The 34th China International Bicycle Fair (aka China Cycle) was held at Shanghai New International Expo Center from 5 to 8 May 2026. With the theme 'Innovation Driven, Intelligence-led Future', this edition closely aligned with the global industry trends of environmentally friendly, intelligent, and high-end development.
The Canyon booth at Eurobike was impossible to miss this year. In the middle of Hall 11, the German D2C brand put up one of the nicest booths at the show, claiming a centre stage position at the event. "We want to showcase our team effort since I assumed operational responsibilities as executive chairman in September 2025," said Canyon founder, Roman Arnold.
"Establishing production facilities within key markets has become increasingly important due to the growing volatility of global trade," says Tony Karklins, CEO of Cardinal Cycling Group, which also owns Time and Detroit Bike. In a Bike Europe interview, Karklins outlines his vision for carbon product production and explains why the company is now offering OEM manufacturing at its Carboprax factory in Slovakia.
Following the acquisition of Harley Davidson's founded e-bike brand Serial 1 in 2023 and the takeover of the bankruptcy estate of the e-bike brand Rad Power Bikes, QuietKat is the latest to be added to Life EV Group's portfolio as it quietly builds a "made in the USA" e-mobility platform.
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.
