Eurobike will move to a two-year cycle after the 2027 event with a hiatus in 2028, the cycling show’s organisers have confirmed.
The decision was announced at the media day ahead of Eurobike 2026, which began yesterday.
Philipp Ferger, managing director of Fairnamic, the organiser of Eurobike, said the fair is re-focusing on what exhibitors and buyers need from it, according to Show Daily, which provides coverage from Eurobike and the Taipei Cycle Show.
Dr Ralf Deckers, of the market research group IFH Köln, presented new data that revealed how personal contact is a “survival strategy”, according to Show Daily.
“His team’s international survey paints a sober picture: seven in ten respondents expect procurement costs to climb further, six in ten see uncertainty deepening, and more than half are bracing for continued margin pressure. Geopolitics, Deckers noted, is doing a lot of that damage,” Show Daily reported.
Yet the majority of respondents pointed to personal networks and direct supplier visits as the relationships that help move business forward.
Eurobike shake-up
The move to a two-year cycle is the latest shake-up to Eurobike, after a troubled period.
In May, it revealed that Eurobike 2027 will run in September from a new part of the Messe Frankfurt exhibition centre after “the majority of the industry clearly favoured September”.
The organisers said the reworked event would place a stronger focus on trade visitors with a “clear B2B orientation” and that it would encourage the return of leading bike brands.
The decision to move the show followed two of Germany’s most influential cycling industry bodies pulling out of Eurobike. ZIV and Zukunft Fahrrad (Future Bicycle) announced their withdrawal after failing to reach an agreement with Eurobike over how to make the show more relevant to the cycling industry.
Days after the two trade organisations left the show, Bosch said it would not exhibit at Eurobike 2026. Claus Fleischer, Bosch eBike Systems CEO and ZIV board member, said the company no longer saw the “fundamental changes” needed for a "successful future for Eurobike”.
Eurobike then cancelled its proposed Mobifuture e-mobility spin-off show in November, after pushback over light electric vehicles being excluded from the main show.
Annick Roetynck, manager of LEVA-EU, a European trade association for light electric vehicles, told BikeRadar at the time that: “There is no valid reason to exclude LEVs – on the contrary, the bicycle and LEV sectors can inspire one another, driving innovation and growth on both sides.”
Turbulence then continued with Shimano, one of the biggest stall operators at the show. Shimano initially announced in January that it had withdrawn from the show before saying in April that it would in fact exhibit.
Yet from 1,500 exhibitors in 2025, only around 800 are in attendance at the 2026 show.
A new rival show
If Eurobike’s own struggles weren’t enough, ZIV announced on Tuesday the launch of a rival show called ’Towards Tomorrow – European Bike Show’.
The show will take place at Cologne's Koelnmesse and is proposed for 6-8 September 2027, following Eurobike’s 1-4 September date.
“Countless key industry players, including all of the major retail associations, have already confirmed that they intend to participate,” ZIV said in an official statement.
“The new trade fair’s unique selling point lies in its consistent industry focus. According to the motto of ‘By the industry, for the industry’, its content, formats and key themes will be developed in collaboration with key players from the bicycle industry. The trade fair is intended as a platform for the entire value chain and is consistently geared towards a B2B audience,” ZIV added.
Berhard Lange, a member of ZIV’s executive committee, said: “The ZIV member companies, together with the German and international bicycle industries, the retail sector and service providers, expressed almost unanimously the need for a global leading trade fair for the industry and that this should take place in Germany, which is widely considered one of the world’s leading bicycle markets.”
That global leading trade fair was once Eurobike. But it seems there is now a fight for the title.
