Jan-Willem van Schaik

The influx of new concepts and ideas in the rapidly expanding bicycle and e-bike industry leads to market entry by less experienced company founders. "They don't have the business expertise, don't know business fundamentals when it comes to the legal set-up of an entity, marketing and pricing, let alone funding," said Zoe Rose Maddox of the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator. "We target the group that is ready to scale and fine-tune their operation."

Bolt has expanded its shared micromobility fleet with the introduction of its first entirely in-house e-bike. With their design vision, Bolt aimed to reset expectations of what shared cycling can offer riders and cities. The scale and integration of various smart technologies make this a statement product for the future of e-bike developments.

The requirement for replaceable cells in e-bike batteries suddenly became a hot topic in 2023, and the European Commission recently added a new chapter to the discussion. The Batteries Regulation, which entered into force in August 2023, made it mandatory to offer the ability to replace individual battery cells for e-bikes in future. This requirement has been removed in the latest amendment from the European Commission. European Cycling Industries (ECI) welcomes this change, but not everyone is happy.

Technological advancements, in combination with artificial intelligence (AI), are accelerating the market entry of companies offering safety products to collect rider information. Irish Luna Systems, which developed an on-bike camera and warning system, is one of them. "Customers are already buying this kind of technology — which improves safety but also collects data — in automobiles," says Andrew Fleury, CEO of Luna Systems. "In cycling, these kinds of products are just not offered enough to them, except for the enthusiast's road market."

HERENT, Belgium - Reshoring carbon frame production to Europe using the latest technology has always been at the core of Rein4ced, but the turmoil in the bicycle industry has proven too much to sustain the model for Rein4ced. CEO and co-founder Michaël Callens announced the company's bankruptcy this week.

POZZOLEONE, Italy - For Selle Royal Group, 2025 signalled the first signs of recovery after a challenging 2024. A capital increase was approved for Selle Royal Romania in order to strengthen the equity structure during this phase of production ramp-up and volume-driven growth. This step was highlighted in the company's financial report for the period from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.

HEERENVEEN, the Netherlands - Velo-ce S.R.L. today announced the acquisition of the titanium bike brand Van Nicholas from Accell Group. The Italian company Velo-ce, renowned for its meticulous in-house bicycle production and state-of-the-art facility near Milan, will now take full responsibility for the production and distribution of Van Nicholas bicycles.

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands - The e-bike is evolving rapidly and new user groups are entering the market, writes editor-in-chief Jan-Willem van Schaik in his editorial. "The question is whether the e-bike can keep the same classification and will continue to be seen as a bicycle. The classification as a bicycle has important legal implications."

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands - The perceived relevance of trade shows is the next challenge the bicycle and e-bike industry is having to face since the start of this decade. Until the pandemic, the overall mood was positive and upbeat, but that's no longer the case, and it is difficult for the industry to get back on track. After the German industry associations ZIV and Zukunft Fahrrad questioned the purpose of Eurobike, the next challenge in the industry surfaced. How to communicate in the trade market? How is the transformation of the show landscape evolving? Time for a deep dive...

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands - The Dutch bicycle market has enjoyed favourable market conditions throughout the year. According to the third-quarter report from the benchmark group of H&L Accountancy, the average retail revenue in the Netherlands increased by 5.4% compared to the same period last year. It is probably not the best quarter of the year, but the market is still buoyant.