Cycle Week 2026: loads of bikes, accessories and sunshine
Cycle Week 2026 has come and gone. What am I taking from it? Plenty of lasting impressions, sore muscles and a sunburn.
I genuinely can’t remember the last time it wasn’t raining cats and dogs during the Zurich Cycle Week. It must have been 2022. Or was it 2023? This year, the sun finally shone – bar a fierce thunderstorm on Sunday.
From 28 to 31 May, the national cycling festival at Europaallee and Brunau once again staged a show on two wheels. With over 130 exhibitors, hundreds of test bikes and more than 100 workshops, Cycle Week offers a platform for all types of cycling and everyone with an interest in bikes. According to the festival organisers, it’s meant to represent all things cycling in Switzerland – from elite to mass sport, from infrastructure to bikes as a means of transport.
Try before you buy
Cycle Week is first and foremost a cycling festival made for active participation. The Brunau site in particular, with its various test routes around and over the Uetliberg, is an open invitation to take a bike out for a spin. Well-known brands such as Canyon, Scott and Orbea put new road, gravel and mountain bikes up for testing – as did more niche manufacturers like Transalpes and Bixs.
Source: Cycle Week
I got into the saddle and put the latest version of the Bosch Performance Line CX through its paces on a test ride over the Uetliberg. You’ll find my first impressions here:
Carbon as far as the eye can see – and a little polyethylene
If I had to describe Cycle Week in the form of a material, I’d probably go with «carbon». Frames, forks, wheels and spokes, handlebars, seatposts and cranks: everything is made from carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic. Of course, you’ll come across the odd steel or titanium frame, as well as the occasional aluminium wheel. But there’s no getting around carbon.
I was all the more surprised, then, when I spotted a set of wheels at one stand with polyethylene spokes. Stefan Hack from the Swiss importer explained to me that the Barcelona-based manufacturer Sislent specialises in the development and production of handcrafted high-end wheels. Sislent uses this thermoplastic material from Berd in its Terra LC models. These spokes offer greater fracture resistance, better damping properties and are significantly lighter than steel spokes – and carbon ones, too.
Züri Escape
I also stopped by the Züri Escape stand – a gravel bikepacking adventure for self-reliant cyclists, held as part of Cycle Week. Over a course of 400 kilometres, participants cover a staggering 10,000 metres of elevation gain. The starting gun fires on Friday at six in the morning, with the last riders crossing the finish line on Sunday evening.
Those were some of my impressions from Cycle Week 2026. What am I taking from it? Plenty of interesting encounters, some sore muscles and a moderate case of sunburn. Bring on the 2027 edition.
From radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.
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