Canadian distro Alba shuts down

After a 10-year run, Squamish, B.C.-based Alba Distribution is shutting down. That period saw Alba introduce several high-end brands to the Canadian market, along with more local brands lie WBP. The news comes on a day of generally bad news for the industry side of Canadian mountain biking, with Knolly Bikes also revealing significant financial struggles.

Alba started back in 2016 as many mountain bike projects do, in a basement. By 2021, the distro had grown enough to move into a Squamish warehouse and workshop.

That growth came from helping several high end brands establish a place in the Canadian market. Alba’s first major brand was Formula. Next, Alba brought EXT to Canadian mountain bikers, a boutique suspension brand.

Keeping themselves, and Canadian riders, ahead of the curve on mountain bike tech, Alba then added OChain to its roster. That Italian brand’s since attracted enough attention that SRAM decided to add OChain to its growing list of companies its bought.

Alba’s shared more about its development over the last 10 years, what’s next for it and the brand’s its represented on the distro’s website. Alba will be open until the end of March.