BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news

The December edition of Ride, the British motorcycle magazine, has an "exclusive investigation" on the Bic lock opening trick that's been exercising minds in the bicycle trade since September. However, the four-page piece fingers tubular cylinder locks from Oxford Products rather than Kryptonite. "It's possible some Kryptonite locks are affected," said the Google-averse writer of the article.

Quazar International - maker of the Scotchlite logos used on garments by Royal Mail, BT, RAC, AA, and most UK police forces - has created a do-it-yourself website for producing one-off t-shirts, hoodies, jackets and bags, all resplendent with retroreflective text you choose.

Andy Wigmore's new company bags a big bike line.

On the forum at cyclingplus.co.uk, Howard Peel, a helmet anti-compulsionist, is calling for a boycott of products supplied by Madison. He started his campaign (doomed to failure: Madison supplies Shimano) after he read the comments by Terry Bowles on BikeBiz.com on Monday.

The Royal Mail made helmets compulsory for all cycling posties in October 2003. At the time, the compulsion was backed by the Communication Workers Union but now the CWU has been instrumental in getting Joanne Cyprus her job back. She was sacked in August for refusing to don a lid. 100 Royal Mail staff had threatened to strike if Cyprus was not reinstated.