Cowboy, the Brussels-based manufacturer of trendy, usually dark black electric bikes, has always been surrounded by a certain amount of financial haze. The recall of the C4 ST (Edition MR) model in early May due to the risk of frame breakage has once again thrown the company into turmoil. There is even talk of a new CEO and a takeover scenario for the company, although Cowboy’s founders are currently keeping quiet.
The ball that somehow caused Cowboy to end up in dire straits is the recall on the company’s website in early May. “After extensive quality testing, Cowboy has determined that some models of the C4 ST (Edition MR) do not meet the high safety and quality standards we apply,” the statement reads. “These bikes, welded by one of our production partners, may develop fatigue cracks on the weld between the head tube and the down tube.”
Fatigue cracks
According to Cowboy, these fatigue cracks can occur after approximately 2,500 km of use. In some cases, this can lead to a break in the frame, possibly resulting in a fall. “Because of the safety of our users is paramount, we are taking proactive measures and have started a voluntary recall of the affected frames.”
What a blow, because Adrien Roose, CEO of Cowboy, had previously indicated that 2025 would be a crucial year for the bicycle manufacturer. Since Cowboy’s launch in 2017, nearly 130 million euros has been invested in the project.
Secretive
Although the company immediately received a lot of positive feedback for its trendy e-bikes with a minimalist design and advanced technology, there are also reservations about the company’s sudden success.
After all, Cowboy has always been very secretive about the number of units sold of their various bicycle models, let alone communicating clearly about their quarterly figures, half-yearly results, or their financial situation.
This reticence stands in stark contrast to the jubilant press releases when additional funds were raised through another financing round – to date, Cowboy has raised a total of approximately 146 million euros in this way.
No annual accounts for 2024
However, according to the latest available figures, Cowboy posted net losses of 32,1 million euros and 21,7 million euros in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Cowboy adjusted its strategy, for example with the regard to online sales, assistance (the retail strategy, i.e., primarily sales via the exclusive website, has evolved into a network of partner stores) and assembly (in France instead of Hungary), hoping to get out of the red by 2025 and achieve structural break-even or profitability.
But the annual accounts for the 2024 financial year, which had to be filed with the National Bank before the end of July, are still not available. And then there is the nightmare of the problems surrounding the C4 ST model.
Internal shifts
The fact is such recalls undoubtedly damage the company’s reputation. According to the German magazine Der Spiegel, outraged customers have already sought legal assistance, precisely because of poor customer service and because the delivery times for certain models, such as the Cross and Cruiser, regularly take months longer than originally announced.
While waiting for more information on how big the recall is and how it will hit the company’s finances, there’s a lot of chatter about Cowboy’s future. According to the newspaper La Libre Belgique, there are rumors that Adrian Roose might have to step down as CEO or that the company could be up for sale.
The business newspaper De Tijd reports that the marketing director, the head of customer service, the communications director, and the head of the cost-cutting program have left cowboy, so there is some internal movement.
More clarity should be provided in August. In the meantime, owners of Cowboy bikes are anxiously awaiting to see whether the bicycle manufacturer’s financial difficulties will not result in a “chasse patate”, a cycling term for a hopeless pursuit.
Future assured?
Until now, management had remained silent, but today they responded in the business newspaper L’Echo about the financial situation of Cowboy. Both Roose and Goretti, the two co-founders of the company, state that Cowboy has secured short-term financing and signed a memorandum of understanding with a new partner, the French Rebirth Group Holding.
Rebirth, founded in 2005 under the name Easybike Group, is a major player in the field of electric mobility in France, particularly in the design and development of e-bikes. In Saint-Lô, Normandy, it has a 4,100 m² production facility dedicated exclusively to e-mobility, including prototype activities, carbon frame production, specialized assembly lines, battery safety infrastructure, and an after-sales workshop.
At the end of last year, Rebirth, which also hold a license for the Vélo & Oxygen retail format, acquired the French branch of Cycleurope, which will continue under the new name Re_Cycles France. At its approximately 36,000 m² facility in Romilly-sur-Seine, in the Aube region, it manufactures Gitane and Peugeot bicycles, as well as bicycles for La Poste. At the same time, Re_Cycles France is already partially responsible for the assembly of Cowboy bicycles.
The combined capacity of both sites enables Rebirth to produce around 200,000 to 250,000 bicycles annually, with the ambition of capturing 10 to 12% of the French bicycle market.
Concerning Cowboy, however, no details have been disclosed about the amount involved in the deal, its scope, or its implications, leaving the company’s future still somewhere open to speculation.
