Best German Bicycle Brands: Top 27 Manufacturers in Germany

German engineering has an excellent reputation for being high quality, efficient and durable. German-made bicycles, therefore, are very popular not only locally but around the world, and the country is home to some of the world’s top bike manufacturers.

While British bike brands and Dutch bike brands are popular, German bike brands often join them in lists of the best European – and global – bike manufacturers.

Canyon and Cube are among the reputable and popular German bike brands, and there are many more manufacturers that are based in the European country which produce millions of bikes every year.

Let’s run through some facts and figures on German-produced bicycles, and then take a look at some of the best German bike brands you can shop from now.

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Are Many Bikes Made in Germany?

Yes! Lots of bikes are made in Germany, and the country is home to some of the world’s top bike manufacturers. In 2021, 2.37 million bicycles were produced in Germany, which was an increase on 2020’s 2.15 million bikes.

Germany also produces a lot of e-bikes: German manufacturers made roughly 1.3 million electric bicycle units in 2020, up from around 960,000 electric bike units in 2019 – a testament to the e-bike’s increasing popularity.

German Bike Brands and Manufacturers

Best German Bicycle Brands [Top 5]

There are a lot of bicycle manufacturers in Germany, so it can be hard to know where to start. If you’re looking for the best of the best, choose one of these five brands – they’re renowned for their excellence.

1. Canyon

Canyon’s world-leading bikes regularly top lists of the best bikes from Germany and internationally, with excellent models across road, mountain, triathlon, city and e-bike categories.

Canyon makes innovative bikes, always pushing boundaries to find ways to be safer, fairer, faster and greener, specialising in elegant simplicity and dynamic function. The company is also transparent about its sustainability objectives and how they are working towards them – vital in this age of greenwashing.

The Canyon Aeroad is one of the brand’s most popular models – road bikes which have been wind tunnel tested to provide optimum efficiency and get you from A to B as quickly as possible.

There’s also the Canyon Ultimate, an all rounder that has been at the top of the brand’s popularity stakes for over a decade and won a number of awards.

2. Cube

Since Cube was created in 1993, it has surged in popularity and the brand’s bikes are now being sold in more than 60 countries.

The brand started life in a 50 square metre area in its founder, Marcus Pürner’s, father’s furniture factory, and its headquarters remain in the same town of Waldershof, now covering 20,000 square metres.

Cube offers high quality bikes across a range of categories – MTB, road, trekking and commuting bikes – from the Litening racing bike to the Agree all rounder and the Attain road bike. It’s most renowned for its mountain bikes, though its road bikes have featured at the Tour de France.

3. Schindelhauer

Since 2009, Schindelhauer has been designing bikes that are both technologically advanced and straightforward – minimalistic bikes for everyday use.

It has an excellent range of road bikes, particularly urban bikes, with minimalist aesthetics that are both beautiful and practical. Precise engineering is paramount at Schindelhauer, and their range includes everything from single-speed bikes to 14-speed bikes, comfort models to racing models.

Schindelhauer also has an impressive range of e-bikes with lots of speeds, designs and specialisms to choose from, and like its traditional bikes, they all have one thing in common: stylish simplicity.

The team is based out of Berlin – a perfect location for a city-focused brand – and they are united by a passion for bicycles and an ambition to create happy cyclists.

4. Focus

Focus was founded in 1992 by three-time world champion cyclist Mike Klugg, who won the German Championship with his own Focus Bike.

The brand is popular for its high-end mountain bikes, but produces all kinds of bikes from commuting to racing models and high-tech e-bikes.

The Focus Izaclo series is the brand’s top race bike line, and there’s also the endurance road bike Paralane, the Mares cyclocross race bike, and the Focus Planet2 range of electric hybrid bikes.

All of Focus’s bikes are developed in Stuttgart, Germany, and every employee is a passionate bike rider – they do their prototype testing right on their doorstep too. Focus’s philosophy is all about building a community around cycling, inspiring people to ride together, and making sure their bike looks after them when they do.

5. Ghost

Ghost started its journey in a garage in 1993, where two friends, Uwe Kalliwoda and Klaus Möhwald, set out to build their perfect bike. It all started with mountain bikes, but now Ghost also makes versatile gravel bikes, city and hybrid bikes, and even kids’ bikes so little ones can learn to love cycling too.

The brand has been popular in Europe for a while, but is steadily becoming more popular across the world, including in the USA. Its main selling point is value for money, and their flagship models frequently win high-profile races.

Ghost also has an impact on the cycling industry as a whole through its innovative approach to technology, its solving of cycling problems, and how it raises the bar of cycling standards.

German E-Bike Brands

Many German bicycle brands have now branched out into e-bikes.

E-bikes are becoming more and more popular – as we mentioned earlier, German manufacturers made roughly 1.3 million electric bicycle units in 2020, up from around 960,000 electric bike units in 2019.

Let’s take a look at some of the brands which have a range of e-bikes.