Bike Sales on a High
Posted: 22 Aug 2008
It's not just Olympic cyclists who are on an all time high at the moment, with a record medal haul from Beijing and world records falling, bike retailers are reporting record sales of bikes and kit in response, no doubt, to a number of factors, 'the Olympic Effect' being just one.
Evans Cycles, one of the country's largest retail chains is reporting a sales boom. Here's what they have to say:
The credit crunch has done nothing to deter shoppers from spending online and at the 31 retail outlets across the country. "Sales have been meteoric over the last week." says Retail Director Mark Smith, "This bank holiday weekend sales look to surpass all expectations and beat records, helped by fantastic effort by our cycling stars in Beijing."
Britain's first gold medal winner Nicole Cooke has increased shoppers interest in road bikes and with 7 gold medals won in the velodrome popularity of track bikes has soared. Stores have fielded a whole host of enquiries about the bikes and the sport. It seems Olympic success has spurred the country on to get involved in all aspects of cycling. Parents buying bikes for their kids this weekend might just be inspiring the next generation of medal winners.
As fuel prices rocket, Evans Cycles research has found more are turning to cycling as a way to trim the waistline and household expenditure. The online and nationwide retailer have just launched their end of season sale which runs until 14th September helping consumers save more during this period of economic downturn.
Indeed, the credit crunch, which spells bad news for retailers of other types of goods, has prompted many consumers to adopt more frugal ways of living. People are holidaying closer to home, families are seeking out free attractions rather than big bucks days out, and people are rediscovering that the bike is a foundation to an altogether more frugal way of living.
In the USA, the effect of soaring fuel prices is being linked to similar increases in bike sales. Bikes Belong, a Colorada based, industry sponsored coalition, has recently revealed the results of a survey of bike shop owners, comparing sales between 2007 and 2008:
- 73% said they are selling more bikes
- 84% said they are selling more accessories.
- 88% said they are selling more service.
More telling still in that 95% of shop owners reported that purchasers cited rising fuel prices as the number one push factor when deciding to go bike.
Over the past few years, London has seen a huge increase in journeys by bike, brought about by a number of factors, some planned, some utterly catastrophic. The London congestion charge resulted in a huge upturn in trips by bike, a trend which has been subsequently reinforced by massive investments in training, information and infrastructure. However, the terror attacks in July 2005 also resulted in many Londoners choosing the autonomy of the bike over the perceived threat of further attacks on the capital's public transport system. In the days after the tube and bus bombings, many London cycle shops reported that they'd been stripped of stocks of town bikes, folders and hybrids, as people turned to the bike, in the most tragic of circumstances.
So, perhaps it's the carrot of the Olympics, or the big stick of sprially energy costs, depleting energy reserves and plain old economic reality. Perhaps it's the increasing investment in cycling infrastructure and training. Perhaps people are looking for new ways to get fit?
Undoubtedly it's a combination of all of these factors and more. It's nigh on impossible to establish cause and effect when addressing a global shift like this. What's interesting is that a combination of local, national and global factors really do seem to be resulting in a modal shift. An here at Everyday Cycling, we think this is a genuine GOOD THING.
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