The Gluskin Townley Group released a new research report indicating that two core target markets for new bicycles may be shifting their dollars toward the used bicycle market in response to rapidly rising prices.

 

“This report has showcased used bicycles as a $2.4 billion market with 7.5 million owners and this level of activity has, we believe been impacting the sales performance of new bicycles.  It also calls into question the accuracy of sales forecasting done by the supply side and the true U.S. bicycle market size,” said Elliot Gluskin, managing partner of the Gluskin Townley Group in announcing this new research report.

 


Used bicycles have been around for decades but this is the first research report that identifies the market size, spending power, and demographics of the used bicycle owner.


 


“The findings from this report detail two important markers for change. One is that Enthusiasts and Moving Ups, the two cycling segments considered the core customers of specialty bicycle retailers, are responsible for the majority of planned spending on used bicycles – moving away from the higher priced new bicycles.


 


“The second finding is the average price paid for recent used bicycles fits right into a recent blog by the NBDA about bike shops offering used bicycles at prices that won’t scare potential customers away with sticker shock.


 


“We call on the supply side to use this report as a first step to understanding this significant subset of the U.S. bicycle market. For bike shops, this report can help retailers act quickly and strategically to capture some of this market activity which can result in healthier retailers serving a growing and currently underserved market.” Gluskin concluded.