The young are becoming the leading cyclists, bicycle industry features ＂three highs＂

In 2017, the number of Chinese cyclists reached 12 million and is expected to reach 15 million by 2018. Recently, as shown in the Big Data Report on Chinese Cycling Sport 2017, which contains vast data about 1 billion kilometers covered by 7.5 million cyclists from 410 cities, there is a trend that the young group with high education, high income and high quality is becoming the core population in the fast-growing cycle sport industry.

The "three highs" population becomes core consumers

Like jogging, cycling is also a mass sport shared across different ages and careers. In this January, 10 ministries including the General Administration of Sport of China, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Tourism Administration have jointly released the Development and proportion of bicyclists in China is still low. With the young group being main consumers and the increasing needs for sports and leisure of the public, the cycling sport industry is embracing a broad prospect.

Tour routes become more favored

Cycling is long seen as the third largest sport market after bodybuilding and jogging. Bicycle's attribute as vehicle also lends it an advantage when combined with traveling. For cycling fans, go cycling is go traveling, and the bicycle is also a tool to explore the world and get closer to the nature.

Looking into the popular cycling routes sorted out by the Report, scenic routes nearing city outskirts are favored most, like the Miaofeng Mountain in Beijing, the coastal highway in Shenzhen, the Longjing Mountain in Hangzhou. Scenic spots in the outskirts of first-tier cities are first choices for cycling. Destinations with full tourism resource like Hainan, Xiamen and Qinghai offer chances to ride around the island, the sea and the lake. It's obvious that popular routes are also tour routes. For cycling fans, riding always goes alongside with traveling.

Figures showed that the total consumption of bicycle riding and racing was 5.28 billion yuan in 2016, and 6.65 billion yuan in 2017. In recent years, sports tourism has become a consumption hot spot as a new form of leisure. Cycling is not only a way to build up our bodies, but also an important addition to sports content, further enriching sports tourism Plan of Cycle Sport Industry, which indicates that the overall scale of cycling sport industry will reach 150 billion yuan by 2020, and there will be 5,000 different cycling races. Cycling is expected to be the next outburst point of sports consumption.

Figures showed that the cycling group aged 25~34 accounts for the highest proportion of Chinese cyclists, becoming the core population of cycling, with over 70% of whom having university degrees or above. There are certain advantages for popularization of cycling among highly educated people. In terms of population distribution, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Sichuan are on the top 5 of the list, basically the same as the GDP ranking of 2017, revealing a positive correlation between cycling population distribution and income per capita.

Comparing with other countries where the cycling sport industry is well developed, the number content and options of consumption.

Multi-dimensional health leads to consumption upgrade

The reporter finds that the proportion of people rides 2 to 6 a week has risen to about 30%, meaning the sport is as common as bodybuilding and jogging. Being an outdoor sport, cycling also generates considerable spending in races, services and trips in addition to basic equipment shopping. The spending in vehicle accounts for 52.8% of that in cycling, but the spending in cycling-traveling races and services has risen to the second, accounting for 24.78%. In the big-data background, the proportion of smart devices use has risen from 0.19% in 2014 to 4.18% in 2017, slowly developing a scientific way of consumption. It's worth mentioning that cycling fans have a more comprehensive and rational understanding of cycling, and they are more aware of the importance of insurance. Figures showed that the proportion of people who never buy insurance decreased markedly, more people inclined to buy annual insurances for five years or above, which accords with middle-class's habit of buying insurance nowadays.

After years of development and market cultivation, high education, high income and high quality have become frequently used words in cycling. "Three highs" will also bring good opportunities to the consumption upgrade of cycling.