Kentish Express Ashford & District
Bike shops boom as demand soars
Bicycle sales in Kent have surged since the coronavirus pandemic hit, resulting in a mass shortage of models and month-long waits for repairs.
People across the county and even from London have discovered a new-found love for two wheels during lockdown, using it as a method of exercise and to avoid public transport.
Websites like Trek have sold out of their most popular models, as manufacturers across Europe attempt to meet the huge increase in demand.
The shortage has affected all bike retailers in the county, as they wait for manufacturers to work through the backlog of mass orders.
Keiran Burton, owner of The Bike Warehouse, with stores in Faversham, Gillingham and Sevenoaks, said: “The sheer lack of bikes in the country is a problem - we’ve got around 300 bikes on orders with suppliers.
“As soon as we opened again, everything from £200 to £500 was in demand, then when they weren’t available to replace it was whatever we had in stock that was selling, because people want a bike there and then.”
He has also seen a big increase in demand for electric bicycles, particularly for the older generation.
Alongside selling the bikes, Keiran’s staff are busy working through a five-week-long list of repairs and services.
He said: “We’re currently taking bookings for the end of July, because we just can’t keep on top of the sheer demand of repairs.”
Despite the boom in business for retailers, not everyone is feeling optimistic about a continued obsession once the summer comes to a close.
Steve James, owner of Romney Cycles Kent in New Romney, thinks interest will wane sooner rather than later.
He said: “I think there will be a good percentage that won’t carry on, it’s just a thing for themtodonow.
“The bike industry hasn’t been great for the last four years because of the internet, but local bike shops have had a little boom, because people are going to the shops to see things.
“People have just wanted to get out and the weather’s been good, so that’s helped.”
Daniela Kelly, owner of Wildside Cycles on Camden Road, Tunbridge Wells, hired new staff to work through the night so the business could keep up with the demand for bike servicing.
She said: “We have a bit of a waiting time because we are prioritising key workers. We have nurses who take the bike out of the shed and it’s rusty, the brakes are dangerous and I think it’s our duty to fix those bikes first.”
Since March the business has sold on average 20 bikes a day, compared to around 2-3 before the pandemic.
Weekends are the busiest time for the cycle shop, with prospective bike owners queueing to get in the store.
Daniela said said people from London are even travelling down to buy bike, due to a lack of stock in the capital.
She said: “Londoners are descending on Kent hunting for bikes or on a Saturday, you see these queues outside of people we’ve never seen before. They say ‘we are from London Bridge, we are from Stratford and there are no bikes.’”
‘People have just wanted to get out and the weather’s been good, so that’s helped’