For Fundracer Partner René Wiertz, the next decade will not simply be about selling more bicycles; it will be about making two-wheel mobility dramatically safer, smarter and more connected. "Those companies enabling that transformation are likely to create the greatest long-term value," says Wiertz. Bike Europe asked him about the market outlook from the perspective of an investment fund manager.

The European bicycle industry has continued its transition towards a more balanced and demand-driven market. Following the exceptional surge in demand during the Covid boom, supply chain disruptions, and the subsequent market correction, the latest 2025 data clearly indicate that the industry is stabilising. "This is a sign that the inventory troubles that we have had coming out of COVID are now finally at the end," said industry body ECI CEO Paul Walsh at the presentation of the 2026 Bicycle Industry & Market Profile (BIMP).

Belgium's speed pedelec market continued its transformation in the first half of 2026, with strong growth in new registrations driven by leasing contracts and large fleet deliveries, while the rapidly expanding second-hand market is creating a broader customer base for speed pedelec sales in Europe's leading market.

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 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).

In the first quarter of 2026, the average turnover of Dutch retailers in the H&L Benchmark group increased by 1.6% compared with the same period last year. At the same time, costs rose by an average of 1.4% during the quarter. Partly as a result, profitability in the first quarter of 2026 declined by 0.5 percentage points compared with the previous year, according to the H&L Benchmark.