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Bicycle sales in Canada regain footing

Bicycle sales in Canada continue to rise.
Bicycle sales in Canada continue to rise.
Bicycle sales in Canada continue to rise.

In the first half of 2013, bicycle and bicycle accessory sales continued to rise. Bike sales in Canada plummeted between 2009 and 2010 and have been slowly creeping back to the levels they were at before the drop.

First quarter sales in 2013 pulled in about $78 million, up from $69 million in 2011. Second quarter sales—the period with the highest numbers—was up to $305 million in 2013 from $283 million in 2011. Third and fourth quarter numbers are not yet available for 2013 .

The trend seems to be on the up, but the market is still not quite back to the levels it experienced at the end of the past decade. In 2009, the year with the highest sales dollars that Statistics Canada has data on (numbers only go back until 2004), sales in the first quarter fell just shy of $116 million and second quarter sales came in at $417 million.

The trend is similar to one seen south of the border. In the United States independent bike dealers saw an increase in sales dollars in November of 2013 compared to November of 2012. Sales totals for the month were up 1 per cent from the previous year and the total number of units sold was up four per cent. Different from Canada, although, was that yearly sales in total for IBDs was down by 3 per cent on the year, which was projected.