Riese & Müller Withdraws From US

[Muso]

Just got this email - what a bummer.


Dear Riese & Müller community,

Being part of the bike and mobility community in the United States has meant a great deal to us over the years, and many of you have been with us for a long time.

However, today we want to share an important update regarding the future of Riese & Müller in the United States. After a thorough strategic review, we have decided to withdraw from the U.S. market.

While this decision was not an easy one for us, we want to assure existing Riese & Müller riders that our commitment to reliability, service, and long-term product support remains unchanged.

If you are already a Riese & Müller rider, this means for you:

• Your dealer remains your primary point of contact for service, questions, and support.
• Spare parts for Riese & Müller e-bikes and cargo bikes will continue to be available long-term. Dealers will retain access to our spare parts, technical documentation, and support services.
• All warranty claims remain fully valid and will continue to be processed just as before.

Riese & Müller e-bikes and cargo bikes may still be ordered through dealers until July 31, 2026. After that date, no new orders will be accepted, and only bikes currently in stock at authorized dealers will be available while supplies last.

Thank you for being part of the Riese & Müller community. We appreciate your trust and look forward to continuing to support you.

Should you have further questions, please contact [email protected]

Best regards from Mühltal
Your Riese & Müller Team

 

[DaveMatthews]

Well... that sucks!

 

[westhills]

Yes, sadly I received the same email too. First my beloved Fly Rides pulled out of LA, and now this :-(

 

[Muso]

Yes, sadly I received the same email too. First my beloved Fly Rides pulled out of LA, and now this :-(

Yeah, I went through the same double bummer. I bought mine from Fly Rides when they were in Hollywood, and then they moved to Calabasas where I picked it up, and then they closed that store.
At least there's Around the Cycle in Pasadena for service.

 

[westhills]

Yeah, I went through the same double bummer. I bought mine from Fly Rides when they were in Hollywood, and then they moved to Calabasas where I picked it up, and then they closed that store.
At least there's Around the Cycle in Pasadena for service.

Yes! I just checked out Around the Cycle a few weeks ago. That will be my new go-to local Bike Store for R&M service.

 

[Muso]

Yes! I just checked out Around the Cycle a few weeks ago. That will be my new go-to local Bike Store for R&M service.

I had them do some work on my Delite a couple of months ago - left brake lever needed to be replaced (I fell on it) and they did a good job. It was more complicated than it would seem b/c it involved removing the motor to route the brake light cable. No problems at all.

 

[peterh_nz]

That's disappointing news for you US R&M owners.

Anyone know the reason?

 

[DaveMatthews]

That's disappointing news for you US R&M owners.

Anyone know the reason?

My only guess without digging would be tariff related...

 

[DaveMatthews]

Other overseas markets — including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — are not affected.

Riese & Müller will leave US market in July

MÜHLTAL, Germany (BRAIN) — Riese & Müller will pull out of the U.S. market this summer, citing "challenging and increasingly volatile market conditions." U.S. dealers can place orders for Riese & Müller e-bikes and cargo bikes until July 31. Afterward, new product orders will no longer be...

www.bicycleretailer.com

Riese & Müller Halts US E-Bike Imports After New Steel Tariffs

German e-bike maker Riese & Müller has paused all US imports due to new steel tariffs and shifting trade rules. Here’s what it means for riders and the e-bike market.

electricbikeexplorer.com

 

[Muso]

Other overseas markets — including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — are not affected.

Riese & Müller will leave US market in July

MÜHLTAL, Germany (BRAIN) — Riese & Müller will pull out of the U.S. market this summer, citing "challenging and increasingly volatile market conditions." U.S. dealers can place orders for Riese & Müller e-bikes and cargo bikes until July 31. Afterward, new product orders will no longer be...

www.bicycleretailer.com

Riese & Müller Halts US E-Bike Imports After New Steel Tariffs

German e-bike maker Riese & Müller has paused all US imports due to new steel tariffs and shifting trade rules. Here’s what it means for riders and the e-bike market.

electricbikeexplorer.com

They started shipping here to the US again shortly after the steel tariff problem. Currently, the bicycle tariff for Germany is something like 21%, but that's the same as most or all of Europe and Taiwan. From China, the tariff on bicycles is more like 46%. While that makes an R&M bike more expensive, it doesn't put them at a competitive disadvantage to other countries that ship bikes here.

My guess is that R&M bikes are just plain expensive regardless of the impost and that there just isn't much of a market for them at all in the US. It may be that those of us who are willing to pay more than two or three Grand for an e-bike to get top quality and good engineering are a somewhat niche market here.

 

[DaveMatthews]

They started shipping here to the US again shortly after the steel tariff problem. Currently, the bicycle tariff for Germany is something like 21%, but that's the same as most or all of Europe and Taiwan. From China, the tariff on bicycles is more like 46%. While that makes an R&M bike more expensive, it doesn't put them at a competitive disadvantage to other countries that ship bikes here.

My guess is that R&M bikes are just plain expensive regardless of the impost and that there just isn't much of a market for them at all in the US. It may be that those of us who are willing to pay more than two or three Grand for an e-bike to get top quality and good engineering are a somewhat niche market here.

