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Electric bicycle sales had been growing at an impressive rate in the US even before the COVID-19 pandemic began. But ever since the pandemic started, sales of e-bikes have skyrocketed. Now the latest numbers show that e-bikes sales aren’t cooling off anytime soon.

The latest figures were compiled by NPD and indicate a growth rate for electric bicycles of 240% in the 12 months leading up to July 2021.

Interestingly, though, general cycling equipment only grew at a rate of 15%, showing that electric bicycles are leading the overall growth in the cycling industry.

And making this all the more impressive is that these figures show growth on top of the tremendous increase in sales we saw at the beginning of the pandemic nearly two years ago.

While some worried we might have been looking at an e-bike bubble of new riders rushing out to buy e-bikes after the first lockdowns lifted in early 2020, we’ve seen sustained and unprecedented growth in the e-bike industry.

Juiced Bikes recently unveiled several new models of e-bikes including the CrossCurrent X ST (above)

While the pandemic reversed several years of slumping non-electric bike sales and finally sent the category back into the growth column, e-bikes saw their existing growth double, triple, and even quadruple in many cases.

The increased ease of electric bicycles has convinced many drivers and public transportation riders to finally switch to two-wheels by removing the biggest hurdle: the large perceived effort of cycling.

While studies have shown that e-bikes can still offer nearly as much exercise as pedal bikes (and sometimes even more, believe it or not), the added benefit of pedal assist means that riders don’t show up to work drenched in sweat like typical pedal cyclists.

Throttle-enabled e-bikes available in North America have taken that advantage one step further, offering the ability to travel by bike at speeds up to 20 mph (32 km/h) with minimal or even no pedaling at all. And since throttle-enabled e-bikes also feature pedal assist, riders can always rely more on pedal power to add in as much exercise as they want. Those advantages get added on top of the huge commuting time savings offered by e-bikes in urban areas, where bike lanes offer speedy shortcuts past gridlocked traffic.

Electric bicycles, like the recently update Blix Vika+ above, offer riders quick and easy transportation

Despite the pandemic sending e-bike sales into overdrive, pricing has stayed relatively consumer-friendly.

When e-bikes initially began selling like hot cakes in early 2020, nearly every e-bike supplier was left with empty shelves and warehouses.

Instead of price gouging, companies largely kept e-bike prices steady in the US. Many brands saw extended lead times, but there were almost zero cases of price gouging.

As the pandemic wore on, though, increased pressures on pricing including shipping container shortages, skyrocketing sea freight prices, increased cost of raw materials, and a worsening US/RMB exchange rate led to many retailers slowly walking up their prices.

As some of the largest influencers of pricing showed signs of stabilizing, many retailers have already begun to lower their e-bike prices back down to pre-pandemic levels.

My personal $999 RadMission e-bike (above) has taken me on many adventures both on and off-road

Such pricing moves come at a time when many brands are introducing new models to the market.

Rad Power Bikes unveiled an interesting new sub-$1,000 e-bike early in the pandemic that targeted the urban commuter market. That quickly became a key demographic that grew sharply when commuters began searching for a socially distant alternative to crowded public transportation.

Many other companies such as VanMoof, GoCycle, and Cowboy have also targeted this key commuter demographic with more premium models designed to safely and quickly move commuters around cities while offering more sophisticated electronics and features.

At the same time, many more recreational-oriented e-bikes have been introduced over the last few months, such as the fat tire Aventon Aventure e-bike and the new Rad Power Bikes RadRover 6 Plus, as well as new moped-style e-bikes like the updated Super73-ZX.

With a number of interesting new e-bikes hitting the market and a public that has shown no slowdown in demand for electric biking, continued growth of the segment is all but certain in the near future.

Have you considered hopping on an electric bike soon for recreation or as an alternative to car trips? Or have you already seen the light? Let us know in the comment section below!


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With Love, Meghan: What we learnt from Duchess of Sussex’s new Netflix series

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With Love, Meghan: What we learnt from Duchess of Sussex's new Netflix series

The Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle series premiered this morning – in which she talks about her life in California, her time spent living in Argentina and her love of food.

With Love, Meghan – an eight-part series on Netflix – had been delayed from a January release due to the Los Angeles wildfires.

The episodes, which last about 30 minutes each, feature a host of celebrity friends along with a few cameos from her husband, Prince Harry.

