Student bikes, empty parents' wallets
Written by | Gong Zheng
Edit | Roads
A post-80s mother in Beijing posted a photo on Xiaohongshu. The photo shows a bicycle parking area in front of the gate of a middle school in Beijing, a slit-around mountain bike and road bike. The handsome model is followed by a basket with a school bag.
Mom sighed: Do students ride these bikes to school now? She has the impression that the student's bicycle is still stuck in the range of a few hundred yuan when she was a student, and it looks very traditional.
The post garnered over 500 comments. Many parents resonated with her and shared: My child has already started with 2, 3000 yuan Giant, and 2, 3000 yuan is just an entry level.
#01
From a few thousand to tens of thousands, there are many volumes of students' "mounts".
Zhang Jie is a junior high school student in Beijing, his home is 2 kilometers away from the school, he rode a shared bicycle to school in the first and second years of junior high school, and in the third year of junior high school, his mother spent more than 3,000 yuan to buy a Giant road bike as a birthday gift for the child.
During the summer vacation, Zhang Jie often rode this new car to go out riding with his classmates, "I like the feeling of riding." Now, Zhang Jie can finally "join the group", it turns out that in school, there are many students who ride Giant to school.
Li Sisong, a high school student in Beijing, owns a Trek bicycle (USA, founded in 1976) that he bought for more than 4,000 yuan. In his spare time, he is always fully armed from helmets to cycling clothes. He said that his favorite social activity is cycling on Chang'an Avenue that is popular this summer.
In the summer, riding from the Jianguo Gate of the East Second Ring Road to the Fuxing Gate of the West Second Ring Road, when waiting for the traffic light on the road, you meet a friend who rides the same bike, and you can know that "each other is from the same country" with a greeting and a small greeting.
Figure | Riding Chang'an Avenue at night is the hottest social activity this summer
A few thousand yuan is just a public entry in the student cycling industry, and there is no shortage of middle and high school students with more favorable family economic conditions, and their "mounts" are often tens of thousands.
The owner of a Xidesheng car shop on Guangqu Road in Beijing (Shenzhen, founded in 1995) told the True Story Research Laboratory that two road bikes worth 19,000 yuan were sold this month.
One is a grandmother who brought her grandson who is in junior high school to buy, and without any phone communication before coming, she went straight to the best car in the store, and it took 10 minutes for grandma to swipe her card and leave.
There is another one that I happened to meet when I visited the car dealership. An elder brother who works in a nuclear power company also spent 19,000 yuan to buy a car for his younger brother who just graduated from college. In fact, the elder brother has already given the younger brother a car, and at the moment he is giving a bicycle because the younger brother told the elder brother, "Riding a bicycle is cool now".
As long as you swipe a little social media, you can also swipe high school students who ride more expensive bicycles. A Beijing high school student often rides an Italian-made Colnago bicycle to take photos (plum blossoms, founded in 1944), and according to his interactive comments with netizens, he said that he spent 100,000 yuan. Of course, this is not the mainstream of the market.
A car dealer owner told the "True Story Research Laboratory" that in the area of Sihui-Gaobeidian in Beijing, there are indeed car dealers selling high-end cars such as French LOOK (founded in 1951 and originally a snowboard assembler) and Italian TEAM (founded in 1954), which generally import parts from abroad, then assemble them in the car dealership, and then sell them at a high price, which adds tens of thousands of yuan in assembly costs. However, this type of car is aimed at professional and high-income people. Of course, if the parents of students are deep lovers, they may buy a car to ride with their families.
Back to the more than 500 comments received by the post-80s mother in Beijing, the mainstream brands are still Giant (Taiwan, China), Merida (Taiwan, China), Xidesheng (Shenzhen), Decathlon (United States), Trek (United States), Electra (United States), etc.
