Rosie Burgin

REDDITCH, England - Citing headwinds in the bicycle market, UK retail chain, Halfords, has closed the financial year with a 30% drop in volume in its cycling division. "The bicycle market consolidated at a faster rate than expected, leading to much more discounting, which put significant short-term pressure on gross margin," the company reports.

FRANKFURT, Germany - ZF Group will present its new 48-volt drive system for e-bikes for the first time at Eurobike. Including all components of the 'ZF Bike Eco System', the core component is the ZF 'Centrix' drive unit with an ultra-compact, 90 Newton meter mid-motor. Raymon Bicycles is a launch partner with an e-MTB specified with the drive system expected in spring 2025.

REICHSHOF, Germany - One year after the launch of the Green Marathon, Schwalbe is converting large parts of its existing tyre range to the same circular concept. From now on, 70% of all Schwalbe tyres will be made with recycled carbon black (rCB), the tyre brand reports.

ROTORUA, New Zealand - Where others may have failed in the past, start-up Bike Matrix appears to be succeeding in the accumulation of a complete bike parts database with the support of the industry. The company operating out of New Zealand now has major brands engaged in supplying data in what was historically a closed-off world; what has been their secret to success?

BAD CAMBERG, Germany - Darfon is extending its acquisition footprint into Germany by acquiring a majority stake in Grofa Action Sports GmbH. The German company has exclusive distribution rights for Darfon's e-bike brand BESV in Germany, Austria and Belgium. The new collaboration will drive the pan-European expansion of Grofa's distribution business.

LONDON, UK - Existing tariffs on e-bikes imported into the UK from China range from 18.8% to 79.3%. These measures were transitioned when the UK left the EU following Brexit. Following a period of investigation the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has now deemed that keeping anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on Chinese e-bikes "would not be in economic interest of the UK" and should be revoked.

ZEIST, The Netherlands - The volume of e-bikes exported from Taiwan has been in a constant freefall since January 2023. At this point it was clear that the market was flooded and delayed shipments were reaching weak purchasing markets. Throughout 2023, the number of e-bikes shipped from Taiwan dropped each month; from 102,575 in January to 37,597 in December. The latest Q1 figures of 2024 show signs of stability being resumed in the export market, albeit at a considerably low level.

LINCOLN, California - US company, Wren Sports, known for their inverted forks, bike packing racks and durable components, has announced a series of business developments across Europe following a successful 18 months of steady sales growth and new product development.

TREVIGLIO, Italy - Bianchi has officially inaugurated its new production plant inside the renovated facility in Treviglo. The new production line boasts a manufacturing capacity of 500 bicycles per shift and was built according to innovative operating logic and productivity processes developed by Bianchi. On hand at the inauguration was new appointed CEO Marco Gentili who takes over the position from Fabrizio Scalzotto.

ZEIST, the Netherlands - With key markets reporting double-digit sales drops, inventories sky-high and heavy discounting attempting to rid the industry of burdening overstock, e-bike and bicycle imports into the EU nose-dived throughout 2023. With the first quarter of 2024 import data now available from Eurostat, a picture can be drawn of how this year's market might unfold… and there is a glimmer of hope.