A new report compiled and published by Shimano has stated that the UK and Ireland have the lowest bicycle ownership rates in Europe, despite more people saying cycling has become safer for children in their local area.
Shimano’s State of the Nation report, which surveyed more than 25,000 people across 25 European countries and regions, has found that just 48.5 per cent of people in the UK and Ireland said they currently own a bicycle.
Only 87 per cent of respondents reported ever having owned a bicycle at all, which is the lowest figure recorded across Europe.
Ties van Dijk, Advocacy Specialist at Shimano Europe, said the findings should serve as a warning for policymakers and the cycling industry. “The State of the Nation report is a wake-up call for everyone who cares about the future of cycling in Europe,” he said.
“We see millions of people who want to ride, but are being pushed away by barriers that should not exist, from the lack of availability and complexity of maintenance to concerns about whether it is safe for children to cycle.”
However, in the UK and Ireland, perceptions of safety for children cycling were described as “moderately positive”, with a net difference of +7.3 per cent agreeing with the statement: “It has become safer for children to cycle in my local area in the last 12 months.”
Around 70 per cent of respondents who felt that safety had improved cited better infrastructure, including segregated cycle lanes and low-traffic neighbourhoods, as the main reason.
More broadly, 47 per cent of respondents in the UK and Ireland said cycling infrastructure in their local area had improved over the past year. This is higher than the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium.
Despite these infrastructure improvements, the UK and Ireland have the lowest bicycle ownership rates, with the report highlighting the barrier of maintenance.
According to the report, across Europe, an estimated 212 million people experience obstacles related to bike maintenance, with 121 million saying these issues have caused them to cycle less.
In the UK and Ireland, 40.9 per cent of people who have ever owned a bike said that they experienced a barrier due to maintenance. Among those, 36 per cent cited a lack of bike shops or inconvenient opening hours.
A further 27 per cent pointed to long waiting times for repairs, while 25 per cent said they lacked confidence in the quality of service and the skills of mechanics.
Van Dijk added ‘’Physical infrastructure is improving in many places, but this infrastructure alone is not enough. If we fail to make it easy for people to maintain their bicycles, and safe for the next generation to ride, we risk shrinking participation at the very moment when society needs active, sustainable mobility the most.”
5 thoughts on ““Wake-up call”: New Shimano report claims UK and Ireland have lowest bike ownership rates in Europe”
Insert Starship Troopers meme
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“Shimano’s State of the Nation report” on, er, UK and Ireland…
That’s… bold.
I think what this shows mostly is that people asked about something they haven’t even thought about (cycling as transport) may not give insightful answers as to why they don’t.
“Because that’s not how you get around” / “I’ve a car outside” / “nobody else does” might be the honest results of introspection.
Bit like asking people why they ride where cycling *is* normal eg. NL – that also won’t necessarily reveal details of transport policy, zoning or infra design that makes this happen either, it’ll be “I like cycling” or “I cycle with my friends” or “it’s convenient”.
I wonder how many of those who said they don’t have a bike actually have several rusting in a garage / shed / on a balcony?
They are usually the ones who reply to stories about driving carefully by saying, “I am a cyclist and I know my place on the road is in the gutter.”
It’s interesting that difficulty of doing maintenance or finding someone to do the maintenance conveniently/skillfully/cheaply is cited as a discouraging factor against more people cycling. However, when buying a new bike, no-one ever asks “How easy/cheap is it to maintain?”. Instead, people often choose the one that looks cool and have no idea that it’s a nightmare to maintain until further down the road. Also, sites like road.cc never include ease of maintenance / use of universal or durable parts, etc. in their ratings of new bikes. I’m a pro’ bike mechanic – I wish people would consider these things when purchasing bikes, which would help to dissuade the bike brands from making bikes that each year are more of a nightmare and/or more expensive to maintain.