it's simply time. "Being 71 and still having reasonable mental faculties, I thought it would be wise to retire when I could still consciously appreciate retiring," said Mattei, Cycle Smithy's owner since 1973. "And I wouldn't mind a little time off."

Posted in Retail News
July 15, 2022
Surrounded by restrictive USFS lands, a North Carolina trail system welcomes e-bikes.
The Fire Mountain Trail network celebrated its fifth year in June.

CHEROKEE, N.C. (BRAIN) — E-bike access on non-motorized trails might be a controversial topic for many land managers, but not to Jeremy Hyatt. As secretary of operations for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Hyatt has the authority to allow e-MTB access on the Fire Mountain Trail system. Hyatt spearheaded building the system on Cherokee land that's surrounded by more-restrictive National Forest land.

Posted in Industry News

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