Industry Digest: $2 Billion of Bike Imports in 2021, Decathlon Shuts US Stores & More

Feb 21, 2022
by Ed Spratt  
What's going on in the cycling industry this month? Industry Digest is a peek behind the curtain and showcases articles from our sister site, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. In each installment, you might find patents, mergers, financial reports and industry gossip.


Court dismisses complaint against Trek Bicycle by owner of Prize Trek app
By: Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

A U.S District Court judge has dismissed a case that a mobile game app maker had filed against Trek Bicycle after Trek challenged the game maker’s trademark registration.

Jchon Perkins owns Prize Trek, a mobile app game that a 2017 Associated Press article described as “a powerful marketing tool that can provide small businesses with free advertising for life." Players "participate in a scavenger hunt and win valuable cash and prizes sponsored by local businesses," the article said.

After Perkins, in 2018, applied to register "Prize Trek" with the Patent and Trademark Office, Trek Bicycle filed an opposition, saying the game’s name could be confused with its trademark for Trek.

Trek and Perkins were unable to settle the dispute. However, in 2019 the USPTO overruled Trek’s opposition and granted Perkins the trademark. In early 2021 Perkins sued Trek, charging that the bike company's opposition to the trademark registration had delayed the app's development and market entry.

(Read more.)



Dorel Sports president/CEO steps down
By: Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

Peter Woods has stepped down as president and CEO of Dorel Sports, which last month was officially acquired by Pon Holdings.

According to a Pon Holdings' release, the decision was mutually agreed on. Woods will continue working for Pon.Bike as a special advisor until the end of the year.

Woods joined Dorel Sports in March 2012 as chief financial officer and became president and CEO two years later. As a special advisor, he will continue to support the integration within Pon.Bike, according to the release.

Dorel Industries completed its sale of Dorel Sports to Pon Holdings for $810 million in January.

(Read more.)



Industry imported nearly $2 billion in bikes last year
By: Steve Frothingham // Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

Bike imports continued to skyrocket last year, as the industry brought in bikes with a customs value of $1.96 billion, a record that is 40% higher than in 2020.

The increase in the number of bikes imported was a bit less dramatic. The industry imported 19.24 million bikes, the most since 2010 and a 13.3% increase over 2020.

The figures from the Census Bureau’s USA Trade Online database, released Tuesday, show some dramatic shifts in the source nations of U.S. bikes, just in the last two years.

For example, the total value of bikes from China and Taiwan increased 37% and 33%, respectively, from 2020 to 2021. But the third-largest source of bikes, Cambodia, saw a 72% increase, while Indonesia saw a 176% increase. Imports from Vietnam, on the other hand, were valued at 1.3% less than the prior year, likely due to COVID-19-driven factory shutdowns there.

(Read more.)



Peloton cuts 2,800 jobs as CEO steps down
By: Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

Peloton Interactive on Tuesday announced that its revenues grew 6% in its recently completed second quarter, to $1.1 billion; the company recorded a net loss for the quarter of $439.4 million but could point to a 66% increase in Connected Fitness Subscriptions and a 26% increase in recorded workouts on its system in the quarter.

However, on Wall Street, the actual numbers were overshadowed by a variety of news surrounding the brand, including speculation that Nike and Amazon and Apple were looking at acquiring it.

Peloton’s stock price has been yo-yo-ing as some investors get bearish about Peloton’s prospects in a post-pandemic world while others buy up its stock in anticipation of a high-dollar sale to a major brand.
Co-founder John Foley will step aside as CEO to become Executive Chair

(Read more.)



Decathlon to close its two US stores this year, focus on online sales
By: Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

Decathlon says it will focus on its online business in the U.S., as well as sales through retail partners, after closing its two trial retail locations in the Bay Area.

Based in France, Decathlon claims to be the world's largest sporting goods retailer, and offers its house brand products in most categories, including bikes. It opened a trial "lab" retail location in San Francisco in 2018 and a full-sized store in Emeryville and another in Potrero the following year.

The company said it will close the stores this year.

