Bike sales in decline

[Drago]

I absolutely hate that term. There is no such thing as an "Entry level bike", only in the minds of the immature teenage scribblers who pass for cycling magazine journalists these days. I've seen bikes that pro riders would have sold their souls for just two decades ago described in that way, bikes from reputable manufacturers with good quality components that would last for years.

I'm willing to bet many people are put off because they are needlessly embarrassed about the perfectly good bike they have bought because it is all they can afford, particularly as there seems to be a nasty breed of cyclist about now who openly sneer at those they consider to have inferior equipment.

Indeed. Its easy for bike journos to describe machines as "entry level" because they aren't paying for them.

 

[Levo-Lon]

I haven't read all the thread but as with most things its " A fashion " and has just had a very popular bit of must try this frenzy.
Cycling got all the tdf hype and a bit of get fit bla bla..
Lots of crap cheap bikes suddenly get bought and end up thrown in the corner of the garden or nicked.
The price of bike has got totally ridiculous..

But all things considered its only leveling out and our love of the internet has killed many businesses including bike shops.
You cant have it all ways. I love going into a shop and buying a new bike ,but everything else is on line as i just cant pay shop prices on bits and bobs

 

[jefmcg]

I wonder if bike sales are falling in relation to other goods. Are we buying less stuff in general , including bikes?

...

Cars sales are dropping too. Let's not overreact.

And by about the same amount. 11% (bikes) vs 9% (cars).

 

[snorri]

Could the terrible weather have anything to do with it?

Or could it be the cost of weatherproof clothing?

 

[PaulSB]

I don’t pretend to know the answer but suggest the thread highlights the importance of supporting your LBS.

I have five bikes, all too precious to dispose of which is why I have them, all from the same LBS. I’d love to buy more for the sheer joy of ownership - I just love it. With a hybrid, winter, summer, tourer and one other rarely ridden I can’t justify more.

At 63 and retired my next purchase, some way off I hope, will be an ebike.

If bike sales are declining, and I’m not convinced, we should all support the LBS for sundries. I won’t criticise internet purchases but I would never use them if my LBS stocks it. Loyalty brings its’ rewards; I get a minimum 10% discount, free tweaks, advice and coffee by the bucket load and recently was given a £160 saddle.

Value is not simply the price you pay. Support the LBS, use it or lose it.

 

[screenman]

Business overheads are way to high for many shops and small businesses.

 

[Roadhump]

I don’t pretend to know the answer but suggest the thread highlights the importance of supporting your LBS.

I have five bikes, all too precious to dispose of which is why I have them, all from the same LBS. I’d love to buy more for the sheer joy of ownership - I just love it. With a hybrid, winter, summer, tourer and one other rarely ridden I can’t justify more.

At 63 and retired my next purchase, some way off I hope, will be an ebike.

If bike sales are declining, and I’m not convinced, we should all support the LBS for sundries. I won’t criticise internet purchases but I would never use them if my LBS stocks it. Loyalty brings its’ rewards; I get a minimum 10% discount, free tweaks, advice and coffee by the bucket load and recently was given a £160 saddle.

Value is not simply the price you pay. Support the LBS, use it or lose it.

That is very laudable, and a principle I would like to follow myself, but cycling isn't a cheap pastime, even if you don't go for expensive gear, and on a tight budget, I find I have to put loyalty to my pocket before loyalty to the small local business. It's quite sad really, but IME internet shopping usually reveals far more bargains than real shops. Added to that, you have the likes of Halfords providing 10% discount for Cycling UK members (although following the CC thread a few days ago showing their customers' support for cyclists being compelled to display number plates, I will be giving them a miss from now on).

A simple example is the other day I saw a CC thread about tyres and asked about Gatorskins, I had seen them in Halfords at £27.99 a piece, so with the 10% discount I could have got 2 for just over 50 quid but someone pointed me in the direction of Ribble where they were available at £36.99 for 2. I looked in the LBS later and found them at the same price as Halfords, so would have gone there, but going to Ribble saved me £21 - at least Ribble is an independent business producing bikes and cycling gear, but its scale and method of operation enables it to outdo the LBS, which is the point I am trying to make.

 

[Sharky]

If someone made a BMW bike then people will buy them by the dozen, and gladly pay extra to have it with a chain fitted.

http://www.bmw.co.uk/en_GB/topics/ownership/accessories/bicycles.html

 

[400bhp]

Business overheads are way to high for many shops and small businesses.

....when selling products with low margins...

 

[screenman]

....when selling products with low margins...

Even with higher margins of you are not selling many. A good customer told me that the family owned main agent they run lost £15000 last month.

 

[Aravis]

I can't find any detailed year on year figures or graphs for UK bike sales, but it does seem that the drop being reported is to a certain extent a correction following increases in previous years. That doesn't make life easy for a retailer trying to steer a sound financial course - they have my sympathy.

By my mid teens - 1975 or thereabouts - it was evident I'd be a lifelong cyclist. It would be nice to think that people like me are the lifeblood of the industry. Well, I've bought four new bikes, in 1979, 1985, 1990 and 2005. Between 1985 and 1991 I was a relatively enthusiastic fashion-follower. Nowadays I cycle on a shoestring, so to speak, and I get a lot of pleasure from doing it that way. So, based on this sample of one, how valuable is the genuine cycling enthusiast to the industry? Roughly equivalent to a handful of chance sales to people who'd like to give it a try.

In a shop not far away there's a gorgeous blue Ridgeback Voyage 2015 - new old stock - which seems to be undamaged in storage. I'm wavering. It could make sense, but I'd want a substantial discount, which if granted would presumably be made in the hope that I'd be a profitable purchaser of parts in the future - unlikely to be realised. So I still wouldn't be helping that much.

 

[bpsmith]

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there @Aravis. Because some people have cycled for 30 or 40 years, it doesn’t mean that they have been more valuable to the industry in keeping Bike sales alive.

There are some ‘new cyclists’ who have spent more money on bikes in a relatively short time in comparison.

On the flip side, you might well have been responsible for others getting into cycling and so created sales, albeit from someone else’s pocket.

My point is that every single rider is as valuable as the next, whether new to the sport having been seduced by the fashionable TdF, or a seasoned life long cyclist who started many years ago...having watched the TdF.

(It sounds like just a matter of time for that lucky Ridgeback to escape the confines of the shop and enjoy its future in your ownership.)

 

[vickster]

Must be, I've not bought a bike this year...yet

 

[400bhp]

Even with higher margins of you are not selling many. .

Well of course.

 

[Smokin Joe]

'Entry level' is pretty simple to understand. and used for 1000's of different products without issue. I don't understand what causes you to have problems with it ?

Because the implication is that "Entry level" is something only suitable for rookies and if you want to be taken seriously you need to be looking for something better in the near future. And it's bollocks whether it applies to cameras, Hi-Fi or any other piece of kit.