While the U.S. cycling industry’s unprecedented growth in the earlier months the COVID-19 pandemic was primarily driven by sales of family-friendly, adult lifestyle and children’s bicycles, the 63 percent year-over-year growth for bike sales in June primarily stemmed from higher-end bikes purchased by cycling enthusiasts which included road, gravel, full-suspension mountain bikes, and e-bikes, according to the NPD Group.
NPD’s data also concluded that sales of bikes with average selling prices above $1,000 experienced impressive growth in June 2020 compared to the same month last year. Full suspension mountain bikes were up 92 percent in dollars, gravel bikes grew 144 percent, sport performance road bikes gained 87 percent, and e-bikes jumped 90 percent.
The growth in children’s, lifestyle and transit/fitness bikes slowed compared to April and May 2020 rates likely as a result of lowered inventories at retail. Although June growth for the categories was lower than that of the performance categories, they showed significant average sales price increases. June average selling prices were up 20 percent compared to the same period last year for lifestyle bikes, up 33 percent for transit/fitness and up 13 percent for children’s bikes.
“The growth of these performance-based segments is likely a result of a few factors. Consumers of these more expensive bikes may have delayed purchases in the early months of the crisis, creating pent-up demand for these categories. Additionally, with a continuation of working from home for many, and as gyms and health clubs are unable to reopen in many states, consumers may be more willing to invest in higher-priced, performance-oriented bikes as a fitness option for the long haul,” said Dirk Sorenson, sports industry analyst for NPD.
