Cycling is the new golf in South Africa

I read Hanna Barry's article about cycling in South Africa and this is it Arguably the fastest-growing sport in South Africa, cycling has taken the nation by storm and many believe it will usurp the prized position long-held by golf as the corporate sport of choice.
All you need to do is take an early-morning drive to the Cradle of Humankind one Saturday, about 50kms northwest of Johannesburg, to see the cyclists hitting the relatively vehicle-free road by the hundreds.
Conservative estimates put the value of the cycling-as-sport industry in South Africa at R600m. But Stephen Reardon, CEO of MoreCycle, which houses Cycle Lab, thinks this figure is around R1bn.
“The year-on-year growth of this industry is certainly in double-digit figures, while we’ve seen the number of registered golfers remain relatively static with participation trends flatlining,” Reardon says. “Our general view is that cycling offers double the opportunity that golf does, if you look at the participants and what they are spending.”
With some bikes fetching the same eye-watering prices as new cars and more affordable models easily costing upwards of R20 000, it’s no wonder that the MoreGolf Group, which houses the Pro Shop, bought Cycle Lab in September 2013.
“We saw many of our customers taking up cycling and our interest was sparked. We believed we could leverage our specialist retail competencies to deliver a credible retail experience to cyclists,” says Lloyd Waldeck, CEO of MoreCorp Retail. MoreGolf and MoreCycle are housed under parent company, MoreCorp.
“We thought golf was expensive until we got involved in cycling,” jokes Reardon, adding that one of the international suppliers revealed that South Africa has the highest per capita spend on cycling equipment of any country in the world. “This reflects that cyclists at all levels are spending a significant amount of money on the sport,” he says.
“The cost of cycling versus golf depends purely on the purchasing decisions made by the participant,” adds Waldeck. “Both have relatively low entry points at around R3 000 for reasonable quality equipment. However, the enthusiast is able to invest much more money in a bike (up to R190 000) than a set of golf clubs (R25 000).”
Reardon agrees that the potential spend is higher in cycling than it is in golf. “The ongoing cost of golf is what puts a lot of people off, as well as the perceived value of a club membership versus owning a bike. The latter has a higher perceived value, since it makes you healthier and is less time consuming, leaving more time for family and friends,” he notes.