Status: 07/13/2022 08:03 a.m
In times of energy crisis and mobility transition, the bicycle is experiencing a boom. Today the world’s largest bicycle fair “Eurobike” starts. Some of the trends there could soon be seen on the streets.
Brake lights on the bike, a bicycle alarm that is invisibly embedded in the frame and shrills if someone moves the bike without permission, and children’s balance bikes that can be braked by remote control: From July 13th to 17th, more than 1500 exhibitors will present their latest products Presenting bicycle ideas at the Frankfurt exhibition center. The world’s largest bicycle fair is taking place for the first time in the Main metropolis. After 29 editions in tranquil Friedrichshafen, it has now moved to the Rhine-Main area.
From sporting goods to means of transport
The “Eurobike” has a sporty history. She became known with mountain bikes and racing bikes. In the last ten years, the bicycle has become increasingly electric and since then has not only been purely a piece of sports equipment, but also an alternative means of transport. This development is now being taken into account by changing the location, says the managing director of the organizer Fairnamic, Stefan Reisinger.
“Lake Constance is a super leisure region. But it is becoming apparent that the bicycle will conquer its place as a transport solution in the next ten years, and so we had to switch to the big city, to the urban environment,” he explains the way after the fair Frankfurt.
Enormous demand collides with supply bottlenecks
The bicycle market has exploded in the past two years. The demand for e-bikes in particular is still immense. “Last year was the best year the industry has ever had,” says Burkhard Stork, Managing Director of the Bicycle Industry Association (ZIV). A total of 4.7 million bikes were sold. Despite the Ukraine war, inflation and the corona pandemic, the industry was able to roughly maintain the previous year’s level in the first six months of this year. In the first half of the year alone, 800,000 e-bikes were produced, one percent fewer than in the same half of the previous year.
At the same time, the industry continues to struggle with supply chain difficulties. According to the ZIV, this primarily affects batteries, displays and chips. In the long term, they want to have more assembled and manufactured in Europe in order to become more independent of the Asian market. At the same time, Reisinger is convinced that the growth rates would not continue to increase indefinitely. He assumes that supply and demand will level off at a high level.
Cargo bike for parcel delivery and delivery services
And so the industry is currently working on developments that can actually make it onto the road. Light, stylish e-bikes, which you can no longer tell at first glance that the motor and battery are built in, will be presented at the trade fair and will probably be on display in Germany’s cities in a few months. Technology and system integration are now so advanced that the e-bike can hardly be distinguished visually from a normal bicycle.
According to experts, cargo bikes will continue to gain in importance. They are also a big topic at the fair. Cargo bikes could become particularly attractive for delivery services and parcel deliverers in the next few years, in order to cover the “last mile” and make delivery vans superfluous. For families, too, cargo bikes are increasingly replacing cars in the city.
The bicycle industry wants to become more political
From the weekend on, the “Eurobike” is open to every bike fan with test routes, rental bikes and bike races. Federal Transport Minister Wissing is planning his visit to the trade fair for today. The exhibitors hope that this will give the industry and the infrastructure it needs more momentum.
On average, seventy percent of all our everyday trips are shorter than ten kilometers, says ZIV Managing Director Stork. People would use the bike if it felt good and safe. This requires safe cycle paths. He hopes that more cities will have the courage to build them at the municipal level in the future. So that more people use the bicycle – for an effective traffic turnaround.