What Is the DST Bike Data Standard and How Does It Work?
If you sell bikes, components, or accessories in the Netherlands, Belgium and Europe-wide, DST Foundation is the infrastructure that puts your products in front of dealers. Here’s what it is, how it works, and what it takes to get connected.
What Is DST Foundation?
DST Foundation — formally Stichting Digitaal Samenwerken Tweewielerbranche, which translates to “Foundation for Digital Collaboration in the Two-Wheeler Industry” — is the standardized product data platform for the Dutch and Benelux cycling market.
Founded in 2009 by BOVAG (the Dutch vehicle trade association) and RAI Vereniging (the Dutch cycling and mobility industry association), DST was developed in partnership with TNO, the Dutch national research institute. Its governance board includes representatives from RAI Vereniging, BOVAG, Dynamo Retail Group, Shimano Benelux, and Accell Global, ensuring that both brands and dealers have a seat at the table.
DST is headquartered in Amsterdam and operates as a neutral, non-profit organization. It is not a commercial product or a vendor — it is industry infrastructure, built by the cycling industry for the cycling industry.
What Problem Does DST Solve?
Before platforms like DST existed, getting product data from a manufacturer’s internal systems into a dealer’s point-of-sale software was a manual, fragmented, error-prone process. Brands would send spreadsheets by email. Dealers would re-enter data by hand. Product specifications were inconsistent across retailers. Pricing and EAN codes were out of sync.
DST solves this by acting as the central data hub: manufacturers submit their product data once, in a standardized format, and that data automatically flows to every connected dealer system the manufacturer approves to share data to. No manual re-entry, no email chains, no version drift.
How Does the DST Standard Work?
At the technical core of DST is a standardized data schema — currently DST 3.1, released in December 2025. This schema defines exactly what product data must look like: which fields exist, what they are named, what values are permitted, and how they connect to GS1/EAN barcodes:
- Standard article descriptions, product names, and categories
- EAN/barcode fields (GS1-compliant)
- Embargo dates for seasonal product launches
- Battery specifications and e-bike fields
- Multi-price structures and order number variants
- Bicycle components and sub-components
- Multi-language support
Brands submit product data to the DST platform (hosted at dst3.platformdst.nl) via one of three methods: REST API, SFTP with CSV (using the DST CSV template), or JSON schema.
Once data is validated and accepted by DST, it flows automatically to every connected dealer’s POS system the manufacturer approves of. Supported dealer systems include Adsoft, Cyclesoftware, FYN, Wilmar, Vendit, Lightspeed, Ascend, CitrusLime, and others. Dealers access the data for free — product catalogues are simply updated directly in their cash register software.
Who Is Already Connected to DST?
More than 60 brands and manufacturers are live on the DST platform, covering millions of articles. Connected brands include Shimano, Giant, Trek, Cube, Scott, Orbea, Gazelle, Batavus, Cortina, Kalkhoff, Haibike, Winora, AGU, Continental, Bobike, Electra, Ghost, Koga, Merida, Qwic, Sparta, Urban Arrow, and over 40 others.
If your products are sold through the independent bicycle dealer channel in the Netherlands or Belgium, DST membership is effectively a market access requirement. Your major competitors are already connected.
DST vs. BIDEX vs. Veloconnect: What's the Difference?
It’s worth understanding where DST sits relative to the other major bike industry data standards.
BIDEX (Bicycle Data Exchange) is a German industry initiative that defines a product data format (BikeData) and operates retail distribution infrastructure primarily for German-speaking markets. BIDEX separates the data schema from the transport protocol — the latter being Veloconnect.
Veloconnect is a standardized XML-based B2B data exchange protocol used across Europe. It handles machine-to-machine communication between suppliers and retailer ERP systems.
DST is the Dutch-market equivalent of combining BIDEX Basics and Veloconnect in a single non-profit platform. It standardizes both what the data looks like and how it is distributed.
How Much Does DST Membership Cost?
DST membership fees in 2026 are tiered by annual revenue (excl. VAT):
Revenue tier | Annual fee |
Under €2.5M | €1,964.66 |
€2.5M – €5M | €3,930.46 |
€5M – €10M | €8,984.72 |
€10M – €40M | €14,036.71 |
Over €40M | €19,651.17 |
Dealers access the data for free. They receive updated product catalogues directly in their POS systems without any cost or integration burden on their side.
Does DST Replace a PLM and PIM System?
No. This is an important distinction.
DST Foundation is distribution infrastructure — it receives your product data and routes it to dealer POS systems. It does not help you create, manage, or govern that data internally. DST has no product lifecycle management, no BOM management, no workflow approvals, no content authoring tools, and no channel management beyond its own ecosystem.
A PIM/PLM system is where you build and maintain the data that DST then distributes. Software solutions like NOCA — a PIM/PLM platform built specifically for the cycling industry — map their internal data structure directly to DST 3.1 fields, so exporting to DST format is automated. Once your product data is governed in a purpose-built system, exporting to DST requires no manual CSV editing or custom API development.
Master your product data with the NOCA portal
Ensure everyone uses the same, consistent, and up-to-date product data across your organisation and the data is synchronised across marketing and sales channels – like DST – to create less manual work and more revenue.
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