"Decathlon products continue to be available throughout the U.S. at Decathlon.com and at select retail partners, including Walmart, Curated, Target and more. Each partner is carefully selected to ensure they best align with Decathlon's mission and goals," the company said.

"We are changing our business model to adapt to current market conditions and to better meet the needs of our customers," said Christian Ollier, the CEO of Decathlon USA.

(Read more.)




Posted In:
Industry News Industry Digest


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127 Comments

  • 258 16
 "Industry imported nearly $2 billion in bikes last year"

You should have added the words "to the USA) to that as there are a couple of hundred other countries on their planet
  • 138 16
 Indeed, but I'm not sure they know that.
  • 40 3
 "...on their planet" that must have been a freudian slip, it's not their planet.
  • 31 4
 Pinkbike _is_ (OK, was, post Outside acquisition) a Canadian company.

They're just quoting the "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" headline, which is a US based publication.
  • 30 4
 I’m not sure they even proofread their financial news. Just copy pasta a few numbers from a report. Often they seem to confuse profit and revenue, or make assumptions about figures that were actually included in the report based on the few numbers they bothered to read. They really need a money nerd for their news team, or stop reporting financials all together.
  • 24 48
flag Chadimac22 (Feb 21, 2022 at 9:03) (Below Threshold)
 @danstonQ: Careful how far you throw that rock inside that glass house of yours.
  • 20 56
flag Caligula1620 (Feb 21, 2022 at 9:25) (Below Threshold)
 @danstonQ: hey look an arrogant French person shitting on presumed American ignorance, HOT TAKES over here
  • 36 4
 The table says "US Bike Imports". The body says "The figures from the Census Bureau’s USA Trade Online database". All you have to do is use your eyes to read the actual article, instead of just the heading and then jumping right into the comments, which clearly, is exactly what you have done.
  • 20 2
 I get the usual spat on americans thinking they are the center of the universe but the table literally says "US Bike Imports" at the top of the image
  • 14 8
 @Chadimac22: lol 'proud to be an american'
  • 9 6
 @anustart22: shhhhh they only appreciate irony if it's not at their expense.
  • 16 6
 @jonlees: lol it literally says "in the USA" and "US Bike Imports" in the article and all of the euros are "pssh americans think America is the whole world"
nah we just know how to read Big Grin
  • 7 2
 to be fair, labeling the table "US Bike Imports" and calling out "in the USA" made it pretty obvious for most of us....
  • 5 1
 @Caligula1620: I suppose there are indeed 5 mentions of the US between the article and screenshot.

At the same time, the headlines explicitly says "Industry" which is quite a bit different thankyouverymuch. But it makes perfect sense if you read it assuming the US is the only country that matters.
  • 14 2
 @Blackhat: Well, you can't spell Industry without US.
  • 2 3
 @Blackhat: eh, I guess that's why people should read passed the headline of an article.....
  • 18 1
 While we are on geopolitical agenda, while understanable, isn't it effing creepy that there are no Russians and Ukrainians in the comment section ATM? There was a strong representation from Slavs before.
  • 2 11
flag Caligula1620 (Feb 21, 2022 at 12:18) (Below Threshold)
 @danstonQ: lol at all the euros that keep upvoting these comments without realizing you're punking yourselves. more upvotes= bigger lols
  • 9 0
 Lots of people in here missing the point. The headline could have been clearer and shorter as "US imported nearly $2B in bikes last year".

Yes, it does say "Census Bureau’s USA Trade Online database" by the time you get to the *third* paragraph. Yes, it does say "US Bike Imports" as the title of the chart. Neither of those points make the headline any better.

