EUROBIKE 2021: Who are the exhibitors – some stats

Eurobike has been the worlds biggest trade show for the bicycle industry for many years now, but this edition is special. Firstly, it takes place in the middle of the Covid crisis, after it was cancelled in 2020. Organising such a big show while ensuring it does not become super spreader event is challenging, and at the same time many overseas brands and visitors are not able to attend due to travel restrictions. Then there is the cycling boom, with two main developments: The fast growing e-bike market that accelerates its taking over of the bike industry (as we can also later see in the stats), and at the same time a severe supply shortage caused by high demand and factories globally being affect by lockdowns. And lastly, after 3 decades, this is the last time the show is held in the town of Friedrichshafen at the shores of Lake Constance. From next year onwards, the show will take place in Frankfurt.

I will be at Eurobike for the first time this year to report for YellowCrank.com, and in preparation I looked up all 600 or so companies and brands that are exhibiting. Some findings I will share below, but before I start, a few words of caution:

• The statistics below are prepared by me from publicly available sources, and are not official Eurobike statistics. Instead, I sorted the exhibitors into categories that I found made most sense.
• There is not always a clear line between categories. For example I differentiate between manufacturers and brands, but quite a number of manufacturers also have their own brand that they might exhibit, and some brands manufacture all their products in own factories. In such case, I looked at whether the exhibitor’s main purpose for attendance is to offer their manufacturing services, or whether they mainly will exhibit their brand. Same goes for distinction between B2B and B2C, and when categorising their main product category, e.g components or accessories.
• Some brands are represented by their distributors, in this case I typically did not list them individually, but counted the distributor only.
• When a overseas company is represented by their European office, I usually listed them under the country where their HQ is.
• I made some simplifications for the sake of reduced complexity: Apparel includes everything that is worn, so also helmets and shoes. Software providers are all put into the “service” category, even if their software might not be SAS (software-as-a-service), but a product that is being sold once.

That said, here are the promised stats:

1) Most exhibitors come from Germany (not surprising), with Italy a distant second and China in third.

2) The overwhelming majority of exhibitors are brands, but there are also over 170 manufacturers represented.

Among all exhibitors, 56% conduct primarily B2B business.

3) By far the most exhibitors are offering products or services in the E-bike (also called Pedelec) space. Non-E-bike specific components and accessories are in distant second and third place.

A closer look at the exhibitors in the E-bike space:

Why this focus on E-bikes? Current estimates put the E-bike industry at a global volume of between USD 25 billion and USD 40 billion, bigger than the “regular” bike industry, with all forecasts predicting a close to doubling of those numbers until 2030. There is good reason for this, as E-bikes are far more economical and practical than cars for a majority of trips, especially in urban areas, and in many countries their adoption is supported via incentives and infrastructure projects due to their benefits of easing traffic congestion and improving air quality.
Whilst the big traditional bike manufactures Merida and Giant are also industry leaders in the E-bike space, many sizeable companies with know-how in the electrics and electronics field have entered the market over the last decade, and countless new players have shown up with innovative or even disruptive concepts.
YellowCrank.com will still mainly cover all products related to human powered mobility, but some electric news might sneak into the reporting on occasion, too (:
Check in here frequently for more reporting on and from the show.

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