U.S. E-bike Sales Increase 240%

According to US media reports, as of July 2021, the sales growth rate of electric bicycles was 240%.

Despite taking into account the abnormal trading conditions from 2020 to 2021, this amazing acceleration far exceeds the growth of general-purpose bicycle equipment, which has only led by 15% in the past year.

NPD’s Dirk Sorenson made this clear when he began to evaluate the data. He wrote: “I see people making a lot of comparisons to 2020 when the pandemic started. They mistakenly interpreted this slowdown as a signal of economic slowdown. Interest in cycling. The reality is that the revenue growth of bicycle equipment between 2019 and 2020 is huge, and to maintain these levels, it needs to expand Demand and supply are impossible. I think the continued growth of cycling is a strong sign that the industry is expected to achieve long-term healthy development."

Sales of electric bicycles are not always very popular, but in terms of value, it has developed into the third largest category in the United States and now surpasses road bicycles. Road cycling has not slowed down either. Revenues as of July increased by 41%, although this again lags behind trends such as gravel cycling. Compared to two years ago, its revenue increased by 109%. On further roads, mountain bike sales are 70% higher than in 2019.

In the past 24 months, the sales of children's bicycles have also benefited from the "boom", with an increase of 57%, but some areas are lagging behind. In fact, the sales of 12-inch children's bicycles have fallen by 6% compared with 2020.

The value of the entire bicycle equipment (excluding electric bicycles) to the US economy is US$8.5 billion, of which bicycles account for US$5.3 billion (an increase of 65% in two years). Accessories reached US$903 million, an increase of 36%, while parts reached US$1.1 billion, an increase of 31%. Soft goods and helmets are valued at US$445 million, an increase of 20% over 2019.

In a further evaluation of the retail sector, Sorenson outlined that consumers are increasingly looking to blur the boundaries of what they can get from a bicycle. Many consumers are bored with bicycles designed for single use, he wrote, alluding to the performance of the gravel, utility and mountain bike segments.

Like other industries, the bicycle industry will be in trouble in the short term because the battle for supply is going on fiercely as consumer demand increases. Industry leaders have recently more publicly explained the shortages that have existed and will continue to exist for most of this year, which has been greatly exacerbated by other factors such as transportation backlogs.