Two Zhejiang universities are leading entrepreneurship and going global, with an annual revenue of over 1 billion! Sell bicycle accessories all over Europe, America, Southeast Asia

As the national fitness craze continues to heat up, combined with urban greenway construction,"dual carbon" green travel related policies bring multiple benefits, cycling culture is sweeping the world.

Especially in regions such as Europe, America, and Southeast Asia, short-distance commuting and mountain outdoor cycling have become mainstream lifestyles for the public. Necessities like gloves, face masks, lights, and helmets have fast wear-and-tear and strong repurchase rates, directly driving the continuous expansion of the cycling equipment niche market.

Image source:Google

According toreleased by fortunebusinessinsightsauthoritative datashows：

the global cycling equipment market size inValued at $32.56 billion in 2025, the market is expected to climb from $35.03 billion in 2026 to $55.51 billion in 2034, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.92% during the forecast period.

Image source:fortunebusinessinsights

This blue ocean track with ample growth potential has not only attracted many overseas local brands to continuously increase their layout, but also a number of domestic manufacturers have precisely seized the industry opportunity, actively cut into the overseas track, and relying on strong product strength and mature overseas marketing tactics, successfully entered the ranks of top sellers in the category.

Today we are going to talk aboutRockbros, is a typical representative among them.

From starting with early cross-border white-label trade to becoming an industry benchmark with annual sales exceeding one billion yuan, let's take a look at how its development path went?

Image source:Google

Entrepreneurial Origin:Originated from love of cycling, targeted industry pain points to create the brand

According to public information,After graduating from Zhejiang University in 2003, Mr. Zhang, the founder of the Rockbros brand,like most fresh graduates, stepped intoalreadythe nine-to-five workplace, cycling is his after-worka bigHobby.

Duringa solo completionofover two thousand kilometersofcycling trip, he keenlycaptured the core pain points of the cycling equipment track:

Overseas professional cycling equipment is priced high, making it unaffordable for ordinary cyclists; while cheap low-end products have rough workmanship and worrisome quality. The market has always lacked cost-effective cycling accessories.

In 2005,he settled in Yiwu，openeda Giant offline agency store, and also founded the Yixing Cycling Club, organizing weekly cycling activities,relying on the cycling community to accumulatethefirst batch of precise customer groups,thoroughly understood thesecycling enthusiaststheirreal usage needs and consumption preferences.

Image source:Google

The key turning point in brand development appeared in2010. During a casual conversation, Mr. Zhang learned that cycling accessories with domestic production costs of only a few dozen yuan could be sold for tens of US dollars on overseas e-commerce platforms. The huge profit margins in cross-border e-commerce made him seelebrand newofopportunity.

In the same year, hethenjoined with Zhejiang Universityofclassmate Mr. Shi gathered300,000 yuan startup capital, in YiwuofficiallyfoundedleRockbrosbrand,became the earliest local entrant into cross-border e-commerceplayerone of them.

Image source:Google

Brand development: Farewell to white-label model, wholeheartedly R&D and produce own products

At first, the brand was still in the initial exploration period, mainly helping others sell goodsWhite-label model, only deployed on eBay single overseas platform, mainly selling low-priced cycling small items such as cycling glasses, gloves, lights.

But the drawbacks of the white-label model soon became apparent: after customer complaints on products, the rectification cycle with the factory took more than ten days; unable to participate in platform promotional events due to OEM identity restrictions, a lot of market opportunities were wasted, which made the founding team very unwilling.

In 2013, Mr. ZhangFormally finalized the brand upgrade route, completely breaking away from the white-label and OEM track, registeredthe global trademark of ROCKBROS,built exclusive in-house product design team,startedindependently developing original products.

In the same year,Rockbros launchedthe first self-developed hit product——anti-fog cycling goggles，relying on differentiated advantages to quickly open the market.

Source: Google

Since then, the brandpersisted in targeting different markets cycling habits to create suitable products:

For North American mountain biking enthusiasts, launched high-load-bearing shockproof storage bags, professional shock-absorbing cycling gloves; adapted to the hot climate of Southeast Asia, developed ice silk sun protection masks, lightweight breathable helmets; targeted at the cold winter in Northern Europe, researched and developed fleece windproof head covers, electric heating thermal gloves and other items.

Relying on the full-scenario subdivided product line, breaking away fromalreadysingleofreliance on hit products, building a complete product matrix that small and white-label sellers find hard to replicate, covering almost all categories of outdoor and commuting cyclingofusage scenarios.

