BikeBiz Awards: Vote now for the community awards

Following the commencement of the voting process for the BikeBiz Awards 2021 in association with Tannus Tyres, 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 3rd December and the results will determine the winners.

Today, we’re showcasing the community awards: BikeBiz Woman of the Year and Innovation from a Newcomer. Vote for all categories here.

BikeBiz Woman of the Year

Alexandra Rico-Lloyd, The Bike Club
‘Alexandra co-founded Bike Club in 2016 from her two-bed flat which at one point was home to 34 bikes as she bootstrapped the business. In creating the UK’s first subscription kids bike service, Alex has revolutionised the traditional model of ownership and changed the landscape of the market forever. By exchanging bikes as children grow, the company ensures that members always have the perfect-sized bike. Now Alex has grown the membership of Bike Club to over 36,000. She has directly inspired thousands of young cyclists to learn a vital, confidence boosting skill and to fall in love with a more active lifestyle. At the same time, Alex has raised three children of her own, secured over £17million of funding for Bike Club, and built the company into the largest micro mobility network in the UK – larger even than Uber and Santander Cycles.

‘This year Alex kickstarted the reCycle scheme which seeks out and purchases some of the 12.5million unused kids bikes across the country. These are then refurbished and offered to families to ride and love at a reduced monthly fee, cutting down waste and increasing the access to quality kids bikes in a period plagued by industry-wide stock shortages.’

Aneela McKenna, Mòr Diversity
‘Aneela works tirelessly for the benefit of others. Trail advocacy as part of the Tweed Valley Trails Association that has helped make the Tweed Valley an internationally recognised mountain bike destination, or advocacy and action to help diversify the cycle industry and give new people a chance to experience the joy of bikes and the outdoors. 

‘She’s helped get 60 refugees onto bikes so they can access essential services, then introduced them to the joy of mountain biking. She’s taking girls out bike packing so they can experience power and confidence away from the societal pressures to ‘look good’. She’s brought together groups of marginalised cyclists so they can see that there are others like them and feel confident and supported in their adventures. Every minute of her days seems to be devoted to helping others enjoy bikes, and the bike world is a richer place for having her and her energy in it.’

Irene McAleese, See.Sense
‘Irene makes a fantastic impact on the cycling industry. She is Co-Founder of See.Sense, a successful, fast-growing UK cycling technology and data company, whose bike lights are now sold into 76 countries worldwide and are the preferred bike lights of British Cycling and Cycling Ireland. The company manufactures the majority of its products in the UK, providing employment and opportunities beyond the 14 people directly employed by the company. More than 45% of employees at See.Sense are women, who are represented at all levels of the company and in teams working in technology, marketing, design and data analysis.

‘Irene leads the company’s data Insights team, leading strategy, partnerships, and project deployments, that apply See.Sense patented sensor technology and data to improve the safety and experience of the rider and empower cities with powerful insights. Irene is the Winner of Northern Ireland Women in Business Award for Best Small Business, is listed in Cycling UK’s 100 women in Cycling, and is an Ambassador to the Women in Cycling Network. Irene is a previous Board Member of Cycling Industries Europe and current member of the CIE Expert Panels on Connected Cycling and ITS and the Cycling Innovation Network.’

Michelle Jakeway, Raleigh
‘Michelle Jakeway is the Head of Marketing for Raleigh, the UK’s best known bike brand and has worked there for more than six years. Michelle was central to the recent recreation of one of Raleigh’s advertisements promoting the joy of cycling to women nearly 100 years ago in support of Cycling UK’s ‘Women’s Festival of Cycling’. Her hope for the campaign was that it would help raise awareness of the importance of equality, as well as demonstrate Raleigh’s responsibility to be a role model for greater inclusivity, within the cycling industry. She has placed a special focus on Women’s Lifestyle media in order to increase awareness and understanding of cycling for new female riders; recently providing her ‘top 5 tips to boost confidence on the bike’ for Hello! Magazine.

‘Michelle’s drive for promoting cycling on an individual and local community level has seen her impact the industry on a wider scale. Michelle’s family advocacy work has led her to be nominated for the 100 Women in Cycling list, and she will be a speaker at the forthcoming Cycling and Walking Innovations Conference discussing the wide ranging and positive impacts that e-bikes and e-cargo bikes will have on the future of mobility in towns and cities.’

Nyree Hughes, Beryl
‘As Head of Marketing and Communications for Beryl, the UK’s leading micromobility provider, Nyree is playing a key role in the work that the company is doing to address the gender imbalance in cycling. Earlier this year, Nyree pulled together a series of panel discussions for International Women’s Day. The panels were made up of women leading the way in business, the media, tech and micromobility and covered topics such as ‘Challenging perceptions of female cyclists in the media’ and ‘Feminism & Gender Balance in Urban Planning & Policy’.

‘She is a strong advocate for the positive impact that micromobility schemes can have on expanding access to cycling. Beryl’s own figures show that in 2020, a majority of their riders were women – with 50% compared to 48% male and 2% transgender female and gender variant/non-conforming. As the UK’s only B Corp certified micromobility provider, Beryl is taking proactive steps to widen access to cycling and ensure that as many people as possible can enjoy the benefits of sustainable and active travel. Spearheading the internal and external communications on all such measures, Nyree is driving the company’s work forward in this space – helping to make cycling a more inclusive space for everyone.’

