Sweden's leading bicycle retailer, WS We Sports Group, continues its omnichannel expansion strategy with the opening of its fifth Cykelkraft-branded brick-and-mortar location. The new 2,500-square-meter flagship store in Kållered, near Gothenburg, officially opened on 21 May is a major step forward in the retail development of WS We Sports Group AB's Bike & Mobility division.
Road and gravel bikes are among the categories that have started the year with positive momentum across Europe and the United States, while others, like the eMTB category, have seen a more challenging picture. This and more are reflected in the latest results from the Shift Leaderboard market and brand-tracking tool, which analyses search volume for over 25,000 different terms.
Stock-listed e-commerce bicycle retailer Bike24 Holding AG has gotten off to a strong start in the new year. The Dresden-based company posted not only first-quarter double-digit growth, but also a significant improvement in adjusted EBITDA.
Ask ten people in a bike brand how profitable their assortment is, and you will get ten different answers. Ask the product manager and she will point to margin per unit. Ask the supply chain lead and he will talk about complexity cost. Ask the retailer, and the conversation shifts entirely to sell-through and floor turns. Everyone is right. Everyone is also looking at a different piece of the value chain. And because no one has agreed on a shared picture, the product line keeps growing — SKU by SKU, season by season — until it takes an AI chatbot to explain the difference between two models to a confused customer at home.
Europe's largest specialist bicycle retail association, Zweirad-Einkaufs-Genossenschaft (ZEG), appointed a new board member as part of its strategic realignment. The recently appointed Matthias van de Loo has assumed the role of chief financial & chief operating officer (CFO/COO). According to the dealer cooperative, "the strategic realignment is consistently pursued, with a focus on implementation and a future-oriented approach."
Although the number of bicycles delivered in Switzerland fell again by around 25,000 units in 2025, the trend in sports bicycles and e-bikes provided a ray of hope, as sales in these categories started to rise again. Looking solely at specialist retailers, excluding major distributors, rising figures were recorded in almost all sectors. However, the Swiss bicycle suppliers' association, Velosuisse, still refers to being in a 'consolidation phase.'
