At Eurobike, the world’s leading bicycle trade show, STEVENS ushered in the new model year 2018. From August 30th to September 2nd in Friedrichshafen near Lake Constance we presented our new collection with about 200 models to the public and we look back on four busy and successful days.

Especially in the first three days, reserved for members of the bike industry, the sales team welcomed most of its national and international dealers, presented the new models to them and talked about the upcoming season and the successful past season in a relaxed atmosphere. The reception of our trekking and city bikes, pedelecs, road and mountain bikes in fresh colours and new designs was positive throughout. At the same time STEVENS seized the opportunity for talks about the next model collection with its suppliers.

The bicycle in its 200-years existence still receives vast appraisal proven by 22,000 visitors on the fourth and final day of the show, the Festival Day. By lunchtime already the team at the outdoor rental booth announced: ”All bikes out on the test track.” At this time the team at the indoor booth had already answered numerous questions about new STEVENS bikes and handed out many of the new catalogues.

Once more the readers of TrekkingBIKE confirmed their great trust in STEVENS trekking and city bikes. In the categories ”ownership” and ”intent to buy” STEVENS was able to win 1st place for the sixth time in a row. Also the readers of Tour – during the show the magazine celebrated its 40th anniversary, congratulations! – awarded STEVENS with a good fourth rank in popularity among stationary-dealer sold bicycle brands.

The bicycle also experiences increasing acknowledgement as a solution for making cities more liveable and to reduce fine particle emissions. So, for state-level and federal officials a visit to the fair is not only good for improving their public image. General Manager Fred Schierenbeck and Head of Product Strategy and Marketing Volker Dohrmann welcomed to the booth Norbert Barthle (Deputy Secretary of the Federal Department of Traffic), Winfried Kretschmann (Governor of the State of Baden-Württemberg, where Friedrichshafen is located) and Birgitta Worringen (Commissioner for cycling in the Federal Department of Traffic).

Current pedelec models were the main focus of the tour around the booth. According to German industry association Zweirad Industrie Verband ZIV their popularity is rising rapidly. Their share of total bike sales in Germany has already increased to 15 percent.

The entry-level range is complimented by the new E-Molveno (1,999 Euros) and the E-Circle (low-instep frame, 2,199 Euros), the E-6X Tour with pannier rack and fenders is added to the E-Cross series.
The road and cyclocross category features the completely revamped Comet, Comet Disc (new, with hydraulic disc brakes) and for cyclocross the new Super Prestige. The less-pricey cyclocross models Gavere and Tabor have received wider tires to make them even more suitable for year-round use.

Triathletes can adapt the new Volt exactly to their personal needs and measurements. All-round, every-day use bikes increasingly rely on belt drives – in 2018 a drive belt will transfer pedal force to the rear wheel of the new Super Flight.

Three new models of the race hardtail line will offer Sram’s new 1x12 Eagle drivetrains as an alternative to the existing Sonora models.

Volker Dohrmann summarizes Eurobike and the projections for the 2018 season: ”We are very pleased with the trade show: Consumers, dealers, and orders have been on a higher level than the two previous years. We concluded our business year with an increase in turnover while the number of bikes sold roughly stayed the same which is explained by the increasing demand in e-bikes. Even here the visitors focus on e-bikes but also are aware of our complete range. We like the atmosphere here in Friedrichshafen and we are optimistically looking forward to the 2018 season.”