In 2017, 338,000 bicycles and pedelecs (excluding children's play bikes) were sold in Switzerland, according to the Swiss Bicycle and E-Bike Association (SFVE). This is 4.2 percent more than in the previous year. With just under 90,000 vehicles, e-bikes set a new sales record. The increase amounted to 16.3 percent.

Because of the beautiful and warm weather in spring, 2017 was already shaping up to be a good year for bikes. The figures from the industry association velosuisse, which were collected from domestic importers, wholesalers and specialist stores, are now available. They show a total of around 338,000 bicycles and e-bikes sold. This represents a significant increase of 4.2 percent compared to the previous year, which was not so good from a meteorological point of view.

The big winner is once again the e-bike, which had already achieved a whopping 14.1% increase in sales from 2015 to 2016. This time, the increase is even 16.3 percent. This corresponds to a new sales record of just under 90,000 units. In other words: every fourth bike sold in Switzerland already has an electric add-on drive - and the trend is rising.E-mountainbikes remain the high-flyers, increasing by more than a third for the second year in a row to just under 29,000 units (+38.3%). Electric motors are apparently also helping to boost the niche markets. Around 400 cargo bikes were sold to men and women in the previous year.Sales of pure muscle bikes in the sports segment (without lights, mudguards and luggage racks) rose by three percent for the first time after several years of decline. This growth is mainly attributable to children's and youth bikes in the 20- to 24-inch wheel sizes, including freestyle bikes, sales of which rose significantly by 22.7 percent. In the mountain bike segment, the two model groups with 26-inch and 27.5-inch wheels lost some ground (-7% and -2.3% respectively). Bikes with 29-inch wheels, on the other hand, increased slightly (+3.9%). Sales of racing bikes remained stable, whereas sales of cross bikes fell slightly (-2.1%). On the other hand, it is encouraging that safer disc brakes are also becoming increasingly popular in the road bike sector. Almost 30% of new racing bikes no longer brake on the rim.The leisure and everyday segment (with lights, mudguards and pannier rack) is feeling the effects of the e-bike boom in different ways. The growth in city bikes with 28-inch wheels (+14.7%) could not compensate for the decline in city bikes with 26-inch wheels (-33%) and junior 20 to 24-inch wheels (-35.7%). Sales of special bikes (tandems, cargo bikes, etc.) also fell significantly (-20.4%).