It’s an ugly expression to qualify the classic bicycle or the youngest mountain bike. Finally, all these two wheels which move only with the force of the hock. “Muscle Bikes”, they say among the experts, to distinguish this good old bike from the spirited electric bike (VAE), with its engine which now equips all frames, down to the smallest. Because yes, pedelecs for children exist, even if it is “recommended” to ride on these couriers only after 14 years and that their driving is prohibited on the road before this age.
Electric is fantastic, in short. The valid market: + 12% in 2022, more than one in four bikes sold, 738,434 to be exact. This is the main phenomenon of recent years, everywhere in Europe and in the United States, which is also driving prices up. A bicycle, on average, today costs €916 in France. Plus €119 in one year. But whatever. VAE on all floors. With the risk of cannibalizing the whole world of cycling?
Opportunity or threat?
Owner of the Cyfac and Méral brands, specializing in traditional high-end bicycles, Aymeric Le Brun does not however see the VAE as a threat. “More like an opportunityjudge the leader. The VAE, like the cargo bike which is now going very well, can allow us to relocate our industry, and no doubt in the long term to remanufacture certain components in series, beyond what we, craftsmen, offer. Today, the carbon bikes that win the Tour de France are produced in Asia. By taking advantage of the success of the VAE, maybe tomorrow we can change that. »
Isn’t the injunction therefore paradoxical to encourage people to move for their health, and to promote a machine that above all offers the possibility of less effort? And should we fear, on the side of the sports movement, a long-term drying up of the cycling pool? “It’s nothing to worry about.assures Michel Callot, the president of the French Cycling Federation. If the VAE helps to put the bicycle back in everyone’s mind, the rate of sympathy for the sport of cycling will only increase, as was the case at the Liberation. And then I see another asset, in terms of safety: the explosion of the VAE forces us to reconsider the management of public roads, and so much the better. The VAE can help us in this fight. For us, it is essential to reassure parents who are reluctant to enroll their children in cycling clubs or schools because they are afraid. »
Do not leave the entire showcase at the VAE
The opposition VAE-traditional bike, Denis Briscadieu, leader of the Cyclelab group (125 stores in France), no longer wants to hear about it: “When mountain biking arrived, we also thought it was going to kill road biking. It did not happen. Today, gravel, a new trend between road cycling and mountain biking, is booming. We have never seen so many cyclists on the road, in the passes, on dedicated tourist circuits. The gears should not be opposed. But on the other hand, we must also accentuate the promotion of sports cycling, of our major races that the whole world envies us. The Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix is also our culture and our French uniqueness. »
A speech that sounds sweet to the ears of Julien Leyreloup, the boss of the custom-made bicycle company Victoire. “I indeed regret that the VAE often devours the media spacehe observes. But a VAE that weighs 30 kg, produced in China with bad tires, does not seem to me the ideal product for fairly short urban trips. We can also defend the beautiful, durable, traditional bicycle. »
Amateur runner and true lover of the little queen, Aymeric Le Brun takes the wheel of his colleague: “Without denigrating the VAE which, in all cases, is preferable to the car, we can also rehabilitate the pleasure of really pedaling. I have 22 km to come to work, and the days when I do them by bike, I can tell you that I have extraordinary fishing! We can also support this bike more. Like the sports bike, to which quite a few people return, with the desire to rediscover the romanticism of the bicycle of yesteryear. Energy to encourage! »
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The VAE drives the market up
The bicycle market fell by 7%, to 2.6 million units sold in 2022 in France, but the sector has on the other hand experienced an increase in its turnover to 3.6 billion euros.
The electrically assisted bicycle (VAE) should drive the market higher in the future. While it represents 28% of bicycles sold in France, it reaches 48% in Germany and 57% in the Netherlands.
Until May 31, the “May by bike” operation takes place, launched in 2020 by the Ministries of Ecological Transition and Sports to encourage cycling. For this third edition of the event, nearly 4,000 events are expected throughout France, initiatives to be found on www.maiavelo.fr
