Bike Show Trends: Brands Shift to Regional and Self-Organized Events

I really enjoyed The Economist’s latest piece on how cycling is reshaping transport globally. From Montreal to Copenhagen, it’s an inspiring reminder of what cities can achieve when cycling becomes truly mainstream. But reading it from London, the reality feels more complicated. While e-bikes have undeniably expanded access to cycling - especially for deliveries, less physically confident riders, and Londoners who simply want to get around more quickly, with services like Lime e-bikes making assisted cycling widely accessible and increasingly normalised in the city’s everyday mobility mix. especially for deliveries, less physically confident riders, and Londoners who simply want to get around more quickly, with services like Lime e-bikes making assisted cycling widely accessible and increasingly normalised in the city’s everyday mobility mix. But alongside this rapid growth, a more complex side of the e-bike story has emerged - the rise of modified or throttle-based bikes that blur the line between convenience and regulation. It’s a shame, because these cases risk overshadowing the genuinely transformative potential of e-bikes for urban mobility. As in many things, policy and infrastructure haven’t caught up with innovation, and that gap is where frustration, stigma, and poor design tend to grow. If the UK wants to catch up with the cities The Economist highlights, it’s not just about building more lanes or rolling out hire schemes. It’s about designing a system that recognises both the promise and the complexity of this new cycling landscape. https://lnkd.in/eRg453sf

📊 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 – 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗶𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 Zukunft Fahrrad A groundbreaking study by EIT Urban Mobility , Cycling Industries Europe (CIE) and EY has already impressively demonstrated that bike sharing generates around €305 million in benefits annually across Europe (with a potential of €1 billion and a 75% ROI by 2030), Zukunft Fahrrad is now providing nationwide market figures for bike sharing and bike subscriptions in Germany 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. 🚴 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 ➡️ Over 115,000 bike-sharing bikes are currently in use. ➡️ Of these, over 57,000 are e-bikes ➡️ Over 1,900 are cargo bikes ➡️ In addition, almost 100,000 people use a private bike subscription. Important: commercial subscription bikes (e.g., for delivery services) are not included in these figures. 📈 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 🔹 This data is preliminary and does not yet allow for comprehensive trend comparisons, but it clearly shows that 𝗯𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰. 🔹 They represent 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 – a contribution to public health, urban climate, and sustainable mobility. 🔹 A public bike rental system 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 – every day. At the same time, investment and operating costs are comparatively low, especially when compared to other forms of public transport. 🔹 The principle of “𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴” is increasingly becoming part of modern mobility and has great potential – especially when well integrated into public transport and socially equitable services. Together, we can ensure that bike sharing is no longer just a topic of discussion, but becomes a visible part of our everyday lives – for more sustainable mobility. 🫶

📰 New publication out! Is it cycling culture? Explaining regional bicycle use in Denmark and Germany using a joint trip-level mode choice model 👉 https://lnkd.in/e5E6wkqv In this paper, we explore why people cycle more in some regions than others, looking beyond infrastructure and demographics to ask whether something like “cycling culture” might play a role. We don’t directly measure cycling culture, but we approach it indirectly through a joint mode choice model based on large-scale survey data from Denmark 🇩🇰 and Germany 🇩🇪. Interestingly, even after accounting for material and socioeconomic factors, Danes still have a higher baseline preference for cycling. At a regional level, only Copenhagen and Hamburg show local cultural effects beyond what the model predicts. Three things that surprised us the most: 🔹 While the model revealed many meaningful and significant differences in preferences between Denmark and Germany, most model coefficients were similar enough to be estimated jointly, supporting the use of joint models even across different cultural contexts and survey data sets. 🔹 People cycle more in Denmark than in Germany, however differences at a regional level, even within countries, are much more pronounced. 🔹 Does bicycle infrastructure support cycling, or does a strong bicycle-culture support building bicycle infrastructure? This and other interactions between material and cultural factors remain to be explored and are highly relevant for our understanding of how to make cycling even more attractive. It was a real pleasure being on a research stay in Copenhagen last year to work on this project with Mads Paulsen and Jeppe Rich at DTU Transport Policy DTU - Technical University of Denmark. Experiencing everyday life in one of the world’s most bicycle-friendly cities definetely gave me a new perspective on our research. Thanks a lot for having me! Many thanks also to DAAD Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst and Bundesministerium für Verkehr for supporting this research, and to my co-authors Mads and Jeppe at DTU - Technical University of Denmark and Heather Kaths at Bergische Universität Wuppertal's BUW - Chair of Bicycle Traffic for a great collaboration.

