My Takeaways from the 2023 edition of the World’s Largest Cycling Trade Show

2023 marks my sixth time attending the Eurobike trade show and the second time in Frankfurt. The show was a blast as always and I was able to catch up with some familiar faces in the industry.

If you haven’t been to the Frankfurt show, the layout is larger than Friedrichshafen and therefore requires much more walking. I always bring extra protein bars to avoid the dreaded bonk.

Here are some of my take aways from this year’s event:

1. GERMAN CENTRIC – The German cycling market is enormous, and this could always be felt at the show. This year more than ever. As global brands pull back investment in the show (more about this later), regional German brands have stepped in to fill the void.

2. THE OVERSTOCK PROBLEM – The elephant in the room. Everywhere I went I would hear about the overstock problem. It would be typically the same story: Bike shops both online and offline ordered too much during the pandemic. Brands ordered product for two seasons expecting demand to remain at COVID levels. This means that the current stocks will likely last into next year before we see wholesale demand return. Unfortunately, I did not yet see many signs of an upswing.

3. ECOMMERCE WINNING – One of the bright spots that I saw at the show was the growth of brand D2C sales. Almost every brand that I spoke with mentioned steady growth of their institutional Ecommerce stores. This is likely due to the pullback in ordering by large online retailers because of lack of cash flow. This trend will allow brands that started selling online during the pandemic to consolidate this position and grow their customer base. Assuming they are willing to invest the time and energy to seize the opportunity.

4. CLOTHING MIA – As I have written about in previous posts link, cycling clothing was hit particularly hard with overstocks from the COVID hangover. Clothing was already slowly exiting the EUROBIKE scene before the pandemic due to the extreme fragmentation of the market that took place in the 2010s(see this article). But clothing brands have all but abandoned the Frankfurt event. The only sizable companies present at the show were Nalini, Pearl Izumi(recently acquired by United Brands), and Briko. Notably absent were market leaders Assos, Castelli, and German powerhouse GORE. The cycling clothing market continues to mystify.

5. EBIKE STRENGTH – Ebikes have enjoyed macroeconomic and policy tail winds in recent years, and this trend continues. The strength of Ebikes, mainly City and EMTBs could be seen throughout the event.

6. MISSING BIKE BRANDS – Many of the largest global bike brands such as TREK, Giant, CANNONDALE, Cervelo, and BMC were noticeably absent from the show. In addition to large Italian brands like Pinarello, Bianchi, and Colgnago opting out of the event this year. This is not surprising as in recent years these brands have preferred to organize their own dedicated events in lieu of trade show investment.

7. HEALTHY STARTUP AREA – Another interesting bright spot from the show was the area for startups. This section of the show was bustling with dozens of bright-eyed entrepreneurs aiming to find traction for their products. This is the future of cycling and speaking with these folks is always a joy.

Despite the macroeconomic headwinds, I had an absolute blast at the Eurobike show! The energy was off the charts, which is a true testament to the resilience, passion, and determination of the cycling community. It left me with a renewed sense of hope and an unwavering belief that the future of cycling is brighter than ever.

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