Jan-Willem van Schaik

BERLIN, Germany - Eyeing the upcoming federal elections, the advocacy organization Zukunft Fahrrad (Bicycle Future), issued a position paper campaigning for more political support for the bicycle industry. The new government in Germany will have to make clear policy choices as the cycling industry is not the only sector that's facing challenges and thus calling for support.

PODGRODZIE, Poland - The combination of aluminum frame production, a painting line and assembly on one location gives Romet a rather unique market position. Only a few factories in Europe operate their own frame production. What did the frame production bring to Romet, 5 years after the opening of the facility?

PRATO, Italy - Delivering groceries transporting up to 100kg and covering around 80 kilometers a day demands more from a cargo-bike than what's possible with a standard model. Italian engineering firm Formula and Ello Mobilité took up the challenge and built a fleet of bikes for French supermarket giant, Carrefour.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Folding bike specialist Ahooga has welcomed Tomi Viiala, former CEO of Stromer, as an advisor to the Board. Known for his instrumental role in transforming Stromer into the global leader in speed pedelecs, Viiala will support Ahooga in advising on driving strategic growth across Europe.

DIJON, France - The news came out already earlier, but was only published officially today. Accell Group's brand Cycles Lapierre is making a return to the to the UCI World Tour as the official bike sponsor for Team Picnic PostNL. The team will compete on Lapierre bicycles for the next four years.

TAIPEI, Taiwan - The setback in the industry isn't restraining the Taipei Cycle Show in promising growth in the exhibitor count for the 2025 edition. For the next edition of the event, show organiser TAITRA expects to welcome nearly 950 exhibitors from 35 countries spanning more than 3,500 booths.

PARIS, France - The budget crisis in France which led to a lot of political turmoil recently has a big impact on the bicycle and e-bike industry as well. With no previous warning, the Government announced that all state subsidies for the purchase of bicycles and e-bikes will be eliminated on very short notice. The 'Alliance for Cycling' warns of a significant consequence of such a decision for the whole cycling industry.

PODGRODZIE, Poland - Based in the southeast of Poland, Romet has been in the bicycle industry for more than 75 years. Operating in a total of three factories spread out over the country, Romet holds a strong position in its home market, but is also one of the well-known players in the European OEM market. Romet president Wieslaw Grzyb is now preparing the company to take the next step on the export market, both for OEMs as well as the brand Romet.

TAICHUNG, Taiwan - An increasing number of companies follow the China +1 approach for their sourcing strategy. To meet this demand from their customers, one of Taiwan's leading frame manufacturers is currently developing a new production facility in Vietnam with a capacity of 600,000 units. Above all, Sunrise aims to reduce their carbon footprint and raise their level of sustainable production.

WALDERSDORF, Germany - Cube Bikes plans to set up a facility in Egypt to produce plastic-reinforced carbon parts for export to its European factories as production inputs. The company has already scheduled a second visit to Egypt to secure a 40,000-square-meter plot in the 10th of Ramadan City, northeast of Cairo.