The insolvency of Ardian-backed mountain biking company YT Industries underscores just how much tariffs have shaken the biking industry
By Jessica MathewsSenior Writer
July 23, 2025 at 6:53 AM EDT
Team YT Mob rides during the training session of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Fort William 2024 on May 3, 2024 in Fort William, Scotland.
Billy Ceuste—Getty Images
It was quite the party. It was a rainy evening on May 23, but there was still a line of mountain biking enthusiasts that went out the door to get into the YT Industries showroom in Bentonville, Ark. There was an open bar with beer, wine, and cocktails. Pro mountain bike rider and Red Bull athlete Matt Jones was in the mix, as was Walmart heir Tom Walton. Rappers Big Priv and Paul Wall performed. And the lineup of YT Industries bikes was on full display, propped up on chunky rocks and gravel for viewing on the first floor of the company’s double-story showroom.
German mountain bike startup YT Industries has quickly become one of the hottest brands in the sport. During COVID, when demand for bikes was at an all-time high, YT brought on a former Amazon executive to scale the brand, and it became one of more than 100 bike companies to make a big private equity deal (the global investment firm Ardian bought a majority stake of YT in 2021). By the looks of it, YT seemed to be riding the COVID-induced outdoor gear wave better than just about anyone, with splashy marketing campaigns and new showrooms where people can take out their bikes on trails for free and then come back and drink free beer.
Perhaps that’s why YT customers were shocked when its founder and CEO Markus Flossmann—who hopped back onto the CEO saddle last year—announced in a YouTube video last week that YT’s European operation had run out of funding and had to restructure.
It was a reality check of just how strapped things have gotten this year, post-Trump tariffs, for the biking industry, which has been heavily funded by venture and private equity dollars for several years. While COVID had led to unprecedented growth and purchases in the biking industry, the surge—then dropoff—in that demand left manufacturers and retailers with massive overstocks of bikes and parts to try and sell. This year, steep tariffs in the U.S. have compounded that pain, with a 43%-66% levy on bikes from China and Taiwan (the countries responsible for more than 70% of bike imports and most parts manufacturing) causing big players like Specialized and Trek to announce price hikes. Since there has been a temporary pause on reciprocal tariffs, levies could go up even higher.
In the last year, e-bike company Podbike and cargo bike company Butchers & Bicycles declared bankruptcy. Revel Bikes, which had been purchased by a private equity firm in 2021, ceased operations earlier this year, though its founder then turned around and bought back the operation to bring it back to life.
In YT’s case, you could have a lot of things at play with its insolvency. For one, I know I’ve sure gotten my money’s worth of free beer and bike demos. (YT, Flossman, and Ardion haven’t yet responded to the requests for comment I sent them yesterday.) Flossman said in his YouTube video that, in addition to tariffs and natural disasters in the U.S. which he said stymied demand, there was also a “key supplier” that had quality issues and delivery delays.
But however you look at it, the biking industry is under immense pressure right now. This year was supposed to see a resurgence of M&A deals: not back to the glory days of 2021 or 2022 when there were deals like Groupe Bruxelles Lambert buying Canyon or Pon Holdings acquiring Dorel Sports—but still an uptick. But that isn’t really happening. More than halfway through the year, there have been 134 deals for bike and bike-related companies, according to PitchBook, less than half of the 292 deals signed during all of 2024, and well below the glory days of 2022, when 427 deals were done. None of the deals announced this year have been worth more than $100 million, though Rivian did spin out a microbility company, according to public reports.
In YT’s case, I really hope they can turn things around. Their bikes are sick, and I sure like their free beer!
See you tomorrow,
Jessica Mathews
X: @jessicakmathews
Email: jessica.mathews@fortune.com