Why do people cycle more in some regions than others? 🚴♀️ And what factors, beyond infrastructure and demographics, shape cycling behavior? Our newly published paper (Leonard Arning & Heather Kaths), “Explaining regional bicycle use in Denmark and Germany using a joint trip-level mode choice model” (read here: https://lnkd.in/eZ4R83wR), explores these questions in depth. Key insights: 🚴♀️ While we found several meaningful differences in cycling preferences between Denmark and Germany, the overall similarity supports joint modeling across cultural contexts. 🚴♀️ Cycling is generally more common in Denmark, but regional variations within both countries are even greater. 🚴♀️ The interplay between infrastructure and cycling culture—does one drive the other?—remains a fascinating and crucial topic for making cycling even more attractive. Thanks to Mads Paulsen and Jeppe Rich from DTU - Technical University of Denmark for the great collaboration. On to new studies and collaborations across borders!

After years of successful implementation of Bikehangars for London residents, I’m glad to see the launch of Cyclehoop’s first on-demand Trips Bikehangars in Tower Hamlets. In my past research on cycling behaviour, one of the most common barriers people raised was bike theft. Having secure parking available for short-term hire can make a real difference, giving people the confidence that their bikes are safe while they commute, shop, or visit local facilities. Innovations like this bring us one step closer to making cycling a convenient, safe and sustainable choice for everyday journeys in London. 🚲 (Link to Cyclehoop’s post in comments)

“Will this fit my bike?” is probably the most expensive question in our business. For years, the answer meant diving through spec sheets, forum threads, and manufacturer pages (if you could find them). Even experienced cyclists struggle with compatibility. For newcomers, it’s intimidating enough to just… not upgrade at all. That’s exactly what we want to change at BIKE24. Our vision is to enable more riders to become cycling enthusiasts. But you can’t create more enthusiasts if buying parts feels like homework. I first saw Bike Matrix Ltd when they won the Eurobike 2024 award for their compatibility database and was following them since then. This could solve one of our core challenges. Cycling “standards” aren’t as standard as some might think. There are over 1,000 of them and specs don’t always tell you the full story (if they even exist for your parts). Bike Matrix solves that with experienced mechanics manually curating compatibility for currently 85k+ bikes, 70k+ frames and 90k+ components. Real industry expertise. Verified data. No crappy AI Algorithm. That's as nerdy as it gets when talking about bike stuff ;) I instantly felt connected to their vision of empowering cyclist when we had our first call earlier this yeah - so we had to test it. We ran our test during July and August with more than 3 million customers. Would our visitors trust it? Would they find their bike? Would it slow them down? Will they understand the tool? We decided to release our full integration when the test ended. The results were clear and they can only get better with more bikes and brands on the roadmap. Customers who used BikeMatrix: 58% higher conversion rate for parts purchases 2× revenue per visit 79.5% satisfaction scoring in our customer surveys .. and we already see a positive impact on return rates. But one thing truly stodd out for me: 24% of our surveyed customers said they “wouldn’t want to buy components without it anymore.” One in four riders went from uncertainty to full confidence - because of our Bike Matrix Ltd Compatibility Feedback. Now, any visitor on our site can simply select their bike and instantly see: “✓ Compatible with your bike.” No Research. No forums. No Spreadsheets. No guessing. Just confidence. That’s what more than 30k cyclists experienced in September alone on our page and we're glad we can provide it to them. We were BikeMatrix’s first large retail partner to test this at scale and we could prove how well this works. Compatibility has been cycling’s invisible barrier for too long. Removing it helps riders upgrade with confidence and that’s how we can turn them into enthusiasts. Huge thanks to the Bike Matrix Ltd crew (Lyndal Bailey, Adam Townsend, Adam Barnes) because there's nothing better than late-night calls across the globe with people that can instantly make you feel how passionate they are about their vision. Thank you for building what the industry and riders need!

This guy is one of the most passionate people in the bike industry that we've had the pleasure of working with. Peter Ebert's dedication to the customer experience is second to none. When he says: "The results were clear and they can only get better with more bikes and brands on the roadmap. Customers who used BikeMatrix: 58% higher conversion rate for parts purchases 2× revenue per visit 79.5% satisfaction scoring in our customer surveys .. and we already see a positive impact on return rates. But one thing truly stodd out for me: 24% of our surveyed customers said they “wouldn’t want to buy components without it anymore.” One in four riders went from uncertainty to full confidence - because of our Bike Matrix Ltd Compatibility Feedback." ....you better believe that they tested the 'heck' out of Bike Matrix Ltd and that BIKE24 moved forward with a full integration because it made a huge difference. 58% increase in conversion rates! NOT compared to ALL USERS, but compared to users shopping for parts, who have a significantly higher CV to start with. This is testament to the problem of parts compatibility confusion, and testament to how it's affecting business. Is parts compatibility confusion affecting your business?

