Is China's Road Bike Market Facing Continuous Opportunities?
By Jessie Wang
10 min read
Key Points Of The Article:
1.The construction of facilities such as urban greenways has created the conditions for road bikes to become popular, and the growing number of road cycling events held in China has spread interest in the sport further.
2.Road bike brands have always been diverse, with international brands such as Giant, Decathlon and Trek long familiar to riders, and as consumers increasingly look for value for money, the domestic brand Xidesheng has also become the choice of many riders.
3.In the future, road bikes may become lighter, smarter and more often electrified.
Cycling is becoming a popular sport among young people in China.
As a healthy and natural form of exercise, cycling lets participants enjoy the pleasure of exercise, and while they ride they can get close to nature and strengthen their willpower by overcoming the difficulties they meet along the way.
The ways in which people use bicycles keep changing, and they have moved from commuting to work towards racing and competition. The arrival in China of the world's three major cycling races, the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, has strengthened the association between bicycles and racing and raised interest in the road bike sub-category.
Road bikes originated in Europe and were first designed for racing. According to Moojing Market Intelligence data, from December 2022 to November 2023, sales of road bikes on mainstream e-commerce platforms reached 1.73 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 158.9%. The average price was 2,573.90 yuan, which shows that the cost of entry for consumers is relatively high.
Why Are Road Bikes In Demand?#
Firstly, the outdoor boom has driven interest in cycling, and rides around cities are increasingly accepted as a weekend leisure activity. To some extent this has driven road bike sales both online and offline. Because demand has risen so quickly in recent years, the market has at times run short of road bike components, so that some bikes have been hard to buy.
According to data from China Business Journal, the revenue of the high-end bicycle market has increased by 20% in recent years, and sales of bicycles priced above a thousand yuan have increased by over 13%.
Compared with mountain bikes, road bikes have lighter frames, narrower tyres, simpler gear systems and higher average speeds, which makes them suitable for city riding and relatively flat surfaces and opens up more uses, including everyday commuting.
At the same time, green transport is supported by government policy, and local governments are building more greenways around cities that suit road cycling, including some premium cycling routes, which gives cyclists the infrastructure they need. For example, Chengdu launched 11 Tianfu Greenway cycling routes, Beijing has the "City Wind Wheel" cycling routes, Guangzhou's Zengcheng District offers the "Encountering Zengcheng, Endless Cycling Joy" greenway, and Wuhan has the East Lake Greenway cycling route.
Additionally, more road cycling events are being held in China, such as the Tour of Qinghai Lake International Road Cycling Race, the China Road Cycling League and the Tour of China International Road Cycling Event. These events usually take place every year in several cities and attract many people with an interest in road cycling. To some extent these events make road cycling more popular and widen its audience.
In recent years the lifestyles of young people have been changing, and their understanding of road bikes has deepened. Many young people go for night rides after work or plan long-distance cycling trips at weekends. Some even say, "I've learned the joy of sports while cycling."
Others jokingly advise, "Don't try cycling lightly, or you will fall in love with it as hopelessly as I did."
For many urban residents, road cycling offers a kind of adventure, and it has come to express both social status and personal lifestyle interests. We believe the popularity of road bikes comes from a combination of better infrastructure and greater consumer awareness.
How The Road Bike Market Is Changing#
Road bike brands have always been diverse, with international brands such as Giant, Decathlon and Trek long familiar to riders, and by 2023 the domestic brand Xidesheng had also become the choice of many riders.
According to Moojing Market Intelligence data, from December 2022 to November 2023, road bike sales on mainstream e-commerce platforms were concentrated in the price bands from 0 to 2,594 yuan and from 2,595 to 5,188 yuan. This indicates that consumers pay close attention to value for money when they buy road bikes, and that moderately priced domestic brands are also favoured by consumers to some extent.
Xidesheng is a Chinese bicycle manufacturer. The brand's advantage is that its design, production and assembly can all be carried out in China, which helps it control costs and makes its products good value for money.
One of its more popular models is an entry-level road bike with a lightweight aluminium alloy frame that is light and rigid, a net weight of around 15kg and a range of colour options. For gear shifting, the model is equipped with the Blueprint 14-speed shifter system, which allows precise gear changes and gives cyclists a better riding experience.
