Young people overtake seniors in electric bicycle use

Young people have overtaken seniors as the most frequent electric bicycle users, DR reports. Around one in three young people rode an electric bicycle last year, compared with about one in eight people under 30 in 2022, according to a survey by the National Knowledge Centre for Cycling Promotion.

Electric bicycles were initially bought mainly by seniors, who used them to avoid having to pedal hard. Their popularity has since grown rapidly among younger people, said Jens Høyer Kruse, a sports researcher at the University of Southern Denmark.

“You could call it a small breakthrough or a popular movement,” he said. Electric bicycles make it easier to get to public transport, work or university. For young people, it also matters that they arrive looking more presentable and less sweaty than they might on a conventional bicycle, he said.

‘It feels like a mini car’

Among the regular users is 23-year-old Johanne Højlund Simonsen, who studies psychology at Aarhus University.

“I probably would have taken the bus if I didn’t have an electric bicycle. It’s easy because you don’t have to use your legs as much, and you get fresh air. In many ways, it feels like a mini car,” she said.

“It’s also annoying to arrive at a lesson sweating, and I don’t have that problem,” she added.

Højlund Simonsen does not expect to return to a conventional bicycle, although she acknowledges that the electric bicycle reduces the amount of everyday exercise she gets.

“But I run and work out at a gym, so I think I’m good at doing other forms of exercise that make up for it,” she said.

Cycling association welcomes trend

The Danish Cyclists’ Federation welcomed the growing popularity of electric bicycles.

“The electric bicycle is a game changer because it means that many more people can see cycling as a real alternative for daily transport, whether they need to travel 10, 15, 20 or perhaps 25 kilometres. It simply makes cycling easy and fun. People can get fresh air and plenty of exercise without becoming overexerted and sweaty,” said Jens Peter Hansen, chairperson of the federation.

Electric bicycles still provide exercise

Riding an electric bicycle requires less effort, raising the question of whether young people would benefit more from cycling without assistance.

“Yes, kilometre for kilometre, a conventional bicycle provides better exercise. But an electric bicycle means that people cycle farther. So you often get just as much exercise from riding an electric bicycle while using the pedals,” said Kruse.

Studies show that people ride both farther and more often when they have an electric bicycle. Their heart rate is lower than when riding a conventional bicycle, Kruse said, but they still get exercise.

Electric bicycles are used more outside the capital region than around Copenhagen. Kruse said the landscape may be a factor.

“It is relatively flat in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. But in Vejle, Fredericia and other towns, there are more hills, which means that electric bicycles have a much greater effect.”