Russian bike market falters but Velo-Park show goes on

This year’s Velo-Park show, held in Moscow, was moved to a smaller hall than usual in what was thought to be an indication of how the Russian economy is struggling. The show marks the beginning of the new season but not one that is filled with optimism.

This was the 12th edition of the Velo-Park show and was held over the second weekend in March; the event also introduced the Moto-Park show as the two merged. The event was held at the same location, the Crocus Expo complex not far from Moscow, but was moved to a smaller hall as the interest in the event severely reduced from just a year ago.

The event, however, did continue and it was Shimano who seemed to make the biggest impact after setting up in the first booth by the entrance. The overall takeaway message from the event seemed to be that the market was moving more towards maintenance and new parts rather than new bicycles and that when new bicycles were being bought, the basic bikes were most popular. For this reason, Shimano has actually started opening ‘repair workshops’ in regions where the average income is smaller than that of the biggest cities.

There was also a notable absence in the amount of Chinese parts makers at the event; this is likely to be as a result of the amount of business being done online. This is currently a bit of a risk as the Russian Government is looking to introduce cross-border delivery rules but as of right now, anything under €1,000 is tax-free. It is thought that new legislation would bring this figure potentially as low as €20 which would completely destroy ordering abroad from online vendors. With this being said, these discussions have been reoccurring for nearly three years now and putting such system in place could prove quite tricky.

Velo-Park also saw Velomotors, Russia’s largest manufacturer of bicycles, show a number of new models with children’s bikes taking the main stage. However, there were also MTBs and Fat-bikes on show. Perhaps the most noteworthy fact about Velomotors display was that there was no electric bikes whatsoever. This could be down to the fact that sales of eBikes in Russia is still relatively slow at 2,000-4,000 and that there is still only two Russian companies, Elbike and Eltreco, that have delved into this market. 

It’s fair to say that bike sales have not been helped by the devaluation of the Ruble as salaries did not rise with it; the average price of regular bikes stand at around €200 with eBikes at around €625. Many manufacturers have had to take evasive steps such as cutting their mark-up just to stay in business so eBikes may still be a long way from popularity in Russia.

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