Of the well over 800,000 people who bike regularly, a good 600,000 remain. That’s according to the “Sport Schweiz” study, which has been conducted every four to six years since 2000 and tracks people’s sports habits. Is this a setback? Is something going wrong on the Swiss trails? Or is it actually a positive sign—after all, the drop simply reflects the number of people who took up mountain biking during the two years of the pandemic.

How was this number arrived at?

The “Sport Schweiz” study is conducted by the Swiss Sports Observatory on behalf of the Federal Office of Sport. Some of the respondents provided their answers in telephone interviews, while others filled out online questionnaires. The study’s authors note that those who completed the survey on a mobile device listed fewer different sports on average than those who provided information over the phone or on a computer. This discrepancy could therefore be due, at least in part, to the fact that some respondents found it too tedious to click on yet another sport. Nevertheless, given the scope of this study—which has been repeated for such a long time—it’s safe to assume that the results provide at least a rough picture of reality.

What arguments are there against this?

The large number of gravel riders and the comeback of road bikes are impossible to overlook. Nevertheless, in recent years, no one in the Ride community has reported unusually empty trails. Martin Platter of Velosuisse points out that traffic counters tracking bicycles have recorded an increase in bicycle trips. At least as an everyday mode of transportation, bicycle use seems to be on the rise. That may be true, but it says nothing about the number of mountain bikers in Switzerland. And the idea that the Federal Office of Sport is incapable of conducting a representative study and has instead been using incorrect figures for years is also hardly plausible.

Is less a bad thing?

In the comment sections, there are some who are happy that fewer people are out on the trails again. That sounds like a relief and suggests, “Now we real bikers are back among ourselves.” For all those who want to make money from mountain bikes and MTB offerings, a shrinking target audience isn’t good news.

Back to where we were before COVID—so what?

The 200,000-plus were added during the pandemic. We don’t know whether these 200,000 are the ones who’ve put their bikes away or others who’ve turned their backs on the sport. The study only indicates what percentage of respondents listed mountain biking as a sport they practice regularly. A return to normalcy doesn’t sound like a disaster. For providers, however, it’s still a challenge. The entire bicycle industry is struggling with the hangover after the COVID-19 party, and the shrinking MTB community is part of that. You could also view that lost quarter as a missed opportunity. 

One thing is clear: people are gone, and the industry has to work with the customers it has. The dream sales figures from the early 2020s won’t be returning anytime soon.

Where did the 200,000 go?

What’s striking is that, among the top 20 sports, almost all have lost followers; some haven’t gained any; and only two—strength training and yoga—have seen an increase. But not by as many people as the others have lost. Above all, it’s simply the case that the study’s respondents—about 15,000 people aged 15 and older—list fewer sports that they practice regularly than they did four years ago. Some speculate that many have switched to gravel biking. While that’s true, based solely on the number of gravel bikes sold in Switzerland—a good 100,000 since 2019—it can’t be that many; all the more so because many continue to ride mountain bikes even though they’ve discovered gravel riding in recent years.

Do fewer cyclists mean fewer conflicts?

All the projects initiated in recent years—the roundtables and mountain biking plans—do not suggest that there have been fewer discussions about where cyclists are welcome and where they are not. At least in terms of public perception, neither the pressure on trail use nor the volume of conflicts has decreased. Yet the discussion and the search for solutions have been ongoing in many places for much longer; the Bicycle Paths Act, mandated by voters at the ballot box in 2018, has made bike networks mandatory in every canton. An additional 200,000 cyclists make little difference in this regard. 

Where are the bikes?

A less pressing question. But if so many people who were regularly riding mountain bikes just four years ago are no longer doing so, then either an enormous number of bikes must have ended up on the secondhand market, or there really are that many bikes sitting around somewhere.