Jan-Willem van Schaik

WOKING, UK - The restart of VanMoof after the bankruptcy last summer had to come with a drastic change in strategy. VanMoof's new owner McLaren Applied subsidiary Lavoie, didn't give itself much time to study the best possible business model. Besides a revamped retail and service strategy, the company also restarted the supply chain of spare parts as well as the development of new components.

BERINGEN, Belgium - The Belgian Cycling Factory, owner of the brands Ridley and Eddy Merckx steps up its activity in the market with the appointment of industry veteran Eugene Fierkens. While Edward Vlutters returns back home. Fierkens will now take up the position of general manager strategy & business while Vlutters started as sales director in February.

BERLIN, Germany - Bicycle production and sales in Germany attained very high levels in 2023, comparable to the bicycle boom in 2020. Despite the generally negative consumer climate, sales value of bicycles and e-bikes combined in Germany only slightly decreased by 4% from €7.36 billion in 2022 to €7.06 billion last year.

TAIPEI, Taiwan - The leading topic for the Taiwan bicycle industry has become Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing. The industry joined forces in a coalition called the Bicycling Alliance for Sustainability (BAS). BAS representative and ESG Manager of Giant Group, Charlie Liu, explains the vision and strategy of this industry wide cooperation.

台灣，台北－2024年台北國際自行車展備受矚目，可惜辜負眾望。台灣自行車零件製造商迫切期待訂單量增加，不過自行車品牌受到庫存影響而面臨龐大財務壓力。今年台北自行車展正如預期所料，無法為這些挑戰帶來緩解作用。

TAIPEI, Taiwan - The 2024 Taipei International Cycle Show will go in the history books as the edition of high hopes, but low expectations. The Taiwanese component manufacturers are eagerly waiting for more order volume while the bicycle brands are confronted with a huge financial burden due to the inventory issue. As expected, the 2024 Taipei Cycle Show did not bring any relief to these challenges.

HEERENVEEN, the Netherlands - The financial situation for KKR owned Accell Group is becoming increasingly challenging. A group of lenders decided to select advisers to assess options for the bicycle manufacturer amid struggles spurred by waning demand and operational hurdles. Accell is also facing an expensive recall of the Babboe cargobike and at the same time the union might shut down one of the Heerenveen factories later today.

SKI, Norway - reTyre claims to be the first manufacturer able to mass produce pneumatic tyres without rubber. "Our uniquely patented production method differs significantly from the existing production process that takes place today with vulcanised rubber," says Ben Evans, CCO of reTyre. In this interview he unlocks the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of vulcanised tyres massively.

REDDITCH, England - In a trading update Halfords Group announced to expect a significant drop in like-for-like revenue growth in its retail business. The company reports a further material weakening in three of its four core markets, including cycling.

ULFT, the Netherlands - The growing market for accessories like baskets, bags and child seats also resulted in an increasing number of different quick fastening systems. Concerned about the consumer's interests, Basil owner Martijn van Balveren developed an open-source mounting system. Today it is specified by over 100 bicycle and accessories brands.