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news
Cyclists in London (image: Tomek Baginski on Unsplash)Almost half of British people can’t afford to buy a bike – and a quarter say it would take at least six months to save for one, new research for Cycle to Work Day finds
A new study, conducted to mark Cycle to Work Day on 1 August, has found that almost half of UK-based consumers believe that they cannot afford to buy a bike, with a quarter noting that it would take at least six months for them to save for one.
The survey, carried out by Cycle to Work provider Cyclescheme’s parent company BHN Extras, as part of its annual research into the attitudes and perceptions of, and barriers to, cycling in the UK, also suggests that the costs of accessories, along with concerns about a lack of fitness and “fitting in” with other cyclists, acts as a deterrent to encouraging more people to ride their bikes to work.
However, despite these concerns, the study also found that the number of people cycling to work is rapidly growing, with almost a third of those consumers surveyed commuting by bike, up from 19 per cent last year.
Carried out by BHN Extras and Cyclescheme, the UK’s largest provider of access to the Cycle to Work scheme, the government’s tax-friendly initiative which has for the last 25 years enabled people to buy a bike and accessories through salary sacrifice, the survey aimed to highlight how the UK feels about cycling and active commuting ahead of the 11th edition of Cycle to Work day on 1 August.
Gathering responses from 2,000 people employed across a range of sectors in the UK, almost two-thirds of whom were aged between 25 and 54, the study found that 49 per cent of those surveyed are not currently in a position to buy a bike outright.
A quarter of those consumers, meanwhile, also stated that it would take at least six months to save to purchase a bike, with 50 per cent noting that they would be most likely to buy a bike by splitting the cost.
Recent research from the Bicycle Association has found that the average price of bikes being sold has risen a staggering 26 per cent since 2019, with – as we reported last year – entry level road bikes such as the Specialized Allez jumping from £600 to £1,100 in the past decade, perhaps owing to some people’s reticence to spend their earnings on a new mode of transport.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, not owning a bike was the biggest barrier to cycling to work for 22 per cent of respondents, while the same percentage claimed that the cost of bikes and accessories acted as a deterrent for potential cycling commuters.
For those who don’t currently cycle, long commutes, a lack of fitness, and concerns about accessibility represent the main barriers to riding to work, with almost half (46 per cent) stating that they are worried they aren’t fit enough to ditch the car and commute by bike.
And with concerns increasingly being raised about sexist abuse and misogyny directed at female cyclists, the perception of cycle commuting being tailored towards young males who live in big cities also stands out as a persistent barrier to cycling, with 58 per cent of respondents believing that they “don’t fit the bill” of what a cyclist represents.
Nevertheless, the survey also found that the popularity of cycling to work continues to grow. 32 per cent of consumers surveyed currently cycle to work – up from 19 per cent the previous year. This percentage could grow further yet next year, with 34 per cent of consumers considering introducing cycling to their commute.
42 per cent also noted that cycling could cover at least part of their commute to work, and – in the kind of numbers likely to be welcomed by Cyclescheme – 67 per cent said they’d be more likely to start cycling if their employer provided support.
Finally, the research found that three quarters of those who cycle agree that they discovered several more benefits since they started than before, and that 47 per cent of people believe that cycling will have the biggest impact on their mental health.
“It is clear that people want to cycle to work and with it being the 25th anniversary of the Cycle to Work Scheme and an Olympic year – the timing could not be better,” Adrian Warren, a senior director at BHN, said in a statement announcing the survey.
“But there are also barriers that need to be addressed. Whether it’s the upfront cost of bikes, levels of fitness, or feeling like you’re not the ‘typical’ demographic, cycling has significant benefits from better mental health and less impact on the environment.
“It’s interesting that so many people said they would be more likely to cycle if they had support from their employers. There is cost effective support out there that can help overcome many of the barriers. Cycle to Work Schemes for example, are offered through employment and help to spread the cost of bikes and accessories through salary sacrifices.”
