Garmin points to recent 7% growth in cycling, with more women
Garmin aggregated user data and reported a 7% increase in global cycling activity over the past 12 months. The data is normalized to account for users who purchased an Edge device during that time, meaning Garmin has expanded its community/customers while its existing users have increased their rides. There are also bright spots on the demographic side, with the fastest growth in the Garmin community among female cyclists, who have seen a 9% increase in cycling activity this year. Indoor cycling has also increased in the last year (12%). The data is from around the world, showing that Garmin users who cycle at least 70 miles (112 km) per week have an average normalized power of over 180 watts. Danish riders recorded the strongest rides, with an average normalized power output of 196 watts, while Italian riders spent the most time on the bike - almost every rider was able to ride for more than two hours. Of course, Italian riders also rode the farthest, with an average distance of 29 miles (47 km).
Compared to Garmin's statistics for the past 12 months, the latest figures from the UK's Cycle Traffic Index show that cycle traffic levels fell by 5.3% in the year to March 2023-2024, which paints a more pessimistic picture. Provisional road traffic estimates found that motor traffic levels increased by 2.1% in the same period. It's fair to say that we're not really comparing apples to apples here - Garmin is presumably thinking of leisure/sport cyclists, not everyday commuters. It's hard to imagine many people using their Garmin to measure the pedalling effort of their cargo bikes to deliver goods to the shops, but there may be some crossover.
While the 12 months' figures aren't exactly stunning, the long-term picture is very positive indeed - cycle traffic levels have increased by 10.6% since December 2013.
Merida's revenue increased significantly in the second quarter, reaching a peak of nearly 50%
Last year, Merida reported a 26.4% drop in full-year sales, with total sales falling to NT$27.16 billion (€798 million), losing more than a quarter of its revenue. The downward trend continued into the first quarter of 2024, with brand gross profit and pre-tax profit falling by 29.7% and 27.8% respectively. In April, the company reported a 24% year-on-year increase in bicycle and e-bike sales, from NT$2.4 billion (€68 million) in 2023 to NT$3 billion (€84 million) this year. In May, this growth fell to 7.5% year-on-year, while sales in June were up 48.65% compared to the same period last year.
