From "a means of transportation" to "a popular sport", young people are driving the revival of cycling.

"Unlimited" cycling: a holy place for young people to spend hundreds of billions of krypton gold
From "a means of transportation" to "a popular sport", young people are driving the revival of cycling.

As early summer approaches, it is a good time to ride.
The cycling culture is rapidly sweeping across major cities. Riding a bicycle to explore freely in the city or the suburbs has attracted waves of young people. On Xiaohongshu, the topic of "outdoor cycling" has received nearly 300 million views. Hangzhou West Lake, Beijing Chang'an Avenue, Xiamen Ring Island Road, etc. are all popular cycling routes.

When cycling changes from a simple means of transportation to a lifestyle, consumers who enter the pit will find that there are many more ways than they imagined. From the whole vehicle to modification, from accessories to equipment, etc., the joy of cycling is inseparable from "krypton gold".

From the demand side, cycling has become one of the fastest growing outdoor sports in recent years, and consumers often spend more than 100,000 yuan to pay for this hobby;

From the supply side, the rise of cycling culture has also prompted domestic and foreign bicycle brands to frequently exert their strength, embark on the road of product upgrades, and sprint to the mid-to-high-end.

According to data from the China Bicycle Association, in 2022, the operating income of my country's bicycle and electric bicycle enterprises above designated size was 210 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3%; mid-to-high-end products were sought after, and domestic sales of mid-to-high-end bicycles increased by more than 30% year-on-year, while driving profits to rise. In 2022, profits exceeded 10 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of more than 20%.
A 100 billion market is still growing.

Why cycling?
From a simple means of transportation to a big toy and new social currency for young people, cycling is being unlocked by more and more people.

Since 2021, outdoor sports have ushered in a new round of growth. Compared with more "hardcore" and time-consuming learning projects such as skiing and diving, cycling is significantly easier to learn and easier to integrate into life as a daily sport.

According to the "2022 China Bicycle Industry Survey Report" released by Meiqi.com, the top three reasons for people to participate in cycling are: physical exercise, leisure and entertainment, and stress relief. People not only use bicycles as a way to exercise and keep fit, but emotional relaxation and stress relief are equally important in the eyes of people who participate in cycling.

According to a survey conducted by Guanchao Research Institute, for young cyclists, "healing", "decompression", "making friends", "health" and "weight loss" are frequently used keywords. It is obvious that bicycles are no longer a simple means of transportation. Young people fall in love with cycling, and they feel more about the emotional value and positive feedback brought by this sport.

The "2024 Sports Trend Guide" shows that 2023 is the year of outdoor sports explosion. Cycling maintains the popularity of the previous year and ranks TOP3 in the network exposure index. Today, the cycling team is still growing.

A luxury sport?
Cycling seems to be simple and easy to get started, but the cost is not low.
At present, bicycles on the market can be divided into: mountain bikes, road bikes, folding bikes, E-bikes, etc. For cycling, naked bikes are the most expensive items for novices.

What is more interesting is that with the gradual deepening of cycling, most cyclists will buy a second bike after getting started through "selling old for new" and other methods.

According to the "2022 China Bicycle Industry Survey Report", more than 67% of the total number of people surveyed own more than two bicycles, and 31.52% of people will choose to replace the whole bicycle after riding for 1-3 years. From the perspective of the psychological budget for buying a bicycle, the user's bicycle purchase budget is still the largest in the range of 8001-15000 yuan (24.92%), followed by the range of 15001-30000 yuan (22.4%).

 

 

But for young people, just one bicycle is not enough. In addition to the whole bicycle, accessories such as water bottles, sports cameras, night running lights, and equipment such as cycling pants, helmets, and meter meters, young people spend a lot of thought on every ride.

"You can go on the road with the whole bike. Apart from the helmet to ensure safety, nothing is necessary. You can equip it according to your own requirements." Cycling enthusiast Nicole told Guanchao New Consumption, "Because of the need for long-distance riding, I equipped it with night running lights, water bottle holders, and a meter, the prices range from tens of yuan to nearly a thousand yuan. There are also cycling clothes, goggles, cycling gloves and other clothing and equipment, all of which cost about a thousand yuan. These are just my personal choices, and the price span of each equipment is very large."

Basically, the thousand-yuan level can meet daily cycling needs, but if you are a cycling enthusiast or a professional rider, it means a more expensive whole bike and more detailed auxiliary equipment. This price can be described as "unlimited", which is no wonder that some consumers lament that they cannot achieve cycling freedom with a monthly salary of 30,000.

The different matching choices of consumers also determine the market structure of cycling sub-categories. At present, the brand structure of bicycle whole bikes is relatively stable. Overseas brands represented by Xiaobu and Daxing occupy the high-end market, Giant and Merida occupy most of the mid-to-high-end market with super high penetration rates, and Xidesheng focuses on the mass market with high cost performance.

This also makes the survival space of new players very narrow - they can only rely on technological innovation to enter the high-end market, such as focusing on carbon fiber materials and making lightweight products, while the higher technical requirements make the entry threshold of vehicle brands continue to increase.

On the other hand, cycling equipment with high demand and low thresholds presents a different development trend. Data shows that in 2023, the online scale of cycling clothing and accessories will be more than 3 billion, with a growth rate of more than 120%, which is very favorable for new players to enter.

For example, the brand "Snail" located in Huizhou, Guangdong is one of the mature brands in the cycling equipment track. It is reported that Snail's cranks, strong supply chain capabilities and personalized designs have made a name for themselves not only in the domestic market, but also in the overseas market.

In addition to the whole vehicle, assembled vehicles mean a more "ceiling-free" level of expenses. Bicycle parts can be roughly divided into four categories: frame, wheel set, handlebar set, and kit. Depending on whether it is a mountain bike or a road bike, as well as one's own preferences, the number of parts required varies, but there will be at least a dozen.

Although the transmission looks simple, it is actually difficult to develop. It is a relatively complex accessory on bicycles, and 95% of the market share is controlled by Japan's Shimano and the United States' Speedlink.

As for the frame, the carbon fiber frames commonly used in high-end bicycles are mostly T700 and T800 grade materials. However, there are some import restrictions on carbon fiber above T700 in China, and only a few manufacturers in China can mass-produce T800 carbon fiber, and it is mostly used in the fields of national defense and aerospace.

The technical barriers of important components are high, and domestic demand is growing rapidly. The annual demand for transmissions above 1,000 yuan in the domestic market is as high as 8 million sets. The situation of supply and demand has caused its price to rise, and it has also made high-end assembled bicycles have a large circulation space in the second-hand market.