That said, the problematic headline appears to have originated at BRAIN and not Pinkbike.
  • 8 7
 @jonlees: lol imagine stereotyping an entire nation of people and going to a MTB website to do it. But I get it… it’s not ignorance as long as it’s Europeans directing it at Americans. “lol”
  • 2 1
 @privateer-wheels: Thank you, my northern neighbor. It’s amazing how deep people will stretch to be (or claim to be) insulted.
  • 1 0
 @calmWAKI: what do you think happened to them?
  • 2 0
 @calmWAKI: i would imagine the Ukrainians likely have other things on there minds right now. As for the Russians, I'm not sure I've ever noticed many Russians in the comment section, but i barely pay attention to Nationality.
  • 1 1
 @Caligula1620: on point!
  • 20 1
 @calmWAKI: kinda busy rn
  • 2 0
 @kazwei: but they think it is :-)
  • 2 0
 @calmWAKI: probably they have more pressing issues currently than chatting shit on a bike forum
  • 1 0
 Is that ‘Planet America’ you’re talking about ?
  • 4 1
 @Chadimac22: don't worry about it. Nobody takes the French seriously except for the French. They still think it's the 1700's when they had some pull in the world.
  • 2 0
 You guys are all a bunch of clowns, the chart is called "US Bike Imports".
  • 1 3
 @Blackhat: it's actually really entertaining to me to watch the euro pseudo elite try and trash America and in the process completely highlight their own stupidity. it's the pinnacle of live comedy imo, and the fact that they're doubling down on comment voting makes it even funnier. viva la France!
  • 1 0
 @calmWAKI: I follow @off_road_ukraine__ on IG and they are hooning it up like normal...odd
  • 3 0
 Why do people make their headlines so misleading is beyond me. Pretty much a click bait to grab attention.
  • 1 1
 @CSharp: Some blame Obama
  • 2 1
 @CSharp: it's how media operates now, they know most people won't do any reading and just surf headlines and use that as the basis for their entire argument. That's why most of the talking points around covid were so contentious because a lot of the narrative was built around headlines and not the data in the article.
example : "JOE ROGAN GIVE ENGINE COOLER TO HIS KIDS FOR BREAKFAST!!"
context: it's water.
  • 2 0
 @suspended-flesh: I actually blame Biden because Trump's fake news is actually entertaining. For Biden, it's bleak fake news.
  • 49 1
 It's going to be convenient when Pon owns everything, we'll just have to go to one website. I'd like to order a Bronson and a Bugatti Chiron
  • 14 0
 And a Wilson basketball & pair of 5/10's. Big Grin
  • 3 1
 It will be three companies: Pon, Specialized and Giant
  • 6 1
 @rivercitycycles: Merida owns 49% of Specialized
  • 1 1
 @packfill: dont you mean specialised owns 51% of Merida . 1% makes all the difference
  • 2 0
 @nick1957: it doesn't work like that. Merida also owns itself.
  • 37 3
 Trek Team Lawyers ready their lawsuit against the family of Gene Roddenberry...
  • 3 22
flag ryan77777 (Feb 21, 2022 at 8:23) (Below Threshold)
 Trek was the defendant not the plaintiff in this case.
  • 16 0
 @ryan77777: Read the details.
  • 10 0
 @ryan77777:

Trek Bicycle filed an opposition, saying the game’s name could be confused with its trademark for Trek.

Trek started it.
  • 2 0
 Probably using the same lawyers as backcountry.
  • 21 1
 Shocking that Peloton would miss revenue numbers based on a limited market that was never really that large in the first place....
  • 72 7
 Shocking that people pay money to ride an exercise bike in their basement
  • 10 3
 @VtVolk: Not really, IMO. I know a fair number of people, including direct friends and family, that love theirs and actually really use them. Since Pel is more of a spin class thing, it's not my jam. However I do pay for Zwift and do a lot of miles on my trainer setup in the off season. Totally worth the $17/m as I could never ride a trainer even with movies and whatever. $40/m for Pel, for people that regularly use it, is a great return on investment health-wise. Again, all IMO.
  • 5 2
 @VtVolk: It’s the weirdest popular product I’ve ever seen. Like that stupid juicer that just squeezed an expensive bag but cost $600. But instead it’s successful?
  • 6 1
 @Chuckolicious: an exercise bike in the basement can also work as a normal bike for anything else when its off the turbo. Can keep you in shape when its bad weather outside. It's cool for interval training.
This cant be possible with Peloton, of course. That's what bothers me much this and the screaming tech obsolescence of the hardware.
  • 8 3
 This really should have been the canary in the coal mine that society is more than fine with shedding healthy habits when vaccines came into the picture. Really that’s the saddest thing beyond sales and stock figures. No one learned that health is as important as the last 24 months showed us it is.

