IN BRIEF
The Zweirad-Industrie-Verband, Germany’s two-wheeler industry federation, published its first-half 2026 report on 7 September: according to that press release, bicycle production is up 6% year on year and sales by nearly 10%. Electric bikes are following, more slowly — production up by more than 4%, sales by around 2%. Exports are picking up too, by more than 6%, and the excess stocks that had been weighing the sector down since the post-Covid years are, according to the federation, “largely cleared”. “The trough is behind us,” sums up its managing director Burkhard Stork, who goes on to call on public authorities to invest in the industry and in infrastructure. The 7 September release sticks to percentage changes, with no half-year volumes in absolute terms.
This is the kind of press release the German bike market has been waiting for these past three years. After the Covid boom, the massive over-ordering that followed and the warehouses filled to bursting that ended up taking several brands down with them, Germany’s two-wheeler industry federation is reporting a first half of 2026 up on just about every indicator it tracks.
German market: conventional bicycles are growing faster than e-bikes
The ZIV’s figures describe two speeds. On the conventional bicycle side, the federation writes that “bicycle production rose by 6% compared with the same period of the previous year, sales by nearly 10%”. On the electric side, growth is there but it is markedly more modest: “production increased by more than 4%, sales by around 2%”.
The gap is worth noting: according to the percentages published in this release, the increases announced for conventional bicycles (6% and nearly 10%) exceed those for e-bikes (more than 4% and around 2%). The 7 September text leaves that gap without comment.
The federation links this recovery to the clearing of stocks: “excess stocks have largely been cleared”, it writes, while noting that “retailers are still ordering cautiously”. Exports “have picked up again and are more than 6% above the same period of the previous year”.
“The trough is behind us,” according to the ZIV’s managing director
Burkhard Stork, the federation’s managing director, puts it bluntly: “The first six months of the year show it: the trough is behind us. The sector is stable and the market is moving again. That is a good signal.”
He immediately follows up with a demand addressed to public authorities. “People want to cycle. That strengthens health, protects the climate and relieves our cities,” he says, before adding that, in his view, “the bicycle industry supplies products suited to every occasion and every budget” and that “it is now important that politicians create the right framework conditions, through targeted investment in industry and infrastructure”.
The timing gives that last sentence added weight: on that same 7 September, the trade association Zukunft Fahrrad published its tally of the 2027 federal draft budget, which brings cycling funding down to €544 million, a fall of nearly 10%.
Gravel, entry-level hardtails and full workshops
The release flags two shifts in the catalogues. Gravel first: “gravel bikes are gaining more and more in importance, including in the mid-range and low-end segments”, the ZIV writes — in other words, a category that is coming down in price. Entry-level hardtail mountain bikes are “once again recording slightly rising sales”.
One last indicator, less visible but telling: the workshops. “Retailers’ workshops remain very well filled,” the ZIV notes, adding that “the shortage of skilled labour remains a central challenge, because the need for repair and maintenance is not letting up”.
To put the weight of these figures in perspective: according to the federation, “around 90% of the bicycles and e-bikes produced in Germany in 2025 come from ZIV member companies, which export 1.4 million vehicles every year” on top of their sales on the domestic market.
