The bike industry continues to suffer from weak demand and discounting, while increased spending on repairs and servicing suggests riders are keeping their bikes for longer. TAGS: Top Story
Expensive mountain bike sales – those purchased by enthusiasts – grew in 2024 according to the UK’s Bicycle Association, which looks after the interests of the British bike industry. This welcome increase in sales is one of the few highlights in a report that makes for gloomy reading if you stand on the other side of the counter, with mechanical bike volumes down 4% and e-bike sales down a surprising 5%. Compounding the bad news for LBDs is the climate of price cuts. The BA says that e-bike average selling prices are ‘plummeting amid particularly heavy discounting’, leaving margins slashed on the few bikes actually being sold. High-end retailers with a loyal, enthusiastic customer base, have seen glimmers of hope but business remains tough. The worst performance in 25 years
Across the whole market, BA estimates that this is the worst state the industry has been in for 25 years, with around 1.45m units sold. E-bikes represented an estimated 9% of total sales, or just 145,000 units. Contrast that with Germany, where the e-bike market was 53% of total volume in 2024, and over 2m e-bikes were sold. Repairs and servicing has grown, but at the expense of new bike sales. Repairs and servicing were the main areas keeping bike shops afloat in 2024, with growth in volume of 7% […]
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