Here’s to investing back into tobacco and alcohol
  • 5 0
 @t-stoff: 100% agree on tech obsolescence. The rest assumes people want to go ride outside to begin with. Lots of people wouldn’t exercise otherwise. You’re a super user amongst super users of bikes who don’t know any different. We’re the number of people driving manual transmissions in the age of automatics.
  • 5 0
 @usedbikestuff: I've had this conversation with people who asked my opinion on Peloton (or cheaper alternatives) I start by saying that I'm not in no way trying to deter someone to buy these if they're willing to commit to training, but in terms of investment a decent turbo trainer + average bike can be much more resilient in termos o value in the mid to long range.
And they can also go outside. Plus, you can change "providers"; Zwift, TR, RGT or even free ones.
  • 4 0
 @Blackhat: Juciero baby! When you can't be bothered to open a bottle of juice and pour a cup, buy a $600 machine to do it for you!
  • 6 0
 @Chuckolicious: $17.00 a meter seems costly.
  • 4 0
 @DJ-24: It's not bad as long as you keep exercising in the same place.
  • 4 0
 @t-stoff: Yea, I get you. But my friends and family are totally non-bikers, so this sort of unit is perfect for them. When they see my Tacx Neo2, old Litespeed Palmares, giant flat screen and PC setup, their eyes just glaze over. Big Grin
  • 4 0
 @DJ-24: Totally subjective. But for me, $17/m to not be an anchor for my West Coast buddies when I go out and ride with them in the spring, is totally worth it. I also figure it's the perfect offset for my $17/m Netflix that makes me sit on the couch and eat ice cream and popcorn in a never ending salty-sweet battle. Big Grin
  • 2 0
 @barp: Ha. Good catch!
  • 2 1
 @Chuckolicious: oh, so it's "Pel" now......too cool for school~!
  • 1 0
 @jokermtb: nah, just too lazy to type.
  • 1 0
 How does a company that sells boutique exercise bikes have so many staff (and 2,800 out of how many?)
  • 1 0
 Peloton had 2,800 employees? What did they all do?
  • 2 0
 @boozed: 14,000. It was a 20% reduction in headcount. There is a lot of questions there. Only thing I could think is the participants in the classes on video count as headcount. I don’t know how you get there otherwise.
  • 4 1
 @usedbikestuff: people underestimate what it takes to run a company like Peloton. They do sell an enormous amount of bikes monthly. They have staff to handle the logistics of everything from Asia to the customer's house. They also have a large staff dedicated to engineering the HW from the bikes to the treadmills. Then they have to have a large staff of full stack SW developers to ensure that they stay at the top from a usability and customer engagement perspective. BTW that there is also the App side as well too. Then you have the production staff to create and edit the 20+ classes that are created daily.

I am not a Peloton fanboi, but I also know what it takes to run a multi billion dollar organization. It is not the same as ordering bikes from Asia and then forwarding the boxes to bike shops or consumers. Peloton is projecting 1.3M device (bikes and treadmills) sales this year alone. How many bikes do you think Specialized sells in a year?
  • 1 0
 @Hieronymus: IDK, but I hope the writers for "And just like that" and "Billions" are proud of themselves...
  • 2 0
 Absolutely saved me. Had a freak heart attack and the Peloton has done everything I have hoped. From Cycling to Cardio to Yoga to Strength workouts.
  • 1 1
 @jbh65: stoked to hear that. People that have never tried Peloton don't really understand it. I was in that camp for a long time.

Full disclosure, we have a Peloton bike and think highly of their ecosystem. I also thought the company was wildly overvalued at $100+/share. They seem to be rightsizing the company now and headed on the right track.
  • 2 0
 @salespunk: "Peloton is projecting 1.3M device (bikes and treadmills) sales this year alone."

