Outside Inc, which publishes Bicycle Retailer and a portfolio of outdoor sports brands, has acquired the Canada-based: Pinkbike, TrailForks, and CyclingTips. Brothers Radek and Karl Burkat had founded Pinkbike in 1998.
Outside (formerly known as Pocket Outdoor Media) owns VeloNews, Peloton, Beta, Triathlete, the VeloPress book publishing company, and the Roll Massif event company. In February, the company acquired Outside magazine with which it then rebranded the company. It also publishes Yoga Journal, Backpacker, Oxygen, and Outside Business Journal (previously SNEWS), the trade site and magazine for outdoor retailers.
Pinkbike claims to be the world’s largest mountain bike site (with 700m annual page views) and will be second only to Outside Online in Outside web traffic. Its marketplace has been described as the “Craigslist for mountain bikers”. TrailForks – a leading mountain bike trail app – has more than 300,000 mountain biking and hiking routes and claims 6m users. The company was founded in 1998.
Outdoor, recently rebranded from Pocket Outdoor Media and raised $150m to fund its acquisitions growth. It has implemented a flat subscription fee across its portfolio, acknowledging the overlap between titles and interests in its target market. Terms not disclosed
The core Pinkbike and Trailforks teams will continue operating out of their offices in Squamish, British Columbia. CyclingTips will maintain its office in Australia, and its US-based staff will relocate to the Outside headquarters in Boulder, Colorado.