The gear shifter is one of the most important components of a bicycle and determines how well the bike changes gear. In the past, road bikes mostly used gear shifters from overseas brands, but as the R&D capabilities of domestic brands and consumer acceptance have grown, domestic road bikes are also using domestically produced gear shifters to meet different market requirements.
Another popular Xidesheng model is the new 2023 AD350 aerodynamic road bike, which uses Xidesheng's X6 alloy frame, reportedly lighter and so helpful for speed. The model also uses a one-piece welding process for the body, which gives smoother and flatter joints and greater rigidity across the frame.
Although it is known for more affordable road bikes, Xidesheng also offers relatively high-end models, such as the RS450 aerodynamic road bike, priced at around 7998 yuan. Compared with the brand's more affordable products, this series uses an imported Shimano Tiagra gear lever, front derailleur and rear derailleur, which give finer gear shifting and more precise steering and, the brand says, a better riding experience. By launching high-end models, the brand aims to establish itself in different price segments and meet the needs of different consumers.
Trek, a brand that originates from Wisconsin in the USA, is also popular with Chinese riders. The brand holds the exclusive OCLV carbon fibre technology patent.
Trek has sponsored many athletes in both the United States and China, such as Lance Armstrong from the US and Li Fuyu from China. It has also promoted its brand by sponsoring the US Discovery Cycling Team, the Chinese Mountain Bike Festival and other events.
Trek's road bikes are mainly divided into three models, the Emonda, the Madone and the Domane, and the SLR versions use high-end OCLV 800 carbon fibre while the SL versions use mid-tier OCLV 500 carbon fibre.
Taking Trek's DOMANE AL2 DISC as an example, its transmission uses the Shimano shifting system, and the whole bike weighs only between 5.6kg and 10.6kg. Consumers can reportedly ride it on both smooth pavements and cobblestone roads. The frame is modified for long-distance riding, with internal cable routing, and it is designed to be more comfortable over long distances than short-distance road bikes, so that riders can cycle for extended periods. The model also uses Shimano's 2X8 transmission system, which the brand says lets the bike ride normally in rain and on climbs, which widens the conditions in which the product can be used.
Trek's Domane endurance road bikes have some standing in international competition, and riders including Longe Beruni have achieved good results in road cycling events in Paris on Trek's Domane bikes. This reflects the professional quality of Trek's road bikes to some degree.
Trek also has road bikes designed specifically for racing, such as the Trek Emonda SL 5 series, priced at around 20,000 yuan. Besides the proprietary OCLV carbon fibre frame, which balances strength and stiffness, the model is designed to absorb vibration while riding. Its aerodynamic tube design helps reduce drag, which reportedly lets consumers ride with less effort on flat roads and climb hills more quickly.
The People Behind Road Bikes#
According to Moojing Social Listening data, from December 2022 to November 2023, 42.47% of the posters on major media platforms discussing road bikes were male, and 57.53% were female.
Younger people are more interested in road cycling, and the 21 to 35 age group accounts for the largest proportion of posters about road bikes. As outdoor activities continue to develop, we believe road cycling is becoming a form of social currency among young people, and more of them are taking an interest in it.
By city tier, posters from first-tier cities account for the largest proportion of road bike posters, which reflects the stronger economies of these cities, their higher spending on road bikes and their better facilities, such as urban greenways.
Future Development Trends#
As consumers want ever faster road bikes and carbon fibre technology improves, brands will make their road bikes lighter to increase speed, and we expect lighter weight to become a trend in the development of road bikes.
Advances in battery technology have made it possible to fit road bikes with electric assist systems, and many brands have introduced electric road bikes. Although electric road bikes are not yet mainstream, they are a good alternative for people who are less practised at cycling.
At the same time, road bikes are becoming more intelligent. Many road bike manufacturers are working with companies such as Apple and Huawei to connect road bikes to the Internet of Things, which makes the bikes more interactive and lets consumers check how their road bikes are running.
Summary#
Better infrastructure, the spread of cycling culture and a passion for the outdoors have together driven the development of the road bike market. As road bikes become more popular with consumers, international brands are no longer the only choice, and local brands have also won a place in the market by developing their own technologies and offering products that suit local consumers.
Consumers have also become more rational than before and are not fixated on expensive equipment. We believe product quality matters most for success in the road bike industry, and road bike brands need to define their positioning clearly and keep strengthening product innovation to win consumers' favour.
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