Cycle 2024 Observatory: understanding the challenges to better support industry professionals

A declining market for new bicycles in 2024

In 2024, the French bicycle market recorded sales of 3.232 billion euros, down 5.9% on 2023. In volume terms, 1,956,000 new bicycles were sold, down 12% year-on-year. This contraction is largely due to an uncertain economic climate, prompting consumers to postpone their purchases, particularly of new bicycles.

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Repair and second-hand goods: consumers turn to more affordable alternatives

The combination of a difficult economic climate, rising prices for new bikes and changing consumer behaviour is driving buyers to opt for more economical solutions, such as repairing their current bikes or buying second-hand ones.

• Getting your bike repaired

Also according to theCycle Observatorythe repair market is showing significant growth. Repair sales rose by 4.3% year-on-year to 113 million euros. Since 2019, this activity has grown by 44%, with around 5.9 million workshop visits recorded in 2024. This trend can be explained by several factors.

• The increasing use of bicycles as a means of daily transport requires regular maintenance.

• Growing awareness of the importance of maintenance to extend the life of bicycles.

• Adverse weather conditions in 2024, encouraging cyclists to check and repair their equipment more frequently.

For professionals, this represents an opportunity to develop personalized maintenance services, maintenance packages and loyalty programs. The digital passport is a solution to facilitate the implementation of these new services.

The digital passport makes it possible to document the complete history of a bike: purchases, maintenance, repairs, parts changes, and so on. This traceability enables professionals to offer tailor-made maintenance services, adapted to the use and history of each bike. By consulting the digital passport, technicians can anticipate maintenance needs and recommend preventive interventions.

• Buying a second-hand bike

The second-hand and reconditioning market is also experiencing significant growth. In 2024, some 158,000 second-hand bikes were sold by professionals, representing a 9% increase on the previous year.

A trend echoed by industry leaders. According to LSA (in February 2025), the sales volume of Alltricks - the bicycle specialist owned by Decathlon- amounted to 240 million euros in 2024, compared with 228 million euros in 2023, an increase of 5.2%.

In this context, the digital passport enables professionals to lend credibility to their offer on the second-hand market by providing full traceability of the history of bikes: invoices, maintenance, repairs, changes of ownership, etc. This transparency boosts buyer confidence, enabling them to verify the authenticity and verified condition of each bike.

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Electrically-assisted bicycles (EABs): still the dominant segment

EABs now account for 29% of sales volume, or 565,225 units sold, and 58% of total market value. Although sales of ECVs are down 16% on 2023, they remain a mainstay of the French cycle market.

• Developing specialized maintenance services

As the number of EABs on the road increases, so does the demand for maintenance and repair services specific to these bikes. To meet this demand, professionals can specialize in the maintenance of electrical components such as batteries and motors.

Thanks to the data collected via the digital passport, professionals can identify the bike models most frequently serviced, and the types of interventions most commonly required. This analysis enables them to design targeted maintenance packages to meet specific customer needs. For example, an annual package for EABs including battery check, brake check and software update can be offered to users.

• Certifying bicycles on the second-hand and reconditioning markets with the digital passport

With the introduction of the digital passport, professionals can develop offers for reconditioned, guaranteed and certified bikes. It's a way to stand out from the competition with an innovative, reliable solution.

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Boost business with complementary, high value-added services

Against a backdrop in which the French cycle market is expected to shrink by 5.9% in sales and 12% in volume by 2024, industry professionals need to reinvent themselves.

BicyCode offers innovative turnkey solutions for building customer loyalty and generating recurring revenues, directly from the interface for professionals.

• Personalizing the customer experience

The BicyCode digital passport gives your customers online access to all information relating to their bike (invoice, warranty, maintenance, repairs, etc.) and contributes to its "lifeline". This service, linked to BicyCode branding, requires no additional work, and collects valuable data that can be used to tailor the offer to customers (recommending products adapted to their riding habits - urban, mountain biking, cycle touring - accessories compatible with their bike, etc.) and communicate with them in a relevant way : maintenance reminders, new products from their favorite brand, maintenance linked to the change of season, etc.

It also facilitates the implementation of loyalty programs by recording interactions between the customer and the workshop. Professionals can thus offer benefits to regular customers, such as discounts on services or personalized alerts for upcoming maintenance.

Our partner Bicytrust' s insurance covers bikes against theft and breakage, with benefits such as replacement or repair to new value for 3 years, with no deductible, and rapid settlement in the event of a claim.

This service, simple to subscribe to in less than 3 minutes from your BicyCode pro account, your G8 or Shifter software, provides a solution that meets the expectations of cyclists concerned about the durability and safety of their equipment.

Sources :

Cycle 2024 Observatory

BonusRepar "Sport", "Sport & Cycle" or "Cycle".

Survey on cycling in France in 2023