The bike digital passport is coming in 2027

What is it exactly?

If you keep up with European regulations, you've probably come across the Digital Product Passport (DPP). For bikes, and especially e-bikes, this is going to change the rules of the game by 2027.

The DPP is a European Commission requirement, part of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). In plain terms, every bike sold will need to carry a unique digital identifier with:

• Component composition and origin
• Repairability data
• Maintenance history
• End-of-life and recycling information

Who's affected?

The regulation targets manufacturers of new bikes first. But its ripple effects go much further.

Rental companies and fleet managers will have to document every service to stay compliant, and to give customers confidence in the equipment they're renting.

Used bike buyers will start expecting a verifiable service history, just like we already do with cars.

Private sellers will need to back up their asking price. A documented bike inspires trust. An undocumented one raises questions.

Bike shops will be pushed to log their work digitally instead of scribbling on a paper card.

What it changes for resale

The used bike market in Europe is worth hundreds of millions a year. And right now, when you buy a used bike, you're buying blind. How old is the chain? Have the brakes been replaced? Has the frame taken a serious hit?

Once the digital passport becomes standard, that opacity turns into a red flag. A bike with no history will look like a risk. A bike with a full, verified record will be worth more, and sell faster.

It's already the case with cars. It's coming for bikes.

The millions of bikes already out there

The 2027 regulation applies to new bikes. But across Europe, there are tens of millions of bikes already on the road. None of them will get a manufacturer-issued passport.

That's where it gets interesting if you already own a bike. You can start building its history now, on your own, before traceability becomes a requirement or a market norm.

A bike you start documenting today will have years of history by the time everyone else catches up. That's a concrete head start, whether you're planning to sell, trying to stay on top of maintenance, or just want peace of mind.

How to get ready now

Whether you ride for fun or for a living, the steps are straightforward. Log every service with the date and mileage. Hang on to your parts receipts. Write down your bike specs: frame, components, weight.

You don't need anything fancy to get started. What matters is starting now. A maintenance history builds up over time. You can't backfill it later.

What we built with ChainLog

This is the exact problem ChainLog was built to solve. It hooks into your Strava account to pull mileage automatically for each bike, tracks component wear, and lets you log every service. The result is a public maintenance certificate, a shareable link that gives any buyer a verified history of your bike.

Got a shop invoice? Just snap a photo. Components, prices, and date are picked up automatically, and the maintenance entries create themselves.

It wasn't designed around a regulation. It was built by a cyclist, for cyclists, to cut the admin and spend more time riding. It just happens to line up with exactly what European law is about to require.

See a real certificate →