Other overseas markets — including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — are not affected.

 

[RunForTheHills]

Bicycles and ebikes were recently exempted from the steel tariffs.

 

[RunForTheHills]

https://www.bikemag.com/news/will-bike-prices-rise-50-tariff-increase-canceled

 

[DaveMatthews]

https://www.bikemag.com/news/will-bike-prices-rise-50-tariff-increase-canceled

That's good news for ebike consumers.
Too late for R&M? I suppose so.
Will they reverse their decision? Not likely but I hope so.

 

[Muso]

Different buyers with different priorities, and different markets. And trying to cover every major city in the US could also be a challenge.

But again, the tariff doesn't only apply to bicycles imported from Germany. Italian bikes, Taiwanese, French, English, Korean, Japanese, all of them have the same 21% tariff. China's is 46%. So other than China they all have the same increase. The larger tariff on Chinese bikes may actually make European bikes more competitive on price here. So pretty much all bikes other than US domestic production (and how many of those are there, other than custom shops?) will go up in price.

While the higher tariff may play a part, I imagine that they're just not selling enough bikes here to justify maintaining the dealer network required to cover the US.

As always, I could be wrong. R&M's statement reeks of the usual vague, cagey corporate BS-speak lol.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Different buyers with different priorities, and different markets. And trying to cover every major city in the US could also be a challenge.

Canada has a 10th of the population, and a larger footprint than the USA.

 

[Muso]

Canada has a 10th of the population, and a larger footprint than the USA.

Yes, so it's easier to maintain a presence in all the large cities there (which are mostly in a stripe along the south). With the most notable exception of a dealer way the hell up in Whitehorse. Which makes me wonder: If they have a dealer in Whitehorse, YT, why not one in Flin Flon, Manitoba, birthplace of the great Bobby Clarke? I digress, I always get distracted by hockey. Anyway, R&M isn't the only bicycle company affected by the tariffs, so I'm inclined to think there's more to it than just that. Without any detail from them other than something about a "thorough strategic review," all I can do is speculate.

 

[mschwett]

r+m made this decision in february. the exemption on bikes was announced in april, by which point they'd likely already pretty much wound things down.

elections matter.

 

[stompandgo]

R&M bicycles retailed for between $5,300-$15,200+ depending on options. Excluding E-MTB's, that is a very exclusive and low volume market. Specialized, Cannondale, and Giant variants all have been selling city/trekking e-bikes in that price range at significant discounts to move product. It is likely that each manufacturer only sold a few hundred bikes per year in that range. The market is that small. When you have a small market, shrinking margins, and high transportation costs, you need to have a strong range of products to spread out the pain. R&M had all of the former and none of the latter. Ownership groups like Pon and CSG can weather storms that smaller, more focused manufacturers cannot.

 

[dblhelix]

R&M bicycles retailed for between $5,300-$15,200+ depending on options. Excluding E-MTB's, that is a very exclusive and low volume market. Specialized, Cannondale, and Giant variants all have been selling city/trekking e-bikes in that price range at significant discounts to move product. It is likely that each manufacturer only sold a few hundred bikes per year in that range. The market is that small. When you have a small market, shrinking margins, and high transportation costs, you need to have a strong range of products to spread out the pain. R&M had all of the former and none of the latter. Ownership groups like Pon and CSG can weather storms that smaller, more focused manufacturers cannot.

A Load Rohloff with dual battery and ABS is $20k+ when you factor in state sales tax in most US states. There is a deeper problem which R&M shares with the German luxury auto manufacturers. When I was a kid, German luxury products held their value. Today, reels show up on my Instagram with lists of cars suffering the most rapid depreciation and German brands dominate this list. It is hard to ask someone to pay $20k for a product that shows up end of season for half that, 'sold to us by a business with less than 10 miles' and one-year warranty. It is also difficult to command these prices when the "owner" is barely a stakeholder. The winners, in principle, are R&M, who imposes dealer minimums, and Upway, who gets a second bite at the apple. This model puts all the risks/costs on the dealer and end user. I knew this could not be sustained last year when so much NOS appeared on Upway.

The second issue was marketing. 2018-2024 I put a lot of miles on a range of their products. I have a very good idea of who/where serious prospects are. On a daily basis, I'd get questions about their products to the point that at times I felt like an involuntary sales rep. The interest is 98% male, yet the marketing in the past two years has been 'chick bike.' Few women gravitate to heavy, burly bikes. I saw one ad with the "Carrie" model where the male rider was struggling to stand it on its end in an elevator (like a GSD). Yes, that's what every mom wants: the kids running around screaming while she is trying to prop her bike upright. Generally, the presentation has been chic/urban while their market is male/suburban. Expensive e-bikes are not meant for elevators and street exposure. And yes, cargo bikes are popular with parents, but like the kid trailer market, the view is that the investment is short-term, while the kids are small, which favors less expensive models.

Tariff volatility clearly broke the camel's back, but frankly, the business model made no sense, and this was already apparent before 1/20/2025.