May is Bike Month in the US! Here are the key points for Amazon bike and gear selection

May marks National Bike Month in the United States. The third week of this month is designated as National Bike to Work Week, and the Friday of that month is called National Bike to Work Day, which aims to encourage as many Americans as possible to use bicycles for commuting. As a cross-border seller, you naturally cannot miss this peak sales season.

Sellers need to understand the online sales of bicycles and bicycle accessories to better grasp consumer demand, such as the peak hours for consumers to buy bicycles and equipment online, the most in-demand subcategories, and changes in consumer demand amid the ongoing epidemic.

Recently, Patten analyzed the market demand for bicycles and bicycle equipment on Amazon over the past three years to provide a reference for sellers to grasp the market trends in 2022.

When is the market demand for bicycles and cycling equipment highest?

Patten looked at weekly demand for bikes and cycling gear in 2021 and the first few months of 2022. He found that demand was low at the beginning of the year, then quickly recovered in early spring, remained high from April to June, and then began to slowly decline, reaching a low point in the winter months.

In terms of sub-categories, mountain bikes were the most popular product in 2021. The category had more than twice the demand last year as road bikes, which were the second most popular sub-category in the analysis. E-bikes, a popular new type of bicycle that offers pedal-assisted electric power, ranked second only to road bikes and ahead of tricycles.

Types of cycling equipment were also very popular, with bike racks, bike pumps, helmets and cycling shorts ranking in the top five in demand.

When is the market demand for different types of bicycles and cycling equipment highest?

The study shows that for most types of bicycles, spring is the peak sales period. Notably, e-bikes relied heavily on Amazon Prime Day to drive the majority of their demand last year, when demand surged 106%.

Mountain bike demand peaks a few weeks earlier than road bikes, in mid-March instead of early April. Trikes have the most consistent demand throughout the year and, unsurprisingly, are the biggest holiday sales category.

Among cycling equipment, demand for bicycle pumps saw its first major spike this year, with a sharp increase in the last few weeks of February. Demand for the rest of the equipment climbed steadily in the early spring.

Bike racks and bike shorts both experience their biggest sales weeks of the year during Prime Day, while cycling jerseys are clearly a big hit during the Tour de France.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different types of bicycles

Research shows that the pandemic has caused a surge in consumer demand for bicycles and cycling equipment. Demand levels in the first few months of 2020 were almost the same as in 2019, but monthly demand in May and June increased by 28% compared to the same period in 2019.

While demand remained high throughout 2020, it fell to or below 2019 levels in 2021, and reached a new low in 2022.

Hybrid bikes and mountain bikes saw the largest increases among specific types of bikes, with annual demand in almost every category higher in 2020 than in 2019.

E-bikes didn’t see that much growth at the start of the pandemic, but the year started relatively strongly, with demand in March 2022 exceeding any previous year.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for different types of bicycle equipment

While most types of bicycles saw a surge in demand in 2020 and then declined year over year, that doesn't mean bicycles are declining in popularity. Bicycle equipment maintains the same trend.

The pandemic has brought a surge in demand for bicycle tires, and demand for cycling shorts has remained high every year, reaching an all-time high in the summer of 2021.

The year-on-year increase in demand for cycling jerseys is tied to the Tour de France, which was postponed from its usual July date to late September 2020, with demand peaking that year.

Bikes and cycling gear surge in popularity as the weather gets better, but our data shows that different types of bikes and cycling gear peak at different times of the year.

There is also evidence that people invested in new bikes in the early months and first year of the pandemic, and that fewer people were in the market for expensive new bikes. However, many people are still riding new bikes, which means more people are in the market for new tires or new helmets or other types of cycling equipment.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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