Editorial Team Bike Europe

ZEIST, The Netherlands - The November edition of Bike Europe magazine (number 6/2021) is now available to read online in our digital magazine section. This issue includes a look inside Cannondale's new European facility and an overview of bike markets across Scandinavia.

Zeist, The Netherlands - The October edition of Bike Europe magazine (number 5/2021) is now available to read online in our digital magazine section. This issue includes a detailed review of Eurobike as the bicycle industry waves 'goodbye' to Friedrichshafen.

September has always been buzzing with tradeshows and events. The combination of Eurobike, World Cycling forum and IAA-Mobility, all within 1.5 weeks clearly shows that cycling is on top of the business and political agenda. Eurobike, which kicks off on Wednesday 1 September, will be the first indication whether visitors are ready again to attend these events.

The transition to online sales gained momentum during the pandemic, also in the bicycle industry. Webshops reported hiking sales in all product categories. The theme is high on the agenda of the World Cycling forum, which takes place on 7-6 September. Read up on the topic to prepare for this rapidly developing trend.

The e-bike has reached a new status in Europe. Many people experienced the benefits of cycling last year, particularly in urban environments. Sales surged throughout Europe. The upward trend had already started, but the pandemic made the real difference. What can the market expect in 2021 now supplies continue to be hampered?

Demand for e-bikes has reached unprecedented levels throughout Europe. In some categories price tags continue to increase to all-time highs, while market volumes are pushing for more and more assembly capacity in Europe. Expanding sales volumes also result in new regulations. In this case for batteries, which is currently under development by the European union.

E-bike frame production is evolving quickly into a high-tech industry. Demand for a flexible and more sustainable organization of production located close to the market sparked many new initiatives. In this Bike Europe online magazine we highlight some of those projects, both in Europe and Asia.

The cancellation and postponement of leading trade fairs did not deter e-bike component developers from launching next generation products. In this buoyant growth market, product design is only accelerating, despite supply chain constraints as a result of Covid-19. E-bikes give the industry so much confidence that the outlook for the MY2021 is mostly positive.

Without exception, the European markets reported thriving e-bike sales in 2019. During the year, all indicators pointed to rising sales. Official statistics from leading cycling countries in this online magazine now confirm this trend. E-bikes even give the industry so much confidence that the outlook for the post-corona era tends to be positive. After all, the trend of expanding e-bike markets in 2019 was continued in the first months of 2020.

It is foremost about stability and reliability; about securing supply chains as well as being more cost effective, faster and more flexible. All that comes with close-to-market production; with production in Europe. And in particular with e-bike production. But making the switch to producing electric bicycles requires considerable investments. It calls for robotization wherever possible, needed for reaching a 90 seconds flow time. All this is transforming bike production in Europe that stands to quadruple in volume in the next five years.