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.

GEDERSDORF, Austria - Two-wheel mobility product supplier, KSR Group, has successfully developed a restructuring plan since applying for a chapter 11 status earlier this year. With this, 140 jobs have been retained, independent business decisions can be made again and there are even talks with potential investors, reports the company from Austria.

HUTTWIL, Switzerland - All market indicators have made clear that the bike boom of 2020-2021 is over and implications for the industry can be expected. Renowned Swiss manufacturer Flyer has been hit hard and announced the lay-off of around 80 employees.

GEDERSDORF, Austria - Two-wheeled wholesaler and importer, KSR Group, has applied for a court-supervised restructuring procedure. Due to increased energy prices, high inflation and the lack of consumer purchasing power, the economic situation changed drastically within the last year in the markets the family-run company operates in.

SCHRAMBERG, Germany - In the first half of 2023, precision gear and component manufacturer hGears AG posted total sales of €57.16 million, a year-on-year decline of 19.4%. This is the result of flat sales in its e-mobility and e-tools business units.

PLOCHINGEN, Germany - Decathlon Germany posted another record result in 2022. This time breaking the €1 billion sales mark for the first time. E-commerce and a focus on integration of circularity services played a role.

BERLIN, Germany - Urban logistics e-cargobike manufacturer Onomotion has closed its Series A, with €6 million in equity and €15 million in debt. "We will use the debt to build more vehicles and scale our operations," co-founder and CEO Beres Seelbach.

MATTIGHOFEN, Austria - Despite aggravated delivery problems, Austrian two-wheeler giant Pierer Mobility AG was able to record a positive sales value performance in the first six months of the year. As far as unit sales are concerned, however, the demand for e-bikes could not quite be met.

HELSINKI, Finland - The market has seen a surge in cargo bike manufacturers in the past few years, each taking their own approach. Finnish start-up Ouca claims to have built-up a new concept for cargo bikes from scratch. "We have abandoned traditional bicycle parts in all the critical places," says Ouca founder Tuomas Alapuranen.

PARIS, France - E-bike subscription service company, Motto, has raised €4 million from Founders Future and Cassius Family, two capital fund companies which have been involved in earlier financing rounds of the company. The investment will support the expansion of the start-up's €75 per month subscription service beyond Paris and into Europe.

SCHRAMBERG, Germany - Stating a challenging business environment, German high-precision transmission parts and components manufacturer hGears AG, saw its young e-mobility business unit swallowing a double-digit 15.4% sales decrease in the first quarter of 2022. However, the publicly traded company can look to the future with confidence.

BERLIN, Germany - With EIT InnoEnergy SE, a new strategic investor and partner has joined Swobbee GmbH, the multi-vendor, multi-modal battery swapping station for all types of small electric vehicles. While EIT is putting €3 million of growth capital into the start-up, the current existing investor is also adding around the same amount on top.

PLOCHINGEN, Germany - It wasn't easy at first for the world's leading sports chain Decathlon to conquer the German market, but the French have learned quickly. For several years now, they have been reaping the fruits of their labor. With current expansion plans setting the tone, Decathlon Germany's 2021 financial figures underline that they are currently doing everything right.

The completely new PW-X3 drive system was developed specifically for the trend towards lightweight, sporty e-MTBs - it is even stronger, significantly lighter and above all more compact than its highly recommended predecessor.

TREVIGLIO, Italy - Bianchi announced an ambitious investment program to quadruple its production by August 2022. The new strategy not only includes an increase of capacity of both bicycles and e-bikes, but also the start of their own carbon frame production in Italy.

GELDERMALSEN, The Netherlands — Dutch Industrial design agency Modyn who designs for brands such as Gazelle and Quinny is partnering with Rein4ced and Covestro on a gravel e-bike concept, EGRVLR. With the design study partnership, the carbon frame gravel bike would be produced in Europe using Covestro's carbon fibre composite and Rein4ced's highly automated production process.

VILLENEUVE-D'ASCQ, France - Sports retail giant Decathlon United reported a 6% decrease in turnover in 2020 compared to 2019. Despite stores being closed for an average of 3 months, turnover reached €11.4 billion and net income remained stable at €550 million as online sales grew. "It was a one-of-a kind year," proclaimed CFO Jean-Marc Lemière about the annual figures.

DRESDEN, Germany - Bicycle chain store retailer Little John Bikes GmbH celebrated the opening of its 40th store on its home market Germany. The company aims to celebrate its 50th store opening in the fall of 2022. Besides the new store openings, the company is achieving rapid expansion through a unique IBD succession concept which offers a solution to the 'ageing' market.

WAMBRECHIES, France - In 2020, the French brand O2Feel registered a very busy year. Due to the huge growth in demand for e-bikes after the different European lockdowns, the brand sold around 25,000 units in Europe… up from 10,000 in 2018. This resulted in a 65% growth in turnover. The brand also placed a focus on additional stores and close to market production facilities.

BOCHOLT, Germany - In the past weeks this trade journal reported about the enormous cost increases for the industry. It becomes unavoidable for bicycle and e-bike suppliers to add at least a part of those extra costs to their sales prices. Many direct sellers like international operating Rose Bikes