Merida Industry has announced that Vansen Tseng, the company's President, has resigned from his position due to personal career planning, effective July 17, 2026. "To ensure the continued smooth execution of business operations and management activities, the position will be assumed on an interim basis by Michael Tseng, the Chairman of the Merida Group," the company confirmed to Bike Europe.

The first half of 2026 continued to be plagued by global crises and geopolitical tensions. Despite ongoing economic and political turmoil, global stock markets managed to rally after some back-and-forth. AI, energy and healthcare were the main drivers of global stock markets from January to June, as bicycle-related stocks were unable to keep pace. Find out here why.

As 2027 gets set to be one of the most interesting on the international trade show scene, one of the rising stars, Cyclingworld Europe has stated its intentions for next year. Friday will become a full exhibition day as the event in Düsseldorf responds to strong demand from both the industry and the trade while maintaining its identity as a consumer-focused event. The event will take place from 12 to 14 March at Areal Böhler in Düsseldorf.

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.

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.

Brompton has brought in two new strategic investors as the British folding bike manufacturer looks to accelerate international expansion following a challenging period for sales. Decathlon Pulse, the investment arm of Decathlon, and Shanghai-based BA Capital have each acquired minority shareholdings through a secondary liquidity transaction, becoming long-term strategic partners while leaving Brompton's ownership structure and management unchanged.

UK retailer Halfords reported a recovery in its cycling business for the financial year ended 3 April 2026, with cycling like-for-like sales increasing 6.4% as the British bicycle market showed signs of improvement after several difficult years.

The highly volatile market posed a big challenge for the bicycle industry in recent years. More stability would have created room to start building on a new growth path. It appears that the market will be stable in 2026, thereby bringing the necessary calm for future recovery. "The market is steadily returning to a more normalised environment as inventory adjustments near completion," said Giant Chairman Young Liu at the annual meeting of shareholders.

Taiwan's major bicycle manufacturers — Giant, Merida and Ideal — all reported year-on-year revenue growth in May. The figures from the publicly listed companies are the strongest indication so far this year that the headwinds Taiwan's bicycle industry has been facing may be easing.

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.

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.

The rumours intensified during the Accell Dealer Days and at Eurobike last week. The name of Singapore-based investment company, DuTech Holdings, was frequently mentioned as the potential new owner of Accell Group, once one of the industry's largest companies. Last Friday, DuTech Holdings officially filed a request with the German antitrust authorities for approval to acquire Accell Group.

From pre-IPO acquirers to non-traditional investors and aftermarket economics, the next opportunity for bike startups may sit outside traditional cycling. After the capital reset, the cycling industry has been asking: when will investors come back? But maybe that is the wrong question.

Investors expect their investments to appreciate in value. Over the past decade, well-managed private equity funds have generally doubled the capital invested for their investors over the term of the investment, after deducting their own, usually very attractive, fees. However, this requires that the company's value also rise sharply during the investment period, more than doubling. These average times-two money multiples also include investments that perform poorly or even fail, for example, due to insolvency. What is the secret behind investment funds' value creation?

To leverage access to key investors, industry mentors, and strategic partnerships with leading brands, the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator (AGCA) has selected 10 companies for its 2026 cohort. The program is designed to help tech-enabled companies in the cycling industry explore business opportunities in the United States and Arkansas.

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.

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.

The aftermath of the COVID bubble, which hit the bicycle industry hard, also impacted Accell Group substantially. When Jonas Nilsson joined Accell Group as COO in July 2023, the company was perceived as being in a critical state. In January 2025, Nilsson took over as CEO and initiated the One Accell Strategy. In an exclusive interview with Bike Europe, he explains where the Accell Group is on the strategy timeline and what the market can expect from this once industry-leading company.

As the bicycle industry strives to better synchronise supply chains with market demand, access to reliable market intelligence has become increasingly important. The Global Bicycle Purchasing Index (GBPI) addresses this need by providing sourcing insights and a medium-term market outlook through an indicator that anticipates future industry trends. In a conversation with Bike Europe, Orbea Supply Chain Chief Officer Pablo Trujillo, explains how they manage the challenge of forecasting.

Messe Frankfurt has taken up the challenge of getting the derailed Eurobike back on track. The once-leading platform for the e-bike and bicycle industry has lost its glamour in recent years. "A key topic that emerged from the more than 50 industry expert interviews we conducted was Eurobike's lack of focus," Philipp Ferger, manager of Eurobike organiser Fairnamic, told Bike Europe in an exclusive interview. "Our first step was to put up an advisory board — a regular vehicle to exchange views with the industry for many trade shows at Messe Frankfurt."

A strong industry ecosystem thrived in Taiwan's bicycle industry for decades, enabling the successful launch of start-ups like Hyena. This ecosystem was damaged during the inventory crisis and Hyena CEO Charlie Chuang is calling for a rebuild of this system. Today, his company is one of the few Taiwan-based full e-drive system suppliers serving American and European customers.

Bicycle tyre manufacturer Schwalbe has announced the completion of a long-planned generational leadership transition, with the new management structure taking effect on 1 January 2027. After around three decades in executive leadership, Frank Bohle, Andreas Grothe and Holger Jahn will step down from their managing director roles, while Nico Simons will remain Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer, responsible for global sales.

The disruptive developments in the industry trade show landscape are the culmination of the difficulties the sector has been facing for some time. The opening day of Eurobike 2026 only confirmed the industry's current fragmentation of former, long-existing structures. Who is really going to support this industry in going forward, defend its interests, and facilitate its international gatherings?

Japanese component manufacturer Shimano has announced organisational and personnel changes within its bicycle components division. Effective 1 July, the division will have a new Head of Bicycle Components, Yuzo Shimano, to steer the company's new vision.

Heiko Müller is stepping back from the management of Riese & Müller after more than three decades with the company he co-founded. His departure at the end of July concludes the operational responsibility of the founding generation, after Markus Riese stepped back from management in 2022.