Cycling News & Blog Articles

MIAMISBURG, Ohio (BRAIN) — Challenge accepted.

Encouraged by a BRAIN cover story from July 2019 about the industry lagging behind other outdoor segments in sustainability, VAAST Bikes revamped all packaging, making it plastic-free and unveiling it in March.

"It's been on our minds since the inception of the brand in 2018," said Joey Burke, marketing manager at VAAST. "The team began looking into packaging ideas in spring 2019, but it was not until BRAIN presented a challenge to the bike industry as a whole to do better sustainably that we decided to make this initiative a priority — to send our first shipment of bikes with sustainable packaging."

VAAST, which also launched last year as the first line of performance bikes using 100% recyclable ALLITE Super Magnesium frames, says it is the first cycling brand to use 100% recyclable fiber-based packaging constructed from recycled products. It also employs Velcro straps, which can be used for other purposes, VAAST said.

An industry sustainability expert who contributed to the BRAIN cover story was encouraged by the news.

ANNECY, France (BRAIN) — A French newspaper is reporting that a business lawyer is planning to "save" Mavic, which was placed in receivership earlier this month.

According to L'Equipe — a paper that is owned by ASO, which also owns the Tour de France and other major cycling events — lawyer Didier Poulmaire is working with "a small group of experts from the bicycle manufacturing, distribution, events and marketing sector and two renowned ex-professional riders" to help revive Mavic.

The California investment group Regent LP bought Mavic from Amer Sports last year. A Regent principal recently told BRAIN that he hoped the receivership process, similar to a Chapter 11 filing in the U.S., would allow Mavic to shed some expenses and attract more outside investment.

A labor group at Mavic's headquarters near Annecy has complained that the acquisition was mysterious, noting that business records show the 2019 acquisition was by a company called M Sports International, not Regent. But Regent said there's no mystery: M Sports is a corporation it controls and which it set up to facilitate the acquisition, a common business practice.

The labor group also has said that the new owner has failed to invest in the brand since the acquisition.

Poulmaire told L'Equipe his group's aim was to save jobs and preserve Mavic's legacy. Mavic has about 200 employees in France.