Bike sales in decline

[SkipdiverJohn]

Your points are all valid and there are definitely great deals, at all levels, out there in the second hand market. You can’t really count those as new bike sales though tbh.

If there's an abundance of secondhand anything in a market at very attractive prices, then a lot of potential new buyers will opt for used examples instead. I would not dream of buying a brand new car purely because of the depreciation, I'd get one maybe 2 years old at little over half the list price of new.
If there was a shortage of used bikes around, used values would rise closer to new prices, therefore more buyers would bite the bullet and buy new, often for warranty reasons etc. The enthusiast market is driven by an aspiration to own a particular make/model and they will pay for it. The mass transportation market is driven by cost and ready availability. A lot of station commuters or pub-goers couldn't care less what make, model, colour etc of bike they have, so long as it's cheap and it gets them from A to B. The enthusiast market is tiny in relation to the market for get to work hacks.

 

[Johnno260]

When people refer to buying a second winter bike, then we are well and truly into the realms of Want!

No offence meant @Johnno260 btw. It’s your cash to spend exactly how you like it.

ahh sorry meant a 2nd bike not a 2nd winter bike.

I have only the one currently.

I asked for mudguards for Xmas my wife’s face was funny.

 

[bpsmith]

ahh sorry meant a 2nd bike not a 2nd winter bike.

I have only the one currently.

I asked for mudguards for Xmas my wife’s face was funny.

As I said, wasn’t having a go, although the second winter bike idea is funny nonetheless.

 

[NorthernDave]

I'm in the process of buying a new bike on C2W and both Evans and Halfords have managed to do themselves out of a sale through their attitude, so although it makes the process slightly more complex I'll be buying elsewhere (from an actual shop).

It's a wonder that Evans ever sell anything as with one exception they've either been spectacularly uninterested or gone out of their way to be awkward whenever I've darkened their doors. My local Halfords store continue to be excellent, but C2W sales on non-stock bikes are handled by a Head Office team who first ignored my email, then denied getting it (despite me getting a holding email advising someone would be in touch within 24 hours), and then simply wouldn't listen to what I wanted but stuck parrot like to their sales script.

I can well see why a less determined person might have simply though "sod it" and not bothered rather than sticking with it.

On a happier note, there are six of the team I work with who've bought bikes in the last few years and 4 of us are still cycling regularly - and I'll be the third of those four to buy a new bike in the last three months, so we're doing our bit.

 

[Nebulous]

I'm fairly frugal with my money, which has meant over the years it has gone a long way.

I've always had a bike, taken bikes on holiday, done stuff with the children - but we would have considered 12-16 miles with a picnic in the middle a long ride. My bike wouldn't have been out more than 10-15 times a year. We would have all had cheapish mountain bikes, not very well looked after. The main reason for that is - from the 80s on most people were led down a route where bikes were not for the road. We used forest tracks, old railway lines and canal footpaths, often using a car to get the bikes there. I was happy enough to venture onto the road, but would have been very reluctant to let my children do the same. I think that experience would be much more typical of the general poulation, though not typical of most of the people who post on here.

Move on to 2010 when I took up cycling seriously and I still haven't adjusted to the prices. I don't spend that kind of money anywhere else, and although I have relaxed the purse strings a bit it still doesn't compute. I now have two £2000 bikes, but didn't personally pay that for either of them. The driver who knocked me off, wrecked my Edinburgh bike tourer and broke my fingers paid for my Tarmac for instance.

Brexit hasn't happened yet of course - all we are seeing is the drop in the £ as a result of loss of confidence in the markets. Austerity is also playing a role. A decade of 1% payrises for public sector workers has reduced the ability to buy things. Combine that with increased housing costs and huge levels of indebtedness and something has to give.

That's a bit of a ramble, through several different topics that are all connected as far as I am concerned.

A belief that a bike should be no more than £250, the road becoming a forbidden zone, the relentless increase in costs until a bike costs as much as some cars, combined with people having less money, have all come together in a perfect storm which will hit the consumer market pretty hard.

 

[mustang1]

A couple of bike shop owners I've spoken to in York and Sunderland agree with you.

Brad and our world beating track cyclists caused a useful spike in sales for a couple of years.

Cycle to Work, for all its faults, continues to shift bikes, and those sales tend to be from bricks and mortar shops.

Ebike sales are growing, but nowhere near fast enough to make up for the decline in push bike sales.

The manager of the shop in Sunderland said very few of the cycling boom customers have stuck around, most of the shop's current sales are from people who have been using the shop on and off for many years.

I guess when prices of e-bikes comes down then it'll start pushing up the sales. Just need to reach that price point for the kick off to start?

 

[mustang1]

Could be partly due to the millions of barely used bikes available secondhand from people who didnt stick with it.

It would be interesting to find out what makes someone buy an expensive bike then quickly stop riding it.

I would hazard a guess that dangerous car driving would be high on the list but think the wave of anti cyclist trash in the gutter media could be responsible for quite a few .

Of course the good old British weather can be discouraging .

Fashion.

 

[snorri]

The big increase in cycling in recent years is a lot due to people taking up commuting,

The big increase you refer to is localised, there hasn't been a national increase, numbers are falling.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/cycling-rates-fall-despite-government-aim-1-4242524

 

[mustang1]

If someone made a BMW bike then people will buy them by the dozen, and gladly pay extra to have it with a chain fitted.

I think that's why spesh brought out s-works as a brand. But the price is so still too high?

 

[tyred]

I know of not one newbie who desires a 3 speed with mudguards..

Probably because that's not what fashion dictates any more yet it is desirable for a utility bike.

 

[mustang1]

Price rises will be having an effect.

I looked at a Specialised Sequoia Elite at the end of 2015 @ £1250.

Went up to £1500 last year and is now £1850.

Weak pound playing its part.

In 2006, a langster cost £350. Today it costs £600. In 2006, an Allez cost £500 with Sora/tiagra/tektro mix. Today it's £900.

Almost double price in 10 years. It's nuts.

 

[mustang1]

[QUOTE 5034539, member: 9609"]I tend to think sales of about everything is falling, UK has some mega readjustments to make over the next few years and with consumer debt at near record levels we're not well placed to meet the challenges ahead. Im predicting disastrous retail sales figures this xmas as the country finally wakes up to the storm on the horizon and starts to baton down the hatches. So I don't think it is a specific 'bike' thing.[/QUOTE]

I think the opposite. It will be another cracking Xmas for retail sales plus post Xmas sales.

 

[screenman]

In 2006, a langster cost £350. Today it costs £600. In 2006, an Allez cost £500 with Sora/tiagra/tektro mix. Today it's £900.

Almost double price in 10 years. It's nuts.

To you it may be, to many others £900 is not a lot to spend on a bike.

 

[Banjo]

To you it may be, to many others £900 is not a lot to spend on a bike.

Wether you consider it a lot of money or not is irrellevant.The point made was that its a huge price rise.

 

[screenman]

Wether you consider it a lot of money or not is irrellevant.The point made was that its a huge price rise.

Maybe they were too cheap before. Must admit unlike you I have no idea of what bikes cost 6 years ago, so if I was in the market for one it would not be a consideration.