JD.com once released a bicycle hot sales list in 2022, which is generally on par with the physical fitness of the car dealership bosses. The hot sales list shows that brands such as Xidesheng, Trek, Lightning, and Decathlon do have a high level of buying among users.
Figure | Parking lot at the entrance of a school in Beijing
#02
The student car market as seen by the owner of the car dealership
Peng Ge (not his real name) is the person in charge of a directly-operated store in Beijing's Cui Ke Haidian. He told the "True Story Research Room", "If you want to know how popular middle school students are to ride to school, just come here every morning and watch the road." ”
The geographical location of this store is very superior, and there are many well-known middle schools near the High School Affiliated to the National People's Congress, the High School Affiliated to Peking University, the Middle School of Bayi School, and the 19th Middle School of Beijing. "For example, in the area of models, road cars and mountain bikes on the road are almost five or five points."
Brother Peng entered the circle around 2012, he is a hobbyist, and later turned his hobby into a job, and he has been doing it for more than 10 years. He was in charge of a Trek store near Beijing's East Third Ring Road, where middle school students (including high school students) accounted for nearly 10% of their consumption. Although it is not an absolute big head, what impresses Peng Ge is that modern middle school students are "professional" about bicycles.
"After school, middle school students often come in groups to visit shops and repairs, and they talk about the study of cars. I also know about their groups, mountain bikes and mountain bikes in groups, road bikes in groups with each other, and each group is not interconnected. ”
"True Story Research Laboratory" visited a number of car dealers in Beijing, including Xidesheng, Giant, Trek, Electra, etc., and they outlined the consumption power and consumption bias of middle school students (including high school students) on bicycles, which have been cross-verified and have many commonalities.
In terms of consumption power: most students today often buy bicycles in the range of 2,000-5,000 yuan, and families with higher incomes will buy bicycles of about 1-20,000 yuan. Of course, there are also professional enthusiast families, or high-income groups, who will buy tens of thousands of yuan of bicycles to ride. This is in line with the growth of the bicycle sales list of the e-commerce platform.
5,000 yuan is a watershed in material for many brands. There are more cars with lighter carbon fiber materials for more than 5,000 yuan, and slightly heavier aluminum alloys for less than 5,000 yuan.
In terms of model consumption: mountain bikes have wide tires and strong grip, which is safe for novices to get started, and parents can rest assured. Road bikes have narrow tires and are faster and suitable for people with certain driving skills.
Students will have a step up in their cycling options. For example, students who have been riding mountain bikes for a long time will pursue faster speed and experience, upgrade to road bikes, and upgrade the brand they choose.
In addition, some people will choose city cars, such as the Electra, which is stylish, beautiful, and ergonomically designed to ride comfortably. According to the person in charge of Beijing, students buy more of its Townie series, and the price is basically around 6,000 yuan, which is relatively moderate. It's also the number one selling bike in the U.S., and many people ride it to work, school, and light sports.
Figure | City car owners focus on style and riding comfort
Brand bias: Xidesheng and Giant, as a one-stop vertical manufacturer from production, sales to after-sales, have a long history of car manufacturing, technology accumulation, and a large price range, which is the first choice for many students to get started. Decathlon bicycles are also more popular, but Decathlon is a comprehensive sports brand, and bicycles are only one branch of it.
The owner of a Giant car dealership said that many Decathlon car owners will find Giant when repairing, because the latter has more shops in Beijing.
In the mid-to-high-end market, some of Trek's series are known as Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the bicycle world, and some students also like it. In addition, there are also a small number of people who will buy the now popular folding cars, such as Brompton (started in the UK in 1975) and so on. But folding cars do not belong to the category of sports cars, but to lifestyle.
Figure | Folding cars are more of a lifestyle
"Ride a bike, punch a card, take a picture." If you're looking for speed, some students may have a folding bike and then "clamo" for their parents to buy a mountain or road bike.
As for the time-honored brands Phoenix and Permanent, many car dealership owners said that these time-honored brands basically give the brand to the contractors and produce it by them.
