Growth in global bicycle demand drives a substantial increase in carbon fiber demand

Growth in global bicycle demand drives a substantial increase

 in carbon fiber demand

According to a recent report by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, citing the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce, as of April 2021, the U.S. imported 1.2 million bicycles (excluding electric bicycles). Imports amounted to 140 million U.S. dollars, an increase from the 131 million U.S. dollars in March.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that in January 2021, US imports totaled US$124 million, of which US$69.8 million came from China, US$30 million came from Taiwan, and US$14.6 million came from Cambodia.

According to a study released by market research company Teimavio, the demand for high-end bicycles and carbon fiber bicycle frames is gradually increasing. Technavio found that the market for carbon fiber bicycle frames will grow by 13.13% in 2021. It is expected that the compound average growth rate (CAGR) of the market in this field will be about 15% from 2021 to 2025, which means an increase of 59.4 million from 2021 to 2025. Bicycles.

The bicycle frame is one of the key components when buying a bicycle. It directly affects the weight balance of the bicycle and therefore plays an important role in the performance of the bicycle. Traditionally, metallic aluminum and steel are the most preferred materials for making bicycle frames. However, in recent years, with the development of modern composite materials, the use of materials such as titanium and carbon fiber to manufacture bicycle frames has become a mainstream trend, because these materials can not only reduce the weight of the bicycle but also improve the performance.

The study found that although the price of bicycles in the United States is becoming more and more expensive, the largest demand for carbon fiber frames mainly comes from Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries, including China, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Technavio pointed out that countries in the Asia-Pacific region accounted for about 42% of the global carbon fiber bicycle frame market share in 2020, and this demand is expected to continue. The main reasons include the following: First, the disposable income of these countries continues to increase; second, the increase in the number of young people in India; third, more road and mountain bike races take place in the Asia-Pacific region.

There are also some questions worth pondering: According to data from the athlete social platform Strava (its community includes more than 73 million people), in 2020, the mileage of cyclists worldwide will reach 8.1 billion miles, of which 1.2 billion miles will occur in the United States.