BikeBiz Industry Insights: A conversation with Tammy Wu from bikeAgent

Cycling: an industry where household names – Western brands – have spent decades working with Chinese and Southeast Asia-based regional manufacturing partners.

At Eurobike, it’s clear that a growing number of Chinese brands are going mainstream in the Western marketplace.

In addition to this, over the past 36 to 48 months, there has also been a significant increase in the number of mainstream Western brands – including the likes of Pinarello, 3T, LOOK, Basso, Trek, PNS, and Rouleur,  amongst a host of others – making moves in China and the wider Southeast Asia region. 

With this in mind, BikeBiz sat down for a conversation with Tammy Wu, co-founder of bikeAgent – a unique business serving as a cultural bridge, helping Chinese brands succeed internationally and European brands understand the Chinese market.

Thanks for making time to continue our Eurobike conversation. It’s clear that you, Paolo and Martin, co-founders of bikeAgent, are busy and increasingly in demand. 

True, and the variety of our work, as well as who we work with, is changing rapidly. 

An increasing number of Chinese brands are seeking international credibility, which, we – a Europe-based business with Chinese origins – are well placed to advise on. In addition to this, we are increasingly being asked by Western brands for insights into the Chinese market. 

Here we can already see that we are effectively “frontiering” – guiding businesses entering what are, for them, new markets: that’s the nature of our work in cross-cultural business.

Can you give me the bikeAgent elevator pitch – a rapid-fire way for readers to understand what you are about as a business?

Sure. We work with businesses to launch, grow, and scale in China and Europe, connecting brands, teams, and destinations to the pulse of cycling.

Our team of cycling insiders doesn’t just advise – we shoot from the roadside, pitch to sponsors, draft campaigns, and open doors to the right people.

• We ride with you into the heart of the cycling world. 
• We decode markets, craft strategies, ignite momentum, and open space for bold moves. 

Whether you’re chasing greater visibility, entering new regions, or telling stories that move, we work with and beside your team to turn vision into motion—and motion into results you can ride on.

With this in mind, it feels like Eurobike 2025 – with a significant increase in the number of exhibitors leaving Hall 9 to exhibit in Hall 11 and 12 – points to the timing being right for bikeAgent. This shift in landscape has certainly opened conversations with an increasing number of Western brands also looking for Eastern advisors. 

I’d first mention that we’ve been in business as bikeAgent for 7 years – so we’ve seen plenty in that time, which has shaped how we work with Eastern and Western clients. 

Being Chinese, with a variety of business experience in China and Europe, I have an understanding of both cultures and business practices.

A simple yet strong, straightforward example: If we talk about landscape, from a Western cycling audience viewpoint, initially, we saw YouTube content creators introduce brands like Winspace, Tavelo, Seka, L-Twoo, 9Velo, Magene, Cybrei, XCadey, to an inquisitive audience. 

The likes of Joe Whittingham (China Cycling and Pada Podium), TraceVelo, Hambini, PeakTorque, Shane Millar GPLama, and GC Performance, amongst others, are giving a Western cycling audience some sense of the changing landscape. 

Now, those businesses which have grown D2C brands are trying to understand how they can take the next step – European logistics hubs, distribution relationships, and retailer support. All are new challenges. 

The risks are high for brands that have begun to establish themselves as engineers and manufacturers of quality, innovative products. That reputation brings with it expectations. Failing to structure the business in a way that meets and exceeds expectations does lasting damage. This is just as true for Western brands selling in the Chinese marketplace.

Cultural norms and sensitivities aren’t something which global brand fame means businesses can ignore or overlook. Localisation is 100% critical. Just look at how different the social media landscape is, as one very obvious, very (not so) simple example. Coordination of international, multi-region communication is critical. Failures at this point lead to rapid challenges for brand perception. Brand damage has serious implications. At the most business level – money spent and value not gained/received. 

Here we can’t undervalue or underestimate the importance of experiencing living and working outside of your home country. Having the courage to step outside of your own ‘world’ and the motivation to succeed in a new country can’t be undervalued.   

Add to that cross-sector experience, and you can be sure you are working with people – the bikeAgent team – who are inquisitive, keen to learn, actively seeking out and acquiring new knowledge. In short, intrinsically motivated. 

I’d also add that there is an empathy which comes from working with people from a host of different backgrounds. Take learning a second or third language, and working in a service environment. The patience which you develop – that doesn’t leave you. 

It may or may not be obvious, but being a learner as an adult means you have a different sense of what it takes to form connections and make change possible. 

We can call that client relations, we can call that project management, we can call that soft skills. What we know is that cross-cultural success requires all of this before any other professional expertise is brought to bear.

 

How does BikeAgent manage a diverse range of projects and client needs?

We’re a collaborative or collective – a team with connections we can draw on, skills matched to project and client needs.

If we talk about the three bikeAgent founders, I start with my life partner, Paolo Barrera. He has previously raced at a semi-professional level in the US and has strong connections as a result. As the co-owner of two of Austria’s leading cycle shops, Paolo has direct interactions with retail staff and customers, and, as a result, knows what makes a difference in a retail environment.

Paolo blends a background in automotive tech with a lifelong love of cycling and motorsports. Widely respected in Vienna’s cycling community, he is the Technical Director at bikeAgent. You’ll spot a theme here – cross-sector, multi-regional, experience.

Alongside Paolo, we have Martin Hulala. Martin speaks five languages and speaks brand fluently in all of them. He has over a decade of experience across creative direction, design strategy, and global project management. The short version: Martin transforms abstract concepts into tactile, memorable brand moments.

Beyond the co-founders, we have deep relationships with a host of regular collaborators. We can call on WorldTour and Olympic committee experience, as required. Increasingly, we are adding Distribution and Logistics expertise into the mix, as clients explore ways to enter new markets. 

From a creative capabilities perspective, we work with award-winning photographers, filmmakers and cinematographers, journalists, and sponsorship advisors. 

How do you see the year ahead?

We see change gathering pace from an East and West viewpoint. BikeAgent offers unique insights into the Chinese market, no matter which direction of travel the brand is coming from.

There are Chinese brands making European moves so that they can message to a domestic Chinese market that their brand is a ‘name’ in Europe – enhancing brand prestige with their Chinese and Southeast Asian customers. Understanding motivation is critical to delivering value here. 

We see Chinese brands actively seeking to compete with established Western brands as premium products. The growing Western acknowledgement of Chinese EVs leading the market is already shifting public perceptions about what a Chinese brand is and can be. Knowing how to create brand perception – how interactions with the brand are experienced as customers and prospects – is critical here. 

We also see a host of Western brands trying to simply be who they are in Europe, without any sense of localisation for the Chinese market. In addition to this, we see distribution, marketing and PR deals that do little for the brand or for building audience connection, leaving Western brands wondering why they’re not seeing the impact they had been led to believe is possible in China. 

In all of these scenarios, we are experienced and able to navigate complex and culturally nuanced conversations with experience and deep yet subtle understanding. 

We’re excited about the coming 24 months and look forward to doing more work with global brands. Our cycling world is growing, and we – bikeAgent – take pride in making this happen for others keen to explore opportunities.

Image credits: bikeAgent