Image source:Google

overseas expansion: omni-channel layout+deep localized operations

completing the localized product line is justbrandthe first step to deeply cultivate overseas markets. In order to solidify global market share,Rockbros also adopted an omni-channel layout and localized implementation approach.

on the online side, achieve full-platform coverage, successively enteredalreadyAmazon,TikTok Shop, AliExpress, Shopee, Lazada, Wish, Alibaba International Station and other mainstream cross-border platforms, relying on the native traffic of each platform to steadily increase overall sales.

Image source: Amazon

in ordertoescape platform commissions, rulesofconstraints, accumulate private domain user data，gain operational autonomy,Rockbros alsobuildof one's ownBrand Independent Website。relianceitsAccumulate private domain traffic and continuously drive community user conversion.

Image source:Rockbros

Offline segment，Rockbros has established local branches in the US, Germany, Japan, Australia, and Hong Kong, and simultaneously built five regional overseas warehouses.Each overseas warehouse is equipped with local customer service, after-sales, and return/exchange teams, addressing common industry problems such as slow cross-border logistics and difficult after-sales rights protection.

also opened in Melbourne, New York, Heidelberg, Germany, and Himeji, Japan4 overseas directly-operated storesUsed for brand image display, full-vehicle test drives, and real-scene accessory experiences to strengthen local consumers' brand awareness.

Image source:Google

In 2023, Rockbros' total annual sales broke through 1 billion RMB; in 2025, its annual revenue reached approximately 200 million USD (equivalent to nearly 1.4 billion RMB).Firmly positioned in the global cycling accessories niche marketofFirst tier

Social Media Marketing: One Country, One Strategy, Precise Regional Targeting of Target Customers

In today's era of social media dominance,Social mediahas becomeThe core battleground for brands to reach overseas consumers and convey their brand voice directly influencesRegardingOverseas users' consumption decisions.

RockbrosAlso deeply understandsSocial mediaMarketingthe importance of,OnTikTok and other mainstream social platformsonbuilt uphaverefinedoperationssystem.

Brand abandonshasglobal unified contentofThe extensive advertising model, implementing a multi-account matrix operation strategy of one country one policy, independently setting up for different countries and regions such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, etc.haveLocal accounts, combining local cultures and aesthetic preferences to customize short video content, accurately mining regional core cycling consumer groups.

Image source:TikTok

For example, the account opened for the United States@ROCKBROS-LOCAL-USA, currently has gained the attention of 26,800 fans, with a total of 287,700 likes.

Because of the local cyclingenthusiasts advocate freedom、casualness, and place special emphasis on outdoor cycling experience and wearing comfort.

Therefore,this accountofcontent mainly consists of outdoor real-scene shooting, focusing on a relaxed and free cycling atmosphere, combining outdoor scenes to highlight productsofperformance and trendy outdoorofstyle, capturing users' attention, building brand goodwill, and driving consumption conversion.

Image source:TikTok

andfor the European marketthe account opened@ROCKBROS-EU, the fan base has reached 6.83万,cumulative likes59.06万次.

BecauseEuropean cycling groups value product practicality more, so the account content focuses on indoor professional product explanations。in-depth disassemblyeverya cycling accessory, covering all categories such as frame bags, cycling helmets, anti-theft locks, lights, saddle covers, pedals, electric pumps, etc.

By meticulously disassembling productsofFunction parameters, deepen potential customersofcognition,furtherincrease the order conversion rate.

Image source:TikTok

Let's talk about the account with the largest number of fans at present, which is the account established for the Philippine market@rockbros--ph. As of now, the number of fans has exceeded 128,600, and the number of likes has reached the million level.

Because in the local market, electric bicycles are the mainstream means of daily commuting, and the proportion of female cycling users is higher.

Therefore, the account is based on a female perspective, creating content around women's daily cycling pain points and real travel scenarios, intuitively showing the practical value of the product in daily commuting, narrowing the distance between the brand and local consumers, accumulating user goodwill, and achieving actual transactions.

Image source:TikTok

It is not difficult to see that this refined social media operation strategy of adapting measures to local conditions and one region one policy can help brands quickly integrate into the local market, efficiently attract target users, and thus achieve dual growth in sales and reputation.

It is the right time to go overseas, and there are still opportunities in the cycling track.

Currently, the global cycling equipment market is in a certain upward channel. From32.56 billion US dollars to 55.51 billion US dollars, a compound annual growth rate of over 5.9% means that this track is far from saturated.

Cycling culture in Europe, America, Southeast Asia and other regions has been integrated into daily life, and the comprehensive advantages of China's supply chain in R&D, production, and cost control are still obvious.

LikeBrands like Rockbros have proven that as long as you find user needs and adapt products and marketing to local conditions, you can find your own position in the niche.

For domestic enterprises, the door to overseas markets is still wide open, and now is a good time to enter the category of cycling accessories.