Pandemic leads to a bicycle boom, and shortage, around world

PORTLAND (US): Fitness junkies locked out of gyms, commuters fearful of public transit, and families going stir crazy inside their homes during the Coronavirus pandemic have created a boom in bicycle sales unseen in decades.

In the United States, bicycle aisles at mass merchandisers like Walmart and Target have been swept clean, and independent shops are doing a brisk business and are selling out of affordable family bikes.

Bicycle sales over the past two months saw their biggest spike in the US since the oil crisis of the 1970s, said Jay Townley, who analyses cycling industry trends at Human Powered Solutions.

People quite frankly have panicked, and they're buying bikes like toilet paper, Townley said, referring to the rush to buy essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer that stores saw at the beginning of the pandemic. The trend is mirrored around the globe, as cities better known for car-clogged streets, like Manila and Rome, install bike lanes to accommodate surging interest in cycling while public transport remains curtailed. In London, municipal authorities plan to go further by banning cars from some central thoroughfares.

Bike shop owners in the Philippine capital say demand is stronger than at Christmas. Financial incentives are boosting sales in Italy, where the government's post-lockdown stimulus last month included a 500-euro ( 575) bici bonus rebate for up to 60% of the cost of a bike.

But that's if you can get your hands on one. The craze has led to shortages that will take some weeks, maybe months, to resolve, particularly in the US, which relies on China for about 90% of its bicycles, Townley said. Production there was largely shut down due to the Coronavirus and is just resuming.

The bicycle rush kicked off in mid-march around the time countries were shutting their borders, businesses were closing, and stay-at-home orders were being imposed to slow the spread of the Coronavirus that has infected millions of people and killed more than 450,000.