Canyon’s urban mobility initiative challenges people to rediscover their cities by cycling more often, going greener and exploring new areas and routes for 30 days

World class bike manufacturer Canyon has today launched the ‘Rediscover Your City’ challenge as part of its Urban Mobility initiative. To encourage people to enjoy the hidden gems of their city, Canyon is asking the nation to go green and journey more often by bike instead of driving and/or public transport for 30 days. Launching in the UK first, this will form part of a wider global campaign to help people make the switch to cycling and to set greener goals.

30days of more cycling

Canyon’saim is for people to switch up their journeys. Whether it be a commute to work ora journey to meet friends for a coffee, there are many reasons why opting for abike is important. Cycling burns calories and improves overall fitness, aidsmental health and exposes the rider to more daylight (aiding Vitamin Dconsumption). Cycling also has practical benefits and can be a faster andsimpler way to journey within cities.

Goinggreen is a target for many people in 2020, but Canyon understands that it’s notalways easy.

The‘Rediscover Your City’ challenge is about people enjoying their city’s uniqueand exciting surroundings whilst going green. Whether saving money on travel orskipping the queues for public transport is somebody’s motivating factor, citycycling can be a fun and time-efficient way to travel. These are the reasonswhy the 30 Day Challenge has been set.

Consumerappetite to go greener

Canyon’s initiative was promptedin part by its latest consumerinsights report, revealing that one in four people would switch their mode oftransport on their daily journey to be greener*. This is good news for localauthorities, who want to take cars off the roads and reduce CO2 emissions.Clean Air Zones have been proposed or are in planning for many of the UK’smajor cities, including Birmingham, Newcastle, Oxford, Bristol and York**. 

Canyon’s report alsofound that there is a huge appetite to go greener, with almost 93% ofrespondents say the environment is important or extremely important. Of thosewho currently do not use a bike at all, one-quarter said they would move togreener forms of transport. When it came to getting more people commuting towork by bike, however, the majority of respondents said that improvedinfrastructure for cycling would encourage them to make the switch.

Reasons for a greener journey

The benefits of agreener journey are multiple: including savings in carbon, money and time, aswell as huge physical and mental benefits. Swapping a 5-mile commute or journeyby car or public transport for commuting by bike saves around 660 gallons offuel, £836 in fuel costs and 6.6 tonnes of carbon every year. Alternatively, ifyou live in London, substituting public transport for a bike could save morethan £2,000 on an annual Zones 1-4 travel card. With an average 5-mile urbanrush hour journey taking approx. 45 minutes to an hour, compared to 20-30minutes on a bike, cycling to work or to the shops can also offer big timesavings too***.

Fitness-wise, thebenefits are huge, with a 5-mile ride burning between 450 and 620 calories eachway (depending on effort), and the physical and mental health benefits ofcycling are well documented. Benefits to getting outside on a bike includeimproved cardiovascular function and muscle tone and function, and is alsohugely beneficial for mental wellbeing, including reducing stress and anxiety,promoting calmer thinking, combatting depression and increasing self-esteem. Itcan also help improve productivity.

E-bikes will help cityriders

One-quarter of all the respondents believe that an e-bike would help them to journey more by bike. Canyon’s first hybrid e-bike, the Roadlite:ON, launched recently and provides an ideal solution for those looking to get into cycling or daunted by a longer ride. Powered by the Fazua Evation drive system, the Roadlite:ON provides significant assistance in a way that always feels natural and unobtrusive. The entire bike weighs only 15kg, giving the bike agile, sharp handling. A new e-bike version of the popular all-terrain Pathlite hybrid is due out in Q2 2020.

“We’re seeing a clearappetite amongst consumers for cleaner, greener methods of transport,”commented Max Stauber, Brand Manager for Canyon’s Urban & Fitness category.“We recognise that it takes a shift in mindset to move towards riding in thecity more regularly if you’ve never done it before, and we wanted to set a 30-DayChallenge for those who want to give it a go. Participants will get the moralsupport from knowing that other people are also attempting to travel moresustainably, and we hope that 2020 will be the best year yet for greenertravel.”

Safety first

Canyonputs safety at the forefront of every bike that it designs and manufacturers.In 2003, Canyon commissioned its first in-house test benches to develop thesafest products with the highest performance. It is one of the few companies tocarry out 100% CT inspection of safety-related Canyon carbon components. Aprerequisite for frame producers in the Far East who want to work with Canyonis a CT scanner to carry out tests in batch numbers, to ensure Canyon’s qualityand safety standards are upheld. This is also rare in the cycle industry. Allemployees are encouraged tocommute by bike, and over 60% of the UK workforce travels to and from work bybike.

To get involved inCanyon’s 30 Day Challenge, simply sign up to the Canyon’s 30 Days of CyclingStrava club here and tag your commutes on Instagram using#30daysofcycling, #rediscoveryourcity and #mycanyon.