Okay so I dramatically underestimated their popularity.
  • 17 1
 I hope Decathlon hangs in there. I was thinking about getting back into pole vaulting but Amazon doesn't carry Pacer in my length and weight.
  • 6 0
 How exactly are those delivered anyway?
  • 14 0
 @oatkinso: in a very long van
  • 6 0
 @oatkinso: by an Olympian of course
  • 13 0
 The number of bikes imported to the US is up 13%, but the declared value is up 40%. That says it all. Price per bike is skyrocketing, along with everything else.
  • 7 1
 Random one for ya...I took my daughter to Ulta Beauty yesterday, I was blown away by how many customers were in the store. While I was in there, I googled their yearly sales, $8bn in USA alone if I recall....for one store, beauty products. But USA imported only $2bn in bikes, collectively and in a sales surge.
  • 4 2
 You're comparing different things. Import numbers are not the same as sales. The value declared for import into the US of the goods sold for 8 billion is probably much lower than 2 billion.
  • 1 0
 @HankDamage: I don't know if i'd call my observation a comparison, but of course I know the $2bn of valued goods imported is at 'customs value' and that is determined in different ways-could be retail for some company documents, could be wholesale, I think my overall point I was trying to make-$2bn in imported bikes to the entire united states, did not seem like a lot to me-or better yet, I would have hoped for a higher number especially during this unprecedented sales surge.
  • 2 0
 @stiksandstones Couldn't help but run the numbers on your observation. Global market for bikes in 2019 = US$60 billion. Cosmetics about US$380, total beauty = US$512. Sources: about two minutes googling.
  • 1 1
 @iamamodel: I stopped at “of course there are more people wearing make-up than riding bikes.” And left it at that
  • 2 0
 @iamamodel: reminds me of the time, I was negotiating with an athlete and he had a man-friend agent with him. Man friend says "Look man, the bike industry is making billions of dollars, my guy ___ is just looking for his fair share"...I should have told him to get sponsored by a makeup brand then ;-)
  • 3 0
 Not only are they big, but ULTA is a very well run company. A stock I’ve followed for
a while, just haven’t found an entry point I liked.
  • 4 0
 "After reviewing objections and responses to the recommendation, U.S. District Judge Janet Neff on Wednesday ordered the case dismissed"

