Who on earth is buying all those bikes?

Earlier this week, The Telegraph published a report that showed that, not only was cycling on the increase, but that sales of high-end bikes in particular were on the up. To investigate further, the newspaper made the most of their journalistic talents and ‘bulging contacts book’, and approached a leading retailer of expensive racing bicycles – Halfords.

A spokesmen for the retailer confirmed the trend: “Its limited edition Carrera TDF bike, featuring a lightweight compact aluminium frame and 16 gears, sold out during the Tour De France tournament.” Aluminium frames, 16 gears, tournaments – our sport has an exciting future. I, for one, can’t wait to ditch my archaic carbon steed for something a bit more ‘high-tech’.

So just who are all the people buying these ‘premium’ bicycles? I ran the numbers from the Mintel research through the super computer I keep in my spare room and its sophisticated profiling software. After a couple of days of disgruntled whirring and reams of magnetic tape, this is the analysis it reluctantly churned out:

I think that just about sums things up.