FEATURE
PHOTO BY GONZALO FACELLO ON UNSPLASH
these naturally rise and fall. I mentioned BMX, so I’ll also mention skateboarding. Massive peak. Massive fall. A hardcore few. Everyone else on the hype train. Some for longer than others. Most finding the next new thing as the hype cools. Lifestyle clothing (board sports) knows this intimately.
Influence and inspiration from active lifestyle friends and sporting neighbours In an adjacent sports and lifestyle world, we see this with CrossFit (almost 50/50 women and men), which had a decade-long peak. Now, Hyrox (almost 50/50 women and men) is acquiring many of those CrossFit participants, as well as creating many of its own new participants, by virtue of a significantly more accessible format. And this raises the question: When did we, the cycling industry, last create a significant wave of genuinely new users, fans, and evangelists who stuck around? When did we last introduce people to the bicycle, and take them on a community-led, inclusive, accessible, and encouraging journey that long-term expanded our world? Now ask why, in the past three decades, the number of
women customers in the cycling industry has remained stubbornly around the ‘23% of customer base’ figure, whilst we also continue to present almost no media visibility of either people of colour on bikes, or body types other than those of pro athletes on show, when promoting our cycling world. How does triathlon, which has greater demands on time and equipment (cost, or barrier to entry ), have an almost 50 / 50 women and men participant split?
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Societal trends reshaping the mainstream and recreational sporting landscape Out in the world beyond the cycling bubble, look at the phenomenon that has risen in popular culture and mainstream society - a pivot from ‘skinny’ (fashion models) being the ‘look’ to today’s strong women who gym to lift weights. A 180-degree societal shift. In significant numbers. Take Gymshark, a brand that was there at the start of this phenomenon. For men, it’s all very gym bro, yet for women, a host of body shapes and sizes are visible on the website, with apparel made to support and encourage women who lift. Fashion and fitness, combined radically, to shift societal ideals around shape, size, and what’s considered mainstream attractive. How is the enthusiast-based section of the cycling industry engaging this shift, embracing this opportunity to engage a sports and active audience - active people - adjacent to our own world? When will we make a play for adjacent sports lifestyle
groups who might like to ride a bike, even occasionally, alongside their primary recreational exercise and sports of choice?
Pain and suffering on the bike, and in the work space: Embracing what challenges us and makes us stronger Critically, for the cycling industry, our new reality is to be embraced - the pain to be accepted, the discomfort used to drive learning and motivate adaptation. Going back to some rose-tinted past (a world that never really, as we today recall it, existed) isn’t an option.
December 2025 | 11
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