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News

SHIMANO RESEARCH STUDY SHOWS ONE IN FOUR ALREADY USE AN E-BIKE OR ARE LIKELY TO USE ONE THIS YEAR

The e-bike revolution has built momentum over the past few years, and what was once a rare sight on the roads and cycleways of Europe is now becoming more and more common as e-bike attitudes and awareness shifts. A new pan-European report of over 13,000 people from 11 countries for SHIMANO shows an impressive headline; a quarter of Europeans (24%) already own an e-bike or are likely to buy or use an e-bike more this year than last year.

This statistic comes from the SHIMANO STEPS E-bike Index 2020 which aims to compare attitudes towards e-bikes across major European countries and explore people’s motivations or hesitations towards using e-bikes for commuting, leisure and transportation.

The findings show many fascinating figures. For example:

  • the UK has the smallest amount of people saying they will try an e-bike (7%), whilst almost one in three (30%) in Italy said they would buy or use an e-bike this year. 

  • In some countries like Denmark, Switzerland and the UK, there are promising signs amongst the younger generation as 18-24-year-olds have said they are more likely to use one than any other age groups.

  • As to why there is a shift towards e-bikes, the benefits affecting the physical activity and health of individuals is almost universally recognised. The majority (31%) of those who were likely to use or already owned one say they would mainly use an e-bike for leisure or family activities, hinting that an e-bike’s appeal isn’t just limited to commuting (although over a quarter - 28% - would commute on their e-bike).

  • A third (32%) have said they would buy or use an e-bike this year to conquer longer distances or steeper climbs, and many would use one to improve their physical (30%) and mental (22%) health.

  • In some countries, the reasons for using an e-bike differ quite dramatically. In the Netherlands - where a whopping 78% of the population ride a bike at least once a month, the main reason (39%) given by those wanting to ride an e-bike this year was that they would do because it looks like less effort - and with most e-bikes providing up to 25km/h of pedal-assisted motion who can blame them!

  • There is also a nod to environmental reasons for using an e-bike - one in five (18%) adults in the countries surveyed say they are likely to start using an e-bike because they are concerned about the environmental impact of their travel. With young adults (18-24), this rises to over a quarter (26%).

 

See here for the full SHIMANO STEPS State of the Nation 2020 report.

Go to report

 

Above all this report shows that, as the world comes out of a health crisis we can expect to see more e-bikes on our streets as people in Europe look for more sustainable and active ways of travelling and ways to increase their increase physical activity and mental health.