"Huge Rise In E Bike Sales Amazes Again"

[fcurran]

Sales of EBikes in Holland are going through the roof, hopefully these sorts of sales figures will catch on over here!


Bike Europe - News: Huge Rise in e-Bike Sales Amazes Again

 

[Mussels]

That's good. There certainly seems to be a lot of interest from people I talk to and very few negative comments, that includes hardened cyclists who I would expect to turn their noses up at the idea.
The only person who accused me of cheating was riding a motorbike.

 

[flecc]

Ironic that it happens in the flattest country of all, and that is reflected in their choice of models, the highest sales mostly going to the lowest powered and/or poorest hill climbers, Sparta Ion M-gear, Koga Miyata, Giant Twist and Freedom models etc.

E-bkes also appear to sell best in the flatter areas here as well, they are rarely seen in my very hilly area for example, perhaps in part reflecting on the limited hill climbing ability of most of them.
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[pvb123]

This is all directly related to the fantastic infrastructure in The Netherlands and the fact that 90% of the population use the bike weekly...not because it is flat.

 

[flecc]

This is all directly related to the fantastic infrastructure in The Netherlands and the fact that 90% of the population use the bike weekly...not because it is flat.

. How does an infrastructure encourage e-biking when their sales of standard bikes are not increasing in the same way? A good infrastructure should equally encourage those sales, surely.

Also our UK relatively flat area sales of e-bikes are better than in the most hilly areas, and we certainly don't have a good infrastructure.

It's a mystery that still awaits a satisfactory answer.
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[Mussels]

Also our UK relatively flat area sales of e-bikes are better than in the most hilly areas, and we certainly don't have a good infrastructure.

It's a mystery that still awaits a satisfactory answer.
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If I had known how hilly my route to work is I may have never got an ebike. I would never have guessed how much I could manage with it's help and I may well have dismissed the idea before trying one.
If more people tried them then I think sales in hilly areas would go up a fair bit.

 

[flecc]

If I had known how hilly my route to work is I may have never got an ebike. I would never have guessed how much I could manage with it's help and I may well have dismissed the idea before trying one.
If more people tried them then I think sales in hilly areas would go up a fair bit.

Yes, I agree Mussels. The main reason I can think of why e-bike sales are so poor in very hilly areas is that those are the areas that predispose people to dismiss cycling as an option in the first place. Having closed their minds they are perhaps unlikely to open them again to a cycling possibility.

I'm not convinced that's the sole reason though. I know from a local dealer that he's experienced a high rate of people trying out an e-bike but then not pursuing the option. I think that may be because e-bikes in general are not very good at steep hills so they experience disappointment, probably expecting the motor to carry them up the steep hill.
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[pvb123]

. How does an infrastructure encourage e-biking when their sales of standard bikes are not increasing in the same way? A good infrastructure should equally encourage those sales, surely.

Also our UK relatively flat area sales of e-bikes are better than in the most hilly areas, and we certainly don't have a good infrastructure.

It's a mystery that still awaits a satisfactory answer.
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Example: Everyone drives cars (Because the government has put so much money into road infrastructure), then a car comes out with power steering. As people try it, they prefer power steering and then sales of cars with power steering booms.

In The Netherlands, sales of non-electric bikes are slipping as some people convert to E-Bike option. If The Netherlands didn't have the infrastructure do you think E-bike sales would be anywhere where they are now? Because of the infrastructure, The Netherlands has the highest levels of cycle use in the developed world.

If you have 90% of the population using the bike at least once a week, then when a new bike comes along that offers easier cycling (power steering example), then it is not hard to see why E-Bike sales are booming. I also add again, that sales of non-electric city bikes (i.e. cars with non power steering) are going down at the moment as people choose an E-Bike instead. Note at the bottom of the linked article - "BOVAG bike section manager Maurice Manders is cautious in his comments on the bike sales in the first half or the year. He says: “Yes, we are very content with it as the bike sector is still able to grow in turnover. However, we should not forget that important and large segments like city bikes and Trekking are showing a strong decline in sales.”

As far as the UK and flat areas, could it be that in general, places that are flatter tend to have more people on bikes regardless of infrastructure and when people see other people on bikes they think, "Hey I see a few people riding bikes, maybe I'll get on a bike". I am in Australia and this is what I find happens here.

Cheers! Paul.

P.S. My power steering example is a bit basic but you get the idea hopefully!

 

[flecc]

Yes, I appreciate that Paul, and you've given a related flat area reason to that I've proposed as a possibility above, but as you see, I'm not entirely convinced that is the reason.
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[pvb123]

Yes, I appreciate that Paul, and you've given a related flat area reason to that I've proposed as a possibility above, but as you see, I'm not entirely convinced that is the reason.
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No worries! I travel to The Netherlands a lot and if you ask a bike shop owner there why E-Bikes sell so well it is quite simple, "People like the easier cycling" is pretty much all you hear. Double that with 1st class infrastructure and a population that ride's bikes almost every day and it's a no brainer!