Meanwhile ex-England rugby captain, World Cup winner, and keen cyclist Jason Robinson added: “Physical health has always been a huge part of my life, but it can be hard to fit it into a busy schedule.
“For many, cycling to work can be a convenient way to build exercise into their daily routines. Not fitting the typical demographic might be off putting for some but cycling is an activity for all, no matter where you live, your age or fitness ability – everyone can make the most of the many benefits associated with cycling.”
The 2024 Cycle to Work day, its 11th edition, comes after a turbulent year for both Cyclescheme and the Cycle to Work initiative in general.
In January, the Association of Cycle Traders (ACT) and senior figures from cycling retailers met with MPs from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling & Walking (APPGCW) to make their case about the “need for urgent systematic change” to Cycle to Work scheme, arguing that the scheme as it currently stands is “too complicated”, damaging to retailers, and no longer fit for purpose to get people cycling to work.
The meeting came two months after the ACT and bike shops hit back at Cyclescheme, the initiative’s largest provider, for deciding to prevent retailers from charging additional fees on bikes purchased under the scheme, a move described by the representative of independent cycle retailers at the time as “infuriating”, “incredibly short-sighted”, and the “straw that broke the camel’s back”.
After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.
Latest Comments
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I just saw a weight for this bike on a retailer's web site. 9kg for the Ultegra build. If that's not an error, it's shocking and beyond off...
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74 comments
I don't know if I am doing cycling wrong, but I am on my third bike since starting commuting. They need constant maintenance- I have replaced both dereillurs the chain and the bottom bracket on mine and it still needs new pedals, headset bearings and new spokes. Getting it to a mechanic is a nightmare too- the local guy messed up on installing a new part meaning I had to pay all over again.
The idea you can shell out £100-£150 for a good second hand bike doesn't take into account that if you use your bike everyday and it gets rained on at work then it will deteriorate.
Well - yes, with a side of "depends".
I've had a lot of mileage out of an old Dawes Galaxy - it had a decade or so in it before me and I've had it over 10 years. Taken all kinds of abuse / burdens. Cost me nothing ...
... except that yes, every part bar the friction shift levers, the handlebars and quill stem has been replaced, some fairly regularly. Tyres, brake blocks, chains, then gear cables, cassettes. Wheels come and go (not always worn). Headset only once I think (probably should have done that more).
I stored it mostly under cover - did maintain it (though not as diligently as I could have).
If we had more robust practical bikes designed to live outside the effort could be less:
https://aseasyasridingabike.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/where-are-britains-...
... but for some in the UK they wouldn't be so practical for their cycle commute. Plus they're harder to find here, can be more expensive, mechanics may be unfamiliar etc.
You can buy a good second hand Pashley for between £250 and £350 that's not bad.
Pashley's are good sensible road bikes, Well built and good for general cycling. Is the problem too many people want top of the range racing or mountain type bikes ?
I get some jovial stick from my lycra clad colleagues who whizz past me.
Just get a sensible bike for commuting to work or going around the village or town and the Pashley is that , no 25 or 30 gears, Just 3 sensible gears for bog standard cycling. It's a mode of transport not a fashion parade.
£250/350 isn't bad for a good second hand solid well made bike.
You don't need the lycra uniform of our racing colleagues either. Leave the expensive racing or mountain bikes to our serious racing or off road cycling colleagues.
Cycling isn't expensive if you look around if you simply want a cycle for yourself.
For many people cycling is an ideal way to get a fitness workout during their commuting time that they wouldn't otherwise have time for with the demands of work and family, and so they like to have a suitable bicycle/clothing for that. Good solid well-made secondhand racing bikes are also available for £250. You do your preferred type of cycling and let others do theirs, there's no need to put down others who like to cycle fast and get fit whilst commuting.
Very much this, Rendel.
I don't have the time to fit recreational cycling / workout into my days unless I cheat by doing it while commuting, and ifI take the bus even for one day, I notice that it affects my weight and general fitness and wellbeing.
