Following the US Supreme Courts ruling that Trumps liberation day tariffs are unlawful, a growing number of bike brands are joining major US corporations including retailer Costco to recover tariffs theyve paid over the past year. Headline cycling industry names filing suits with the Court for International Trade include Shimano, Specialized and Trek. They join outdoor brands including GoPro, Patagonia and retailer REI, and major corporations such as FedEx, Toyota and Goodyear in filing suits. In fact, so many companies have now sued the US administration for return of monies paid, with interest, that the court has stopped accepting new suits. Instead, it's keeping a list of plaintiffs for settlement once a final ruling had been made. Its been suggested that companies that have filed a suit may be at the front of the queue for any eventual refunds, however. According to Dr Totis Kotsonis of international law firm Pinsent Masons: The immediate question that this ruling poses for businesses in the process of importing goods is what rate of tariff will they now have to pay at the US border. Bike industry impacted Trek and Specialized have joined the race for tariff refunds. Tim de Waele / Getty Images Trumps tariffs have already had a marked effect on the cycling industry. Before they were struck down, effective tariff rates on bicycles manufactured in China fluctuated to as high as 66%, with US cycle industry trade association PeopleForBikes publishing an open letter to the US president claiming the tariffs would be devastating for the US cycle industry. The levies on aluminium and steel, major elements of bicycle parts, would also raise prices. SRAM has issued a statement and sought to galvanise cycle retailers to protest against the tariffs. Last year, both Trek and Specialized raised their US prices in response to the tariffs, while other cycling brands have decided to limit imports to the US or cancelled shipments. On Friday, Trump responded to the striking down of his tariff authority by announcing a 10% blanket tariff under different legislation. The next morning, he raised this to 15%, but the rate implemented on Tuesday 24 February was 10%. Legal experts suggest these tariffs may also be unlawful and need to be repealed and refunded, adding to business uncertainty. Brompton tilts towards China Brompton's CEO, Will Butler-Adams, says the folding bike brand is limiting its exposure to the US market. Brompton While US companies are suing for the return of the tariffs theyve paid, the uncertainty over the tariffs is causing some bike brands to adjust their longer-term plans. According to UK business magazine Business Matters, London-based folding bike maker Brompton has already closed its branded stores in New York and Washington. Speaking to The Telegraph last April, Bromptons managing director, Will Butler-Adams, said the company had also paused plans for stores in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and was likely to raise US prices by between 5% and 10%. Instead, Brompton is tilting its bricks-and-mortar presence to China, opening a store in Shenzhen and doubling the size of its Shanghai store. Rapha has decided to close four of its clubhouses in the US. Andy Matthews Butler-Adams said the decision was a direct response to US policy unpredictability, making long-term commitment to the US market difficult. He said Brompton would continue to invest in the US, but would be more cautious. But China, where Brompton has been selling its bikes for 17 years, is now more important to the company than the US. Business Matters quotes Butler-Adams as saying: Its our largest market and we know where we stand. The brand has three of its own stores in China, as well as 14 franchised outlets, according to Business Matters. Tariffs have already hit Brompton's bottom line, with Butler-Adams citing global economic uncertainty as a factor when he recently reported a 2 million loss for Brompton in 2025. Rapha, too, is lowering its physical presence in the US, with four of five of its clubhouses slated for closure located in the country. At the same time, though, it has left the door open to the US market, partnering with USA Cycling as it looks to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 to offer a showcase for the brand.

Wheels are rarely developed on their own, so does Cadex's new wheel drop mean we're about to see a new bike from Giant?

Under the proposed new laws, motorists could be fined for leaving less than a metre when passing cyclists, which the government says will balance safety and efficient use of the roads but opponents have branded the move dangerous

Tadej Pogacar and Urska Zigart are often called 'cycling's power couple' but the amount of fans that come up to the World Champion during his regular training can at times become an issue for the duo. Zigart, in a media event hosted by AG Insurance - Soudal, has talked about dealing with the fame in...

