Bike sales fell in 2024 in Switzerland. According to the resellers, it would however be a rebalancing following the record sales of the COVID period. The repair workshops are crumbling under requests.
The two wheels had experienced a major craze during the COVVI-19 pandemic. The demand had exploded in 2020, sales that have tripled in May and June, according to Velosuisse, the branch’s celebration. Since then, the trend has been running out of steam. In 2024, sales even dropped by 13.6% compared to the previous year, which represents around 54,000 less vehicles.
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According to François Girard, co -founder of the Lausanne bicycle repair workshop Tnce, this drop is due to a rebalancing after the surplus stock following the COVID years. The interest in the two wheels still exists, as evidenced by the number of repairs which he records.
In his workshop, calls and services on any type of bicycle are linked. “We also work on the electric bikes of people who will work with bikes, so there is a lot to do,” said François Girard in the morning of the RTS. “There are fewer and fewer cars and there are, necessarily, more and more bikes.”
-new customers
The interest in electric bikes is indeed always greater. In addition, a new clientele is starting to develop, observes Caroline Faisse, manager of the Ciclissimo store in Uvrier, in Valais.
“This sweet mobility clientele favors the purchase of a bicycle, or even an electric bicycle, rather than having a second vehicle at home,” she explains. “So they put the plates of a vehicle to buy a bicycle for their shopping, to take children to school or for leisure.”
The bike therefore still has a bright future ahead of it. Despite the drop in sales observed in Switzerland, the Tnce workshop recently offers new bikes and has a new trend: personalization of two wheels, with the possibility of repainting the frame or choosing its tailor -made components.
Loïc Delacour/Edel