From her first jobs growing up to what she was like on the Suits set, here are some things we learnt about the duchess.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and  Mindy Kaling.
Pic: Netflix
Image:
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Mindy Kaling.
Pic: Netflix

‘I’m Sussex now’

One of Meghan’s guests is The Office star Mindy Kaling, who she bonds with over their lives as toddlers’ mums while putting together a tea party in the garden.

As they put sandwiches together for the tea, Meghan talks about her love of Jack In The Box – a classic US fast-food chain, to which Kaling responds: “I don’t think anyone in the world knows that Meghan Markle has eaten Jack In The Box and loves it.”

The duchess laughs and says: “It’s funny, you keep saying Meghan Markle, you know, I’m Sussex now.

“You have kids, and you go, ‘now I share my name with my children’… I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go ‘this is our family name, our little family name’.”

Similarities with Archie

During episode four, the duchess goes on a hike with her friend Delfina Blaquier, who is married to Argentinian polo star Nacho Figueras, and together they have a picnic with homemade focaccia bread.

The duchess reveals how she passed time during her childhood – and the similar traits her son, Archie, has: “As a kid, I was taking a bag of tea from the drawer in my house, putting it in a mason jar or probably an empty jar that once held spaghetti sauce and putting it in the sun, and sitting there… waiting for it to change colour.

“Funny enough, which Archie does now.”

Days before the show aired, in an interview with People magazine, the duchess said Archie had told her: “Mama, don’t work too hard” during filming.

She added the five-year-old helped with the clapperboard while visiting the set with his sister Lilibet and Harry.

Delfina Figueras and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Pic: Netflix
Image:
Delfina Figueras and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Pic: Netflix

Life in Argentina

The two friends met through their husbands – “The moment we met, we bonded over our love of the outdoors and being in nature. We always hike together whenever she’s in town. And sometimes we let our husbands join us,” Meghan says.

Reflecting on when they first met, Meghan says: “What’s so funny is, I remember when we first met, and you were like: ‘Wait a minute, you speak Argentinian Spanish?’ But it’s such a pretty language because it sounds so musical.”

Her friend says: “When you started speaking Spanish and I recognised the Argentinian, I was blown away, because I didn’t know that…”

“That I’d lived there,” Meghan responds.

She adds: “When I lived in Argentina, I think the reason I loved it so much is because it reminded me of California in a lot of ways. Where you have the mountains and you have this joy of life and the joy of being outside.

“I was only there for a few months interning at the US Embassy, but I loved it.”

First jobs in doughnut and yoghurt shops – and some more childhood memories

In episode five, as Meghan hosts long-time friends, former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer and Kelly McKee Zajfen, she says that her first job was at Humphrey Yogart, a frozen yoghurt shop in Los Angeles playfully named after actor Humphrey Bogart.

That came after she told chef Roy Choi in episode three, as she presented him with doughnuts she prepared for him, that she once had a job at a doughnut shop.

“Doughnuts in general just remind me of my childhood,” she said.

“I once had a job at a little donut shop called Little Orbit Donuts. They made tiny, tiny, little mini donuts.”

She said she often helped them sell at craft venues, adding that doughnuts generally were a big part of her childhood.

“Growing up, driving down Highland to get to school, there was always a Yum Yum Donuts right there.”

“Highland and Melrose,” Choi clarifies.

“Exactly… is it still there?”

When Choi says it is, she responds: “Oh my god. I should go back in.”

In another episode, Kaling asks whether Meghan began cooking at home or picked it up later. Meghan replies: “I was a latch-key kid so I grew up with a lot of fast food and also a lot of TV tray dinners.

“It feels like such a different time but that was so normal with the microwavable kids meals.”

Life in Montecito house

Branden Aroyan and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Pic: Netflix
Image:
Branden Aroyan and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Pic: Netflix

The lifestyle show, which was filmed in a California farmhouse rather than in her Montecito house, features her describing her every day life – including how it is a “daily” task to pick fruit when it’s in season at her home.

Episode one Hello Honey! features Meghan’s friend Daniel Martin as she prepares a “thoughtful guest basket”.

It begins with her harvesting honey from bees, saying: “The biggest thing is keeping a low tone – talk in our bee voice.”

With the help of a beekeeper, she talks about “trying to stay in the calm of it because it’s beautiful to be this connected”.

Harry is the king of eggs

When asked by Kaling about how best to season eggs, the duchess says: “I have a family, a husband, who no matter what meal is put in front of him before he tastes it puts salt on, so I try to under salt.”

