At Bike Hub HQ we kicked off the year with some fanfare following the launch of a brand new Classifieds platform in December last year. In 2020, despite some disruptions, we built on that momentum with improvements and updates across the platform, a new premium membership offering and most recently, a secure payment service.
Lockdown threw most riding plans out the window and all but a few events were postponed or cancelled. The mad dash for indoor trainers before lockdown was followed by a surge in demand for bicycles as people emerged from their homes looking for new (or old) ways to get around and stay active.
Here's a look back at 2020 on Bike Hub by the numbers.
Mind the gap: A chart showing classified ads created per day in 2020 showing the impact of lockdown.
Website Stats - Visitors
Despite a surge in demand and traffic for all things bicycle in the second half of 2020, the abrupt stall of hard lockdown is visible in our top line traffic numbers. From mid-may things crept up to normal and in the three months from June to August we hit consecutive record numbers.
2 105 266
-2.45%
51 884 092
-6.53%
7 339 405
-3.73%
06:39
+4.62%
South African User Split
34.17% Western Cape
9.46% KwaZulu-Natal
3.70% Eastern Cape
1.31% Mpumalanga
1.13% Limpopo
1.02% North West
0.38% Northern Cape
International User Split
11.74% United States
5.99% United Kingdom
2.68% Australia
2.18% Canada
1.49% Phillipines
1.36% Netherlands
1.27% France
1.14% Italy
Many of us had to find creative ways to ride during lockdown. That is of course if you had the privilege of owning an indoor trainer. Photo credit: Ashley Oldfield reviewed the 2020 Wahoo Kickr.
Website Activity - New Members
New Members
19 534
Total Members
148 338
+15.50%
Section Breakdown
By pageviews
- Classifieds: 74.45%
- Forums: 13.93%
- Home: 9.69%
- News & Articles: 1.03%
- Stolen Bikes: 0.17%
- Events: 0.14%
Gender Breakdown
Classifieds Activity
Top 15 most searched bike brands
For the second year running, Specialized increased their lead in the share of brand searches by a percentage point, consolidating a formidable advantage over other brands. Giant stole the second spot on the podium from Scott as it gained a small margin. Trek gained close on a percentage point and claimed fourth spot from Cannondale who moved down to fifth.
1. Specialized - 23.42% (22.26%)
2. Giant - 10.30% (9.98%)
3. Scott - 10.11% (10.92%)
4. Trek - 8.15% (7.29%)
5. Cannondale - 8.09% (8.62%)
6. Santa Cruz - 4.50% (4.31%)
7. Merida - 3.95% (4.23%)
8. Bianchi - 3.59% (3.12%)
9. Pyga - 3.39% (3.08%)
10. Silverback - 2.53% (2.89%)
11. Titan - 2.39% (1.68%)
12. Momsen - 2.00% (2.12%)
13. Colnago - 1.57% (1.89%)
14. Canyon - 1.56% (1.45%)
15. Pinarello - 1.47% (1.32%)
(2019 figure listed in brackets)
Adverts listed
58 486 +0.17%
Leads Generated
203 444 +8.56%
Advert Views
16 973 301 -14.92%
Avg. value - All Categories
R 11 404.96 +23.01%
Avg. value - Mountain Bikes
R 22 312.15 +7.88%
Avg. value - Road Bikes
R 21 438.60 +12.09%
Listings and Sales Figures
In years gone by we've reported impressive top line listings values, but with little insight into actual sales. We now have some visibility into sales thanks to new functionality, however as it is reliant upon user reported data its still likely an underrepresentation of the true number (likely 2-3x). Still, R152 million in confirmed sales for the year is a significant number.
Total Listings Value
R 625 379 674 + 22.3%
Tracked Sales Value*
R 152 415 996
Average Sale Days (Full Year)
18.7
Average Sale Days (Q4 2020)
9.1
Average Price Difference**
15.94%
* This figure is based on user reported data and likely under-represents the true sales value. 33% of ads created in the period were actively reported by the seller as having been sold. A further 40% of ads were removed by the seller and 20% expired after 30 days without feedback from the seller.
