BikeBiz profiles ten of the trade's favourite time wasters/social media gurus

Follow Friday: Ten industry names worth keeping tabs on

It’s perhaps not for everyone, but Twitter is widely considered the ‘next Facebook’ and as such is used as a tool for all sorts of things in the bicycle business – from promotion, relationship building, banter, debate and everything in between. BikeBiz hand picks some of the most prolific Tweeters for our Follow Friday…

James Huang, BikeRadar technical writer

WHY: Because he can almost predict the future. Well, sort of, he does at least has some some of the best educated guesses at what’s coming trend wise and will inspect the a-z of any new product launch, often before he’s spotted a physical sample.

BONUS: His tweets spark some interesting debate/conversation over product launches.

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Mark Ames, iBikeLondon

WHY: Because aside from tirelessly campaigning for a better infrastructure for London’s cyclists, Ames knows the cycling in the city like the back of his hand. If you’re looking to get involved with flashrides, campaigning or bicycle advocacy and need a reference point, drop Ames a tweet.

BONUS: Has some interesting insights on the politics surrounding transport in London.

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Alex at Velocentric

WHY: Because you’ll not get a better mix of tweets containing everything from the amusing, through criticism at product launches and balanced praise for when the business gets it right.

BONUS: His commentary on the professional racing circuit and the UCI now and then are well worth tuning into, regardless of whether or not you enjoy road racing or not.

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Carlton Reid, Bike… everything

WHY: Are we biased towards our own here? Perhaps, but there’s much more to Reid than his contribution to BikeBiz. His latest project, Roads Were Not built For Cars, has produced some fantastic tweets on the history of bicycles, infrastructure and Nazi’s, oddly enough.

BONUS: As knowledge of the business and cycling in general goes, as well as advocacy efforts, Reid’s is likely unmatched.

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Mark Alker, Singletrack publisher

WHY: Because a good portion of Alker’s tweets let the businessman rest and give an insight into the fun and games had behind the scenes.

BONUS: As and when a promotional tweet does pop up it’s always interesting stuff, no mundane timeline cloggers here.

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Will Butler Adams, Brompton MD

WHY: Not the most regular of tweeters, but if you’re big on British manufacturing, Brompton, or keeping tabs on where politicians are staging photoshoots, Butler Adams is your source.

BONUS: Occasionally lets the cat slip out of the bag on possible future developments at Brompton.

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Brant Richards, On One (again)

WHY: For spy shots of nice things in the prototype stages, quips about the quirks of manufacturing and thinking out loud tweets during the design stages of his latest rig.

BONUS: Because keeping track of what he’s designing, or who he’s doing it for might be difficult otherwise.

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Mark Cavendish, Professional cyclist

WHY: Because it’s Mark Cavendish, the most outspoken man in professional cycling and he’s quite entertaining on Twitter too.

BONUS: Does occasionally tweet about racing, giving often revealing insights into the mind of a celebrated professional rider.

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Greame Freestone King, Velotech

WHY: As the head spanner at Velotech and industry veteran, Freestone King has plenty of tips for the workshop, as well as occasional tweets on notable product development and industry goings on.

BONUS: Also the point of contact if your store is seeking Campagnolo Pro Shop status

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Dan Jones, Windwave

WHY: As Windwave’s marketing man he’s in the loop on goings on from Colnago, FSA and many others, but his tweets are varied, often containing brilliant links to mountain biking videos and much more.

BONUS: He’ll remind you when it’s time to register for CoreBike, which is right about now…

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That’s ten, but a few more well worth a mention are:

Nick Rearden of RoadCC

Red Cloud marketing man, Mark Almond

BikeBiz journos: @JonHarker and @MarkSutton

Andrew Dodd, MBUK journo and DJ!

Lauren Vanderplank and Martin Pounder of Moore Large

Moda Bicycles

Going Going Bike’s Rajiv Desai

BikeBiz Jobs Board

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