Business news : Zagster Bike Sharing Service to User Breezer Bikes from Advanced Sports Internationnal ( AZSI

Advanced Sports International (ASI), the parent company of premium bicycle and component brands Fuji, Kestrel, SE, Breezer and Oval Concepts, has agreed to provide Breezer bikes to Zagster for its national bike sharing business. As part of the partnership, Zagster has built out an assembly line and distribution center at the ASI warehouse in Philadelphia, enabling for the rapid deployment of Zagster bikes to customers across the country.

"Our partnership with ASI will enable us to fully outfit, customize and deploy bikes for our customers in less than three weeks from a signed contract, meaning our customers can start offering the benefits of bike riding to guests, tenants, employees and students more quickly than with any other provider," said Timothy Ericson, co-founder and CEO of Zagster. "For Zagster, the economies of scale, co-location at the warehouse and access to shipping resources will enable us to expand nationally even faster."

Zagster is developing a national footprint of bike sharing programs in partnership with real estate/apartment companies (Forest City, Bulfinch, Related), hotels (Hyatt Regency) and universities (Yale), all of which are looking to provide amenities and benefits to tenants, guests or employees. Globally, according to the Earth Policy Institute, there are more than 500,000 people participating in more than 500 bike sharing programs in 49 countries, including leading cities like Boston, New York and Washington, D.C.

"The Breezer Uptown is perfect for the Zagster program -- for commuting, shopping or just cruising around town," said Patrick Cunnane, CEO of ASI. "Partnering with Zagster brings the Breezer brand to thousands of riders, who we expect will become big fans. We're excited to help Zagster expand and to bring the freedom, convenience and health benefits of bike riding to their customers."

Each bike contains a bike lock with the key stored inside a lock box. After joining Zagster at www.zagster.com riders simply Text 'start' plus the bike number (e.g. "start 46") to a phone number. A confirmation message with the access code for the lock box is texted back. This action reserves the bike for the remainder of the day or until the bike is returned. Riders text "end" to the same number, which releases the bike for the next rider.

Founded in Philadelphia in 2007 as CityRyde and now headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. Zagster is one of the nation's first bike sharing companies. Zagster is uniquely focused on contracting with property managers, hotels, businesses, and universities across North America to make bike sharing programs available to tenants, employees, guests and students. This highly efficient and unique model allows Zagster to offer services in areas that traditional city-wide bike sharing systems can't reach.

Advanced Sports International (ASI) is a privately held corporation located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than 80 distributors in 50 countries. Operating in the U.S. through the specialty bicycle retailer network (SBR), ASI markets a full line of premium bicycles and high end parts and accessories under the Fuji, Kestrel, SE, Breezer, Terry and Oval brands.

Source Zagster and ASI through SportsOneSource