Harry himself, it is later revealed, is something of an egg connoisseur.

Speaking to two close friends in a later episode, she says “H” is a “great cook” and makes “the best scrambled eggs”.

She further praises him by saying he generally makes “a really good breakfast”.

Bacon was the subject of discussions on more than one occasion during the series, with Meghan saying that whenever she cooks it the kitchen “becomes full of husband and three dogs”.

“It’s not my perfume that’s bringing them all in,” she jokes.

What the duchess was like during Suits

Meghan’s days of playing paralegal Rachel Zane in popular drama Suits came to an end in 2018, the year she married Harry.

But she has clearly remained close with co-star Abigail Spencer, who played Dana Scott.

In episode five, as the pair sat in Meghan’s garden alongside Kelly McKee Zajfen, Spencer reflected on what Meghan was like during the Suits days.

She said Meghan was “the head of morale on the show,” to which Meghan thanked her and added: “I liked to plan fun for everyone.”

Heart-warming moments of Meghan with beloved beagle

The whole series ends with a tribute to Meghan’s late dog, Guy, who featured prominently in several episodes.

One morning, the duchess is seen making bone-shaped peanut butter biscuits for the rescue beagle, who died shortly after filming wrapped, saying you can make them with leftover bacon from breakfast.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Guy. Pic: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
Image:
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Guy. Pic: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

She admitted there was “never” any leftovers in her house because “we eat a lot of it” – another reference to the Sussexes love of bacon.

“I would do anything for Guy, and he knows it,” she then says. “He can have whatever he wants ’cause he is whatever kind of guy you need him to be depending on the day. My sweet guy, my silly guy, my saucy little guy. Always my spoiled guy.”

Later, as she hands him a peanut butter cookie, she adds: “They provide us with unconditional love, so they get unconditional peanut butter dog biscuits. Why not?”

The Sussexes also have two other dogs – another rescue beagle named Mia and a black Labrador called Pula, who is seen trying to steal some of Meghan and her guests’ food at various points during the series.

Meghan’s ‘next chapter’

In the eighth and final episode, called Feels Like Home, Meghan prepares for Prince Harry to make an appearance.

She is putting together a brunch for family and friends to celebrate the “next chapter” in her life.

Sharing details of how she envisages the so-called “next chapter”, Meghan, wearing a blue maxi dress and putting the finishing touches to a spread of food outdoors, says: “Of course, my husband will be here, my mum will be here, my best friend since college, my community having a brunch in the sunshine with the people that I love, celebrating this next chapter of my life.”

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Dolly Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years dies

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Dolly Parton's husband of nearly 60 years dies

Dolly Parton’s husband – who she married in a secret ceremony aged just 20 – has died.

The country music star’s website said Carl Dean died on Monday in Nashville.

Parton said in a statement: “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”

Dean was the inspiration behind Jolene, one of her biggest hits.

She said she wrote the song after a flirty bank clerk seemed to take an interest in him.

“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton told NPR in 2008.

“And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention.

More on Dolly Parton

“It was kinda like a running joke between us… So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.”

Parton pictured performing in August 2023. Pic: AP
Image:
Parton, 78, said ‘words can’t do justice to the love we shared’. Pic: AP

The pair met outside the Wishy Washy launderette, where Parton was doing her washing, the day she moved to Nashville at age 18.

“I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me),” Parton said in 2016.

“He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”

Read more from Sky News:
The Oscars moments everyone’s talking about

Morgan Freeman makes emotional tribute to Hackman

Parton pictured performing at a Dallas Cowboys game in November 2023. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Parton pictured performing at a Dallas Cowboys game in November 2023. Pic: Reuters

Parton said her record company had asked her to wait to get married but the couple tied the knot two years later, in May 1966.

Only her mother, the preacher and his wife were in attendance at the ceremony – held out of state so local papers wouldn’t report it.

Dean owned a paving business and famously shunned the limelight, so was very rarely seen in public with the star.

“A lot of people say there’s no Carl Dean, that he’s just somebody I made up to keep other people off me,” Parton joked in a 1984 interview with AP.

The couple never had any children, but he is survived by his brother and sister.

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Oscars 2025: Anora sweeps the Academy Awards with five awards including best picture

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Oscars 2025: Anora sweeps the Academy Awards with five awards including best picture

Anora has dominated the Academy Awards, winning five gongs including best picture.

The film’s star, Mikey Madison, who plays a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, took home the best actress award – a win that was not a total upset, but many had expected Demi Moore to scoop the prize for her performance in The Substance.

