Following the commencement of the voting process for the BikeBiz Awards last month, we’ll be highlighting each and every finalist from our list of expertly-curated accolades.
The final decision will be placed in the hands of those that know best – professionals that work within the industry day in day out and prosumers with a passion for cycling.
The online vote will close on Friday 27th November and the results will determine the 2020 BikeBiz Awards winners.
Today, we’re showcasing the community awards: BikeBiz Woman of the Year and Innovation from a Newcomer.
BikeBiz Woman of the Year
Clare Dewey, Epic Road Rides – “I first met Clare a few years ago when she was just starting out with her plan to launch an in-depth travel guide to travelling with a road bike around the world – Epic Road Rides. Since then she has built a vibrant community of diverse cyclists from around the world who want to share their passion for cycling and visiting new places. Epic Road Rides has become a detailed resource for the cycling tourist – easy to read and full of information on cycling routes, places to stay and local culture.”
Georgia Yexley, Beryl – “Georgia Yexley, head of growth at Beryl, recognised the importance of maintaining access to bikes for key workers right from the start of lockdown and worked tirelessly to make it easy and convenient for workers to use Beryl bikes. She advocated internally to ensure a fleet of bikes was available for long-term loan to key workers in London and led discussions with partners in all Beryl cities to execute a series of free ride initiatives. These were focused on keeping key workers and NHS staff moving for free in a safe and convenient way during COVID-19 lockdown.”
Lauren Goode, Chicken CycleKit – “Lauren works tirelessly as the head of design at Chicken Cyclekit, and her design flair and influences are often seen across the entire industry through the many CCK brands. Having produced some of the most interesting and unique Pro Team and club kit designs in the UK, Lauren is often found designing some of the best custom water bottles for shops, clubs and teams. She is also instrumental in producing (we think) the best B2B user interface in the UK, marrying clean and concise aesthetics with intuitive workflow that enhances the user experience of our website. ”
Nikki Hawyes, ZyroFisher (set to join Dorel Sports on 6th January 2021) – “Nikki is the director of brands for the Fisher portfolio at ZyroFisher. As a manager she has continued to support my development and training over the past three years in the brand management role. On a one to one basis on both a professional level and personal has been very supportive regarding recent circumstances at home.”
Rachael Gurney, Off Road CC – “She’s a female MTB journalist that consistently produces excellent reviews, and that isn’t something you can assume from any gender, partly thanks to having raced and won at UK level. She tests kit properly and is always eager to improve. She’s one of the select few journalists whos opinions I respect.”
Sandra Corcoran, Pennine Cycles – “Sandra has been the director and joint owner of award-winning Pennine Cycles, which is an independent bicycle dealer based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, for 20 years. Sandra continues to contribute tirelessly to the cycle industry. The passion she has motivates and inspires people to cycle. Sandra is a natural networker, she continues to encourage and mentor entrepreneurs in business and in cycling. She was invited to be a “Dragon” at the University of Bradford’s Dragon Den event. She promotes the benefits of cycling both for physical and mental health and has always been involved in cycling initiatives to encourage cycling.”
Innovation from a Newcomer
Busby – “We launched Busby under 12 months ago and quickly managed to save three lives with our ground-breaking incident detection technology with our partners What3Words and their global geo-locating system. Busby took four years to develop with the help from EU backing and continuous R&D. As of August 2020, Busby is the only automatic incident detection app available on the app stores (globally) after Apple amended its guidelines to allow us to launch following an intense review into our advanced technology.”
Knaap Bikes – “From the #KnaapBikesUK very first email outreach in just September 2020, we could tell they were significantly different. This unique two-seater, 140km range, 180kg capacity e-bike is within weeks building a partner network around the UK with an e-bike that brings motorbike level presence on the road with a new take on retro which went parked out front of stores stops customers in their tracks, whether 15 or 75.”
Leopard Tech – “Leopard Tech is a new UK start-up in the bicycle/technology market. Our flagship product, The Leopard IoT system, is set to become the industry standard in digital security and connectivity. The system comprises of hardware module that can be fitted either within the frame or as part of an accessory such as a bottle cage. For traditional bikes, it comes with its own power source and includes esim, GPS, Bluetooth, vibration and motion sensors as well as an inbuilt alarm.”
Ochain – “Ochain is based on an active spider concept and enables your chain to move freely as your suspension compresses, disconnecting rider resistance over steep, rough and technical terrain. It also allows significant braking performance by eradicating brake-induced suspension jack. Launching earlier in 2020, Ochain has already featured on several world-level professional bikes. Most notably, Ochain can already credit themselves with a World Championship win when piloted by Trek Factory Racing rider Reece Wilson in Leogang.”
Superstrata – “This summer has seen the launch of Superstrata – the “world’s first” 3D-printed custom unibody carbon fibre composite bike and e-bike. Its proprietary composite 3D-printing manufacturing technology is able to print each frame individually according to each rider’s precise body measurements.”
SureShift – “Sureshift launched a simple solution to make changing gear for children easier! There are two types of shifter usually fitted to children’s bikes, a twist-shift or a thumb shifter. The shifter we chose to work with was a Shimano M310 and M315, this was a shifter often found on junior bikes and could be an affordable upgrade for those changing from a twist shifter. After months of trial and error, the first prototype was 3D printed and tested, and Sureshift landed on the market in January 2020.”
The Awards is returning for its 12th iteration this year in a digital format, forgoing a live event to ensure those working tirelessly to keep the sector’s wheels turning can receive the recognition they deserve while ensuring the safety of all involved.
The winners will be revealed online on Friday 11th December. Check out BikeBiz’s November edition to find out what last year’s winners have been up to since.
For sponsorship and promotion opportunities, please contact Richard Setters.
Pure Electric is sponsoring the Cycle Advocacy Award at the BikeBiz Awards 2020. The specialist electric mobility retailer has stores nationwide, offering a range of e-scooters, e-bikes and accessories, together with e-bike demo centres in selected stores, plus service and repair centres.