FEATURE


INTERVIEW


And these kinds of questions feel especially relevant at the moment, with the cost of living crisis heavily impacting what people spend their money on. So what is the state of play for the kids bike market?


Sales drop The Bicycle Association (BA), which has a Market Data Service that captures over 70% of the retail cycling market back to January 2018, defines kids bikes as those sold as balance, kids and BMX. According to its recent data, kids bikes fell 8% in 2023 vs 2022 compared to a comparable 2% drop in adult mechanical bikes. Speaking to BikeBiz, the BA said: “The medium term trend for kids bikes starting to emerge is concerning [see chart] which shows that not only did kids bikes not benefit from the Covid boom in the same way as adult bikes, but are 19% below the pre-Covid level.”


The BA said the trend is most stark at prices below £200 (74% of market volume) where volumes fell sharply compared to the over £200 segment, which actually saw double digit volume growth in 2023 vs 2022. “These trends are perhaps not unsurprising when considering the cost of living crisis and when you read the Sport England Active Lives Children and Young People survey published in December 2023 - which showed the


‘IT MAKES COMPLETE SENSE THAT WE’RE SEEING PARENTS ABANDON OUTDATED PURCHASING HABITS AND SEEKING MORE VALUE-DRIVEN PROPOSITIONS SUCH AS MONTHLY BIKE SUBSCRIPTIONS.’


Adult bike/e-bike and children’s bike volume sales captures by the BA’s Market Data Service, 2018-19 and 4-year average for 2020-23


SOURCE: BICYCLE ASSOCIATION MARKET DATA SERVICE 8 | May 2024 www.bikebiz.com


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