If Pinerallelo's, Colnago's and the like have become entry level bikes perhaps they've got a point but my then brand new Decathlon Triban 500 cost me 6 tanks of fuel in my tiny car (probably 4 tanks in the average car) and you can pick up a decent 2nd bike for about a 1/3 of the cost.
I saw another report on this which makes me think that the question was probably phrased something along the lines "On average a new bike costs between £835 and £900. Can you afford to buy a new bike outright?"
Given that 46% of Brits have less than a £1000 in savings, the result is hardly surprising.
Weirdly, it looks like that number may have come from here, which is an (old) Cycling UK article in response to... a press release by Cyclescheme.
In turn, they seem to have got it from an Aviva press release (who are obviously trying to push the idea that a bike is a valuable thing that needs insuring).
And they appear to have taken it from a Bicycle Association report about how people were spending double the amount they previously were on bike purchases during Covid.
It doesn't appear to be the average cost of a bike though - rather, it's the cost of 'an average bike' (whatever that means) as contrasted to 'a reasonably priced hybrid [...] from Halfords'. The Cycling UK article actually states that the average price paid for a bike in 2020 was £332.
So all in all, looks pretty misleading.
cycletowork scheme provider finds that cycletowork scheme provider is the bestest way to cycle to work in a totally not fixed survey.
yeah right, are people that gullible they believe stuff like that. I guess so because it never ceases to amaze me how people claim not having a tax break is really what stops them from cycling
most real surveys about cycling to work, find the main barriers are really about secure places to store bikes at the workplace & home, safe routes to cycle on and perceived lack of fitness. nothing to do with costs of bikes.
People saying one thing mean something else, standard survey responses?
They don't want to use a bike, don't want to change, so they come out with whatever reason they think sounds plausible.
Emmm no. There are great used bicycles that cost 100-150 and are like 10 times better than the best bike sold in the early 1990s. They can brake and shift gears like a dream, compared having to search with friction shifters. So no.
Emmm also no. We cannot just add a touch of misogyny everywhere. Women do cycle much less in UK for a very good reason. They are reasonably minded and seeing that the combination of cycling infrastructure, rules and driving can be very dangerous, for everyone not just women, they choose to be safe. They aren't cycling not because they are afraid getting lustful stares for their butt, but because they are afraid of getting run over.
We men sometimes are stupid enough to cycle in dangerous environments because deep in heart we are the 10 year olds excited to ride and feel the air in our face. In countries with a good cycling environment, women will cycle too.
Emmm yes, though.
[Also, throwing a bit of casual sexism into your own post isn't a great way to make the case that sexism isn't a factor.]
Yes I remember this Road.cc article but I have received tantrums, honks and swears from drivers of both sexes, so to me is just exaggeration. I think that any danger from discriminating behavior is miniscule compared to the dangers from motor traffic in general. I believe all cyclists face huge risks from poor air quality riding among cars, yet there are very little if any articles on this issue.
Apparently cyclists face less risks that the car occupants *. Yes, motorists are harming others through emissions but they may be punching themselves in the face. (Increasingly we're noting the problems of particulates so this covers E-mit-elsewhere-vehicles also).
And the health differences are more pronounced when you factor in that cyclists are getting (even mild) exercise.
* Unless a new standard for car interior air filters has come in during the last couple of years?
Air quality inside cars must be indeed very poor. I have been to cars of many friends and I don't remember a single one of them to turn on air recycling to prevent exhaust fumes get inside.
Yes, air quality may be better outside cars than inside. The problem is breathing under physical effort that you need much more air a guy sitting or walking.
Indeed, much better to breathe each others recycled air instead of filtered outdoor air. Or does the recycled air go through a filter too... ?
No this must be even worse. But people usually start from local roads with less cars and cleaner air only to get stuck at huge avenues. If you air a little the car and start recycling while still at local roads, it makes sense.
Both go through the cabin filter. Get a decent cabin filter, I'd rather breath filtered outdoor air than filtered recirculated oxygen reduced air. It makes real sense. Most modern cars have pretty decent cabin filter, I can't comment on how air tight car construction is though and yes, I'd rather see cleaner outdoor air and more natural ventilation solutions. Filtered mechanical ventilation shouldn't have to exist, except in a few specific places.
