INTERVIEW Paul Vousden, Director, Mapdec Cycle Works
“It has been a gigantic year of change and pivoting to meet and predict trends. Sales have grown more slowly than in 2024, but more importantly, the type of sales has changed. We are workshop-centric and supported by a popular YouTube channel. In 2025, we became more of a destination for dream builds. Our YouTube channel also needed to reflect that trend. Content that previously did well was the workshop-based tutorials. Now our best content is translating industry language and compatibility headaches. We are really leaning into our local, national, international and online community. The gap between Western and Eastern brands is growing, and confidence is rising among consumers for the factory-direct brands. Anti-dumping and reshoring appear to be the buzzwords for 2026. The entry-level end of the market seems non-existent at present. We are hoping for some competitive product offers from groupset manufacturers to liven this up.”
Janelle Chubey – Director of OEM at 4iiii
Dave Page, UK Country Manager, Marin
“Here at Marin, we’ve had the best year since Covid! If you’re a Marin dealer, thank you; we couldn’t have done it without you! Marin UK is a small, friendly team. If a dealer calls the office, there’s a good chance I will answer. I like to help, I like to know what’s going on, and I’ve spent plenty of time on the road with our amazing reps this year, getting to know our dealers, and what they need from us, to help us grow our businesses together. I think that’s vital. We’ve just updated our B2B to make finding and
ordering stock easier, and we’re about to go live with an all-new consumer website. We don’t like to keep still. We punch well above our weight in the world of marketing, which ultimately drives riders to our dealers, and we aim to turn that up to 11 in 2026!”
“This year saw a major expansion of power meters included as a key feature on OEM bikes across many categories and tiers. This has allowed consumers buying performance bikes to access key training metrics right out of the box, measuring progress toward personal goals and race achievements. Alongside faster, lighter road bikes, the
gravel bike segment has continued to explode, blending road speed with off-road capability. The growing market for performance gravel saw new bikes launched with increased consideration for consumers participating in events and training. This has included aerodynamics, weight, wheel and tyre performance, and power meters as standard specifications.
Global economic pressure and tariff uncertainty
have driven technology, such as electronic shifting, integrated handlebars, and power meters, to be available on multiple tiers. This allows consumers to opt for mid-range prices while accessing exciting performance features, likely setting the direction for 2026 to ensure the cycling market continues to grow.”
16 |December 2025
www.bikebiz.com
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