Cool bike, cool business: entrepreneurs make a lot of money with the fat bike

It's Thursday morning, half past nine, fatbike shop La Souris in The Hague has just opened. The walls, the doors, the floor, everything is hip black. Fourteen customers form a line towards the counter with a bright orange logo. It's warm. A man in his early twenties is the first in line. He wants a V20 Pro and is calling his father in the meantime. "Yes, with an extra seat," he says. "And a bag for your phone." There is a moment of silence. "Yes, you can," he says excitedly to the salesperson. The salesperson says: "With a lock, you'll end up at 1,250 euros."

A day later, the same store, now around four o'clock. In the hall there are more than fifty customers, in rows of two. It is even warmer. Customers stare boredly at the neat rows of fat bikes. Most of them are Chinese-made, on one side of the store is the OUXI V8, on the other the QMWheels V20. You recognize them by their thick tires, sturdy steel frame, extra long saddle and the large headlight with bars. A man – "I've been standing here for 45 minutes" – comes for a mini fat bike. He points: "There it is in the corner." For children from 1 meter 40. "Nice in blue for my son." He called customer service this morning to order the thing, but there were thirty people waiting in front of him. "Everyone apparently wants one."

The fat bike is extremely popular. According to the RAI Association, more than 111,000 were sold last year, but not all sellers are affiliated with this interest group. According to fat bike traders who spoke to NRC , an estimated 300,000 are now riding around in the Netherlands. There is considerable criticism of the behavior of mostly young fat bikers. They tune them up, tear along at 50 kilometers per hour, drive antisocially, sometimes sit on them with three people and many drivers are also on their phones at the same time. The number of accidents also increased, doctors sounded the alarm several times. The police purchased 250 extra roller benches and confiscated 10,000 tuned bikes at the beginning of this year. Because they are so popular, the fat bike is a popular object for thieves.

Road safety organisations are calling for mandatory helmets and an age limit of fourteen. But that is not easy. Fatbikes are considered regular e-bikes, they officially go a maximum of 25 kilometres per hour and have an engine capacity of 250 watts. The politicians do not want to impose mandatory helmets on 'regular' e-bikers. A separate vehicle category for the fatbike, with its own rules, probably makes little sense. Manufacturers could easily adapt their models to circumvent the rules, said then Minister Barry Madlener (Infrastructure and Water Management, PVV) earlier this year. He was in favour of strict enforcement. Nevertheless, a new investigation is now underway into possible rules for the unprecedentedly popular fatbike.

And despite everything, sales are going like crazy, says Armando Muis (34). He is the owner of La Souris, the market leader with 22 stores in the Netherlands and 3 in Belgium. Two years ago, when the helmet requirement halved scooter sales, he started selling 240 fat bikes and that number grew rapidly. He shows all the figures at the head office in Doetinchem. The best-selling fat bikes are the V20 and the V8. Last year, a total of 3,300 of all models were sold per month, now more than 6,000. And the growth continues. In 2024, his turnover increased by 42 percent to 48.5 million euros. This year he estimates that it will reach 70 million "and we sold around 100,000 fat bikes in one year."

Muis claims to have 60 percent of the market. The other 40 percent is divided among many small suppliers, who also focus mainly on the V8 and V20. There are entrepreneurs who sell fatbikes via Marktplaats or Snapchat. Some only have a website, others a website and a physical sales location, such as a basement box, a warehouse, a phone shop or a stall on the market. There are a few slightly larger entrepreneurs, with business premises and showrooms.

Striking: large regular bicycle shops often do not sell fat bikes. A quick survey shows that many doubt the quality of the electric bikes and do not dare to burn their fingers on them. "We tried it for a while," says Bert Graaf (24), son of the owner of Berts Wielershop, a family business in The Hague that has existed for fifty years. "But it was not a success." Graaf wanted to "go with the trend" and ordered thirty fat bikes from two different brands. The brakes were bad and the batteries broke quickly, he says. "Many customers came back with complaints. We allowed them to exchange their fat bikes for regular electric bikes."

People who buy a V20 or V8 from small traders can often choose whether they want it delivered to their home in a box and assemble it themselves, or buy the bike 'ready to ride'. Armando Muis always delivers the fat bikes ready to ride. He shows the workshop in Doetinchem where 65 mechanics, including fifty Ukrainian refugees, 'stand and work' in two shifts from five in the morning until half past eleven at night. They assemble about two to three hundred fat bikes per day. Mechanics take the half bikes out of enormous boxes, hang them on brackets and screw wheels, pedals and mudguards on. Others are busy with the wiring, displays and checking the software. The men are surrounded by rows of fat bikes, '5,800 of them to be precise'.

Muis is doing it professionally, but how can someone legally sell a few units from a garage of a product that you can normally only have shipped in large quantities directly from abroad by container? That is because the Chinese manufacturers of the V20 and the V8 do it differently: they produce to stock and ship full containers themselves to warehouses spread across Europe. From there they sell small quantities to small entrepreneurs.

