The rise of Chinese cycling brands: a guide to the bike and component manufacturers challenging the big Western marques

We all know that Asian manufacturing rules the cycling world, but could 2025 be the year that Chinese brands come to the fore in Western markets? We think it could be, and here’s why…

Okay, let’s explain a few things before we get going. Chinese manufacturing within the bike industry is massive. China produced nearly 49 million bikes in 2023, and even more e-bikes. That’s before you factor in components and accessories. Colossal!

Many, many Western brands use Chinese manufacturing – that’s no secret. They have products made in Chinese factories, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. No, we’re focusing on Chinese brands, some of which started out making products for other brands before deciding to go it alone.

Some of these brands sell directly to the consumer, some have UK/European warehouses to make shipping and tax easier, others go through dealers, and we’re looking at all those types of setups here. We’ve tried to make it clear which is which in our write-ups. Winspace, for example, decided a long time ago to create local dealers, and it has hundreds globally.

Bear in mind that if you’re in the UK and you import from abroad, you’re liable to pay import tax and VAT. You can look up the rate for exactly what you’re buying here, but we’re usually talking about an import duty of 14% for bikes and 4% for most parts. VAT is charged at 20%.

Some brands factor this into their prices, so there will be nothing more to pay after you’ve checked out. Others don’t do that. Find out where you stand ahead of time to avoid getting stung by unexpected charges.

We're not just covering bike/frame brands here, but also brands that make components and accessories. We're not saying the brands below are necessarily the biggest, best, or most renowned, but they offer a taste of what's out there if you're prepared to look.

Of course, Western consumers have been buying bikes, components, and accessories from Chinese brands forever, it’s just that it has become more mainstream recently. There are plenty of high-quality products to be had at decent prices, as long as you do some research ahead of time.

Yoeleo 

Yoeleo was established as a brand in 2011 after the team behind it had spent several years making carbon fibre components that were specced as original equipment on bikes from foreign brands. Yoeleo decided that its research, innovation and production expertise could be better put to use as a direct-to-customer manufacturer. By going it alone, Yoeleo could offer customers around the world an easy, online way to buy without the costs associated with distributors and retailers.

These days, Yoeleo is best known for its complete bikes, carbon framesets, and wheels, although it sells various other components, like handlebars, saddles, and bottle cages. Its R11 and R12 road framesets and G21 gravel framesets all have UCI approval. Yoeleo is focused on sports riding – road, gravel, triathlon – rather than utility riding.

> Check out our review of the Yoeleo G21 DB Pro Gravel Bike

The Yoeleo R12 DB Disc Brake road bike frameset, for example, is made from T800 (Toray) carbon fibre and is compatible with both mechanical and Di2 groupsets. It takes tyres up to 32mm wide and Yoeleo claims a weight of 1,020g (+/-50g) for a painted frame in the smallest size (47cm), and 400g +/-10g for the fork. Those figures aren’t going to break any records, but they’re respectable. A seatpost comes as part of the package.

That R12 DB Disc Brake frameset is listed as $1,470 (£1,234), reduced by 20% to $1,136 (£954) when we recently checked, including a six-year warranty (there’s a three-year warranty on wheels).

Yoeleo’s SAT C50 DB PRO NxT SL2 wheels €999 (£839) are made with 50mm-deep T800 carbon rims and weigh a claimed 1,290g. The rear hub uses a 36-tooth ratchet system for fast engagement.

Customers are responsible for paying taxes, but shipping is free of charge.

Winspace 

Founded back in 2008, Winspace is one of the best-known Chinese brands in the West, producing carbon-fibre road and gravel frames, plus a range of wheels and bars. It has a reputation for making high-quality products.

You could buy directly from Winspace in China. Winspace’s direct prices do not include UK duty or VAT, so take that into account when making your purchasing decisions.

If you’re in the UK, though, you’ll probably prefer to buy via Winspace UK, a dealer owned and operated by Tailwind Cycles which has been selling the range for the past four years.

You’ll need to pay shipping (£20 for a frameset, in our case), but the benefit is that import duty and VAT are already taken care of, so there’s nothing more to take into account. You also get a full UK warranty. If you bought directly from Winspace China, Winspace UK would not be able to deal with warranty issues nor provide after-sales support as it does with its own customers, such as complimentary spare spokes and access to spares not normally available separately.

“We pride ourselves on the personal, high-quality UK-based support we provide, have demo bikes of the complete Winspace range, and accept Cycle to Work vouchers,” says Alex Lewis of Winspace UK. 

“We believe these benefits are well worth the slight increase in cost compared with a direct purchase. About 50% of our customers also have us build up their Winspace. This is a bespoke service where you specify all your components and finishing kit. Our queue for builds typically runs 4-6 weeks year-round. We do not currently offer off-the-peg complete bikes.”

