Two Tauranga entrepreneurs are making their mark on the e-bike industry.

Dan Wallace and Anthony Clyde have won gold at an international bicycle fair in China.

The pair are in Shanghai showcasing their brand – Velduro – at China Cycle 2025, the 33rd China International Bicycle Fair.

“We won gold at the opening awards,” Wallace said. “This is huge, we were up against 600 other bikes.”

Dan Wallace on stage at China Cycle 2025 after Velduro won gold at the opening ceremony.

Wallace and Clyde founded Velduro in October 2024 with the aim of bringing Kiwi ingenuity and global enterprise together to build bikes designed for riders.

Frustrated by overseas market limitations, Wallace and Clyde saw an opportunity to bring New Zealand-designed bikes to the world on their own terms.

“Our journey began in the mid-2000s when our team pioneered DIY e-bikes with hub motors and backpack batteries—long before the market boom.”

Co-founder Dan Wallace (left) with business partner Dick Lai, after Velduro won gold at the opening awards of China Cycles 2025.

This year’s China Cycle 2025 theme is “Empowering Innovation, Sharing the Future” and will bring industry leaders from around the world to explore new opportunities for innovation and collaboration.

Each one of the fairs has expanded in scale and influence over the past 33 editions.

“It’s the biggest bike show in the world and takes three days to walk it,” said Wallace.

In 2024, the exhibition covered 150,000sq m, attracting 1460 exhibitors and nearly 200,000 visitors from 137 countries and regions.

Velgero’s bike stall was positioned beside some major players internationally. “We’re positioned beside Trek, Giants, KTM, all the major brands.”

Wallace said New Zealand is often forgotten about in the bike world and aimed to put New Zealand into the spotlight.

“Here we have some of the best riding trails in the world, if not the best, we have some of the best riders in the world, if not the best.”

Wallace wanted to get New Zealand-designed bikes into the international market and create relationships with other countries.

“We already have a few countries that would like to distribute our bikes as we move forward and we will move globally as we build over the next 12 to 24 months.”

They aimed to build a name on an international platform and build relationships with other countries around the world, looking at distributing a New Zealand brand of e-bike.

Velduro co-founder Anthony Clyde with a rider who gave feedback about their bike.

“In the bike world, this is a very big deal and this is the first time in history that New Zealand has ever represented our own brand of e-bike.

“We are passionate about cycling. We have phenomenal terrain and riders and some of the best riders in the world live in our country, but we don’t always get recognised that way.”

Wallace said what sets Velduro apart from other e-bike brands is that it has partnered with DJI and all its e-bikes now and in the future will be built from super-light carbon and powered by the DJI Avinox motor system.

“This DJI system entered the bikes industry two years ago. They are a global drive company that pivoted into e-bikes and have taken the world by surprise and regarded as the best system in the market.”

The gold-winning Phantom X DJI-powered gravel bike is now available for pre-sale.

Wallace and Clyde are also bringing back with them their next model, which is a full suspension, DJI-powered carbon E-MTB, aptly named the “Rogue”.