Hm... I see a woman with puffy blond hair wearing one of these fake glasses with an attached mustache sitting in the judges chair.
  • 1 0
 Thats not Jolandas sister is it? Doesnt she ride for Trek?
  • 6 0
 Am I reading/doing the maths wrong or was the average value of the imported bikes $101? That seems insanely low!
  • 15 0
 Probably lots of department store and kids bikes, all declared at the lowest possible value to dodge import duties.
  • 2 1
 If that's the average, then the median is going to be four Jacksons, tops.
  • 1 0
 @bocomtb: A $billion is from China, so that makes sense, are not most high end frames from Taiwan?
  • 8 2
 Customs value is not the same as retail value. The bike companies are having frames and parts manufactured in other countries, to be later sold in the US. So the cost to manufacture a single frame may only be $100, but by the time they sell it to the public, they charge more like $1000, because they have other costs to cover, such as the tools to build the frame, shipping the frame to the US, and then all of the other overhead the company has.
(Cost numbers completely made up...)
  • 3 0
 I see the customs value of a major US clothing brand when they are shipped direct to me , they usually are 1/10th of the retail tag.
  • 2 2
 Customs value istn't the same as retail price.
  • 1 0
 @Croft1: I work in the bike industry. Our customs values are generally around 1/4-1/3 of the retail price. Even if the average bikes have a far better margin than we do on our low volume, high end stuff (which they almost certainly do) it puts the average retail price at like $5-600 or something...unless the declared value is substantially less than the real value but I would say that is less likely as USCBP tend to take a fairly dim view on a billion dollars worth of smuggled goods. They carefully check every single bike and query it to the dollar when we ship to our US customers.
  • 5 0
 I wonder how much of that huge increase from Indonesia is attributable to Polygon.
  • 2 0
 Polygons not that big and a few other companies like Marin (also not a big company) build there.
  • 9 8
 I'm going to have to stop reading pinkbike if I keep getting upsetting news. Never expected disney to own...Mountainbiking?? We all already pay for Disney+ so maybe they'll put the races there instead of Discovery+: The land of redneck reality
  • 3 0
 I never expected Disney to make the Pam and Tommy biopic. Seems like quite the departure from Mickey Mouse and Hannah Montana
  • 5 0
 Malaysia overdoing it a bit there with a 3545.4% increase.
  • 5 0
 Didn't Shimano open a parts plant there?
  • 1 0
 @Dlakusta: Yes, although it's apparently been working at reduced capacity for a large part of the year due to covid restrictions & raw material supply chain issues. Or at least that's what I've been hearing from the local Shimano people.
  • 1 0
 2 billion dollars. That is $7 per person (import, not retail, I know) . I wanted to make a quick comparison to my country, for which I found that in 2019, bike sales were €73 per person. Complete bikes only, not part or accessories. I think there is still some growth potential in the US market.
  • 3 1
 Peloton was made from COVID and is destroyed by the realization that it's the 21st century flu. What a joke. Remember the Schwinn Airdyne? Still available by the way. All became clothes hangers. Same with the Peloton.
  • 1 0
 50% of the US Decathlon stores (2 total) are in my neighborhood and weren't looted. Potential customers were likely kept away from their doors by the 36"-deep field of human feces bristling with used syringes and skante pipas.
  • 3 0
 Either pinkbike has it out for Peter Woods or they are using a spoof photo lol. Look at his teeth here vs an internet photo
  • 4 0
 Now if I could just buy a rear derailleur.
  • 1 0
 PM me if you have a Visa Palladium card.
  • 1 1
 What is next is next - extreme sanctions / no supply of bikes, components and semiconductors. The writing is on the wall China going to follow Russia lead (Ukrain) and invade Twain for “unification”. Ukraine just distraction just from Twain crisis. All I can say is shame on manufacturers who have used China as manufacturing hub or haven’t considered rapidly moving manufacturing jobs back to European or USA. Anyways we are all screwed just watch bikes double in cost and world war 3 approaches.
  • 1 0
 I think it is a good thing that more bikes are coming out of more countries other than china
But still a problem that still not many new companies, but why mostly made in the far east?
  • 2 0
 What percentage of those imported bikes will be thrown in to landfill within 3 months?
  • 3 0
 That's only like 10 S-Works
  • 1 0
 there's a lot of competition for Decathlon in the US to grow, hope they dont close their Mexico locations though.
  • 3 0
 So you may xcountry?
  • 1 0
 @Pyres: whats wrong with xcountry?
  • 2 0
 @Narro2: only a stupid joke dude. “Cross” country…
  • 1 0
 @Pyres: lol
  • 1 0
 Record import, and still can't find a. mid to top level bike in the US (looking at 3 manufacturers)
  • 2 0
 can you please remove decathlon from canada now pls?
  • 3 2
 Pinkbike, your articles suck ass. Sad to see where you have gone.
  • 1 0
 You'd think a CEO of a massive company could afford a better dentist.
  • 1 0
 I thought these are just Trek bikes, now I see they have all kinds of them
  • 1 2
 This is a really poor article. Headlines don't match the content and as pointed out, bike imports are just to the US.
  • 1 0
 Shame on Trek !
  • 3 5
 Cool another list article
  • 4 6
 Decathalon is closing their stores because of too much looting. Not good.
  • 2 1
 Yup... The Emeryville location was fully pilfered by the woke people in the name of racial justice. For several days post looting, there were various decathlon branded bikes for sale on CL. What a coincidence...
  • 1 0
 @Sirclimbalot: Yeah, literally thousands of retail businesses closed up shop in SF, Emeryville, Oakland, and nearby cities. Not good to see as I am born, raised, and live in Silicon Valley. Never seen the SF Bay Area in more dire shape.
  • 3 4
 #Ebikes





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