"As strategic as the automobile or the air": why the bicycle boom should last

With + 29% of electric bikes sold in 2020 and + 27% of cycle paths compared to 2019, cycling is booming.

The covid-19 pandemic partly explains this very sharp increase, but it should last "if France gives itself the means", judges the president of the French Federation of Bicycle Users.

DECRYPTION

With 500,000 electric bikes sold in France last year, the billion euros mark was crossed for the very first time.

And that's not all: 2.2 million "normal" bicycles were sold in 2020, almost as many repaired, and the number of cycle paths increased by 27%, and regular use of the bicycle in 2020 compared to 2019 by 10% ... The covid-19 pandemic partly explains this very strong increase in sales, because the bicycle is an excellent alternative to public transport.

And the trend is set to last because the sector is "as strategic as the automobile or the air", according to the president of the French Federation of Bicycle Users, interviewed on Europe 1.

The rise of electric bikes

29% more electric bikes were sold than in 2019, and increasingly high-end bikes since the French spent an average of 2,079 euros to equip themselves.

A 20% increase in budget observes Jérôme Valentin, president of the Union sport et cycle: "There are two phenomena which justify this price increase: first an increase in comfort, an increase in options. And then demand which was higher than the offer in 2020 has meant that we have not done any bike promotions or strikethrough prices at all. "

Olivier Schneider, president of the French Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB), confirms: "The French have adopted the bicycle as a barrier gesture. With the health crisis, the fact that there are more cycle paths makes part of the rare progress for a year. We have therefore a significant increase in the proportion of our fellow citizens who travel by bicycle. "

>> Find the morning show of the day in replay and podcast here

New legitimacy with the crisis

Sales of classic bicycles, which fell slightly by 3% compared to 2019, are still 2.2 million.

For Olivier Schneider, this enthusiasm is explained by the legitimacy gained by this means of transport in times of Covid-19: "The bicycle was legitimate as a sport, as a leisure or for tourism, but was less so as a mode of transport in France compared to other countries. Having allowed people to make room for others in the metro, to let go of their cars and to have some physical activity while the gyms are closed legitimized cycling. "

>> LIVE -

Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Friday, April 9

The figures from the Cycle Observatory show it: in 2020, the use of the bicycle increased + 10% compared to 2019 and certain specific bicycle models may have been in short supply.

Market in tension

In addition, nearly two million French people went to repair their bikes over the past year thanks to the 50 euros bonus offered by the government.

"If your listeners tried to make an appointment to repair their bike, they know that the agendas were full. It sometimes took a few weeks to repair a bike," recalls the president of the FUB.

And on the sales side, "the industry had not anticipated" this "tension" on the market.

"We can still find new bicycles. On the other hand, if you want a very precise model, the deadlines can exceed a year. That just means that we must finally relocate production in Europe. On basic parts, we are dependent. of South-East Asia ", militates Olivier Schneider.

A strategic sector

According to him, it would therefore be a "political error not to consider that [the cycle sector] is as strategic as the automobile or the air transport".

"In the trades of ecological transition, there is also repairer and repairer. In the federation, we have trained 1,250 operators, budding mechanics, to help expert mechanics to concentrate on complicated tasks", explains the president of the FUB which emphasizes that the help to repair his bike has created 1,500 jobs in all.

"The production of bicycles in France is increasing very considerably, but there is really a large margin for improvement. It would be interesting for the government to integrate it into its industrial strategy (...) so that in France, we do not We are not satisfied only with designing the bikes and having them made on the other side of the world, but that we do everything at European level from A to Z ", continues Olivier Schneider.

Before concluding with figures which clearly show that the bicycle boom is set to last: "The bicycle sector has grown from 2 billion to 3 billion in two years! We do not have many sectors that have grown in two years by almost 50%. It will continue. This is a major trend. "