Cycling is falling dramatically overall though, the annual overall bike imports declining from 4 millions in 2010 to just 2.5millions recently, and still falling.
E-bikes are nowhere near that 1.5 millions a year difference, ranging in fact from 25,000 to perhaps near 50,000 per annum during that period.
So the 1.5 millions reduction in ordinary bike buying is close to the truth, and it doesn't surprise me.
I've raised before the long term ill effects of parents not allowing children to ride bikes, the obsessive protection of kids since around the late 1980s and fear of traffic responsible.
Those who have never learnt to ride a bike when young are rarely likely to try later, and they form a very high proportion of those up to 40 years old. They are happy driving their cars, in which they mostly regard cyclists as a nuisance, so are hardly inclined to join their ranks very often.
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