> The aero bike that's a quarter of the price of a Factor Ostro Vam: the Winspace T1550

The Winspace T1550 Gen 2 frameset, priced at £1,450, is made with Toray T1000 and T800 carbon fibre. It is designed to be aerodynamically efficient, offers internal routing and you get space to fit tyres up to 32mm wide. Winspace claims a weight of 828g (+/-35g, unpainted) for a medium-sized frame. 

Winspace is also well known for its Lún wheels. The new Hyper 3 wheelset is currently available for pre-order at £1,295. Carbon rims (23mm internal width) in a choice of depths, carbon spokes, a titanium freehub ratchet…. You’re getting a lot for your money here. 

Elitewheels 

Elitewheels has been making high-quality carbon bike wheels and shipping them around the globe for the past decade. Road, gravel, triathlon, mountain bike… we’re talking about performance-focused wheels for most types of riding here.

This being road.cc, we’ll focus on the road. The Elitewheels range opens with its Marvel series, starting at $599 (£492). Available in 38mm to 82mm carbon rim depths, these come in both rim brake and disc brake versions. Featuring Pillar spokes and ceramic bearings, they’re not typical entry-level wheels.

The Marvel 38D Disc brake wheelset, for example, is designed as an all-rounder option that’s aerodynamically optimised for 25-28mm tyres. The claimed weight is 1,604g. That’s not ultralight, but we’re talking about a 38mm rim depth here, and a price of $599 (£492). All Elitewheels’ clincher rims are tubeless-ready.

The Drive series wheelsets, also available in rim brake and disc brake options, are more expensive. We’re talking about $1,189 (£978) for the Drive 40D Disc Brake wheels, for example. Here, you’re getting 40mm-deep rims made from Elitewheels’ blend of T800 and T1000 carbon fibre, bladed carbon spokes, ceramic bearings, and a claimed weight of just 1,260g. Elitewheels offers a three-year warranty. 

“As a UK customer, the best way is to order directly through the website,” says Elitewheels’ Patrick Clark. “We have a few service centres in the UK, and there is a possibility we will also have local dealers there in the future.

“We only give prices in US dollars, and shipping is included. Customers do not have to pay for customs or VAT. There are no other fees that have to be paid for.”

Wheeltop

Component manufacturer Wheeltop has been around since 1951, largely supplying products to global OEM (original equipment manufacturer) brands, but it has gained a lot of publicity recently for its EDS wireless electronic shifter/derailleur systems for road, gravel, and mountain biking. It recently acquired a majority stake in Spanish component brand Rotor.

> “Same performance as SRAM AXS at half the price”: the new budget electronic groupsets aiming to take on the big brands

What’s the big deal with EDS? Well, the prices can’t be ignored. The Wheeltop EDS-TX Wireless Carbon Electronic Shifter/Derailleur system – two shifters, two derailleurs, two hydraulic disc brakes (it’s also available for rim brakes) – has a regular price of £737.62, although it was down to £553.01 when we checked recently.

Okay, but is it any good? Well, here’s the good news: yes.

> Read our review of the Wheeltop EDS-TX Wireless Carbon Electronic Shifters and Derailleurs (road bike)

Our man Jamie Williams reviewed the Wheeltop EDS-TX Wireless Carbon Electronic Shifters and Derailleurs last year and said, “If you're looking to upgrade your current bike to electronic shifting, the Wheeltop EDS-TX Wireless Carbon Electronic Shifter/Derailleur kit is the most cost-effective way to do it.”

Okay, Jamie said that Wheeltop lags behind the more established brands in terms of battery life and app refinement, but if you're considering switching to electronic shifting then it's a very credible option. 

Wheeltop delivers to many countries around the world, including North America and Europe. Postage to the UK is free and the estimated delivery time is 5-9 days.

L-Twoo

Drivetrain specialist L-Twoo is a relative newcomer, founded in 2016, but it has recently gained a lot of interest for its eRX and ER9 groupsets. The systems are semi-wireless, meaning that each shifter is powered by a coin battery, while a seat-tube battery is connected to the front and rear derailleurs with a cable. 

> Is this budget electronic groupset a Shimano and SRAM killer? 

The eRX is available from Panda Podium, an online retailer that specialises in Chinese cycling products. You can get both shifters, derailleurs, and hydraulic disc brakes, along with a central battery pack and powerlines for a complete price of just $720 (£590), reduced to $549 (£450) when we checked recently. The brake levers are carbon and the maximum range of the rear derailleur is 11T up to 32T. 

Panda Podium’s standard shipping is free on most orders to most countries.

“For UK consumers, we pre-pay all charges, so there's no VAT, duties or fees,” says Panda Podium’s Joe Whittingham. 