Figure | Hide the line, the more concise the line, the more popular it is with students
The owner of the car dealership deals with students every day, and naturally he is also familiar with the parents who pay for it.
A number of car dealership owners said that as the payer of car purchases, parents of students will have a desire to buy when they see that bicycles can strengthen their health, "because it is better than buying a computer to play games." ”
In addition, students ride to school, and there are always cases where the subway cannot be reached, and it is inconvenient for parents to drive. Moreover, according to the relevant provisions of the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China", you must be at least 16 years old to ride an electric vehicle. Bicycles are the most convenient for students.
The second is social psychology. As a group of students, it is easy to have the psychology of following, conforming, and even competing in a narrow living space, which is essentially a kind of socialization, and seeks a sense of identity and security in the crowd by cycling.
"One reality is that parents are very fond of their children these days. When the child saw other classmates in the school riding road bikes and making a fuss in front of his parents, many of his parents followed. The owner of a car dealership said.
#03
The bicycle industry has been booming for nearly 10 years
Boss Cui (pseudonym), who opened Xidesheng Bicycle Shop on Guangqu Road in Beijing, has been in this industry for 10 years and has experienced the prosperity of bicycles.
Boss Cui said that 10 years ago, when selling bicycles, the concept of the industry was a means of travel. Now it's socializing, circles, and toys for sale.
He compared the 10-year growth curve of the bicycle industry with his hand, which is almost a wave curve that vibrates up and down. Among them, after the emergence of shared bicycles in 2014-2015, the overall sales of the bicycle industry declined. In the three years of the pandemic, the sales curve has risen significantly, because people have a strong sense of demand for outdoor sports and have formed a social and circle culture of cycling.
In addition, the quality of sales is also related to the ups and downs of the brand. According to Boss Cui, Xidesheng, which was founded in Shenzhen in 1995, started as an OEM with well-known overseas brands, but after the Sino-US trade war began, the company's exports were affected, so it turned its business focus to China.
Xidesheng has a special youth series. Boss Cui introduced that when students and young people come to buy a car, appearance is the first consideration. In response to everyone's needs, in addition to the cooler color, an obvious product improvement is to hide the transmission line and brake line, so that the body lines are very clean and neat.
Figure | The average price of the car in the store is about 20,000 yuan
It is said that the current environment is not good, but Boss Cui said that the bicycle business of the car dealer has been good in the past two years. "Every year from March to October is the peak season, and the winter is too cold. In the peak season, more than 200 cars can be sold in a month, and the sales of a month can cover hundreds of thousands of yuan in store rent. ”
According to the owner of an American-funded brand car dealership, if calculated in the past 10 years, the first wave of bicycle craze in his memory began in 2011-2012 (the first Tour of Beijing Professional Road Cycling Race in 2011), the competition led to a wave of professional cycling, but at that time, the mainstream of market consumption was "18,000" cars, combined with the price at that time, it was not cheap.
With this boom, the market has been educated, the number of users has surged, and various brand car dealers have also expanded their stores across the country. However, around 2016, the market supply was overheated and oversupplied, and the social genes of cycling had not yet developed, and there were no new consumers to supplement the market, and many car dealerships closed a large number of stores, and the market fell into an embarrassing situation.
In those years when he paid more attention to professional cycling, the boss did not think, "Bicycle sharing has affected the development of the bicycle industry, and the two are different things." Shared bicycles are satisfied with the last 1 kilometer, and it is difficult to ride more than 10 kilometers to go for a ride, which is not the case with sporty bicycles. ”
The owner of the car dealership said that after the end of the high school entrance examination and college entrance examination every year, it is the peak of the student party to buy and upgrade cars. Exam rewards, birthday rewards, and many parents give their children "gift lists", bicycles are getting ahead of the line.