Anora filmmaker Sean Baker was named best director, and used his acceptance speech to make a plea for audiences to support cinemas, which he said were “a vital part of our culture” and at risk of being lost.

Both also thanked sex workers who consulted on the film, saying they could never have made it without them.

Read more on the Oscars:
Oscars live: All the latest reaction to the awards
Oscars red carpet 2025: All the best looks
Full list of all the Oscar winning films and stars

Anora also won the Oscars for best original screenplay and best editing. Winning all four awards he was up for, Baker tied with Walt Disney’s record for the most Oscar wins by a single person in a single night – although Disney won his awards for multiple works, rather than a single film as Baker has done.

Adrien Brody won the best actor Oscar for playing Hungarian architect Lazlo Toth in architectural epic The Brutalist.

It was his second Academy Award win in the category some 22 years after his first, for The Pianist back in 2003.

Adrien Brody wouldn't be moved from the stage, despite music urging him to move on. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Adrien Brody won the best actor award – his second Oscar – for his performance in The Brutalist. Pic: Reuters

Accepting his award in a lengthy speech, he paid tribute to his partner Georgina Chapman, who he said had “re-invigorated” his “self-worth” and “sense of value”.

Best cinematography also went to The Brutalist directror Brady Corbet’s three-and-a-half-hour epic, which also took home the prize for best original score.

Papal thriller Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, took just one award, for best adapted screenplay.

Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor. Pic: Reuters

Kieran Culkin took the first award of the night, best supporting actor, for his role in comedy drama A Real Pain, while the best supporting actress prize was won by Emilia Perez star Zoe Saldana, her first Oscar win and nomination.

One of the highest-grossing actresses ever, she cried out “Mommy, mommy”, on stage, explaining her entire family was there with her. She became tearful at the end of her speech as she spoke of being “a proud child of immigrant parents”.

Zoe Saldana became emotional as she accepted her award. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Zoe Saldana was named best actress. Pic: Reuters

Announced by Mick Jagger, best song went to Emilia Perez’s El Mal (which translates as “Evil”), while the prize for costume design went to Wicked’s Paul Tazewell – who became the first black man to receive the award. The Wizard Of Oz prequel also won best production design.

Brazilian director Walter Salles won best international feature for Portuguese-language film I’m Still Here, set in the 1970s in the midst of the Brazil’s brutal military dictatorship.

A word-of-mouth hit, the film’s Brazilian star Fernanda Torres has gone from a relative unknown to a much-talked-about actress in the US in the last few months.

Fernanda Torres poses on the red carpet during the Oscars arrivals at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 2, 2025. REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci
Image:
Star of I’m Still Here, Fernanda Torres. Pic: Reuters

Make-up and hairstyling was awarded to body horror The Substance, a film which showcased extreme prosthetics, make-up and gore throughout. It was the film’s only win of the night.

The documentary categories went to The Only Girl In The Orchestra and No Other Land – made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective – for short film and feature film respectively.

Accepting the prize, it’s makers Basel Dra and Yuval Abraham made a political plea to the US: “The foreign policy in this country is helping to block [the path of peace]. Why? Can’t you see that we are intertwined? There is another way. It’s not too late for life, for the living.”

Best sound and best visual effects went to Dune: Part Two, directed by Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve.

A night where independent and unusual filmmaking was rewarded, best animated feature went to Latvian computer-generated film Flow, while best animated short film was won by Iranian entry The Shadow Of The Cypress. Both international productions are dialogue-free.

Live action short film went to I’m Not A Robot, a study in an AI-fueled identity crisis.

Morgan Freeman pays tribute to Gene Hackman at the Oscars. Pic: AP/Chris Pizzello
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Tributes were paid to a host of late industry greats, starting with Gene Hackman. Pic: AP/Chris Pizzello

During the ceremony’s in memoriam section, Morgan Freeman paid tribute to two-time Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, who was found dead in his home along with his wife and dog earlier this week.

A video montage honoured Academy members who have passed away over the last year, including British stars Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Joan Plowwright and Donald Sutherland, and US performers James Earl Jones, Kris Kristofferson and David Lynch.

There was also a moving segment honouring late music producer Quincy Jones, led by Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg and featuring rapper Queen Latifah.

Sky News is livestreaming the Vanity Fair and Sir Elton John after-party red carpets following the ceremony. Catching the Oscar-winners as they party the night away, join us there from 6am.

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