There are people who have one bike they use for everything. Then there are people like Horst Draudt—who has a bicycle for every occasion. “For going to the bakery, I have a traditional village bike that I inherited from my father,” Draudt says. “Then I have a top-class Italian racing bike, as well as a mountain bike with a fully carbon-fiber frame.” He doesn’t yet have an e-bike but admits that it’s on his wish list. Draudt lives quite close to the Alps—a valid excuse for his passion for versatile sports cycles. Yet to get to work in nearby Munich, he actually prefers the train. This notwithstanding, he’s continually being positively surprised by the city’s development in terms of transportation culture. “Munich is not one of Europe’s bicycle capitals, of course, but I still see that the city is making huge strides in terms of cycling,” he says. Draudt notices that even in winter, bicycles are not tucked away in cellars. This is partly thanks to specialized innovations such as heated gloves. Above all, however, this progress sends an important message: “Everything is possible. We want bikes now! We want the space and acceptance. You can sense that with every fiber of your being.”
This perception is also confirmed by recent surveys and statistics. For instance, the Bicycle Monitor 2021, a survey sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, showed that cycling has the highest growth potential compared to other forms of transportation. The study showed that 41 percent of the respondents between the ages of 14 and 69 want to ride bikes more often in the future. And according to the National Cycling Plan 3.0 presented by the German Federal Cabinet, Germany is set to become a cycling nation by the year 2030. Additionally, across Europe, the pan-European master plan for promoting bicycling has been in force since 2021. Countries including Luxembourg, Ireland and Belgium are considered pioneers when it comes to investing in cycling—and strong newcomers include Hungary and Slovenia.
What exactly would a cycling country look like? Draudt has a pretty good idea. He’s not just an avowed bicycling enthusiast, he is also the senior remarketing expert in the Mobility Division at TÜV SÜD. He and his team are establishing the bicycle business unit for the company and are developing products to help make the two-wheeler more attractive. His curiosity about the future of mobility means he’s always walking through the city with his eyes wide open. “I take a close look—What are people riding, what features are they using?” He also approaches people to speak to them. “I just ask them: What do you need to make you a happier cyclist?” Along with safe bicycle paths, smoother traffic flows and protection against theft, the topic of insurance is also often mentioned. This is one of the topics that Draudt and his team are focusing on. Their aim is to raise the experience of buying a bicycle to the same level as buying a car. With the proliferation of various leasing opportunities for bicycles, there are also more specialized insurance products. Yet as Draudt highlights, in many cases bicycles are only included as an aside among a household’s contents for insurance purposes. Draudt describes the vacuum of service innovations and package solutions on the bicycle market as follows: “Today’s insurance services are not yet geared toward new trends.”
So, what are the trends in a bicycle-friendly city? “Bike rental stations will remain a model,” Draudt says. “I pick up the bicycle where it is parked.” Draudt draws a comparison to car sharing. “That model also had to go through a series of different developmental stages. When it comes to bikes, people like to copy the car, also with respect to services.” The mobility expert additionally foresees a dramatic increase in the leasing business and in employer-provided bike fleets. “Particularly in the big city, where it’s about getting from point A to point B, ownership is not that important anymore—it’s about the benefits.”
Electromobility has also become an integral part of the bicycle industry. “The e-bike has established itself across a broad front. Last year was the first time in Germany that more e-bikes than conventional bicycles were sold,” Draudt says. “This is a trend that is here to stay.” According to CONEBI, the Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry, in 2022 the sale of bicycles with electric motors increased by 8.6 percent to 5.5 million units in the EU and Great Britain. European-wide production increased by almost 20 percent.
Draudt and his team primarily approach retailers with their offerings. “Customers expect their dealer to provide good services along with the bicycle.” In this vein, TÜV SÜD has now begun offering damage appraisals for bicycles—for instance when an expensive two-wheeler has been damaged due to an accident. Because in the event of damage, even when a lawyer or a leasing company is involved, a customer always ends up turning back to their original dealer. “And the dealer has to be able to provide assistance,” Draudt explains. From calculating the damage to the repair. With a simplified, digital damage appraisal, the dealer saves time while the customer remains within a legally secure framework. “So we can start with a very mature product from the automotive sector that we are very good at,” Draudt says. “We’re now introducing this—with the TÜV SÜD standard of customer service.”
Draudt still sees many opportunities on the dynamic bicycle market. Taking the long view, for instance, a digital bike file, a networked community and services relating to trends such as bicycle holidays, transport and safe parking are all possible. As Draudt says, “there aren’t any package deals like this yet—the potential and demand here are huge.”