Tayah Williams, Silverfish UK
‘2021 has been a crazy year and throughout all that craziness there shone one woman who has been a beacon of light to many IBD’s, customers and Independent Service Centres – that woman is Tayah Williams. Tayah is fast approaching her 7th year with FOX, originally starting as a temp helping with admin tasks, she has now progressed into a key role within Internal Sales. This role has been particularly demanding in recent times and Tayah has excelled throughout, providing solid information and a calming manner to all those who deal with her.

‘Tayah is tenacious, diligent, has an incredible knowledge of Fox products, a scary ability to remember countless FOX and Marzocchi part numbers and has a fantastic rapport with dealers. As well as sales and parts knowledge, she has an amazing level of technical understanding that often surprises customers. A valued member of the team, the UK FOX Service Centre experience wouldn’t be the same without her.’

Innovation from a Newcomer

Capti
‘Capti is a virtual fitness platform powered by gaming based on adventure, exploration and discovery. We are a connected fitness company with deep roots in gaming that delivers immersive, community-driven workouts designed to challenge and motivate you. Our riders describe the feeling of adventure on the bike as captivating so we named our smartbike “Capti” to lean into how the bike makes you feel. Thank you to our loyal community!’

CORE by greenTEG AG
‘The CORE Body Temperature Monitoring Sensor is an easy-to-use, wearable device incorporating Swiss-made technology that monitors and delivers real-time, accurate core body temperature data. During sports, when you get hot, your power output drops! The core body temperature of each person is individual and accurate monitoring can be used to condition the body with training to become more heat tolerant, to improve performance and avoid the risk of heat stress.

‘The CORE sensor is the only wearable solution that allows athletes to capture highly accurate core body temperature data without the need for an ingested or inserted thermometer. Fastened securely to the heart rate monitor strap, the comfortable and discrete CORE sensor uses Bluetooth and ANT+ to deliver live data directly to paired sport devices where it can be viewed by the rider during training and racing and recorded to the FIT file for later analysis.’

Daysaver
‘Daniel, Elam and Peter are bike addicts doing it all: downhill and enduro shredding, marathon racing and road cycling. Beyond this passion, they are connected by a long-standing friendship. It has always bothered them that bikers must choose between having either a useful but heavy and bulky tool or a small and light one, but inconvenient to use.

‘The common concepts are based on foldable tools. The disadvantage of such concepts is that many screws are not accessible because of the bulky design, and you do not have the right lever when it comes to applying the proper torque. In recent years, the trend has shifted to “hide” tools in the bike – in the cranks or the stem. But this concept requires proprietary systems that fit only one bike at a time. So they either had to accept the situation or tackle the problem themselves.’

HindSight
‘In 2021, HindSight launched HindSight Edge rear view cycling glasses; seamlessly integrating rear-view mirrors into stylish eyewear, HindSight is the final say in cycling awareness. Launching internationally to 38 countries and driving over £100k in revenue in its first month, HindSight technology solves a problem all cyclists are familiar with; every other road user has a solution to the rear-vision problem, why don’t cyclists have any good options? As the most vulnerable road users, cyclists need to know as much as possible about their surroundings, and now with HindSight, they can have eyes on the back of their heads.

‘Using fully patented & Olympian-backed technology as well as innovative fabrication techniques, HindSight glasses allow cyclists to know more about their surroundings and in doing so, make smarter and safer decisions. Despite having launched a V1 technology in spring, HindSight has already taken feedback on board and engaged significant further R&D to launch a V2 technology later this year to further improve the cycling experience worldwide. HindSight currently retails exclusively through the HindSight website, www.hindsight.store, but there is significant scope for collaboration with other cycling companies to achieve HindSight’s core mission – to change the way the world cycles for the better.’

Mycle
‘Born out of lockdown, Mycle.co.uk champions human connection and easy movement, with a ‘Roam Free’ tagline, celebrating the values of freedom and friendship, celebrating a life lived locally. Our innovative e-bikes feature an integrated seat tube battery which offers better weight distribution with the battery weight directly under the rider and above the cranks. The built-in battery means you simply remove the seat post and take into the office or home to charge, meaning no more wet seat in the rain! The e-bikes are available in fresh colourways at an affordable price point, that doesn’t compromise the quality of materials.

‘The three models include the foldable 17.5kg Compact, (which can be customised with different grip, saddle and tyre combinations), the retro Classic and Climber Electric Mountain Bike. All e-bikes come with a Shimano 250W high-speed motor, a power assist function with five-speed variations available so users can easily adapt the pedal power to find a level that suits them. The e-bikes are imported in parts and then put together in the UK, on our newly purpose-built production line in the heart of the Cotswolds, creating additional jobs for qualified bike technicians. They are sold on our e-commerce site, mycle.co.uk.’

Prevayl
‘Clothing that connects and moves with you, whatever your workout looks like. Designed with dynamic, breathable fabrics to help you perform day in, day out. The sensor: smallest and lightest device available; precise biometric readings backed by the latest science; powered by professional athletes insight; 7 day battery life from a single charge; tracks clinical Grade ECG, physical intensity, breathing rate, energy expenditure, temperature and live pace and location. We use your unique biometrics during your workouts and recovery tests, and from the data gathered, the App gives you daily tailored training advice – so you will always know when to take it slow and when to go the extra mile.’

BikeBiz Awards: Vote now for the brand awards

BikeBiz Awards: Vote now for the distributor awards

BikeBiz Awards: Vote now for the retailer awards

Tannus Tyres will act as the headline sponsor for this year’s Awards, which is returning for its 13th iteration in a digital format. The winners will be revealed online on Friday 10th December. Vote for all categories here.

For sponsorship and promotion opportunities, please contact Richard Setters.

www.bikebizawards.com
www.tannus.co.uk