Bicycle industry on the cusp of a digital revolution?

"Data is the missing piece of the narrative and there is a basic need for standardisation in the bicycle industry," declared speaker Bartek Czerwinski during the Cycling Industries Europe’s webinar on Digital Solutions for the Cycling Industry. The event showcased innovative start-ups presenting their visions for elevating the bike industry's digital capabilities to match those of the automotive sector, potentially transforming the cycling landscape.

Bike Matrix, Noca, BikeFolder are just a few of the new ventures that have emerged over the past few years with a focus on data management in the bicycle industry. These companies have clearly identified a market gap at a time when digitalisation is becoming increasingly relevant in the value chain.

Digital bicycle identification system

The automotive industry has successfully automated data management, but the bicycle industry lags behind, impacting revenues, value chain transparency, and growth. To address this issue, Polish entrepreneur Daniel Kurpisz founded the Bicycle Identification Number (BIN) initiative, inspired by the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) system used in the automotive sector. This project, led by Bartek Czerwinski, aims to bring similar data standardisation and tracking capabilities to the bicycle industry.

The BIN system aims to address several persistent challenges in the bicycle value chain, including fragmented production processes, inefficient lifecycle management, and the increasing issue of bike theft. By providing a globally unique identification number, securely stored and tracked on a blockchain-based platform, BIN ensures tamper-proof ownership verification and history tracking.

“This BIN will offer a solution to the fragmented value chain once a bicycle leaves the factory. The blockchain-based platform enables secure, tamper-proof bicycle records from a bicycle's complete lifecycle, from manufacturing through to recycling,” confirmed Czerwinski.

Data powers businesses

Data drives customer satisfaction and allows businesses to scale, according to Anna Buchmann, founder and CEO of Noca. The German start-up has developed a portal that enables intelligent master data and process management across teams and with supply chain partners.

“The portal serves to structure, share and receive data and automate processes for the supply chain,” told Buchmann. This involves building a central, single source of truth with industry-specific, harmonised technical specifications. “This direct connection between product characteristics and bill of materials allows for super-fast speccing of bikes,” Buchmann said.

“There's a space in the industry to revolutionise the value chain…”

The Noca portal aims to solve master data problems for suppliers, OEM brands, distributers and assemblers in the cycling industry. “Our portal allows companies to reduce the time spent on costs of data management by 50%. We can improve your data quality with consistent and automated process. At Noca, we also leverage AI-applications to ensure long-term competitiveness,” she said.

BikeFolder's innovative software expands across the Nordic region

Shimano Nordic has partnered with software company BikeFolder, which offers a solution for bicycle manufacturers that gives them insights into where their products go once they leave the factory and what happens during their lifecycle. The system made a flying start in its first year after the introduction in Norway.

Insurtech start-up tackles bike theft

Also taking part in the webinar was René Nørgård of the Danish start-up Bikekey, a greentech startup aiming to modernise and digitise bicycle registration. Bikekey collaborates with both individual bike owners and insurance companies to enhance theft deterrence, improve resale transparency, and increase recovery rates through a national bicycle register.

With the introduction of e-bikes, there has been a significant increase in insurance payouts. This, says Nørgård, is not only detrimental to insurance companies but ultimately also affects us as cyclists, as we may have to pay higher premiums or face larger deductibles when our bikes are stolen.

“With our solution, which has 20,000 registrations in Denmark, we have helped insurance companies reduce their claims by 50% year-on-year,” explained Nørgård. Launched in 2021, the company has seven insurance companies as clients. “We are currently in dialogue with both Swedish and Norwegian companies about internationalising our business and we are ready to scale cross border.”

Innovation at a tipping point

"There's a space in the industry to come in and revolutionise the value chain," concluded Czerwinski, suggesting that future collaboration between data market players is likely. CIE's Jacques Lovell, the webinar moderator, added that interesting solutions are emerging and new competition and ideas will arise, benefiting the industry. “We're at a tipping point,” he said, adding that a wave of innovative solutions are already visible.