Ideal, says Hugo (21) of Basic Fatbikes (who does not want his last name published in NRC for privacy reasons). "You don't have to buy a full container and you don't need a lot of start-up capital." He started from his home a year and a half ago. "I bought five and sold them via Marktplaats." He then rented a garage, and now he sells the fat bikes via a website and a business premises on an industrial estate in Voorburg. The roller shutter of his building is up. Inside are stacks of boxes, and on a workbench are tools to assemble the fat bikes. There is a small counter for the few customers ("most of them order online") who come by. A row of V8 and V20 models is in front of the door. "Now I do buy a whole container." According to him, around 450 fat bikes leave the premises each month.

And yes, demand is still increasing, says Hugo. And so is the number of suppliers. "And that puts pressure on the price." Most sellers ask around 1,000 euros for a V8 or V20, including him. But some traders, such as those at the Hague market or the Bazaar in Beverwijk, offer the bikes for 650 euros. "They are ruining the market. Everyone now has to lower the price and the margin is getting smaller and smaller."

Other suppliers see this too. Take Tom van Dieren (27), owner of Fatbikeskopen.nl, who also entered the fat bike industry a year and a half ago and now has a website and ten showrooms. Because of the stunt prices of the V20 and V8, he focuses on a different segment of fat bikes. More expensive versions, of higher quality, says Van Dieren, from brands such as Knaap, Stoer, Tomos and Ruff Cycles. These are fat bikes that sometimes cost a few thousand euros. His company also earns from maintenance and service. "We are available day and night via WhatsApp and work together with 350 bicycle repair shops where customers can have their fat bikes serviced." He does not want to say how many fat bikes he sells. "But we have a good turnover."

The low margins on the V8 and V20 have prompted Samir Bahida (32) of Sache Bikes to start selling not only fat bikes, but also parts. He also started in a basement box with five fat bikes, and now he runs two companies with a partner. They sell and repair fat bikes from a small building in Zoetermeer. They sell parts such as brake discs, tires, displays, chains and headlights from an 800 m2 warehouse in Zoeterwoude. Bahida claims to supply almost four hundred retailers and traders in the Netherlands and has 48 customers abroad.

It’s a gap in the market, says Bahida. “There are so many fat bikes riding around, but no one has the right parts for the different models.” Last year around this time, he was selling 4,500 parts a month, now almost 15,000. He now also has parts made specifically for fat bikes. Like the handlebar display that connects to your phone via Bluetooth, allowing you to view and operate your smartphone screen while cycling.

What about the quality of the fatbikes? It is quite good, Bahida thinks. "But young people pedal the bikes, they do stunts and slide with them, the tires wear out quickly or the brakes break. Or they sit on them to chill and then the side stand breaks off."

The fat bike market is also growing in width. There are fat bikes for young people, for children, for travellers (the folding fat bike) and parents (the family fat bike with child seats). And, is the prediction of the traders: the 'longtail' is going to become big. That bike has an extra long rear frame, handy for two child seats or extra luggage. "This will be the replacement for the cargo bike", says Tom van Dieren of Fatbikeskopen.nl, "much handier with children and nice and narrow so that you can park the bike much easier. And ideal for meal deliverers and couriers."

Whether the fatbike remains as popular will depend in part on measures that politicians take to increase safety. The main concern is speed, which is why the RAI Association advocates a quality mark for fatbikes that are equipped with a non-tunable controller - a box with software that controls the motor, battery, sensor and display.

The fat bikes that entered the Netherlands two years ago were easy to tune and some bikes had a motor power of 500 watts (which means a bike can go fifty kilometers per hour) instead of 250, the fat bike sellers NRC spoke to confirmed. Earlier this year, the Public Prosecution Service, following an episode of Tim Hofman's BOOS program, took action against the Dutch government. , approximately 1,100 fatbikes from Muis were seized because of their speed. A criminal investigation followed. "The Public Prosecution Service had put the bikes on the roller bench straight out of the box," says Muis. "But we still had to limit the bikes, we've been doing that since day one. But other sellers don't, at the Bazaar in Beverwijk the bike comes straight out of the box." The Public Prosecution Service announced in May that the case had been dropped.

But even the limited fat bikes turned out to be adjustable. At first, this was possible with a code, later with some wires and software. It also happened on a large scale, the entrepreneurs say. "Very dangerous," says Muis, "we saw that too." So he has now adjusted the software so that the fat bikes really cannot go faster than 25, he says. "And I have started talking to the Chinese suppliers, who now also deliver the bikes with the new software." Look, says Muis, garage owners may not care that children have accidents, "but I do. I also have a company that I would like to keep going for another twenty years."

So the fat bikes really can't be tuned anymore? "Yes, well, you could replace the controller," says Muis. But according to him, that's not an easy job. Samir Bahida of Sache Bikes agrees. "Young people do try it. They order a new controller and display via Temu, then they have to disconnect all the wires under the saddle and use the right equipment to attach everything and make sure that everything doesn't burn out." That always goes wrong, he says. "And then they call me in a panic. Hoping that I have the right parts in stock."

To ensure that the controller doesn’t get replaced, Muis sealed the connector to the controller. “If a customer starts cheating, we can see it and the warranty is void.” But hey, people will always try to tune fat bikes, says Muis. His solution? “Focus on enforcement, and if that thing goes too fast, throw the fat bike through the shredder right away. Then people will think three times before tuning it.”