High rollers (2)

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(Global Times) 13:33, September 05, 2013

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A Hummer mountain bike. Photo: Li Hao/GT

The ups and downs

The demand for high-end bikes in China started soaring in 2010, according to figures from S&P Consulting Services, a company that provides marketing solutions for enterprises. In the next few years, bicycle demand in China will increase by 10 percent annually, with the high-end sector growing by 15 percent, according to a report by Reuters.

Alex Moulton opened its first franchise store in the Chinese mainland in May, and many other top foreign brands are eager for a slice of this growing pie.

High-end and luxury bicycle brands are generally divided into three categories in China: mountain and road racing bikes mainly used by serious cyclists, such as Colnago, Cannondale and Pinarello; bikes made by luxury brands not in the bike field such as BMW and Hummer; and European vintage bikes including Danish-made Viva and Britain's Alex Moulton.

"Chinese people are always quick to catch on to new fashions, especially high-income groups in the first-tier cities," says Yang Yang, director of Beijing Golden Bike, the top franchisee of Hummer bikes in China.

His store in Tiyuguan Lu, near the General Administration of Sport of China in Dongcheng district, displays many different bike models, ranging from classic and limited editions to the latest designs equipped with advanced technologies. Prices range from 10,000 yuan ($1,600) to 200,000 yuan. Yang notes a customer just bought a limited version Colnago for Ferrari, priced at more than 200,000 yuan.

Yang was a professional cyclist for the national team before he turned 18, and has been running his bike business since the early 1990s. He has witnessed the ups and downs of the bike industry in China over the past decades. In the 1980s, owning a bicycle was the pride of many families. Foreign high-end bikes were only available to professional cyclists.

"When the national team purchased its first Colnago racing bike, it cost $1,000, enough money for a Jeep for minister-level government officials at the time," Yang says.

Bicycles went out of fashion in the late 1990s and early 2000s, after private cars became the most desirable vehicles for urban families. The most popular family activity during weekends was taking a ride to the suburbs.

"Abandoned bikes, covered with dust, were piled up in the halls and outside residential buildings," says Yang. During the period, the bike store managed by his uncle went bankrupt.

In recent years, concerns over increasingly torturous traffic jams and the desire for a healthier and greener lifestyle have fed an impressive rise in the bicycle industry's fortunes. The once-unattainable Colnago finally became available to the increasingly large group of wealthy Chinese.