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TORONTO, Ontario (BRAIN)—The Bicycle Trade Association of Canada (BTAC) reports its supplier members picked up $21 million* in sales last year as shipments to dealers fell 8 percent but sales grew 14 percent to $171 million.

“When we showed positive growth in 2008 and the BPSA showed a slowdown we expected that we might get hit by the economic slowdown a year later in 2009. Well that clearly didn’t happen. In talking with retailers and suppliers, they are all very upbeat about last year’s season,” said Rob Jones, BTAC’s director of research.

“Sales growth was very strong in high-end road and dual-suspension categories and that is partly responsible for bringing the average unit value up 23 percent,” Jones added.

All bike categories tracked by BTAC showed positive sales growth, with road up 33 percent, hybrids up 15 percent, 26-inch categories up 7 percent and youth up 10 percent. Road and dual-suspension bikes posted impressive unit growth as well.

(*All dollar amounts have been converted to U.S. dollars.)

—Matt Wiebe