Garmin notes 7% uptick in cycling activities & more women too

Collating data from its users, Garmin reports that cycling activities have increased 7% globally in the past 12 months. The figure has been normalised to account for those who’ve purchased their first Edge device during the period, meaning that while Garmin is growing its community/customers, its original users are going on more rides too.

There were bright spots in terms of demographics too, with women found to be the fastest-growing cycling demographic within the Garmin community, with a 9% increase in cycling activities this year.

Indoor cycling numbers were up too (by 12%) over the last year.

The stats, gleaned globally, found that Garmin users riding at least 70 miles a week average normalised power of more than 180 watts. Denmark’s riders recorded the powerful rides with an average normalised power output of 196 watts, while riders in Italy spent most time on their bikes – each rider lasted just over two hours. Naturally, riders in Italy rode the furthest, with an average distance of 29 miles. There are more Garmin stats here.

Official cycling stats

Painting a more gloomy picture than the Garmin stats of the last 12 months, the latest numbers from England’s Cycling Traffic Index found cycling traffic levels decreased 5.3% in the year from March 2023 to March 2024. Provisional road traffic estimates found that motor traffic levels increased 2.1% in the same period. Arguably we’re not comparing like with like here – Garmin presumably accounting for leisure/sports riders rather than everyday commuters and a-to-b cyclists. It’s difficult to imagine many people using their Garmin to measure their pedalling efforts in getting a cargo bike to the shops, but there may be some cross over.

While the 12 month stats aren’t encouraging, the longer term numbers are very positive indeed (as has been noted before) – cycling traffic levels have increased by 10.6% since December 2013. A decent and prolonged spot of sunshine might help in curbing the decline from that pandemic peak.