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The Riverside Company. announced the sale of Y International, a Japanese premium bicycle retail chain, to Tokyo-based private equity firm Daiwa PI Partners.

Terms of the contract are not disclosed.

Riverside in 2013 acquired the business, which serves as an e-commerce and big-box retailer of bikes, frames, components, maintenance and assembly services, accessories and clothing for high-end cycling enthusiasts.

“We are proud of what we have accomplished with the Y International team, transforming the organization from a traditional, century-old family business to a fully professional management organization backed by some of the best selling business leaders. Japan retail from various sectors. Riverside Partner Stuart Baxter said in a statement. complete back office and installed a new management information system. “

The company also expanded the geographies of store locations to several key new markets across Japan.

Riverside is a global private equity firm headquartered in Cleveland and New York that invests in growing companies valued at up to $ 400 million in the smaller segment of the mid-market.

Drivezy and Yamaha team up to launch Yamah’s EC-05 in India

Yamaha is also one of the investors of Drivezy

Drivezy is currently exploring ways to create a charging infrastructure for electric scooters.

Drivezy, a Bengaluru-based car rental company and one of its investors, Yamaha Motor Co, are teaming up to launch Yamah’s premium electric scooter, the EC-05, in India.

The EC-05 was recently launched in Taiwan and could be available in India as early as November.

Launched in June, the EC-05 was born out of a collaboration between Yamaha and Taiwanese company Gogoro Inc, a company that has built its own electric scooter as well as a network of charging stations. Designed by Yamaha, the EC-05 is built using Gogoro’s production vehicle platform.

The futuristic scooter relies on a network of 1,300 battery exchange stations called GoStations in Taiwan. It is not clear if Drivezy will reproduce them in India.

“We are setting up a separate electrical subsidiary and will be raising around $ 20 to $ 25 million for it,” said Drivezy CEO Ashwarya Pratap Singh. Forbes India. Real estate being prohibitive in Indian subways, Drivezy may be looking to innovate through partnerships with companies to share real estate.

Drivezy was founded in 2015 by Ashwarya Pratap Singh, Hemant Kumar Sah, Vasant Verma, Abhishek Mahajan and Amit Sahu. Drivezy offers a peer-to-peer bicycle and car sharing service. Currently, Drivezy is present in 11 cities with a fleet of 4,000 cars and 15,000 scooters.

The platform allows individual vehicle owners to list their inactive cars, motorcycles and scooters and earn money by leasing the vehicles to customers. Customers can rent a car or two-wheeler from Drivezy by the hour, day, week and month.

SoftBank and e-commerce giant Amazon are said to be in talks to lead a $ 100 million (INR 690 Cr) funding round in the Bengaluru Drivezy-based car-sharing marketplace.

Drivezy is looking for fresh funds to expand its fleet across the country and also to penetrate foreign markets.

Currently, it competes with other taxi aggregators and ride-sharing startups like Ola, Uber, Bounce, LetsRide, PoolCircle, ZoomCar, Carzonrent, Wunder, and Ryde, among others.

Drivezy was part of the 2018 edition of the most coveted list of India’s most innovative startups – 42Next by Inc42.

During travel we always acquire memories and emotions, but sometimes it’s more than that – we get something tangible and real. This is exactly what happened on my trip to Japan in 2014.

When I returned home to Moscow, there was a Japanese number sticker on my frame, mainly used to prevent bicycle theft.

If I remember correctly, it is mandatory to have this sticker in major cities. Those responsible for pasting are the owners of bicycle shops and they must also register each number with some sort of government organization. Although Nagano, where I was most of the time, is not that tall, Keita, an owner of a local bike shop, decided to record my ride for the lulz. I guess I see the long faces of the workers trying to read my last name, which is not verbal in Japanese.

So that’s the first reason why I styled the bike this way. Second, and I think the main reason, came from a totally different side. Recently I got a new PS Street v.2 meat fork, which replaced the old and shabby first generation of the test series. The fork was good in all aspects except one – the acid yellow color was out of line on my bike. While my aesthetic sense had been violated, I decided to repaint it and acted out using grinder and spray cans.

And as you can see, I painted it in the colors of the Japanese flags. There was also a Japanese flag sticker on my frame for a long time – all the more reason for all the hassle.

On top of that, I thought I should add some red elements to my bike and did it as cheaply as possible. I replaced the old tattered handles with red Odyssey cufflinks – left them lying around for about a year in my box of spare parts. I replaced the saddle with red-white Gordo Mutantbikes and tied red insulating tape. Red beer cap hanging on, because I love beer.

As a bonus, I got a special T-shirt, which has been signed all over by my friends in Japan (thank you, fiction!), And it complements the bike check theme nicely.

I guess tech enthusiasts won’t be excited about my ride, but it won’t be a bike control without specs.

Framework Main frame PS 26
Fork PS street meat v.2
Helmet Toy bike
Lower support Toy bike
Rod Odyssey cutlery
Bar PS Profit “L” 106
Handles Odyssey Terry Adams Cufflink Cutlery
Cranks PS Atlas
Pedals Odyssey Trailmix
Pinion Dartmoor fetish
Chain Odyssey key ring
Saddle stem Toy bike
Seat Mutantbikes Gordo
Front hub Vandero Odyssey 2
Rear hub Federal Freecoaster v3
Rims Dartmoor Raider
Spikes DT Champion
Tires Tioga FS100 factory

Text from Pavel Vabishchevich
Photos by Ivan Andrianov

MENTION: @Ivanya

Japan’s “moms to school cyclists” – of whom there are many, many – are currently in the midst of a battle with the authorities over the specifications of their children’s transport bikes.

Some time ago, the Japanese government revised its highway code. Cyclists seemed particularly affected; they would no longer be able to ride on sidewalks, use cell phones or mp3 players, or carry open umbrellas.

But the planned amendment that seems to have caused the most discontent was the one that prohibited sannin-nori, the practice of a mother carrying her young children to school on a bicycle, one in a basket in the front and the other in a seat in the back, with the mother pedaling between them. (Many Japanese kindergartens prohibit people from driving their children to school, editor’s note.)

Such was the pressure from mothers that the National Police Agency gave in to the idea, provided that stronger and safer bicycles were used. However, the issue is not resolved as the cost of a new child carrier bicycle that meets safety standards is high compared to the cost of a normal bicycle with child seats. “It will cost 10-20% more for a reinforced frame alone,” said a Bridgestone official.

One or two places aim to offer assistance to their residents in the form of a subsidy for the cost of a bicycle meeting the new standards, or the rental of such bicycles. But most places don’t, unlike the subsidies offered when child car seats became mandatory in 2000.

Another suggestion that was not well received is that tricycles could be used, being more stable. The cost of a tricycle is around £ 500 versus around £ 50 for the traditional ‘mama-cart’ design, as they are called, with its carrycot, child seat, kickstand, integrated lock and derailleur.

Those carrying two children on an unapproved bicycle could be fined, but the police agency plans to start issuing warnings instead until sales of new models are in full swing and the public becomes fully familiar with the new rules.