Is the cycling industry storm finally over? Why there may be fewer “disaster stories” in 2025 + Where did Adrian Chiles’ e-bike doc go wrong?

It’s time for the first road.cc Podcast episode of 2025, and we decided to kick off the new year by mixing things up and delving into unexplored territory for the podcast – by analysing the ongoing struggles facing the cycling industry and assessing where the BBC went wrong in their latest controversial active travel take. Oh wait… Well, start as you mean to go on, I suppose.

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And just to underline how little ground we’re planning on breaking this year, in part one Ryan and Jack are joined once again by Rory Hitchens, a long-time bike industry stalwart, for what’s fast becoming an annual segment on the podcast: assessing the state of the cycling industry as we enter the new year.

For most of last year, the bike industry’s motto seemed to be ‘Survive until 2025’ – and it’s clear that there is plenty of surviving still going on.

In the last two months alone, we’ve seen Scottish brand Endura post a £14m loss, GT pause its new releases and lay off staff, and the owner of custom bike specialists Spoon and WyndyMilla enter liquidation, while 2025 began with the news that Brompton’s profits have nosedived by over 99 per cent.

> “The bike industry will not get better this year”: Brompton profits nosedive by over 99% amid “really sad state of affairs”

However, despite these continuing negative headlines, Hitchens, the founder of the Greenleaves Cycling agency, is optimistic that the storms which have battered the cycling industry since the Covid pandemic are starting, finally, to abate.

In the podcast, he notes that the speed with which he has been updating the list he keeps on his phone of bad news about the bike industry has slowed down considerably since April, and argues that the industry is currently “reshaping itself” into something “leaner, meaner, and more creative” – especially in the innovative world of gravel.

“It’s more tidal changes rather than a storm. The storm is over, but the ocean has still got some pretty heavy swell,” the optimistic Hitchens tells us.

“And that’s where we are now. But if the industry and the right people can make good decisions, we’ll see a lot fewer headlines. And I hope next year we’ll be saying ‘oh, there’s not that many disaster stories to talk about!’

“And it’s important to keep smiling, even if it’s a gritted smile at times.”

> Bicycle Association formally complains to BBC over Adrian Chiles’ e-bike Panorama “misrepresentation”, claiming episode “unjustifiably damaged” legal e-bike industry

And speaking of gritted smiles, in part two e-biketips editor Alex Bowden joins us to pick apart THAT recent BBC Panorama documentary on e-bikes.

In the programme, everyone’s favourite former One Show host and perpetually baffled Guardian columnist, Adrian Chiles, set out to discover whether electric bikes are “a new menace in need of tighter regulation”.

And while his programme managed to make a contentious issue even murkier, Chiles instead succeeded only in attracting the wrath of disgruntled cyclists online, as well as a formal complaint to the BBC by the Bicycle Association, which claimed that the episode inaccurately and repeatedly conflated the “safety and social issues” surrounding the use of illegal e-motorbikes with road-legal e-bikes.

This “misrepresentation”, the association claimed, failed to “properly inform the public” about the laws currently governing e-bikes and has “unjustifiably damaged” the e-bike sector.

So, where did Chiles and the BBC go wrong? Well, you’ll just have to tune into the podcast to find out…

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