2020 HIGHLIGHTS
UK market value reached £2.31bn, +45% YoY, in an exceptional year for cycling driven by the pandemic.
The Government’s fix your bike voucher scheme launched at the end of July helped drive demand for repair work over 60% YoY.
Mechanical bikes sales surpassed £1bn for first time in history as people turned to cycling during lockdown with every bike category selling strongly in every price bracket.
PACs benefitted from sales linked to new bikes, the revival of dormant bikes needing new parts and accessories and a boost given to indoor cycling due to gyms being closed and races cancelled.
All cycling market categories saw double digit growth with E-bikes reaching an estimated 160k units, a valueincrease of 96%.
E-scooters saw similar numbers sold and YoY growth to E-bikes in spite of continued legal restrictions around their use on roads.
Supply chains were unable to meet the surge in demand with many retailers believing they could have sold double if stocks had been sufficient.
Lockdowns flipped the in online
vs instore sales mix 40/60 to 60/40.
Size of UK cycling industry
bikes
every ten seconds
sold in the same year
Clear Industry Voice
The Bicycle Association works to ensure the cycling industry has a voice at the highest political level, ensuring member business interests are represented.
The Future
is Electric
The BA predicts that the electric bike market with triple in the next three years. The range of e-bikes continues to expand as the notion of e-bikes as heavy and cumbersome is dispelled. Alongside this, the opportunities for e-cargo transport continue to grow.
The BA works to ensure that the benefits of e-bikes and e-cargo are recognised at all levels of Government. Since 2008, van mileage has increased by a fifth, and vans now make up about 15% of traffic and cause over 30% of NOx and particulate emissions. Electrically-assisted cargo bikes offer a solution to the van problem. They take up less road space, are zero-emission, and are less intrusive than vans in city centres.
Fully Charged: The BA helped Government to administer the eCargoBike Grant scheme, a £2 million fund available to support organisations with the purchase of eCargo bikes for business use.
Bike Shops Essential
and Open
In the lead up to the first lockdown in March 2020, the bicycle industry was understandably nervous. People had been urged to stay at home, work from home, and travel only in emergencies or to get groceries. The list of ‘non-essential’ retailers that had to close was long. Thanks to BA advocacy to key decision-makers, bike shops weren’t on that list. The BA lobbied the Governments in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to ensure that the value and essential nature of bike shops was recognised. Bicycle retailers were deemed essential and allowed to stay open, to sell, service and repair bikes.
“I agree that cycle shops provide an essential service and, as in the first lockdown period, I will do my utmost to ensure that they can stay open in the advent of any future lockdown.”
for Transport
Bikeability
Knowing that the path to a lifetime of cycling enjoyment begins in childhood, the BA played a prominent role in lobbying Government to extend funding for Bikeability training to all children. Our research shows that if children don’t learn to ride by age 11, they probably never will. In April 2021 the Department for Transport committed to fully funding Bikeability by 2025, which will allow every child in England to learn to ride their bikes safely and well.