** Average price difference compares the listed price to the user reported sale price.
Advert count by Location
1. Western Cape 42.94%
2. Gauteng 39.74%
3. KwaZulu-Natal 7.83%
4. Eastern Cape 3.48%
5. Mpumalanga 1.91%
6. North West 1.69%
7. Freestate 1.54%
8. Limpopo 0.35%
9. Northern Cape 0.34%
10. International 0.11%
Advert count by Category
5. Wheels & Tyres 9.39%
6. Frames 3.29%
7. Entries & Services 1.27%
8. Electric Bikes 0.73%
Introducing Bike Hub Pay: Buyer & Seller Protection
On 30 November 2020 we announced the launch of our buyer and seller protection service Bike Hub Pay. Funds are held securely until the buyer receives the goods, offering peace of mind for buyers and expanding the buyer pool for sellers.
Website Activity - Top 20 Articles Published in 2020
- 2020 Cape Epic Cancelled
- Review: 2021 Specialized S-Works Epic Evo
- Review: 2021 Specialized S-Works Epic
- First Look: 2021 Cannondale Scalpel adds spring to its step
- Review: Trek Supercaliber 9.8
- First Ride: The Specialized Turbo Levo SL Changes The Game
- PPA urges government to allow cycling under strict lock down conditions
- Inside Movistar documentary series hits Netflix screens
- Specialized Racing pull teams out of Cape Epic
- Titan Racing Launch All-New Drone Hardtail
- Backyard Bike Checks: Show Your Bike Some Love and Win
- Italian-based Team Trek-Pirelli withdraw from Cape Epic
- 2020 Mountain Bike Stage Race Calendar
- Shimano Launch All-New 12-Speed Deore Groupset
- Matthys Beukes Turned Lockdown Upside Down with 1000km Ride
- NanoTime announce professional MTB team riders
- Specialized champion ride experience with 5.9 kg S-Works Aethos
- SRAM crank it to 52 tooth with new Eagle groupsets
- New Owner for 947 Ride Joburg
- The Digital Swiss 5 - Pro and Fan Races by Tour de Suisse Start April 22
Backyard Bike Checks - In early April we ran a fun competition encouraging Hubbers to spend some quality time with their bikes while cooped up inside. And ever hopeful that our freshly pampered rides would soon be set free....
Forum Activity
In most years events account for a large proportion of the forum discussion. This year, outside of the Cape Town Cycle Tour and cancellation of the Cape Epic, there wasn't a whole lot of event activity to get people talking. And the numbers show it.
Given its universal impact, Covid-19 unsurprisingly dominated what was left of the cycling and non-cycling discussions on Bike Hub. Thankfully, the delayed Tour de France and Giro d'Italia provided us all with a temporary distraction later in the year, but we're hopeful to see a broadening the scope of cycling discussions in 2021.
