League table: Which regions have the most leisure and commuter cyclists?
Tailoring your bike shop product ranges is clearly no straightforward task, with many factors coming into play, but knowing the reasons why most people in your region get in the saddle may prove useful.
According to stats published by finance provider Nimble Fins (taken from the ONS), bike shops in London would do well to focus on commuter/travel riders – so far so obvious. But bike shops in the East of England would do well to have an even mix of commuter and leisure stocks, with the region seeing significantly high percentages of leisure cyclists and commuter riders alike.
The North East has the smallest percentage of riders cycling for commuter/travel reasons each week (3.9%), with the West Midlands seeing similarly small numbers of adults cycling for commuting/travel reasons (4.3%).
You have to stay south of the Watford Gap to find the highest percentages of adults cycling at least once a week for leisure reasons (South East & South West at 9.3%, East of England at 9.1%).
Scroll below for heat maps and stats. What they don’t include are details of how much cyclists in the regions typically spend on cycling gear and kit.
There are more stats collated on the NimbleFins site.