{"id":105465,"date":"2025-08-29T13:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T13:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/105465\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T13:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T13:32:09","slug":"is-china-ready-to-take-over-the-cycling-industry-we-chat-to-chinese-bike-brand-yoeleo-about-challenging-the-old-guard-changing-western-perceptions-and-pushing-the-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/105465\/","title":{"rendered":"Is China ready to take over the cycling industry? We chat to Chinese bike brand Yoeleo about challenging the old guard, changing Western perceptions, and \u201cpushing the limits\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this week\u2019s episode of the road.cc Podcast, we explore one of the big cycling tech stories of 2025: the rise of Chinese\u00a0bike brands. And why they could, through better tech, research and design, and affordable prices, very quickly threaten the traditional western brands and transform the global cycling industry.<\/p>\n

To assess China\u2019s new high-end bike brand dynasty, and dig deeper into the circumstances, tech, and methods underpinning it, we spoke to Yoeleo, one of those Chinese companies aiming to disrupt the global cycling market and reinvent the country\u2019s position and reputation within the industry.<\/p>\n

China has always played a central role in the global cycling industry. In 2023, almost 49 million bikes were produced in China alone, and that\u2019s not even counting e-bikes, components, and accessories.<\/p>\n

>\u00a0The rise of Chinese cycling brands<\/a><\/p>\n

For decades, the frames and wheels of many of the industry\u2019s biggest brands have been quietly built in Chinese factories, before being plastered with the logos of household names and sold to you.<\/p>\n

But over the 10 years or so, these Chinese manufacturers have decided to start taking matters into their own hands \u2013 first by selling cheap non-branded frames and wheels on the likes of Temu and AliExpress, before a second wave emerged, featuring brands operating under their own name, and aimed at the value for money market.<\/p>\n

And now, we\u2019re currently in the midst of a third wave in Chinese bike-making, with manufacturers going all-in and investing in research and design in a bid to build better tech and challenge the old western guard with performance-driven, high-quality machines, albeit at still relatively affordable prices.<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Have Chinese carbon wheels now overtaken established brands factoring in performance and price?<\/a><\/p>\n

\"20232023 Yoeleo G21 DB PRO Gravel Bike – front.jpg (credit: road.cc)<\/p>\n

This ‘third wave’ is continuing to rise, and gaining credibility within the global industry. To underline that increasing credibility of these upstart brands, at this year\u2019s Tour de France, Astana\u2019s riders were racing on XDS bikes, while Bahrain Victorious\u2019 bikes sported cranksets from Eilee and Flywheel.<\/p>\n

So, is China the next big thing in the bike industry? And why is this shift happening now?<\/p>\n

To answer those questions, we\u2019re joined on the podcast this week by Rio Banyubiru, the marketing manager at Yoeleo, one of those Chinese brands aiming to bust out of the second wave and challenge the big boys.<\/p>\n

During our chat, Banyubiru\u00a0talked about the Yoeleo\u2019s growth over the years, and how it\u2019s adapted from focusing on value to producing world-class bikes, the context of the Chinese cycling market, the role of the country\u2019s communist government, and effects of Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs, and why western perceptions of Chinese brands are starting to irrevocably shift.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want people to choose\u00a0Yoeleo\u00a0because we\u2019re cheaper or more affordable”, says Banyubiru.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We want them to choose us because they value the trust, they trust the brand and they trust the ride and the craftsmanship. That\u2019s what we\u2019re aiming for.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0road.cc\u00a0Podcast is available on\u00a0Apple Podcasts<\/a>,\u00a0Spotify<\/a>, and\u00a0Amazon Music<\/a>, and if you have an Alexa you can just tell it to play the\u00a0road.cc\u00a0Podcast. It\u2019s also embedded further up the page, so you can just press play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On this week\u2019s episode of the road.cc Podcast, we explore one of the big cycling tech stories of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-105465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}