The Riva del Garda Bike Festival turns 30 and relaunches

In thirty years of history it has built the reputation of being among the largest European mountain bike happenings, annually kicking off the off-road season and hosting thousands of visitors from all over Europe. From next May 2nd to 5th, FSA Bike Festival Riva del Garda returns to the shores of the diamond of Garda Trentino to promote the meeting between the people of two wheels – practitioners and enthusiasts who are increasingly attentive also to gravel biking – and a bike industry a little in trouble (as along the best climbs) but in Italy it resists more than elsewhere trying to act as a driving force within the sector.

In the mid-90s, the wind of a discipline was blowing in Europe that quickly rewrote the parameters of the outdoor world: mountain biking. Among the nations driving the new phenomenon was Germany, which has always been in love with Garda Trentino as an ideal destination to spend holidays. It was precisely the combination of these two elements, attraction for mountain biking and hospitality of the territory, that inspired Uli Stanciu – director of Bike Magazine at the time – who had the intuition to create an event capable of catalyzing the attention of hundreds of producers of the cycling sector and those of an audience of young bikers eager to discover the season’s innovations and at the same time try them out in the field: “Although the magazine was only a few years old – says Stanciu – it was already the point of reference for the German MTB movement. That was a period of great innovations. There were so many new products that our testing department might barely review them all. At the same time, we perceived a growing demand for information because there were around 50 bicycle brands on the market with 170 models of various types to choose from. Thus was born the idea of ​​inviting producers and readers to a dedicated festival.” After thirty years, the brands have become 350 and the exhibitors more than 200. And they are preparing to present new models of bikes, equipment and accessories in the large festival area set up on the lake shore, with the surrounding tracks (over 50 tracks cycle paths and 1500 kilometers of paths) which will be the terrain where you can discover and test the latest innovations firsthand. But what is the state of health of the bike industry today?

Data in Europe and Italy

Waiting times of over a year to process new orders appear to have eased. Now, however, sellers are facing a different problem, that of an excess of bikes and components, because demand has returned to levels comparable to pre-pandemic levels. After the peak in 2021, bicycle imports into the EU decreased by almost 40%, the lowest level ever reached in the last ten years (source: Statista Research Department, 8 March 2024), with the 2023 vintage seeing the Cambodia account for nearly a quarter of imports. Furthermore, the anti-dumping measures introduced by the EU in 2019 have reduced imports from China (second largest supplier in the world in 2023) and strengthened the Portuguese sector which in recent years has overtaken Germany and Italy (the largest bicycle producers in Europe) reaching to produce more than a fifth of all bikes in the EU (source: Statista Research Department, 7 March 2024).

Decline in sales

And in Italy? The official data released by Ancma last March 22 in Milan show a drop in sales of 23% compared to 2022, with a slowdown in demand for both muscular (-24%) and pedal-assisted (-19%) frames. confirming the tail blow of the pandemic. But the coin, as we know, always has two sides. And you have to watch both to get an overview. Comparing these numbers to 2019 (pre-covid period) we observe a +40%, with pedal-assisted bikes which to date represent 25% of sales (they were 11% in 2019). The type of vehicle also highlights the latest trends on the market. Analyzing the off-road segment, 45% is occupied by e-MTBs and 4% by e-corsa/gravel; while among the muscular ones 29% is made up of Mtb and 8% of gravel. Finally, the industrial indicators of the sector show a slight decline in the production of muscle bicycles (-29%) and e-bikes (-23%) but positive data in the difference between exports and imports, with a value of +21 million euros. This last data is comforting because it brings the balance back on track following the last three difficult years, giving more confidence and impetus to a national productive fabric which confirms itself as a driving force (over 20 thousand employees) and made up of excellence (around 250 companies, for mostly SMEs).

A rich program of events on two wheels

The 2024 edition of the FSA Bike Festival Riva del Garda is the first under the new management of Garda Dolomiti – Azienda per il Turismo SpA which this year has extended the exhibition area to respond to the growing request of companies to have a more large space where you can present your flagships. The winning format remains unchanged which made the four days of the festival unmissable and which will welcome a large international audience to Riva del Garda eager to combine the fun of the holiday with the adrenaline of experiencing firsthand all the innovations and latest technologies in the bike segment .