Inside Czech and Polish bicycle factories

Production companies in Central Europe play a key role in catering for the European e-bike and bicycle markets. Export has always been an important part of their business over the past decades as the local markets slowed down. The production know-how obtained to deliver products for the Netherlands and Germany now gives them a strong position in other countries, but also to build their local market again.

Three factories opened their doors for Bike Europe. In Poland, Romet gave an update of their in-house aluminium frame production which was opened in 2019. The next investment schedule has already been planned, and the modernisation of the bicycle and e-bike production will start soon. In Czech Republic, both Bike Fun International and Darfon are aiming for a growing export market share. Besides OEM/ODM production, Bike Fun International developed a growth strategy for their own brands Superior and Rock Machine.

The extreme fluctuations in supply and demand the industry has been facing since 2020 have had their impact on the Central European producers as well. In some cases, it even delays the opening of newly built factories while existing companies have been able to absorb the extreme fluctuations so far.

Romet combines OEM and branded production

Romet is a historical brand name in Poland and the brand name was revived in 2006 after the company was taken over by the current owner and President Wiesław Grzyb. This was the start of a gradual upgrading of Romet with investment plans and production expansion. This included the opening of an aluminium frame production in 2019. Only recently, Romet announced a new investment of €23 million in more R&D, to improve the company’s sustainability and modernise the production. The investments should enhance Romet’s product innovations which not only include e-bikes and bicycles but also battery design, recycling and the improvement of the battery life and energy management system.

The combination of aluminium frame production, a painting line and assembly on one location gives Romet a rather unique market position. Only a few factories in Europe operate their own frame production. The logistic advantages are impressive when making your own frames, instead of sourcing them in Asia, or even on another location in Europe. The frame production process is fully streamlined.

Romet operates two assembly lines for mechanical bikes plus one for e-bikes and high-end models in Podgrodzie. Besides this facility, Romet also runs production in Jastrowie and Kowalewo. All combined, some 2,400 bicycles and e-bike come off the assembly lines every day. Romet generates an annual revenue of more than €150 million.

Bike Fun International takes upgrade approach

Bike Fun International (BFI) was founded by a group of Dutch investors in 2001 and has developed into a leading city bike manufacturer based in the Czech Republic, without losing sight on the sports bike market. In 2020 BFI was taken over by a local investor and today they export to 26 countries. The company is involved in OEM/ODM business as well as producing and distributing three own brands. Flexibility has always been key to BFI while the previous owner also took the upgrade approach from the start of the company.

BFI controls and manages almost all aspects of bicycle production themselves. It starts at the paint shop which is equipped to handle aluminium and steel frames. Some 120 different colours in mat and shine are being prepared in a standard range which is updated to fashion trends every year. In line with the trend to paint frames, luggage carriers and other bicycle parts in the same colour, BFI manages mixing the colours themselves to avoid even the slightest differences in the final result. This workflow also allows for a maximum flexibility in frame painting and changing colours relatively short before the production starts, so as to match the latest sales trends.

For the distribution of BFI’s own brands, the company runs a network of approximately 100 IBD’s for Superior and 200 for Rock Machine in the Czech Republic. These own brands play and increasing bigger role in the company.

Darfon combines battery and e-bike assembly in Czech Republic

Electronic’s giant Darfon continues to step up their involvement in the e-bike industry. In 2023 the company announced to open their own OEM e-bike assembly and batteries production facility in the Czech Republic. This was in fact already taking place for some years in an existing facility where Darfon was making keyboards for Dell Computers. As the lay-out of computer keyboards varies per language, Darfon was experienced to reach a very high level of production flexibility. After all, the order specification of how many keyboards in which languages they must make comes in just a few days before delivery to Dell Computers. This experience has now been useful to them to operate a highly flexible e-bike production facility.

Next to the flexibility, the in-house production of e-bike batteries and the location in Central Europe are the key elements for Darfon to distinguish themselves in the OEM market. “Building the battery which matches the specifications so close to the final assembly of the e-bike brings many advantages,” Darfon Europe President KS Hor told Bike Europe during our vist. “No inventory or capital required and short lead-times, just to name a few of these benefits.”