The Bicycle Association (BA), the national trade association for the U.K. cycling industry, published its annual mid-year report for 2023, which found that the first half of 2023 had further deteriorated in a market that hit a 20-year low in 2022 for mechanical bike sales.

While the early summer saw an improvement to the underlying trend after a tough start to the year, BA’s head of insights, John Worthington, detailed the factors culminating in continued inventory surplus challenges in the U.K. at mid-year.

  • Mechanical bike unit sales in the first half of 2023 were nearly one-third down from the comparable period in 2019;
  • E-MTBs were the only sub-category in the e-bike category that was up on the comp period in 2022, pointing to struggles in the urban e-mobility field;
  • The U.K. cycling market is projected to be worth £1.57 billion for the full year 2023, compared to £1.55 billion in 2019;
  • Within the PAC category, apparel was hard hit, down 15 percent in value in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year, but technology endured the strongest headwinds, languishing 34 percent down in the first half of 2022; and
  • U.K. e-bike sales fell further behind Europe, with volumes declining and the gap to its neighbors in adopting these products increasing.

BA said in its report, based on Market Data Service (MDS) sales data covering over 70 percent of the country’s cycle revenues, also drew on other data sources and qualitative input from industry leaders within BA membership. 

Worthington has five years’ experience reporting on the cycling market and over 15 years of experience as an analyst across more comprehensive consumer travel, tourism and other leisure markets.

The BA report provides a granular analysis of the cycling sector’s challenges, with the total market value down 8 percent in the first half of 2023 versus 2022. The fall in the volume of cycle sales impacted mechanical and electric bikes, down 8 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

While the first half of the BA report covers the full range of the cycle industry, the second part of the report includes a focus on the U.K. e-bike market with a concluding section on key drivers shaping the industry, including bike supply trends, cycling activity levels, weather, macroeconomic factors, cycle2work sales and second-hand bicycle sales.

“This report shows that the U.K. e-bike market offers significant growth prospects but continues to lag behind much of Europe,” said David Middlemiss, associate director at the BA. “A core objective of the Bicycle Association is to work with the industry and government to position e-bikes as a key part of the U.K.’s electric transport future and the drive for net zero. E-bikes form the first of three key themes at the heart of the BA’s new Cycle Industry Growth Plan, now approaching the end of a hugely successful consultation period.”

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