New trends for next year

Review and preview: What urban bike news can we expect in 2025?

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A difficult year — not only for the bike industry — is coming to an end, and an equally challenging one is ahead. So here we take a look at the highlights of the last twelve months and speculate on what highlights we can expect in the new season.

Current situation: full stock, fewer new innovations

The industry is still suffering from the late effects of coronavirus: at the beginning of the pandemic, demand for bikes and e-bikes exploded and dealers’ stocks were more or less sold out. However, rapid subsequent deliveries were hardly possible due to supply bottlenecks, so customers sometimes waited well over a year for their ordered bike. However, the fact that successor models have already been introduced in the meantime is unlikely to have led to buyer satisfaction — as is the ever-increasing price of the bikes, which is certainly also due to the trend towards company bike or bike leasing.

However, poor availability and high prices are certainly only one reason for the current misery. In particular, the somewhat naive belief in endless growth has led to full warehouses at manufacturers and dealers. On the one hand, not everyone buys a new bike every three years, and on the other hand, there were certainly some buyers from the peak period who ultimately didn’t really use their expensive bike and showed no further interest in buying a new one.

This rather subdued demand is now being met with uncertain economic times in which customers are thinking very carefully about whether a new purchase is really necessary. The result is overfilled warehouses at retailers and manufacturers, which leads to existential problems for many of those involved and often ends in insolvency.

But the current situation is also having an impact on e-bike innovations: 2024 was rather quiet in terms of innovations from established manufacturers. Bosch introduced the revised 5th generation CX motor and Mahle gave the hub motor system an update with the X30. However, real innovations tended to come from newcomers such as DJI or ZF — and the market launch of the Avinox motor was so impressive that DJI is likely to establish itself on the market with it.

Top performer of the year: Urban e-bikes with Bosch’s lightweight SX drive

The fact that there were still a large number of new urban e-bikes is primarily due to Bosch’s lightweight SX motor. Although it was introduced in 2023, it found its way into numerous bikes this year and made its breakthrough — there was hardly a manufacturer that hadn’t introduced a bike with the SX!

We also tested several models with the drive, including the Dimanche from Moustache, Kalkhoff with the new light e-bikes Image L Advance and Entice L Advance as well as the Pathlite:ONfly from Canyon and the new Editor Hybrid from Cube.

Still an attractive alternative: e-bikes with hub motors

Despite ever smaller and lighter mid-drive motors, there are still numerous e-bikes with hub motors. No wonder, as they offer adequate performance, especially in urban areas, and have won many fans with their direct and quiet operation.

There were also innovations to be seen here this year: for example, a new motor from Bafang with an integrated 2-speed gearbox, which can be found in the new Pro bikes from ADO. A particularly compact hub motor, on the other hand, is installed in the ultra-light Air Carbon folding bike from ADO, which we tested here. Brompton also relies on a compact hub motor in the rear wheel for the new and electric G-Line and even discounter Lidl was able to convince us with the affordable second generation Crivit Urban Bike in our test.

Mahle released the new X30, the successor to the popular X35 motor, which is offered alongside the already released X20. Numerous manufacturers have already installed this new generation of motors in their bikes, and more are sure to follow in 2025.

Still many innovations with Smart Bikes

The hype surrounding Smart Bikes may have died down a little after the spectacular VanMoof failure last year, but there were still some innovations to be seen: Tenways launched their first smart bike, the CGO 009, and got off to a solid start — we had already tested the bike here on its release date.

Lemmo was also particularly active in 2024, giving its smart One model a sensible update with the new MKII version — which we tested here. In addition, the One MAX version is now available as a slightly more powerful and off-road variant.

Cowboy introduced a completely new model series with the Cross and Cross ST, while Veloretti did not introduce any innovations — but we had already found out at the beginning of the year in our test of the Ace Two that the current model is also impressive.

More light, more safety, more integration

Integrated cables and wires were already popular in previous years. Orbea went one step further this year with the new Diem and the Kemen, where the lighting system is also futuristically integrated into the mudguard and handlebars, but still offers a fully-fledged light output for road traffic — even with optional high beam.

Turn indicators have only been permitted on bicycles since this year, which are guaranteed to improve road safety. Busch & Müller was the first major manufacturer to launch a corresponding retrofit set on the market, as well as an innovative headlight with active cornering illumination.

Cargo transportation in new styles

There is no doubt that cargo bikes have become firmly established in recent years, which is why an increasingly specialized segmentation can also be observed here: especially in the case of compact cargo bikes, we are now seeing more and more models that aim to combine practical utility with the dimensions of conventional bikes. Examples of this are the Carrie from Riese & Müller, the brand new LAX Bike and the Toolbike from Monopole.

But even with conventional bikes, the focus is increasingly on suitability for everyday use: for example, system racks are increasingly being fitted, which allow baskets, panniers or child seats to be attached easily. In addition, more and more manufacturers are equipping their bikes with a custom-fit front carrier or offering one as an accessory.

New products 2025 — what can we expect?

What we have already seen this year is likely to continue in 2025: we can expect urban e-bikes that combine sophisticated design with a high level of integration, great suitability for everyday use and smart features. Instead of purist bikes with minimal equipment or clumsy SUV models, these urban e-bikes offer a sensible compromise between equipment, comfort and an adequately powerful drive system.

When it comes to the electric drives themselves, it will be exciting to see whether and how quickly the established manufacturers react to DJI’s new motor. Market leader Bosch has already presented its top model, the Performance Line CX, and the Cargo and Speed versions derived from it are likely to follow soon. And after the new CX and SX motors, it remains to be seen what will happen to the last motors of the old generation — the Active Line Plus and the Performance Line. An update of the hardware is now overdue. Shimano has further expanded its portfolio downwards with the EP5, so a new top model would be just as conceivable for 2025 as a new and particularly compact and lightweight motor.

The fact that hub motors continue to be very popular should not escape the attention of established manufacturers. Although Mahle is a well-known system supplier, every bicycle manufacturer in this segment has so far been cooking their own soup and combining motors, batteries and controls to their own taste. It would therefore come as no surprise if another well-known manufacturer were to take on this topic.

But regardless of the type of drive — we would still like to take the battery out for charging! Unfortunately, more and more manufacturers are opting for permanently installed batteries this year, which makes handling and replacing a defective battery much more complicated.

Problems that are of course not an issue with conventional bicycles without an e-drive 🙂 However, there are fewer innovations in this area and demand continues to fall in comparison to e-bikes — but don’t worry, there are still exciting new products to report on!

Finally, a big thank you to all readers for their interest in UrbanBike.News and a safe journey into a happy, healthy and beautiful new year 2025!

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