Superteam 

The Superteam brand was established in 2015 by Xiamen Baiyexing Outdoor Products, a manufacturer of mid-to-high-end carbon fibre bikes and other sports products. The aim was to offer high-quality carbon components, mainly wheels, at relatively low prices. The range covers road, triathlon and gravel wheels, and even wavy-rimmed Brompton wheels, believe it or not.

The road wheels start at £376.92 (the prices are set in US dollars, hence non-round figures when converted into pounds, depending on the exchange rate). That gets you a Superteam Classic Series wheelset for either rim brake or disc brake use. The Superteam Classic Series D25-50 Carbon Wheelset, for example, has hooked rims with a 25mm outer width and 50mm depth. The rims are a claimed 470g (+/-15g) and the complete wheelset weight is said to be 1,640g (+/-30g).

At the top of the range, the S-ALL Carbon EVO Ⅱ D30-50 Disc Brake Wheelset comes with 50mm deep rims with a 30mm outer width (23mm inner width), DT Swiss hubs (36T ratchet system), ceramic bearings, carbon spokes… Superteam claims a weight of 1,350g (+/-30g). You’re looking at £1,310.19 for these, currently reduced to £1,228.26. 

We recently took a set of Superteam road wheels to places where no road wheels should go. Check out the video (above) to see how they coped.

Superteam offers free worldwide shipping, and UK import tax and VAT are already included in the prices quoted on its website.

Cycplus 

Founded in 2014, Cycplus expanded into international markets in 2016, and we’ve reviewed a few of its products here on road.cc over the past couple of years. Its range covers various types of electronic bike accessories.

Cycplus is best known around these parts for its electronic tyre inflators. We reviewed the Cycplus AS2 Pro last year (£89.09) and described it as an “excellent portable rechargeable inflator for quick roadside stops”.

> Read our review of the Cycplus AS2 Pro

“The Cycplus AS2 Pro mini pump is an excellent roadside option for getting going as quickly as possible with the minimum of fuss,” said our man Dave Atkinson. “With an accurate digital gauge, auto cut-off and a bigger battery than some, it's definitely staying in the tool bottle.”

The AS2 measures just 70x49x28mm, weighs 138g, and can inflate to a maximum pressure of 120psi. Using it couldn't be simpler. You just use the +/- buttons to select a target pressure, shove the pump on the valve, and hit the button. It’ll inflate the tyre, stopping automatically when it reaches the target.
 
Cycplus offers various pumps of different sizes, plus bike computers and several indoor trainers.

We recently reviewed the Cycplus T3 High-Power Smart Bike Trainer (£898.27) and said that it offered solid accuracy at a reasonable price. It might not offer the smoothest ride, but it’s pretty quiet and connects to Zwift without any issues. 

Cycplus has a store on Amazon’s UK site. However, due to many products being out of stock at the Amazon warehouse recently, it recommends purchasing directly from its own website.  

If you buy from www.cycplus.com, shipping is free on orders over $40, and $10 on orders below this. Taxes and duties are included in any shipping cost.

Magicshine 

Magicshine has been making lights – lots of ’em – since 2008, and we’ve been reviewing them for well over a decade on road.cc. Right back to 2011, in fact. As a rule, Magicshine has generally beaten most of the competition in terms of power-to-price ratio.

The Magicshine EVO 1300, for example, offers a lot for £79.99. It is extremely bright (1,300 lumens) and very well made.

> Read our review of the Magicshine EVO 1300

What’s really unusual is that you get two lenses that work together so that the lower half of the output is brighter, letting you pick out the details that are just in front of you when you're riding, but it's less bright at the top so you're not blinding oncoming road users.

A high-beam function allows you to see ahead on unlit roads, and then reduce the output when you're riding in traffic or urban areas. You can also create your own modes using the accompanying app.

Magicshine has recently launched the first Shimano Di2-compatible front light, the Evo 1700SD (£89.99, currently reduced to £79.99). Without moving your hands from your bike’s controls, you can now switch your lights on, select high beam or low beam, adjust brightness and even switch on flash mode. 

> Magicshine launches first Shimano Di2-compatible front light 

Magicshine offers plenty of rear lights too, including radar and camera options, and don’t forget that it makes sunglasses these days too, and they tend to offer equally impressive value. The Magicshine Rouleur Colour Photochromic Sunglasses, for instance, automatically adjust according to light conditions and cost just £59.99.

> Read our review of the Magicshine Rouleur Colour Photochromic Sunglasses

Magicshine sells internationally via its website but UK consumers should go via magicshineuk.com (which can handle both retail and wholesale) where there will be no import duty or VAT to pay, or use one of Magicshine’s UK retailers. 

