Contol + Shift

Many changes.

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In my first post about EUROBIKE Show 2024, I brought up what was relevant (to me) concerning products. This second one will jump into a different but relevant topic.

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The players in the bike industry are swapping positions. This is not absolute, but perceptible. Vertically and horizontally.

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I am well-known for admiring those who strive to succeed. This includes my good Asian friends, say Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodians… And Indians, of course. Or wherever they come from.

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Not long ago, Europe and the USofA were the sources of ideas, the cradle for innovation, and the skilled hands to materialize them.

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Later on, Taiwan welcomed Western people to offer their capabilities to create and make. It seemed that only cost ruled. The USofA and Europe gently gave Taiwan the lead in both areas.

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Taiwan would become the brain and China the hand labor. China silently and effectively learned to guess what: to create and make.

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This moved China from an OEM and private label provider to a leading power.

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China and Taiwan now share the dominance in the bike industry development and fabrication. In Europe and the USofA soil as well not far from today. This is a shifting process in a difficult to asses procedure.

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Meanwhile, India flaps their wings.

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Hard work, commitment, determination, ambition, and a ball squeezing Governments ready/able to cope with anything are the thrusts.

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This has a translation into the EUROBIKE Show layout and share.

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Some time ago in a frame ranging from twenty minutes to ten years, Chinese companies shared a hive-style space stuffed with small and copycatted booths. There you could find any part component and tooling and machinery to make them.

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Any.

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A sharp eye could spot familiar wheels, frames, or handlebars with a high-end tag price if branded with a fancy European or USofA logo.

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Now, you can still find these crowded setups where laborious Asian fellows can make your dream product come true. But we are starting to see average-sized booths with attractive looking displaying fancy products under brand names referring to epic situations, virtues, or splendorous landscapes.

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Additionally, the largest and most stunning booth in the hall belongs to an Asian, frequently Chinese, company boosted by the ambition to come out of the darkness of OEM product commissioning. They could make Western and/or non-attending brands pale in comparison regarding products, mise en scène, and team.

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The former Asian districts at the EUROBIKE Show have yielded the place to companies giving shade to any other.

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Any.

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They have built up a B2B reputation moving to a B2C environment using their own brands to fight in the professional and end-user arenas.

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My Indian friends are still landing. You can detect their district gathering approach where you find their products covering the entry-level spectrum while learning from other advanced pupils.

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I could see people, families, and even kids coming from anywhere in the East devotedly contributing to the final output. Big or small, basic or flamboyant. Nothing escapes their ambition.

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But do not let this all fool you. In some simple booths, I have seen statements about making three million bikes in 2023 or pictures of manufacturing plants doubling Tesla’s size.

Coolness factor and body mass index are not required nor considered.

The priorities, realms, and perspectives have shifted under a new control.

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