 

[flecc]

That's certainly a no brainer as you say Paul. It still remains to discover for certain why they don't appeal in hilly areas, even when tried out as has happened in my very hilly area. I can only think of the reason I've given, that they probably don't come up to expectations.
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[pvb123]

Yes...A lot of the hub powered bikes don't live up to expectations in hilly areas, plus how many people do you see riding bikes in general where you live? If it's anything like Australia, bicycle infrastructure is very poor, 99.6% of people use cars and public transport. It's a double whammy!

 

[flecc]

Very low level of cycling other than lycra clad sport cyclists in my area, as you might expect where it's very hilly. However, our cycling levels are much better than yours in Australia, particularly in London where my borough is situated. Our London cyclist incidence has nearly doubled in the last eight years, mainly due to an £8 a day congestion charge on cars entering the central area.
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[carpetbagger]

I have seen a large increase in cycling in my area in the last year or so....even in bad weather. As for ebikes not many. The guy who often went past my home on a Powabyke seems to have disappeared,but i did see the other Agutta owner that i know of recently not far from my home.
I still say that if we introduced an infrastucture like the Netherlands and parts of South west France we would see an increase in cycling. Safety is a big issue that puts a lot of people off and i am not convinced the program on ITV last week on cycling did a lot to help.

 

[Rad]

. How does an infrastructure encourage e-biking when their sales of standard bikes are not increasing in the same way? A good infrastructure should equally encourage those sales, surely.
It's a mystery that still awaits a satisfactory answer.
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Because cycling has been popular and encouraged for so long that everyone has a bike that wants one?

It's probably committed cyclists that are embracing the e-bike. Wish I lived in Holland.

 

[flecc]

Because cycling has been popular and encouraged for so long that everyone has a bike that wants one?

That could well be the reason in Holland Rad, but it certainly isn't here. Here the committed cyclists are often more inclined to sneer at e-bikes and call them cheating.

It's for these anomaly reasons that I don't think there's a satisfactory reason yet given for the flat area popularity of e-bikes and corresponding hilly area lack of popularity, which is completely unintuitive. Intuition would suggest the opposite.
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[Patrick]

It still remains to discover for certain why they don't appeal in hilly areas, even when tried out as has happened in my very hilly area. I can only think of the reason I've given, that they probably don't come up to expectations.

If my commute was flat I wouldn't bother with an e-bike, so the other mystery is why they do appeal in flat areas. If I'm typical of hilly e-bikers then it could be that completely different types of people are buying the bikes in the different types of area.

Here's my hypothosis. In flat areas e-bikes make cycling easy so they appeal to people who want to cycle but don't want to put effort into the pedals. In hilly areas e-bikes are used by people who are prepared to pedal but for some reason the routes they want to cycle require even more effort then they are prepared/able to provide. The reason why e-bikes are more popular in flat areas is that there are more people who don't want to pedal than people who do.

 

[flecc]

The reason why e-bikes are more popular in flat areas is that there are more people who don't want to pedal than people who do.

Yes, I think that's very close to the mark for Britain Patrick. We are very much a non-cycling country where most don't like the idea of pedalling. When anyone shows an interest in my e-bikes, they frequently ask it it will carry me up hills ok, clearly not thinking in pedal assist terms.
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[Rad]

That could well be the reason in Holland Rad, but it certainly isn't here. Here the committed cyclists are often more inclined to sneer at e-bikes and call them cheating.
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Flecc, I was just responding to your puzzlement over how e-bike sales in Holland are climbing yet those of regular bikes stagnating.

I think if we did have a similar cycling infrastructure to that of Holland then cycling would be a much more regular way of getting about. I think the 'committed cyclist' who would sneer at an e-bike is more to do with a macho attitude of one-upmanship. It's funny, I see far less lycra'd up speed merchants on their skinny wheels at this time of year. I wonder why that is?

 

[flecc]

Flecc, I was just responding to your puzzlement over how e-bike sales in Holland are climbing yet those of regular bikes stagnating.

I think if we did have a similar cycling infrastructure to that of Holland then cycling would be a much more regular way of getting about. I think the 'committed cyclist' who would sneer at an e-bike is more to do with a macho attitude of one-upmanship. It's funny, I see far less lycra'd up speed merchants on their skinny wheels at this time of year. I wonder why that is?

I agree Rad, it is directly related to the cycle friendliness of Holland.

As you say, the sport cycling brigade are very little in evidence when the weather deteriorates. My brother is one of these, like many of them he used to do wonderful times over 25, 50 or 125 miles in competitive road riding, but his annual mileage was only ever a small proportion of mine.
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