On the test track set up in the heart of the Frankfurt trade fair, the machines parade one after the other in joyful disorder: recumbent bikes, two-wheelers, folding or sports models, or even small four-wheeled cars… , but on pedals. Do these objects propelled by muscle power, sometimes with the assistance of an electric motor, represent the mobility of tomorrow? That’s what the Eurobike trade show is all about, one of the world’s largest events dedicated to the bicycle industry.
For his 30e edition, Eurobike welcomes, between Wednesday 13 and Sunday 17 July, 1,500 exhibitors at the Frankfurt International Fair. Until 2021, Eurobike, which received 40,000 visitors in 2019, was held in Friedrichshafen, on Lake Constance. This slide, from the mountains of southern Germany to the capital of finance, illustrates the metamorphosis of the market. Once centered on leisure and sport, the bicycle industry is now interested in urban mobility. In Europe, in 2021, 22 million bicycles were sold, a market worth 19.7 billion euros.
Eurobike mobilizes 140,000 m² of exhibition space, the equivalent of two thirds of all the halls of the Porte de Versailles in Paris. Many brands, the German Riese & Müller, the Swiss Flyer, the British Brompton or the French O2feel, exhibit their most recent models. Brand new, standing on podiums, the bikes are there to be seen and touched. Most models, equipped with an electric motor, sell for several thousand euros.
“Triple the turnover of the company”
The sector, boosted by the Covid-19 pandemic, is celebrating its recent successes. The company Douze Cycles, which manufactures bicycles near Dijon, has announced the conclusion of a partnership with Toyota, which will distribute, in 2023, 5,000 bicycles to its dealers. “We don’t know many economic sectors in which we can get up one morning and say to ourselves, without shame, that we would like to triple the turnover of the company”says Olivier Cantet, president of Mustache, another French brand, located in the Vosges.
In Frankfurt, the most spectacular stands were rented by companies that produce the components essential to the industry: Bosch or Brose engines, Schwalbe tires, Shimano transmission systems. Their stands, ten meters high or spread over two levels, are among the highlights of the show.
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