Bikerumor merges with GearJunkie, Switchback Travel & more!

Bikerumor has joined Lola Digital Media, aligning with leading outdoor sites like GearJunkie, Switchback Travel, AutoWise, iRunFar, and others to create the AllGear Media Group. I’m very happy and proud to say that our entire team – Zach, Cory, Jessie-May, Steve, Jordan, Kristi, and the rest of the crew (including me) – are all still here.

Wait, what?!?

In late December 2020, Bikerumor was acquired by Lola Digital Media. The official press releases are here and here. That’s the short version. But I wanted to tell you about the deal in my own words, so here’s the long version:

I started Bikerumor in 2008, mainly because I didn’t want to get a real job. I was closing down a beverage company I’d started almost a decade earlier that, for various reasons, had run its course. An office job wasn’t an option because, well, I’d just really rather be outside riding mountain bikes.

As a cyclist, I was most interested in making my bike lighter and faster. Training? Meh, I just needed a lighter bike! I loved the bikes, the gear, the components, and the tech.

I was also a big fan of Engadget, the tech blog. Its simple layout, endless scroll of new gadgets, and fun, lighthearted writing style really appealed to me. There was nothing like that in the cycling world.

Other sites did race coverage and forums really well. But I couldn’t find a daily stream of all the new bikes and tech. So I made the cycling tech blog I wanted to read, and called it Bikerumor.

The timing was great.

The big magazines were committed to print because subscriptions and full-page display ads made them a lot of money. Digital would disrupt that, of course, but they reacted slowly. The other websites had found their niches covering the races and athletes.

The door was open to do something different, so I put a camera on my already nearly maxed out credit card and bought a plane ticket to Interbike.

I didn’t really know what to expect, but I had a plan: Walk around, ask every booth what they were launching at the show, and take some pictures and notes.

Then I went back to the hotel and cranked out stories until I passed out. Repeat for three days.

I did the same thing at Sea Otter Classic in April 2009. And NAHBS. And then Interbike again. Eventually, Zach joined my team. Then Cory. And all along, Kristi’s been behind the scenes moderating comments and posting your Pics of the Day.

I’m humbled that all of them have stayed with me for so long, many times keeping me in check, or offering up big new story ideas, and are an integral part of the Bikerumor family.

More recently, Jessie-May joined us from the UK in 2019, and Jordan came aboard last year.

I’m proud to say that we were one of the first major cycling sites to have a full-time female editor (what’s up, Saris!) and that I’ve always had an open door to anyone who could write and ride. A lot of awesome people have written for Bikerumor over the years, and I’m stoked that we’ve remained good friends even as they’ve moved on to other things.

What’s next for Bikerumor?

Our team continues to grow, and that’s by design. I can’t honestly say I had a plan, and I certainly didn’t plan on selling Bikerumor last year, but I can say this: I built it to be bigger than me, so that our contributors could own their stories and their content, posting the types of stories they felt were most important or interesting. I built it to welcome all voices and riding styles.

And now, I get to welcome more new voices. We get to build it even bigger and better, with more resources to bring you more of the latest tech and cycling news you’ve come to expect from Bikerumor.

The sites in our AllGear portfolio are all amazing, and leaders in their categories. Personally, I’m excited to learn from all of them. We’ll likely share some of their best outdoor stories, and they’ll share ours.

Mostly, I’m just excited that we get to keep doing the things we’ve been doing, with the same team, and add fuel to that fire. I think you’re going to really enjoy what’s to come!

As always, thanks for reading,

Tyler Benedict
Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Bikerumor