South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Bikes in short supply globally
Since the start of the pandemic, there’s been an international boom in bike sales as people seek an alternative to public transit or the gym — or simply a way to get out of the house while maintaining social distance.
Lewis eventually found bikes, helmets and bike locks for herself and her middle son through a Twin Cities program called Bikes 4 Essential Workers.
It sprang up in part to give essential workers a way to get to their jobs. Organizers of that program say demand for bicycles far outstrips supply.
It’s the same story at bike stores across Minnesota. At Seven Spokes Bike Shop in St Paul, owner Alicia Vin Zant estimated her sales have doubled compared to last summer.
Earlier this year, her stock of bikes started running low. She recounted thinking, “OK, I’ll just order bikes back, order backorder, back-order. Oh, this is becoming a problem. Like, well, if I can’t sell bikes, it’s not the end of the world. I can still fix bikes. And that’s OK. Well, now at the point where I can’t get parts now.”
Those parts are needed as Vin Zant said she’s seen customers dusting off 20-year-old bicycles in their garages and bringing them in for long-overdue tuneups.
On top of the high demand for bicycles and parts, both are in short supply.
Rich Tauer is president of Quality Bicycle Products. It’s headquartered in Bloomington, but it manufactures and distributes bike parts worldwide.
Tauer said bicycle sales initially dropped off when the pandemic hit, then sprang back big time starting in late March as bike shops were deemed essential. So demand was up, but “the supply chain doesn’t react that quickly,” Tauer said.
“So the amount of inventory that was either in stock or on order to come during this time is, gener