B2 Expression Radar Laser Tail Light — Redefining True Cycling Safety 🚴♂️✨ When we set out to design our radar tail light, our goal was clear: to create a product built around true radar safety detection technology. That’s the core of everything we do. Only after achieving reliable detection did we think about how to integrate the tail light — and how to make it not just visible, but smartly protective. To make cycling safer and more expressive, we added our signature emoji display and laser projection features. Together with the radar system, these form a triple layer of protection for every ride. Here’s what truly sets us apart from most products on the market — we didn’t just turn a radar into a tail light. We built a safety radar system first, then wrapped it in creativity and intelligent design. To achieve this vision: Advanced Algorithms – Our engineers continuously optimized the detection algorithm through countless tests and fine-tuned it to work seamlessly with bike computers. This was one of the toughest challenges, but the results are worth it. Creative Expression via Our App – Through our app ecosystem, you can personalize your ride with emoji displays that reflect your mood — making your journey not only safer but uniquely you. Laser Safety Lines – At night, the laser tail light projects clear safety lines onto the road, enhancing visibility and rider safety. To power all these innovations, we equipped the B2 with: A larger radar module area for improved detection. A brighter COB light source for maximum visibility. A super high-capacity premium battery with ultra-fast charging — so you can ride longer without worry. Yes, this is the B2 Expression Radar Laser Tail Light — designed for riders who demand real safety, smart design, and expressive style. Ride safer. Ride smarter. Ride your way. For more details, you can check it out in our official website too. https://lnkd.in/gUKdXuEE

B2 Expression Radar Laser Tail Light — Redefining True Cycling Safety 🚴♂️✨ When we set out to design our radar tail light, our goal was clear: to create a product built around true radar safety detection technology. That’s the core of everything we do. Only after achieving reliable detection did we think about how to integrate the tail light — and how to make it not just visible, but smartly protective. To make cycling safer and more expressive, we added our signature emoji display and laser projection features. Together with the radar system, these form a triple layer of protection for every ride. Here’s what truly sets us apart from most products on the market — we didn’t just turn a radar into a tail light. We built a safety radar system first, then wrapped it in creativity and intelligent design. To achieve this vision: Advanced Algorithms – Our engineers continuously optimized the detection algorithm through countless tests and fine-tuned it to work seamlessly with bike computers. This was one of the toughest challenges, but the results are worth it. Creative Expression via Our App – Through our app ecosystem, you can personalize your ride with emoji displays that reflect your mood — making your journey not only safer but uniquely you. Laser Safety Lines – At night, the laser tail light projects clear safety lines onto the road, enhancing visibility and rider safety. To power all these innovations, we equipped the B2 with: A larger radar module area for improved detection. A brighter COB light source for maximum visibility. A super high-capacity premium battery with ultra-fast charging — so you can ride longer without worry. Yes, this is the B2 Expression Radar Laser Tail Light — designed for riders who demand real safety, smart design, and expressive style. Ride safer. Ride smarter. Ride your way. For more details, you can check it out in our official website too. https://lnkd.in/gzNBA8Vm

E-cargo bikes have the potential to substitute the car for child-carrying journeys and beyond. But how are they experienced on Ireland’s growing cycle networks? In my latest research with Hannah Julienne, Brian Caulfield, and Mark Philbin, we explore this question. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 25 private e-cargo bike (ECB) owners, we uncovered several network-related ‘sticking points’ that could limit the growth of e-cargo cycling. ▪️ Planning: ECB riders cycling with their children experienced an intensified aversion to cycling with motor traffic. This could limit their use of the ECB for child transport and could increase their journey times and distances.     ▪️ Maintenance: The weight of the ECB compared to a conventional bicycle or e-bike made uneven surfaces much more uncomfortable and potentially destabilising for both riders and passengers. Sustaining a puncture on an ECB was considered a more severe risk than with a conventional bicycle. ▪️ Design: Narrow cycleways, tight cycleway turning radii, kissing gates, kerbs, steps, and ramps limited where ECB owners could avail of segregated cycle spaces where they – and their children – were protected from motor traffic. Our study suggests integrated, intensively maintained, and inclusively designed cycle networks are essential to enable the growth of e-cargo cycling in Ireland. - Thank you to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) for funding our research under the SEAI Fellowship Pilot Programme 2022 and to each participant for generously giving their time and expertise. Link to the article: https://lnkd.in/e7N3vj45