The Business of Cycling

Hugo Davidson didn't set out to build a bike accessories brand. Trained as an industrial designer in Melbourne, he spent years contracting at London design firms before co-founding his own consultancy back in Australia.

Then came the dot-com crash — a failed retail technology startup (one that held the iPod trademark before Apple), $2 million in debt, and a stark question: what now? The answer came from one of his last remaining designers, a former bike shop employee who saw an opening in cycling accessories. Armed with frequent flyer points and a portfolio of quirky, design-forward prototypes, Hugo showed up at the 2002 Taipei Bike Show and walked away with 16 distributors in 16 countries. 

Twenty-five years later, KNOG has sold over 7 million of its iconic frog lights, navigated the rise of Chinese competition and e-commerce, and remains stubbornly optimistic about the future of cycling. In this conversation, Hugo and I talk about entrepreneurial resilience, the evolution of bike retail, and why — as his German distributor likes to remind him — people will always ride bikes.

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Danny Segers has spent 18 years quietly building Bioracer into one of Europe's largest custom cycling apparel manufacturers, growing the Belgian company from €7 million to €35 million in revenue, with 85% of the business focused on custom team wear. With a background in finance and auditing, Danny brings a distinctly analytical lens to the cycling industry, one that favors sustainable reinvestment over aggressive expansion and steady progress over flashy ambition.

In this conversation, we dig into how Bio Racer mastered the incredibly complex world of custom clothing, processing 15,000 unique designs annually across factories in Czech Republic, Romania, Macedonia, and Colombia. 

Danny also shares the moment that changed everything — when World Champion Tony Martin crossed the finish line in a competitor's skin suit — and how that painful wake-up call pushed Bio Racer to embrace wind tunnel testing and redefine themselves as the most tested brand in cycling.

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The bike world is arguing about 32-inch wheels. Is it a physics-backed leap forward, or is it the industry's latest attempt to move units during a tough cycle?

Joshua Riddle has a unique vantage point. He's Marketing Director at Hayes Bicycle Group — Hayes Brakes, Manitou Suspension, Reynolds Wheels — and his team is already riding prototypes. Today we talk about what makes innovations stick, what the 29er era can teach us about what's coming, and why Joshua thinks the question was never really *if*.

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Eric Yung has spent nearly two decades at Polartec doing one thing exceptionally well — and that's exactly the point. As Managing Director and VP of Sales and Marketing at Polartec (a Milliken company), Eric pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to build a premium ingredient brand over the long haul.

The answer isn't growth at all costs. It's ruthless focus, selective partnerships, and the discipline to walk away from opportunities that don't fit. In this episode, we dig into how Polartec invented modern synthetic fleece alongside Patagonia, why they deliberately stepped back from a commoditizing outdoor market to bet on cycling, and what it really means to "win with winners."

Eric also breaks down the PFAS transition, the three pillars of Polartec's product universe — insulation, base layer, and weather protection — and why cycling brands are now among the most innovation-hungry partners they work with.

If you're building a brand in cycling and wondering how to differentiate in a world getting more competitive by the day, Eric's philosophy is a blueprint worth studying.

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In this episode, we sit down with Philip Ferger, the newly appointed Managing Director of Fairnamic — the company behind Eurobike — just four weeks into his role. Philip brings over 20 years of experience at Messe Frankfurt, co-owner of FairNamic, and joins at a critical moment for the cycling industry's most important trade show. 

The conversation covers what's actually changing at Eurobike and why: a more budget-accessible format for 2026, a new industry advisory board, and a broader strategic repositioning aimed at 2027. Philip also addresses the hard questions head-on — the B2B vs. B2C debate, whether Eurobike has drifted too far from its cycling roots, and what it takes to keep a trade show relevant when the industry is under pressure.

If you're wondering what's next for Eurobike, this episode is essential listening.

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