Is it unusual to be an adult and not have a bike?

[TheKitchenWitch]

It came up at a work thing recently, where we were asked to bring in our bicycles for an event, and I was the only one who doesn't have one.

We live on top of a hill, so there's nowhere I'd easily be able to cycle to (or rather, I could whizz down the hill but getting home again would be a bugger). But even when we lived in a village down in the valley, I would either walk to local places or drive to ones further away. And I've never been one for cycling for pleasure - it's just not something I'd ever do. Had a bike as a kid and then at some point in my teens outgrew it and that was that.
DH i s super fit and goes mountain biking, but that's different - he'll often drive to get to good biking trails, but he'd never just cycle around on roads.

Is that unusual? Do most adults really have (and use) bicycles?

@BertieBotts Yes, I'm in Germany too and I think that many of my friends and colleagues do indeed have bikes. I was thinking I was in a minority but this is actually quite heartening to read!

Oh! I was going to ask whether you're in another country. Yes; I think in Germany the majority of adults do have a bike. Similar in the Netherlands.

Here you go @TheKitchenWitch
Data

https://www.statista.com/statistics/589612/england-bicycle-ownership-or-access-by-age-group/

I don't have one. I can't ride one.

I would like to have one but I don't have the time or space to learn.

Bikes are nice but I wouldn't assume most adults had one. I did as a young adult because I didn't have a car but did have a kids seat so I could transport my daughter faster and further than she could walk.
I don't have it now as we live in a flat, it would be stolen if I locked it up anywhere (the original bike was stolen from a residents locked bike shed) and I'm not carrying an adult bike up 8 flights of stairs to keep it in my hallway- it just isn't practical now.

No, not unusual around here. Very hilly so not good unless you're super fit. The roads are pretty unsuitable on the main roads into the town, i.e. too narrow for any useful cycle paths, some without even pavements, not good trying to cycle on a main A road with lorries etc whizzing past just a few feet away from you! We have a University, so you'd expect quite a few bikes, but no, very few as the designated "safe" cycle path from Uni to the town centre goes all around the houses rather than a direct route as they've put it through housing estates instead of the direct route along a main road. It's like zombie apocalypse on campus as the bike storage units are full of rusting bikes, flat tyres, etc., from students who probably years ago abandoned the bikes!

I can imagine they're handy and more common if the town is flatter and there's some proper designated cycle paths along canal tow paths, river sides, etc.

It will depend on local geography, quality of cycle paths etc.

Certainly in the firms I've worked at locally, there've been very few, if any, staff who've cycled to work.

I don't have one...last time I remember having one was in secondary school. I'm 34 now.

I've never even learned to ride a bike.

I don’t drive so I’ve always had a bike for getting to work/getting around etc. and live somewhere very cycle friendly where that’s very common. My parents and siblings do drive but live in London so have always cycled everywhere and only drive to get out of the city for weekends etc. In laws live somewhere a) hillier and b) much more car dependent - none of them have bikes. DH didn’t for years and then bought one in lockdown for exercise/escaping the rest of us. So in short, no, I’d never assume someone would have a bike, but I do see it as a very normal way of getting about.

The stats show about 47% of people have a bike as of 2020. I suspect it might have increased from then

I've always had a bike. In cities it gets used for travel. When we lived in the country it languished in the garage (narrow lanes, nowhere near enough to cycle to, small DC) and occasionally was strapped to the car to visit a trail park or for holidays.

Its fairly easy to see why having a bike isn't convenenient or useful for a lot of people, like not everyone has camping gear or suitcases or a lawnmower.

I’m in London and everyone I know has a bike. I have 4!

Haven't had one since a teenager
Do have a spin bike though

Nope, it is not unusual. I hate them. (And can ride one)

I haven't, but now i think of it most of my friends do - women 50s/60s in London. Only a handful of work colleagues that I'm aware of.

Nope, around here (Lancashire) people stare at you like you are flying a spaceship if you are a female over the age of 9 riding a pushbike😂

I get all sorts of goady, mysogynistic comments too - that your average MAMIL never has to endure.

But I don't care, I love my bike 😍

Bikes are things where you have bikes plural or none.

IME people either don’t own a bike, or it’s their outing hobby and they have 6.

i cycle commute. I am unusual in that I have one bike, that does me. It’s a hybrid so not speedy or efficient but is good for most conditions. The other cyclists at work have road bikes for speed, gravel bikes for footpaths, bikes with fat tyres for rainy conditions, suspension for dodgy roads etc etc.

I haven't owned or ridden a bike since I was around 10, so well over 40 years ago.

I have two, one ebike and one ordinary one. And I fit into the demographic of women in their 50s/60s!

I don’t have or want a bike. I don’t think it’s unusual.

You really should've mentioned the context that you were in Germany in the OP. It's more common/popular there. A friend is Berlin-based and everyone cycles there. Obviously not every adult has a bike or rides wherever you are, but the popularity does vary massively by country and culture.

Me (London), I cycle to work and I love riding my bike. I feel like a joyful little kid on it. Cycling to work is popular with my large employer - it has excellent cycle facilities and a quarter of my team also cycle most or all of the time. Technically I do have two bikes - a full-sized hybrid and a folder I got when my commute was train & bike - but everyone else in the family only has 1.

I cycle to the train station and back once a week and I've just bought my almost 2 year old a balance bike. My husband hasn't got one though

I would love a bike, but I haven't got anywhere to keep one.

I don't have one.
We have some in our house, cluttering up the garage, but none that would be roadworthy at short notice.

I suspect our household isn't alone in that, so, although @MidnightOnceMore 's table might well be true in terms of ownership, I bet the figures would be a lot lower different in terms of people who ride a bike fairly regularly / maintain their bike so it is useable at short notice. I am surprised that many actually have a bike, tbh.

I own several. I do not know any other adult with a bike. In my personal experience most people view a bike as a child's toy. I don't use my bikes for commuting or competing, and therefore my cycling is seen as a child's pastime.