MONTEREY, USA - With the US lacking a well-attended Eurobike-like event, Sea Otter is now a must attend event of the North American cycling season for brands, industry leaders, top retailers, and the media. That the show has an international draw was confirmed by Sea Otter CEO, Frank Yohannan; "This year we had 125 brands from foreign markets in attendance, a record."

PARIS, France - Eco-designed battery manufacturer, Gouach, is warning of a "David vs Goliath" battle in the quest to develop a repairable e-bike battery. With new legislation supporting the replacement of individual battery cells, the French battery maker feels that CONEBI's stance pushing back on repairable batteries is drowning out new initiatives like theirs. We asked CONEBI to comment on this statement.

MUNICH, Germany - Bikesale Solutions GmbH, Germany's 'first professional online bicycle market-place for used bicycles' asked for insolvency on March 29th. The appointed administrator is now looking for an investor for the ailing bicycle refurbisher.

OSAKA, Japan - The forecasted slowdown in bicycle component sales for Shimano was less strong than expected. For the first quarter of 2023 the Japanese manufacturer reports a net sales decrease of 12.5% from the same period of the previous year to JPY 126,071 million (€ 856 million).

LONDON, UK - Despite literal bumps in the road, the UK e-bike market is on the rise, according to industry representatives present at the Cycle Show held in London this April. Dealers, manufacturers and newcomers alike agree on one thing, a lack of infrastructure is slowing the market. Despite this, and the slow-adoption of e-bikes compared to the rest of Europe, the UK is considered by some to be "the most exciting market in terms of growth opportunities."

BERINGEN, Belgium - The Belgian Cycling Factory (BCF), known as owner of the sports bike brands Ridley and Eddy Merckx, is diversifying into new bicycle categories. The company will also focus more on e-bikes. Therefore, for frame production BCF partnered with a nearby frame manufacturer.

MONTIGNY-LE-BRETONNEUX, France - Alltricks, the omni-channel pure-player, has reported a turnover of €219 million in 2022. This represents a 30% increase compared to 2021. This figure includes the activity of Troc Vélo, the first specialised second-hand site that Alltricks acquired in March 2021. Last year, this company has recorded a 65% growth in active classifieds, generating a volume of transactions between individuals of €49 million.

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Due to the increased demand from its customers for e-cargobike chassis, frame builder A-Pro Tech Co. Ltd. has set up its own production line dedicated to cargobikes in Taiwan.

MADRID, Spain - After two record-breaking years, the Spanish bicycle industry closed 2022 with a downward readjustment in sales and turnover, but very positive figures for employment and national production. Some 1.357 million bicycles were sold last year, 13.6% less than in 2021.

MUTLANGEN, Germany - The challenging market situation became too much for Advanced Sports GmbH. According to an announcement of the responsible district court Aalen in Germany, Advanced Sports GmbH filed for insolvency in self-administration as of 3 April 2023. The company is the European distributor for the bicycle brands Fuji, Breezer and SE Bikes and sells to more than 30 countries.

MÜHLTAL, Germany - E-bike and cargobike manufacturer Riese & Müller, has published its third Responsibility Report. It documents the company's development and progress in the 2021/2022 financial year in terms of waste management, CO2 emissions and its transparent supply chain. A positive carbon footprint while increasing production output, is a key takeaway.

TAIPEI, Taiwan - At this year's Taipei Cycle Show bicycle chain specialist Taya China Co. Ltd. debuted a new bicycle chain brand, Zenas.

法國，巴黎（PARIS）－儘管經濟不景氣，法國自行車市場去年仍持續成長，累計銷售達36億歐元，較前一年增加5.2%。根據法國運動暨自行車產業聯盟（Union Sport & Cycle）發佈報告顯示，自2016年開始傳統自行車銷量下滑，電動自行車成為銷售主打。電動自行車去年銷售增長12%，達738,454輛。

荷蘭，海倫芬（HEERENVEEN）－Accell Group執行長Ton Anbeek任職近六年後即將卸任，在尋找接班人的同時，會由投資公司合夥人和KKR共同擁有者Juan de Ochoa來擔任董事會臨時主席。

台灣，台北－高階車架製造商Astro Tech不僅在越南投資生產衛星，該公司總經理Samuel Hu於台北自行車展上向Bike Europe證實他們正在彰化蓋新廠，未來將用於量產碳纖車架。

荷蘭，宰斯特（ZEIST）－Bike Europe雜誌四月刊（2023/第2期）現已發行數位版本。台北自行車展停辦三年後回歸，本期除了觀察展場上的氛圍，也檢視歐洲主要電動自行車市場的最新數據。

VIENNA, Austria - The Austrian bicycle market once again broke records in 2022. Both unit and value sales topped those in 2021, with the total sales value amounting to €1.39 billion. More importantly, e-bike sales alone cracked the €1 billion mark for the first time, accounting for 74% of the sales value.

TAIPEI, Taiwan - High-end frame builder Astro Tech isn't only investing in satellite production in Vietnam. At this year's Taipei Cycle Show Astro Tech Co. Ltd. general manager Samuel Hu confirmed to Bike Europe that his company is currently constructing a new building in Changhua, Taiwan. Here, mass production of carbon frames will take place alongside automated aluminium frame production.