The domestic bicycle industry may well be gasping in the exhaust fumes of Britain’s car culture, but on a global scale the bike market still has plenty of mileage in it. Although domestic bicycle production has all but ceased, more than 100 million units are still built world-wide each year. The third most searched-for term in 2004 on the sports and hobby section of Froogle, the shopping arm of Internet search engine Google, was ‘mountain bike’ and the bicycle is regularly voted the best invention of the past 150 years.

About the market:

The domestic bicycle industry may well be gasping in the exhaust fumes of Britain’s car culture, but on a global scale the bike market still has plenty of mileage in it. Although domestic bicycle production has all but ceased, more than 100 million units are still built world-wide each year. The third most searched-for term in 2004 on the sports and hobby section of Froogle, the shopping arm of Internet search engine Google, was ‘mountain bike’ and the bicycle is regularly voted the best invention of the past 150 years.

The UK consumes around an estimated 2.4 million bicycles every year, spending approaching £300 million on these, while approximately 20,000 people are employed in the trade. Cycling has enjoyed a much-improved promotional profile in recent years, led by the industry initiatives such as the Bike Hub fundraising scheme and by the increased attention being paid to the need to improve the nation’s health. Provision of cycle routes continues to expand, with the National Cycle Network reaching its 10,000th mile in September 2005. Potential for growth therefore appears to exist, but potential it will remain unless the industry and government can surmount the considerable barriers to realisation that exist, principally consumers’ attachment to cars and their fears over the safety of cycling on Britain’s roads.