China Cycle 2026 is the biggest cycling expo in the world. Walking the floor on Day 1 made that clear immediately. The halls are enormous, the booths range from spartan to theatrical, and the sheer density of new products on display requires you to be selective.
Due to technical issues, we worked a 17-hour shift and didn’t finish uploading the video until around 2:30 a.m. local time. We’re exhausted, but we’re heading out to the fair again to find the most interesting products.
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You can also read below about how the day unfolded.
Superteam and DT Swiss: Two Very Different Energy Levels
The first booth was Superteam. Language was a barrier here since the staff didn’t speak English, so detailed information about what appeared to be a second-generation version of their All-carbon ultra wheels wasn’t available. Their lineup runs from budget to premium options, and the wheels are on display, but the booth wasn’t offering much to work with beyond that.
Right next door, DT Swiss had a presence that felt noticeably smaller than what you’d see at Eurobike. That size gap is worth noting given DT Swiss’s reputation in European and American markets. The other thing that caught attention was their rim widths, which look narrow compared to what Chinese brands and some Western competitors like Zipp and ENVE are now offering. For a brand of their stature, it read as a company that hasn’t kept pace with the direction the market has moved.
RockBros: Volume Over Subtlety
The Rock Bros booth is big, much bigger than anything they showed at Eurobike. They cover a wide range: wheels, helmets, accessories, pedals. One of their helmets drew attention for looking very similar to the Kask Utopia from the front. There are only so many ways to shape a road helmet, but the resemblance was hard to miss.
INCOLOR: The Most Interesting Booth on Day One
INCOLOR had three things worth stopping for, and the third one was genuinely remarkable.
Their flagship road bike, the SSR, is priced at around $4,500 USD. In person, the red colorway looks better than in photos. The detail work includes 3D-printed titanium bar computer mounts and titanium valve caps, small touches that push the overall feel toward something more premium. The head tube is extremely narrow, a deliberate aerodynamic choice and one of the clearest trends running through the entire show. Looking at the SSR from the side, the fork is also notably slim, which is unexpected on an aero bike. Most aero road bikes use a wider fork to improve airflow around the wheel. INCOLOR appears to have prioritized overall weight reduction alongside aerodynamics.
The integrated seat post is a practical consideration for buyers. The adjustment tolerance is 2mm, which is tight. That’s less flexibility than systems used on bikes like the Giant TCR. Anyone considering the SSR should measure carefully before committing.
The SR, INCOLOR’s previous generation frame, sits around $3,000 and comes in SR and SR Plus versions. The SR Plus is lighter and more expensive. It has 50mm tire clearance for those interested in a gravel-oriented option from a Chinese brand.
Then there is the TT concept bike. INCOLOR’s designer, Philip, went through over 50 CFD iterations to get here, and the result looks unlike anything currently in production. The TT extensions are shaped for arm placement and use buttons for shifting. The fork has a wave-like profile designed to manage airflow. There is a cover integrated into the front end to reduce drag and turbulence. The top tube is one of the thinnest seen on any bike. The seat post has a hole cut through it. The seat stays are wide enough to allow air to pass through cleanly. Nothing about pricing or production timeline has been announced yet.
RideNow: Closing the Loop on TPU Tubes
RideNow is currently among the best-selling TPU tube brands on AliExpress. At their booth, they were showing a recycling program where old used tubes are broken down into thread, which is then used to produce bags, handlebar tape, and shoes. The raw TPU material is on display so visitors can see what the tubes are actually made from. It’s a straightforward sustainability initiative without much fanfare around it.
Bigrock: Branded But Not Built
Bigrock had cranks and a power meter on display alongside their frames, both carrying the Bigrock name. For anyone following the Chinese component industry, this type of product is recognizable. The power meter design, in particular, is one that appears across multiple brands. The manufacturer behind these specific products is almost certainly shared, with Bigrock placing their brand on goods made elsewhere. That’s not unusual in this industry, but it’s worth knowing when evaluating what you’re looking at.
Overfast: The Lightest Things on the Floor
The Overfast booth had a 50mm deep wheelset on display that weighed 935g for the complete set. Their disc wheel, which had been temporarily moved from the booth, weighs 790g. They also showed aero carbon cranks. The look of the cranks isn’t for everyone, but they would make a build stand out. Overfast’s through-axles were on display as well, aimed at riders building lightweight setups.
Comcast: Standing Out with Color
Comcast makes wheels with colored spokes and rims. If you want a bike that reads as bold from across a parking lot, these are an option. The spoke width on some of their designs is around 1cm across, which is extreme by any standard. It’s a specific aesthetic, clearly not trying to appeal to everyone.