Magene

Founded in 2015, Magene offers a range of smart accessories and components, plus wheels through its Exar sub-brand.

Its bike computers start with the £79 C506 which comes with a 2.4in colour screen and provides route navigation, and goes up to the £129.99 touchscreen C606 (above) that we reviewed last year.

We described the C606 as a “decent option that does the basics pretty well, for a good price”. It lacks some of the performance-orientated features of higher-end options from the likes of Garmin and Wahoo, but it's half the price.

> Check out our review of the Magene C606 Smart GPS Bike Computer

The L508 radar tail light (£99) we reviewed is interesting too. It has a 140° field of view and can detect cars from up to 140m away, so you get a good warning of vehicles approaching behind you if you pair it with a compatible bike computer. 

> Read our review of the Magene L508 Radar Tail Light

Magene’s range also covers heart rate monitors, a PES P505 Base Power Meter (£249), and those wheels we mentioned, through its Exar sub-brand, but we’ve not reviewed any of those. 

The www.magene.com website ships to the US only. UK customers need to go to the UK-specific website where the prices quoted (in pounds sterling) are inclusive of customs duties and VAT. Shipping is free on orders over £99, and £10 below that figure (although the shipping policy is subject to conditions; Magene may make periodic adjustments to customs duties and VAT handling, and certain products, such as wheelsets, may not qualify for free shipping).

Farsports

Although Farsports’ range includes combined carbon handlebar/stems, wheels are its bread and butter – all with carbon rims.

For instance, the Farsports 2025 New C Series wheels, designed for both road and gravel, are available in three different rim depths: 35mm (C3), 50mm (C5), and 58mm (C6), or you could go with 50mm at the front, and 58mm at the rear. Those rims are hooked and tubeless-ready.

They come with Farsports’ own hubs, designed in-house, with a ratchet system providing engagement at the back, and they’re built with Alpina Ultralite Aero spokes.

With an internal rim width of 24mm, and an external width of 30mm, the mid-depth C5 wheelset has a claimed weight of 1,130g. You’re looking at a price of $1,099 (£894).

Up the range, the Farsports 2025 New EVO S Series wheels are available with steel ($1,499/£1,220) or CeramicSpeed ($1,699/£1,382) bearings.

Again, you have the choice of 35mm, 50mm, or 58mm tubeless-ready hooked rims. If you go for the shallowest option, Farsports claims a wheelset weight of just 1,090g. That’s seriously light. 

Farports offers a 36-month warranty on all its carbon fibre products and a 35% crash replacement discount. It ships worldwide, free to select countries/regions. Any shipping cost includes taxes.

You can also buy through Panda Podium at the same prices.

Seka

Seka has built a reputation for producing high-quality bike frames over the past few years. The Afield, Exceed, and Spear all feature on the UCI’s List of Approved Models of Framesets so they can be raced at any level.

Of these, the Spear is the newest model, and Seka reckons that, after collaborating with the Aerocoach team to conduct wind tunnel tests at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub wind tunnel, it can say that you won’t find a faster all-round road frameset than this.

We showed you the “Wind Eye” design – where the seatstays meet the seat tube – when we saw it at the Rouleur Live show last year. 

Seka says that Wind Eye “suppresses turbulence caused by low-pressure areas at the seat tube and rear wheel.” It also says, “CFD [computational fluid dynamics] comprehensive simulation analysis indicates that Wind Eye can save 2.66 Watts for the Spear frame set at a relative wind speed of 40km/h [25mph].”

A standard Spear frame in a size medium has a claimed weight of 860g while an unpainted RDC version is said to be a superlight 685g.

Seka says that each Spear is made up of 350 pieces of carbon fibre, including strong and lightweight TeXtreme carbon. You can check out a whole white paper on the Spear design here. 

You buy through a dealer rather than directly from Seka’s website. In the UK, that’s Bikesoup in London. A Seka Spear Standard Achromatic Silver frameset (complete with fork, handlebar/stem, and seatpost, is £2,250. 

XDS 

XDS Bicycles has been in the news a lot recently since taking over from Wilier as the bike supplier to WorldTeam Astana, now called XDS Astana.

> The bikes of the men's WorldTour

We’ve all seen pictures of the XDS X-LAB AD9 that the Astana riders are racing on but details are so far scarce. The AD9 has yet to be officially released or added to the UCI’s List of Approved Models of Framesets, although Astana and XDS have been plastering it all over social media.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by XDS Bicycles Australia (@xdsbicycles)

Bear in mind that xdsbikeco.com is a US company with offices and distribution in California. Getting hold of an XDS in Europe isn’t straightforward right now, although there are various options on AliExpress.

Have you bought products from any of these Chinese brands and which ones would you like to see included in future road.cc content? Let us know below...