After two good sales years in 2011 and 2012, the poor spring weather put pressure on new bike sales figures in 2013: A total of 330,313 new bikes were sold, 5.3% fewer than in the previous year. Mountain bikes with a 29" wheel size were in high demand, while sales of electric bikes fell by 6.7% to the 2011 level.

The bad weather months of March to June 2013 did not bode well for the 2013 cycling year. Fewer days of sunshine and an abundance of wet and cold weeks depressed consumers' desire to buy, and a double-digit percentage drop in unit sales for the entire 2013 bike sales year seemed inevitable. The beautiful summer and fall months from July to October then massively stimulated demand, but were no longer able to make up for the decline in sales in the first half of the year. In the end, this resulted in a drop of 5.3%, practically the same as in the motorcycle and scooter sector.

Mountain bikes and racing bikes on course
Although 2.2% fewer new mountain bikes were sold overall, this off-road category showed its potential: 23,479 of the bikes with 29" wheel sizes available since 2012 were sold, almost twice as many compared to the previous year. Over 16,000 road bikes were sold in 2013, almost as many as in 2012. Most road bikes are not bought spontaneously, but are ordered before the season. The weather therefore has less influence on the purchase/sale of these bikes than other bike categories.

City bikes doing well
The decline in city bikes was limited at 1.4%. According to industry experts, significantly more city/everyday bikes could have been sold if the weather had been better in the spring. Sales of almost 95,000 of these bikes with full equipment (lights, chain guard, luggage rack, etc.) demonstrate the potential of this bike category. Surprisingly, 20,249 junior city bikes with 20-24 inch wheels were sold, 14.6% more than in the previous year. Whether this can be seen as the start of a new youth bike trend, 2014 will show.

Electric bikes: 25 km/h models on the brakes, 45 km/h models on the rise
49,362 new e-bikes sold show that the concept of e-drive in combination with pedal power enjoys a high level of acceptance. One in seven bikes sold in Switzerland is an e-bike. Although the number of units sold in 2013 was 6.7% lower than the peak figure of almost 53,000 in 2012, it still indicates a high demand for this type of bike. There are currently around 230,000 e-bikes on Swiss roads, and in ten years there will be over 500,000. Interesting fact: 15,153 e-bikes in the category up to 45 km/h were sold (up 7.7%), i.e. every third e-bike was in the "fast" category.

Forecast for 2014: positive signals for the bike industry
There is a good chance that the weather will be kind in spring 2014 and that the bicycle industry will be in a better position than in 2013. In addition, the current high level of consumer spending, the importance of bicycles in the leisure sector and the ever-increasing traffic density in cities and conurbations speak for the bicycle. The best conditions for a good cycling year in 2014...

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Source text and illustration: Press release Swiss Bicycle Office

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