Rosie Burgin

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Members of European parliament (MEPS) have adopted measures to stimulate consumers to repair products instead of buying new ones. First presented by the EU Commission in March 2023, the scope of the 'right to repair' proposal has also been extended to include bicycles. It aims to ensure favourable conditions for an independent repair market and prevent manufacturers from hindering repairs.

LONDON, England - Newcomer Skarper has developed a retrofit solution to turn any bicycle into an e-bike. What started with the backing of six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy, the start-up has also teamed up with the Red Bull Formula 1 team's Advanced Technologies division to prepare the device for market launch later this year.

BERLIN, Germany - European shared e-bike and e-scooter providers Tier and Dott have preliminarily agreed to merge. With a fresh investment of €60 million, the joint entity will continue to operate under the TIER and Dott brands combining "the expertise from both operating models and incorporating the advanced technology from each service."

ZEIST, The Netherlands - Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports are becoming a more regular occurrence from companies operating in the bicycle industry. The annual publications detail a company's sustainability efforts to its internal and external stakeholders.

SAINT QUENTIN, France - Yamaha Motor Europe has announced that its wholly-owned European manufacturing site in Saint Quentin, France, previously known as MBK Industrie (MBK), has been re-named Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Europe or YMME for short. Besides e-bike assembly, YMME will also start to produce drive units for OEM customers in March 2024.

ZEIST, The Netherlands - In contrast to recent years where the 'best read' items on Bike Europe were related to high-level investments and buoyant market developments, 2023 marked a vivid turning point. This year was notable for bankruptcies, closures and concerns over financial positioning. Bike Europe looks back on the main stories which attracted interest this year…

MIAMI, USA - Known primarily for its shared e-scooter service across cities globally, Bird has announced that it is restructuring to "strengthen its financial position". Although it will continue to operate as usual, the company has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in Florida. Bird Europe and Bird Canada are not part of the filing and also continue to operate as normal.

MADRID, Spain - Bicycle exports from Spain to the rest of the world remain well above pre-pandemic figures and show a positive trade balance, according to provisional data from the Ministry of Industry and Tourism. Although production figures in the country are dipping compared to last year, bicycle production in Spain also remains above the levels achieved in 2019.

BERLIN, Germany - Drive system manufacturer Brose started the serial remanufacturing process for its old e-bike drives in 2021 and has been continuously optimising the process ever since. The 'Reman Drive' saves 21 kg CO2-EQ per drive unit claims Brose and is now available for purchase by end-users while discussions with the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) have also taken place.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - High-level policymakers, industry experts, and cycling stakeholders came together at the annual CONEBI conference last month to foster a political dialogue on the EU Industrial Transition and the European Cycling Declaration. "We have a momentum in Europe to push for stronger policies in favour of cycling and the cycling industry," said MEP Karima Delli during the event held at the European Parliament.