The owner of the Giant car dealership near Chaoyang Joy City in Beijing said that business has been good in the past three years of the epidemic, but it is difficult to make money. Because the factory was shut down, the goods could not be purchased.
"In the past three years, the best business has been the second-hand car dealer, who has goods in hand, can sell, and when the market is good, the profit can be hundreds of thousands a month."
The owner also added that the store's students generate about one-fifth of the store's revenue.
#04
Is bicycles a good business to start a business?
If there are many people who buy bicycles, is it a good business to start a business? Many car dealership owners almost unanimously said: Be cautious. And the boss said: don't do anything on the bike.
The owner of the Giant car dealership said, "Yes, business is good, but there are more people entering the industry, and the cake is divided." According to the data in the circle, he said that in the past two years alone, the number of bicycle shops in Beijing has increased by at least 2-3 times. Many friends around me have entered the industry by joining and other ways, and the competition has intensified. ”
The owner of an American car dealership also holds the same view. He believes that "2-3 times is still a conservative data." My own car dealership is a directly operated store, and in the past two years, it has also conquered cities across the country, and the number of stores is approaching the peak level around 2016. ”
So, how much capital does it cost to start a bike shop?
At present, the biggest common divisor of all people in the industry is that there are at least one million funds in Beijing, including rent, labor, and purchases.
"There are a lot of requirements for bicycle categories, from color to material to model. Because the body shape and height of each bicycle are different, it requires the owner to enter a variety of heights, colors, and models of cars to ensure richness, so the occupation of working capital is more prominent. ”
In addition to funding, "professionalism" is also required. Professionalism is mainly reflected in the service ability from the store manager to the car dealer technician.
Bike dealership owners said that many cyclists are now very professional, they have to configure parts, repair the car, or adjust the speed and brake line, if the store manager and the car dealer technician are not well-informed and skilled, they will not be able to provide high-quality service, and even will be "laughed at by middle and high school students".
The boss of Giant said that although the current maintenance cost only accounts for 1% of the store's revenue, it is a net profit. Repair costs range from tens to hundreds.
Of course, it is also difficult to find a good car dealership, and the salary in Beijing is mostly in the range of 5,000-10,000, especially the top and 20,000 for luxury cars, which is the top of the pyramid.
Figure | A technician adjusts a new car
On the basis of product richness and service capabilities, car dealers believe that in this way, they can make word of mouth and increase the repurchase rate. "After all this, a store manager who has successfully made a circle in the crowd does not have to worry about an annual salary of 30-400,000 yuan."
According to a number of bicycle dealers, the gross profit margin of the bicycle business is about 20%-30%. At present, there are many brands that have not fully opened their national reputation in the market, and they are seeking to open more stores. However, these brands are more cautious in choosing franchisees or partners.
"I hope you are experienced, not a novice, they don't want you to collapse the store before the brand is ready, which will affect the brand perception."
Finally, there is a sentence from a senior car dealer owner, "In this business, even if you have a student group, it is best that you don't encourage them to buy such an expensive car, or according to the actual situation of the family." We don't want students to make unnecessary comparisons, and we should give them the right guidance. ”
In fact, there are indeed incidents on the Internet that hurt the feelings of parents because of car obsession. Xiao Li, a junior high school student who loves cycling in a certain place, purchased a number of professional bicycle accessories such as frames, cranksets, and wheels from the store many times within half a month, with a total value of more than 100,000 yuan, and secretly used the WeChat account in his mother's name to pay in full. After his parents found out, they negotiated with the merchant to return the goods and refund them to no avail, so they sued the court.
The above-mentioned boss said that his relative's child has a bicycle worth 60,000 yuan, "It's not that he is afraid of stealing or damaging it, we ask him to ride to school only occasionally on a half-day school day, not to show off, we think this will help cultivate his correct consumption concept." ”
(Tips: Ride a professional bike to school, please wear a helmet to protect yourself and let your parents rest assured.) At the same time, we call for rational consumption and no comparison. ）