Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how businesses handle data. AI tools can now map fields, convert formats, and identify inconsistencies. For many industries, including the bicycle industry, this raises an important question: if AI can manage, translate and interpret data automatically, do companies still need to invest in digitalisation and industry standards?
The Russian bicycle sector could face a serious decline in the second half of the current year as the ever-deepening fuel crisis in the country creates serious logistics problems, resulting in insufficient bicycle supplies to the domestic market. Despite facing "unprecedented" challenges, investments from China continue to support fledgling local brands.
Regulation, system integration, cargo bike development, and safety expectations are changing how lighting is evaluated in modern mobility projects. As Europe's e-bike and cargo bike markets continue to mature, vehicle lighting is evolving beyond a purely component-level consideration.
Few events in the bicycle industry have reinvented themselves as often, and as successfully as Taipei Cycle. One characteristic has remained remarkably constant. While markets fluctuate, technologies evolve and supply chains shift, Taiwan's greatest strength has never been scale alone. It has been trust.
The Shanghai, China-based e-drive manufacturer Ananda Drive Technology reported a year-on-year revenue increase from CNY 1,528.34 million (€197.22 million) in 2024 to CNY 2,004.28 million (€258 million) in 2025. Compared with the revenue growth, the income increased only marginally by 4.7% to CNY 115.04 million (€14.8 million) in 2025. This had severla clear causes, according to Ananda.
As urban cycling and e-bike adoption continue to grow, riders are looking for more than comfort and performance alone. Practical functionality, security, and adaptability are becoming increasingly important in daily riding environments.
A new owner for the Accell Group is one step closer today. The German anti-trust authorities have cleared plans by the Singapore-based investment company, DuTech Group, to take over the Dutch bicycle manufacturer. Accell reports that it is "very happy and positive" about the developments.
Italy's Fantic Group has outlined a new international strategy for its Cycling Business Unit, centred on strengthening the distinct positioning of its Fantic and Bottecchia brands while integrating operations to improve efficiency and improve product development. The strategy also aims to accelerate growth across key international markets.
Battery supplier Joycube wants to strengthen its position in the international e-bike market by combining its Chinese battery expertise with localised production and service networks. The company originates from Phylion's overseas division but with its own strategy, R&D and commercial structure. It operates completely independently to focus exclusively on business development in markets outside China.
Industry association, European Cycling Industries (ECI), has set out a comprehensive framework for tackling the growing challenge of non-compliant e-bikes in Europe. In a new white paper, it distinguishes between different forms of non-compliance, including technical breaches of the EPAC standard, customs and trade fraud, and downstream tampering. These issues require targeted enforcement rather than blanket restrictions on compliant e-bikes, the industry organisation argues.
The French market has yet to find cause for optimism. In that context, the financial struggles at the O2Feel brand are no surprise. The northern France-based e-bike brand and assembler has been forced to apply for insolvency in self-administration.
The Indian family-owned company Amar Wheels Pvt. Ltd. has been doing business with European companies for close to five decades. "We strive to stay relevant, which we love. The challenges are amazing and the last 10 years have been more challenging than the past 40 years. We are constantly evolving in order to stay relevant," Karan Aggarwal, director of Amar Wheel tells Bike Europe.
For bicycle brands, sourcing teams and suppliers, the challenge is no longer simply finding manufacturing capacity. Increasingly, success depends on finding partners that can manage compliance requirements, provide transparent supply chain data, support software-enabled products and coordinate increasingly complex international operations.
Let's be honest: finalising pre-orders is the most stressful moment of a retailer's year. You commit a large part of your budget to a product you have often never seen, and then hope it arrives before the customer you promised it to loses patience - late deliveries deserve their own article. How can you enter conversations with brands as a strategic partner, rather than someone who simply takes orders?
The on-off reporting on whether hostilities in the Middle East will end is causing significant business uncertainty. Moreover, the heavy reliance on deliveries of parts and components from Asia leads to major cost fluctuations. As this uncertainty persists, suppliers and bicycle manufacturers will factor this into their pricing. The consequences are ultimately higher costs and higher bicycle prices in stores, as evidenced by the most recent Global Bicycle Purchasing Index (GBPI).
Where last year's Women in Cycling event at Eurobike centred on the industry's gender pay gap and the launch of new national networks, this year's programme opened with a freshly released market study and pushed the conversation onto a harder question: what should manufacturers and retailers actually do about the €950 million the bicycle industry is potentially missing out on.
The rumours intensified during the Accell Dealer Days and at Eurobike last week. The name of Singapore-based investment company, DuTech Holdings, was frequently mentioned as the potential new owner of Accell Group, once one of the industry's largest companies. Last Friday, DuTech Holdings officially filed a request with the German antitrust authorities for approval to acquire Accell Group.
"We want to stay on top of innovation, and we love to be leading," Avinox's Product Experience Director, Ferdinand Wolf, told Bike Europe on the final business day of Eurobike. True to his word, the Chinese drivetrain maker surprised many with the launch of its MG concept motor during the tradeshow. The progression from a shared outdoor booth in 2024 to one of Hall 12's defining exhibitors in 2026 marked a shift in how the company is positioning itself as a long-term industry player.
Eurobike 2026 was in size a shadow of its former self, a far cry from the industry's leading trade fair it once was. The industry brought this debacle upon itself by no longer participating in what was once the largest bicycle show in the world. Obviously, the visitor and exhibitor numbers for this transformation edition didn't come close to what they were in the past, but that also reflects the current economics in the bicycle industry.
Brompton has brought in two new strategic investors as the British folding bike manufacturer looks to accelerate international expansion following a challenging period for sales. Decathlon Pulse, the investment arm of Decathlon, and Shanghai-based BA Capital have each acquired minority shareholdings through a secondary liquidity transaction, becoming long-term strategic partners while leaving Brompton's ownership structure and management unchanged.