Contrary to popular belief, the whiniest of all cyclists is not the mountain biker:[A disconcerting image of an irate mountain biker generated for an earlier post using Artificial Intelligence, which for some reason saw it fit to give him an extra row of teeth]Oh sure, the idea of having to pedal up a hill or use more than one digit to apply a brake or feel any sensation whatsoever through their dual suspension systems may reduce them to tears, and yes, they may go on and on about how any bicycle designed prior to 2019 is completely unrideable, but theyve got nothing on the e-Citi Bike riders of New York City, who are without a doubt the whiniest people on the planet Earth.I suppose this isnt surprising coming from denizens of a city whose chief export is whining (to wit: this blog), but still, theyve been going on and on about how tough theyve got it since at least 2024. First they wanted a cap on fees, because cheap shared bicycles with motors on them are a basic human right or something:Then they were upset when Citi Bike slowed the motorized bikes down to make them less dangerous:And now were supposed to believe the same people who were upset because the bikes wont go fast enough are now riding too fast on those very same bikes, and they cant themselves, because of the fees:So which is it? Are the bikes too fast, or are they too slow? Pick one and stick with it, for chrissakes! Anyway, heres why theyre indignant:Lyft justraised Citi Bike feesfor the fifth year in a row. Annual members can ride non-electric Citi Bikes for free, but e-bikes cost an extra 27 cents per minute for members and 41 cents per minute for everyone else up from 25 cents per minute cents and 28 cents per minute, respectively (increases of 8 and 47 percent) compared to 2025.Im old enough to remember when it was obstructed bike lanes that were forcing people into traffic. Now its the fear of having to pay 41 cents because your bike has a motor:I feel that pressure, a Citi Bike member named Burak told Streetsblog last week at a dock near Prospect Park. I want to lock it and unlock it very quickly.Reddit commenters whoshared their gripes about the recent fare hikeagree that the per-minute pricing and regular fee hikes impact their behavior.The fare hikes honestly encourage me to bike more aggressively and cut through traffic to reduce my ride time/cost, one commenter wrote.Okay, sure, after awhile 41 cents a minute can add up, and I suppose this is a frightening proposition to a younger generation that did not grow up using phone sex lines. (If you lived through the Landline Era and were responsible for a phone bill you naturally developed a pretty accurate internal clock.) Still, even at the new rate, if youre a non-Citi Bike member and you use one of their electric motorbikes for an hour, the extra charge comes to about $25 bucks. That should be enough time to ride it from one tip of Manhattan to the other, more or less, and it seems like a pretty decent deal to methough if you dont like it and you have a lot of ground to cover, perhaps you should consider a cheaper e-assisted alternative, such as this one:Yes, for the low, low price of $3* you can spend all day on the subway and go anywhere in the city you want!*[This is where you tell us all about how you used to ride the subway for a nickel, gramps.]You can even transfer to the bus for free. If youre unfamiliar with the concept of a bus, its basically a slower subway. Kind of like a regular Citi Bike versus an electric one:[Yes, buses also have motors, but dont overthink it.]I know all this seems unfair, but its important to remember that some things in this world are more expensive than other things. Take our hypothetical Citi Bike member, for example:Consider a hypothetical Citi Bike member who lives in Brooklyn and wants to use an e-bike to make two 15-minute trips a day to and from Manhattan.On top of the annual $239 fee, that member will pay $40.50 per week. If they work 50 weeks out of the year, thats $2,264 just for commuting.That price is far more expensive than the equivalent commutes via public transit; a daily commuter would pay just $1,500 to go to and from work every day of the week for 50 weeks per year.Yes, he or she does indeed pay more to use an e-bike than to use public transit. Fortunately he or she also has a cheaper alternative, which is to USE PUBLIC TRANSIT. Because if your Brooklyn-to-Manhattan e-bike commute is only 15 minutes long, you live in the most transit-rich place in all of North America.Ready for this, hypothetical Citi Bike member? Im about to blow your mind. Making your own sandwich for lunch costs about the same as a subway trip:While ordering the sushi roll lunch special at the Japanese place by your office costs quite a bit more:Unfair? Not really. Ordering the sushi roll lunch is like commuting on the e-bike. And fortunately, believe it or not, whether its eating or commuting, you do have a choice! You can make yourself a sandwich in the morning and you can take it to work with you on the subway. (Just try not to eat it on the subway, especially if its tuna fish. We really dont need to smell that.) Or you can make yourself that sandwich and take the e-bike, since youre saving a good $15 a day by not ordering lunch. Or, you could even say fuck it, ride an e-bike to work, and eat that sushi, because why not? You earned it, baby, and you live in the Greatest City In The World! Put it on your Instagram so all your friends back in Losertown can suck on it. Really, the only thing you should not do is decide to ride like a maniac and risk your life unnecessarily just to shave a few minutes off your commute, unless this is how you want to be remembered by future generations:Oh, by the way, if you mistakenly believe the fact that I dont give a shit how much e-Citi Bikes cost makes me anti-bike share or something, perhaps you missed this part of the story:Annual members can ride non-electric Citi Bikes for freeLet me repeat that:Annual members can ride non-electric Citi Bikes for freeOne more time:Annual members can ride non-electric Citi Bikes for freeSo basically hypothetical Citi Bike member could extend his or her 15-minute towhat, maybe 20 minutes?by riding a regular Citi Bike instead, and avoid both the subway fare and the e-bike surcharge. Think of it! Youd have so much extra money in your pocket that you could order two fancy lunches every day, eat one, and use the other one to pelt homeless people with sushi rolls.Sure, you might get a little sweatier on the way to work, but you wouldnt smell as bad as that tuna sandwich.

The sixth-generation flagship wheel from Princeton CarbonWorks features a hooked rim thats both wider and lighter than previously,and comes with a premium price tag

The Opening Weekend is set to bring out the best from many teams and that is going to make UAE Team Emirates - XRG's mission to take a win quite difficult. However, despite the absence of Tadej Pogacar, the Emirati team can still aim for strong results at Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles...

The riders take on the first cobbled classic of the season. For many, the 'start of the season', as the peloton arrives to Belgium to ride the Omloop het Nieuwsblad on the 28th of February. With just over a month left to the cobbled monuments, this will be the first true challenge of the spring for...

What rack is that? is a question we hear almost daily. Lately, the answer has often been the Restrap Switch Rack. After a couple of months of testing this modular, axle-mounted system and its Rack Cage platform, we share thoughts on fit, function, compatibility, and how it stacks up against other modern rack options. If youve spotted it and been curious, find our full review here...The post Restrap Switch Rack Review appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.