Decathlon and Van Rysel: The Concept Electric TT Bike
One of the biggest booths at China Cycle 2026 belongs to Decathlon and Van Rysel, brands that have made significant progress in recent years. What drew a crowd was a concept TT electric bike. Calling it unusual doesn’t cover it. The bike looks like something designed for a sport that hasn’t been invented yet, combining a TT geometry with an electric drivetrain in a way that raises more questions than it answers. It exists as a concept, not a production announcement.
They also showed a concept cycling shoe. The design doesn’t resemble any current shoe on the market. How practical it is for anything beyond riding remains unclear.
MagicShine: The R300 Radar
I tested MagicShine’s R300 radar and found it to generate too many false positives, making it unreliable as a safety tool in real-world conditions. I’ve been told they have released a new firmware update for it. Whether that addresses the core issue would require fresh testing to determine.
Pardus: The Spark Evo Fourth Generation
Pardus is showing the fourth generation of their Spark Evo frame. The head tube is narrow, following the same trend visible across most serious brands at the show. They use a bionet construction where the frame is split into two sections along the side profile, similar to approaches used by Konago and Cervelo. Availability in Europe is expected by the end of May or June.
The aerodynamic claims Pardus makes for this frame are specific: with a rider on the bike, the Spark Evo should be faster than the Ridley Noah. In a wind tunnel without a rider, they acknowledge that Noah Fast is still quicker. That’s an honest distinction, and it matters because most bike aerodynamics testing happens without a rider, which can produce results that don’t translate to real riding conditions.
Tucus: The Wavy Spoke Wheelset
Tucus had a 52mm deep wheelset on display, weighing 1,350g and priced slightly over $1,000. By current standards, that weight sits on the heavier end of the spectrum. What makes these wheels visually distinctive is the wavy spoke profile. Whether that serves an aerodynamic function or is purely a design decision wasn’t confirmed, but it makes them immediately recognizable in a market full of wheels that all look similar.
Sunrimoon: Helmets Worth Looking At
Sunrimoon had helmets in colorways that stood out. One looked as if it had been painted with a brush. Another combined white and silver with clean execution. They also run a crash replacement program and had a display of collected crashed helmets at the booth. It communicates something useful about how the brand handles post-crash support.
Farsports: Bonded Hubs and 848g Wheels
Farsports had several new wheelsets on display. Their most expensive new option features a hub construction where the entire flange side bonds to the spoke rather than relying on conventional tension. The visual result is a hub that looks different from anything standard, and the claimed benefit is improved stiffness through the bonded connection. Their disc wheel and handlebar lineup were also on show.
Their lightest wheelset is the Air2, and a complete set on the booth weighed 848g. The Air2 is priced at 11,000 RMB, which converts to roughly $1,570 USD. Farsports also showed a tri-spoke wheel, the Triple E46, for riders who want to go in a different aesthetic direction entirely.
LightCarbon: 32-Inch Wheels and Improved Paint
LightCarbon had 32-inch wheel options on display with a comparison setup showing how the larger diameter relates to standard sizing. Their MTB frame was also on the booth. The paint quality on recent LightCarbon work has improved noticeably, with some options that are genuinely attractive.
Elitewheels and Evolve: A Booth Full of New Products
Elitewheels and Evolve had one of the more productive booths of the day in terms of new product volume.
The Evolve Cima frame has been through a branding revision following criticism of the previous version’s typography and text choices. The new version is cleaner. Building on what they learned from the Cima, Evolve developed a gravel frame that, in its complete build form, weighs 6.8kg. That’s light for a complete gravel bike. They have done comprehensive wind tunnel testing and have a white paper in progress with the full data. That kind of testing and documentation is increasingly common among serious Chinese brands and makes it easier to evaluate claims properly.
The gravel frame is equipped with a new wheelset called the Drive G50, available in two versions: carbon spokes and steel spokes. Neither version is on their website yet.
Elitewheels also showed a set of handlebar extensions. These bolt onto the new handlebars and allow a standard road bike to run a time trial or triathlon-style position. The execution is clean and doesn’t look like an afterthought. The gravel frame has a hidden storage compartment integrated into the frame body with a bag insert for carrying tools and nutrition. The limited edition paint for this frame is a new release with only 30 pieces available.
On the wheel side, Elitewheels showed a new design where the spokes are integrated with the rim itself, constructed from two halves bonded together. It’s not released yet. They also showed the Drive SL with a titanium ratchet and a 25mm internal rim width, 36mm at the front and 34mm at the rear. A separate wheelset, the Ultra Drive, was installed on the Cima complete build, bringing that bike to 4.9kg total. Finally, the Drive Vento super-deep front wheel came in at 843g, with steel spokes rather than carbon, specifically positioned for TT and triathlon use.
That was Day 1. Three more days of the show remain.
