Bike industry “ripe” for smart investment ahead of “significant” recovery from 2026, focusing on strong branding, e-bikes, and manufacturing a “higher share of the bike”, new research claims
Assessing the role of M&A deals as a marker of the strength of the global bike market, the report found that 96 such deals – an all-time high – were completed in 2022, when the ‘boom’ effects of the Covid-19 pandemic were still apparent. Arguing that there is a “clear path to market recovery”, the report said: “With inventory levels slowly starting to normalise, dealers and bike brands are expected to go into the 2025 season with a more balanced working capital position. Although still high, discount levels are expected to gradually balance out, lifting margins significantly over time.
> “You have to dig in for the next three to five years”: What lies ahead for a struggling bike industry in 2024? > Cycling market"significantly worse than expected", Halfords warns — with"high-profile failure of Wiggle" and widespread sales evidence of"another year of decline" 69 per cent of those surveyed said that expanding their role in the supply chain and developing, engineering, or partially manufacturing components in-house will represent a key topic for their companies in the future.
However, this move into retail, and away from the traditional relationship with independent bike dealers, has proved divisive within the industry. “After a turbulent few years, the bike industry is set to stabilise and make a gradual recovery, with significant upside in the medium to long term,” the report concluded.