E-Bike News. Americans ages 60-79 are Leading the E-Bike “BOOM” in the US

The national surge in adult bicycling since 1995 may have more to do with healthy hips than with hipsters.

Biking and E-biking rates among people between the ages of 60 and 79 are soaring.

Seniors account for 22 percent of the nation’s growth in adult biking. And because biking among children is actually falling, seniors’ account for more than a third of the overall gain in biking.

Not long ago riding a bicycle over the age of 55 was very rare, riding over the age of 75 was almost unheard of. Today, the rapid drop in car use among young adults sometimes leads to assumptions that millennials are driving the nationwide boom in bike trips.

There’s no question that Generation Y’s tendency to favor city life and declining enthusiasm for car ownership has boosted bike transportation. But as the older generation and the baby boomers who followed them have entered their golden years, they’ve transformed what it means to be the kind of person who rides a bicycle.

Between 1995 and 20013, the rise in biking among people ages 60-79 accounted for 37 percent of the total net nationwide increase in biking.

Older Americans’ interest in biking is rising. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said the reasons for the shift among older people are complicated, but the implications are interesting. This data shows that boomers are also looking for other ways to get around.