Pang Xiaozhong, director of the Science and Technology Development Center at the Sports Science Research Institute of the General Administration of Sport of China, said in an interview on the 9th that there is currently a lack of standardized cycling gear tailored to Asian athletes in the bicycle sports market.
Pang noted that cycling is a high-consumption sport with demanding equipment requirements, and it has a history of several hundred years internationally, whereas China started this sport relatively late. As a result, China’s cycling gear still lags behind advanced levels. In his view, this gap is mainly reflected in the lack of specialized materials and relatively backward human engineering capabilities.
More importantly, due to the absence of cycling gear standards tailored to the physical characteristics of Asian athletes, there has long been the issue of “Asians riding European bikes,” and the resulting performance is naturally predictable.
In response, Hou Fengqi, chairman of “Santic,” one of the sponsors of this year’s Tour of Qinghai Lake, stated that Asians have different body structures from Europeans, which means cycling clothing and gear also have certain unique requirements. For example, European riders tend to have narrower feet, while Asians have wider ones. Therefore, in such a situation, “using European-sized bikes for Asian body types will naturally not yield good results.”
For this reason, the development of cycling gear suitable for Chinese and Asian athletes has become urgent. Hou told reporters that as a leader in China’s cycling gear industry, “Santic” will closely collaborate with the Sports Science Research Institute and domestic and international research organizations in the future. Based on the physical characteristics of Asians, they will develop professional cycling equipment suited to Asians to help Chinese and even Asian cyclists improve their performance.
Pang Xiaozhong also believes that although there is still a gap, after nearly a decade of development, China’s cycling gear has made rapid progress. Whether for specialized athletes or mass participation, the situation is completely different from before.
Pang said: “Next, we will put the research, planning, and higher-level development of cycling gear on the agenda. I believe China has this capability, our athletes have this capability, our national fitness efforts have this demand, and our suppliers also have this capability to serve cyclists around the world and the Chinese public well. This is our aspiration.”
In response, Hou Fengqi confidently believes that China’s cycling gear level is expected to catch up with or surpass Europe and America within 5 to 10 years, and cost-performance will be its “biggest advantage” in capturing the market.