New topics
3 321 -29.77%
Replies
157 241 -11.93%
Topic views
4 132 241 -28.79%
Top 10 Most Viewed Topics
1. Coronavirus lockdown and exercising outdoors
2. Petition: Bring Back the Classifieds Comments
3. Nic Dlamini's arm broken by Table Mountain rangers
4. Are Hardtails dead?
5. Are cyclist just too superior to keep their masks/buffs on
6. The Munga 2020
7. 2020 Cape Epic Cancelled
8. PPA urges government to allow cycling under strict lock down conditions
9. Hypothetical dream build (mamil style)
10. Double Century 2020
214 413
125 693
61 318
32 916
30 955
29 073
24 694
22 134
20 951
18 407
Top 10 Most Replied-to Topics
1. Where has your bike taken you today?
2. Coronavirus lockdown and exercising outdoors
3. 2020 Tour de France
4. Petition: Bring Back the Classifieds Comments
5. Cyclists with a "Running" Problem
6. Cape Town Cycle Tour 2020
7. Boast about your latest purchases here...
8. Giro d'Italia 2020
9. Nic Dlamini's arm broken by Table Mountain rangers
10. Are cyclist just too superior to keep their masks/buffs on
3 847
3 776
3 412
2 648
2 318
2 033
1 190
872
835
783
Topic starters
1. DR ◣◢ - 41
2. RomP - 23
3. mrJohan - 22
4. mecheng89 - 20
5. Markellis, MajG - 15
6. ouzo, Hairy - 14
7. MyriadEventsSA - 13
8. rogerdias - 12
9. MudLark, Chadvdw67, FootballingCyclist, Guy with the Ritchey - 11
10. NickGM, Dirt Tracker, love2fly - 10
Top Posters
1. DieselnDust - 2221
2. Hairy - 1942
3. Jewbacca - 1816
4. ChrisF - 1766
5. Gen - 1730
6. morneS555 - 1300
7. Vetplant - 1296
8. DR ◣◢ - 1289
9. Waynemol - 1187
10. Long Wheel Base - 1180
All stats for the period 17 December 2019 - 16 December 2020(and compared to the same period for the prior year).
0
DR ◣◢, Dec 22 2020 02:04
I had no idea I started that many topics. Hope it was of some value to the community.As for being number 8 on the comments side. I’m surprised it only came with one warning point.
DieselnDust, Dec 22 2020 02:24
Yikes top spot of the posters and I hardly ever posted in chitchat... <shocked>
must be double counting somewhere. are the ballot machines counting correctly?
Did the counters hide others boxes under the tables?
I smell voter fraud
I lost the election and I can prove it....
Long Wheel Base, Dec 22 2020 02:26
What did you get a warning point for?
I do recall very recently someone laughing about the topics you started and how some were a bit different.
Long Wheel Base, Dec 22 2020 02:29
Damn lockdown and not being at work for so long hampered my performance.
2019
2020
DR ◣◢, Dec 22 2020 02:50
There was a mention of a razor and a bath that I assume was reported. My bad.
It was in the classifieds comments thread.
Meezo, Dec 22 2020 03:05
Even i could of told you that
Jewbacca, Dec 22 2020 03:09
They don't count the ChitChat posts... It is 'bike related' forums only.
So you contributed the most to topical threads. The chitchat or 'den of iniquity' topics are rather left unaccounted for.....
Bateleur1, Dec 22 2020 03:09
Would be interresting to see of the 150 000 odd users, how many are active on a regular basis. How many different members of viewing every day on avg and how many are posting on avg every day.
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem, Dec 22 2020 03:11
Awesome. No longer top 10
stefmeister, Dec 22 2020 03:30
Thought you might have been joking, but then double checked. Think it’s kinda disingenuous to leave out the chitchat from the stats, seeing as it’s a topic of contention.
Not gonna lose sleep though.
The figure that caught my eye though is the R152m in confirmed sales. Makes sense now that someone wants a slice of that pie.
Vetseun, Dec 22 2020 05:29
CongratsDieselnDust, Dec 22 2020 08:50
Aaaah thanks for explaining. Well hopefully the info was useful and helped people make informed choices
DR ◣◢, Dec 22 2020 08:55
Your input on my b tension adjustment problem was invaluable.
DieselnDust, Dec 22 2020 09:11
Thanks DR. Glad it helped youPure Savage, Dec 22 2020 09:54
Sho, snuck out of top 10 again, safe.
MajG, Dec 22 2020 10:00
I made it too top 10 of threads started...eish need to use search function more often from now onmorneS555, Dec 22 2020 11:05
Maybe if you weren't outside getting bikejacked and run over by cars the all the time you’d be able to feature on here more. Get your priorities in order. 😅
/comic sans/
Long Wheel Base, Dec 23 2020 11:26
This makes sense now. I was wondering why some people who comment A LOT in those fight threads didn't even feature in the top10 posters. Would be interesting to see total posts vs only bike related posts. I reckon about half that top 10 will be different and the number of posts will be probably double.
Moridin, Dec 29 2020 10:30
If I had an indoor trainer setup like that I would not mind a lockdown.
Long Wheel Base, Jan 04 2021 02:10
Agreed, except I would face it the other way around.