A recently released report shows that while adult bicycle ownership increased by 648,000 people, or 2.6 percent from 2012 to 2014 in the United States, cyclists cut their visits to bike shops and intent to buy bikes dramatically during the period. While that may reflect that enthusiasts had sated their appetite for new bikes in 2012, the report also shows steep drops in how much and how often enthusiasts are riding.
Enthusiasts, the mainstay of independent bicycle dealers (IBDs), cut back their visits sharply, according to The American Adult Bicycling Segments 2014 Report, which was released in late October by Gluskin Townley Group, LLC.
The report shows 26 percent of adult bike enthusiasts surveyed in February, 2014 said they had not visited a bike shop in the prior 12 months, compared with just 2 percent who responded that way a year earlier. Conversely, 74 percent of enthusiasts said they had visited a shop at least once in 2013, down from 98 percent in 2011.
“What is troubling is that the share of Enthusiasts that did not visit a bike shop increased by a magnitude of ten over this period causing a loss of 610,000 bike shop customers,” notes the 104-page study.
Moreover, among enthusiasts who did visit a shop during 2013, the average number of visits dropped to 5.3 compared with 7.4 visits in 2011. Taking into account population growth, that translates to 25.7 million visits in 2013, down 10.5 million, or 41 percent, from two years earlier.
In addition to Enthusiasts, who represent about 15 percent of adult bicycle owners, the study breaks out responses for three other segments. They are: Moving Up, which comprises nearly 17 percent of owners; Casuals, who make up 25 percent; and Infrequents who make up the remaining 49 percent. To participate, respondents had to be at least 18 years of age. Each segment is defined by the number of miles ridden in warm weather months, the amount spent on their last bicycle purchased and the number of vists to a bike shop in the prior 12 months.
Among the Moving Up segment, the percentage of those visiting a bike shop at least once in 2013 remained relatively constant from 2011 to 2013. However, the growth of this segments population during that time resulted in a net gain of 701,000 bike shop consumers. Both Casuals and Infrequents saw declines in both population size as well as the percent who made any bike shop visits resulting in a combined loss of almost 2.2 million bike shop customers.
The survey also found that adult Enthusiasts rode an average of 141.0 miles in warm-weather months in 2014, down a astounding 39 percent from 2012, when respondents reported riding an average of 230.8 miles.
Moving Ups and Casuals reduced significantly the miles they ride on average during a warm weather month and Infrequent adult bicyclists while low mileage to begin with, increased the average number of miles they ride in a warm weather month.
The report also found that the average amount spent on recent new bicycles by all adult bicycle owners declined almost five percent from $420 in 2012 to $400 in 2014 before adjusting for inflation. Moving Ups spent $276, down $96 from 2012, while Casuals reduced their spending by $131 to $276 and Infrequents dropped their spending $64 to $135. Happily for IBDs, Enthusiasts increased their spending before adjusting for inflation on new bicycles by almost 10 percent to $1,231 in 2014 compared to $1,124 in 2012.
Only 19 percent of adult Enthusiasts said they planned to buy a new bike in 2014 compared with 74 percent in 2012. That cut that market in half to about 1.31 Enthusiasts. Over the past two years, the percentage of adult bicycle owners planning to purchase a new bike declined from 51 percent to 19 percent, representing the loss of nearly 8 million potential sales.
For a full copy of the report, which breaks out income, education, bike ownership, frequency and type of participation, spending, shopping and other traits for each segment, age group, gender and race, visit GuskinTowleyGroup.com.