Well firstly, that sounds rather like gaslighting ("You're not really experiencing sexism - it's all in your head, dear!).
And secondly, even if it were true, it's irrelevant - what matters when it comes to whether someone decides to cycle is the perception.
Ah, a man telling women that their perception of sexist abuse is just exaggeration. On the basis that…you have received aggression from female drivers as well as male. Not exactly overwhelming proof, is it? I cycle thousands of miles every year in the company of Mrs H and she undoubtedly receives greater levels of intimidatory behaviour from male drivers than I (I do accept this may be something to do with me being 6 foot tall and 85 kg whereas she is 5'6" and 54 kg), remarks about her appearance, some of them overtly sexual ("I wish I was your saddle darling" etc) and misogynist abuse (just last week some charmer at whom she'd shouted "Hey!" for pulling out in front of her stopped and said "Why don't you suck my fucking dick you whore" - unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I was at several hundred yards ahead at that point and she didn't tell me about it until we got home). Higher levels of intimidation and abuse are a fact of life for many female riders, they are not imagined or "just exaggeration".
Well said, a good second hand Pashley mens or ladies £250/£350 ! Ideal for commuting!
BELIEVE they cannot afford to buy a bike.
Considering that all the advertising is for hyper expensive bikes and that they have probably never looked for cheaper options.. pretty much all surveys need to be taken with a pinch of salt, and an in depth analysis of the demographic and the wording of the questions.
A colleague spent £160 on a bike, new. Looking at it I couldn't see any issues with it. It does the job for her commute and it looks quite nice too. It is when all the extras, kick in when the price goes up.
I would still say for most people it would be feeling safe on the roads. I have a few friends who bo longer cycle despite living close to work.
Buy an early 90's Kona MTB, put some slicks on it. Best commuting bike you'll ever own. Job jobbed 👍🏿
Sadly I can't afford a Colnago C68
I totally understand why most people would say they couldn't afford a bicycle with the cost of living crisis which is impacting all of those out there who pay a fortune every month for their expensive status symbol lease car, not to mention the expensive fuel they have to buy , n order to drive everywhere at excessive speed for the conditions (and above their ability), on their way to buy a Big Mac family meal to feed their mobile device addicted children, who live a in false online reality, fixated with the latest updates from "influencers" - allegedly.
This. All day long.
It's not a matter of not being able to afford, it's a matter of how most 30-40% (of the 50%) of these people prioritise their spending.
The bottom 10%-20%, i think are genuinely hard up.
I know plenty of families that are really struggling living in the estate nearby. In our club we support quite a few kids from struggling families, lending them bikes and paying race fees for them and so on.
Agree with this and Disgusted's comment. It's priorities and choices. Lots of people don't value a bike and have a false idea of what one should cost based on 20 year old concept, reinforced by the price for crap BSOs.
While many people are trapped housing and transport costs and (often lifestyle created) debt but even a fair number of people in your bottom portion can afford a bicycle. Having always been on a low wage, I learnt early on to live within my means and save up for things I wanted. I bought "expensive" Islabikes for my kids (which I sold for not much less than I paid each time) and drove an old VW Polo while other parents bought/leased shiny cars, went through games consoles, phones and other gadgets and spent far more on things like dining out, alcohol and holidays. Choices, choices.
To get an idea of cost I looked at Halfords hybrid bike prices - Carrera at £288-£400 and Boardman £480-£880, with 0% credit over 3, 6 or 12 months.
Most of what is written by the sort of people who respond to surveys is bollocks so we don't have to waste much time considering it
Agree - I've worked on training software before and when implementing a feature that allowed people to participate in a survey before and afterwards (voluntary) the PhD chap who was specifying it advised that the results from the people who chose the survey track would have to be weighted because, in his words "people who have chosen that are already predisposed to a different outcome"
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