Shimano has reported a 15.6 per cent increase in bicycle component sales in the first quarter of 2025, with the groupset giant pointing to signs of recovery in the European market.
This follows a tricky 2024 for the Japanese company, which saw bicycle component sales decrease by 5.6 per cent last year, due to weak demand and high inventories.
Shimano's bicycle component sales in the first quarter of this year have brought in ¥88 billion (about £464,200,000), with Shimano citing particular interest in its GRX gravel and 105 mid-range road groupsets.
Interest in bikes continues
Shimano says “strong interest in bicycles continued as a long-term trend” through the beginning of 2025.
In the European market, Shimano says “signs of recovery started to appear in retail sales of completed bicycles”. Shimano adds that personal consumption recovered in Europe as inflation subsided and the economy continued to recover.
Europe is Shimano’s largest market for cycling components, but the company's outlook on smaller markets are less positive.
Shimano says retail sales for bikes in Asia and central and South America remain weak due to "sluggish" personal consumption, while demand was also slow in Japan due to the “soaring price of completed bicycles.”
Sales of complete bikes have also remained weak in north America for Shimano, with the brand citing a decline in consumer confidence due to changes in "trade policies". The report makes no specific reference to Donald Trump's trade tariffs.
A cautious outlook
Across its whole business, which includes fishing equipment, Shimano saw a 12.9 per cent increase in sales compared to the first quarter of 2024.
Although the growth is positive news for the company after a difficult 2024, its outlook remains cautious. Shimano has revised its forecast for the 2025 fiscal year, citing non-operating expenses and currency fluctuations.
Shimano wasn't the only cycling company that struggled in 2024.
Giant reported that its profits plunged by 62.8 per cent and, in the UK, Brompton saw its profits fall by 99 per cent.
Giant and Brompton have both been vocal about the potentially negative impacts of Trump’s tariffs on the cycling industry – an issue Shimano has not had its say on.
