By Big Ring Editorial Staff · The Big Ring Report
It has been a bruising week for the balance sheets of the cycling industry's biggest names and a quiet signal that the long post-pandemic correction may finally be bottoming out. Here is what moved the needle in the business of cycling this week.
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**The Lycra Company files for Chapter 11**
The most structurally significant story of the week received surprisingly little attention outside the trade press. The Lycra Company — the supplier whose proprietary spandex fibre is in virtually every pair of bib shorts, base layer, and jersey sold under any brand name in cycling — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure approximately $1.2 billion in debt. The company has secured $75 million in new financing to keep operations running through the process, and the restructuring is described as pre-negotiated with lenders, meaning a disorderly collapse is not the expected outcome.
The practical implication for the industry is likely minimal in the short term — Lycra's supply chain should remain intact. But the filing is a reminder of how much leverage the post-pandemic boom allowed companies to take on, and how many of those debt structures are now coming due in a market that has contracted sharply from its 2021 peak.
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**Giant's US problem deepens**
Giant Group reported a 40% year-on-year revenue decline for February 2026 — the worst monthly performance in a decade — as the US Withhold Release Order continues to block shipments from its Taiwan facilities over forced labour allegations. The world's largest bicycle manufacturer has now been locked out of its most important export market for an extended period, and the financial damage is compounding. Giant has not publicly indicated when or how it expects to resolve the WRO, and the silence is becoming its own story.
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**Canyon: premium positioning meets economic gravity**
Canyon Bicycles closed 2025 with revenue down 6% to approximately $810 million and adjusted EBITDA down 34%, according to figures released by majority owner Groupe Bruxelles Lambert. Founder Roman Arnold's public insistence that "we're not a discount brand" reads less as a strategy statement and more as a prayer at this point. The direct-to-consumer model that made Canyon's growth story so compelling during the boom years is now exposing the brand to the full force of a market correction with no retail buffer to absorb it.
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**Rad Power Bikes: acquired for $13.3 million**
Life Electric Vehicles CEO Rob Provost completed the acquisition of Rad Power Bikes on March 5th for a reported $13.3 million — a figure that tells you everything you need to know about how far the brand has fallen from its peak valuation. Provost has indicated he intends to acquire additional distressed e-bike brands, suggesting a consolidation play rather than a turnaround story. Whether the Rad Power name retains enough consumer equity to justify the investment is the question the industry is watching.
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**UK market returns to growth — cautiously**
The Bicycle Association's 2025 Annual Market Data Report brought the first genuinely positive headline the UK trade press has had to work with in four years: the market returned to growth, with total value up approximately 5% year-on-year. Unit sales rose modestly and average prices held, suggesting the inventory correction that has plagued the industry since 2022 is largely complete. "Green shoots are emerging" was the phrase making the rounds in the trade press, which is either encouraging or a sign that expectations have been recalibrated to a very low baseline, depending on your disposition.
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**Sigma Sports opens its marketplace**
UK retailer Sigma Sports announced it will open its online platform to third-party specialist sellers via Mirakl, launching in summer 2026. The move is a logical play for Sigma — broader inventory without the carrying costs — and an interesting option for smaller specialist brands that want access to Sigma's established customer base without building their own e-commerce infrastructure. It is also a further sign of the ongoing consolidation of online retail power into a smaller number of trusted platforms.
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**One more thing: a new trade show for 2027**
NieuwsFiets Media & Events has announced CycleExpo Amsterdam, a new OEM-focused international trade show planned for October 6–8, 2027. The cycling industry's B2B event calendar has been in flux since Eurobike's pivot and the contraction of several regional shows, and the organisers are positioning this as a dedicated platform for original equipment manufacturers. The 2027 timeline gives the industry time to commit — or to quietly decline. The success of any new trade show in this environment will depend entirely on who shows up, and more importantly, who doesn't.