Velofollies' 18th edition sustained the bar it set in 2025 with 40k visitors, 300 exhibitors, and 600 brands. It attracted more hype, garnered more media coverage, and boasted numerous launches from global brands. I'd add that most of the buzz went to the performance & even the gimmicky end of the spectrum, but there was also a strong theme of artist collabs like HUNT & Juliane Borts, BMC's live painting & Raamwerk's custom build.

Here are peeks into Twotone's time at this year's show. We were proud to be in attendance with six customers and to support HUNT's Ride with Albion, Classified, and Jaegher on Saturday. A ride that was particularly successful due to the collaborative support of each brand, and especially local ones! It was a collaborative effort that is all too uncommon in community building in the bike industry. We were honored to lend a hand promoting and encouraging ridership.

Back when I first attended Velofollies, in 2016 or '17, it was an exploration. Twotone didn't have a specific brief, but better acquainting ourselves with a then certainly regional show was a smart way to go, and we attended only on Fridays. By 2019, we were there supporting SILCA, Wahoo & Ampler. We even got Ampler in Het Nieuwsblad that year! (A turning point for ebikes gaining traction!)

Fast forward to 2023, and it was clear that Velofollies had emerged from the ashes of the industry's post-pandemic pinch-flat into an annual international bicycle business barometer, setting the tone for the year ahead. That year, we had the honor of arranging some custom bikes for Shimano's PRO Bike Gear from Quirk Cycles & Feather, as well as supporting Classified.

Both '24 & '25 continued on a steady rise as we saw more international media (and corresponding competing PR agencies) traveling to Kortrijk for their first times as Belgium's preeminent bike show continued to grow. Already last year, it was clear: Velofollies is a defining tradeshow for the industry across Europe, now with more global visibility than ever before and a truly multifaceted passionate consumer attendance spanning racing, adventure, and commuting.

Throughout the weekend, people kept comparing Velofollies to Eurobike, how Velofollies had replaced it, etc. That's a false dichotomy, for one, and the most vocal haters weren't even that familiar with Cyclingworld, let alone other regional gems like VELOBerlin or the niche yet thrice annual cornerstone of custom bikes: Bespoked. And, for the record, the slow death of any show is foreboding for everyone, as we should know. Long live the bike show.

My friend Wouter Duijndam and I were at the Schwalbe booth at the end of Day 1. An employee there gave a much more mature, nuanced, and insightful take: yes, Schwalbe was skipping Eurobike this year (a first in 20+ years or even more) despite taking such pride in leading the industry with support for shows & events in all of their markets, but even the dawn-of-the-year darling Velofollies doesn't fill the Eurobike business show void.

Here's what he meant: at the Eurobikes of yesteryear, you'd have OEMs represented, including CEOs, marketing managers, sales teams, product directors, and other decision-makers, all at the table. Tradeshow meetings were decisive and tremendously valuable. Now, only 2-3 or even a single employee of a brand will attend a show. Velofollies lacks dedicated B2B days and arrangements for meaningful commercial meetings at the show.

Yes, the big players increasingly hold their own dealer summits, and distributors and brands hold their own dealer and media days. And that's not to say that Velofollies wasn't a smashing success; by all accounts, it was better than ever!

Keen to weigh in? We've got comments on the site, or reply if you like. : )

Next up is Nieuwsfiets' Dutch market B2B Festival, 8-9 February & the ever-popular, international as ever Cyclingworld in Düsseldorf, 20-22 March! Hope to see you at both!

have a great week ahead & thank you for reading,

Jon

January

• 🇳🇱 21 Wheelrunner Wednesday Ride (Weekly at 6:30am)
• 🇳🇱 29 The Mechanics of Joy Nº52

February

• 🇳🇱 8-9 Nieuwsfiets' B2B Festival
• 🇳🇱 11-12 Shift Cycling Culture Barcamp
• 🇳🇱 27 Dox Under The Tracks Nº14 (Artists TBA)

March

• 🇳🇱 14 12hr Alleycat (Twotone HQ is the karaoke checkpoint!)
• 🇩🇪 20-22 Cyclingworld Düsseldorf

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