Covid Bike Boom Cooling Off?

[Kevin B]

Been checking local SW Florida Wal-Marts out when we need household items throughout the pandemic. Always run by the bike aisles. Like everyone else has reported picking were slim. Only the most expensive or odd ball tubes and etc. Just the smallest of juvenile bikes in inventory. No other bikes were to be found. However, today I noticed there were bikes aplenty of every variety. All the tubes, tires and etc. you could want. Not sure if things cooled off here from the Great Covid Bike Frenzy of 2020, or maybe shipments from China have picked up. Anyway that's how it is here now.

 

[Kruez]

Boom is fading with the temperatures here in the Midwest.


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[handyandy1100]

Our Wally World is about the same. One thing, they reset their bike accessories and repair stuff and they quit carrying chains. The one useful thing they carried for parts.

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[Captain Awesome]

About the same here. Sales are slowing down in general. End of summer, COVID free money is all gone, people reverting back to their old ways

 

[whitecoyote]

The used bike market will be flooded for the next couple of years.
With all the bikes sold this year I have not noticed any more bikes being ridden.
Go figure.

 

[2088bob]

i have already noticed an increase in " I bought this bike but barely rode it or too big too small bla bla bla" ads and the prices in the want ads are starting to normalize again not the silly prices like the first part of C-19 stuff that i could buy around here for 20 or 30 bucks last year was selling for 120 to 130 and i have gotten sooooooooooo!!!! sick of the words vintage,patina and old school

 

[handyandy1100]

Man, I am a sucker for old school, vintage patina! LOL

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[baldwooky]

Not around here..
Still nothing in the Big W, but marketplace, craigslist, letgo, ebay local are still in short supply of quality bikes for descent prices.

 

[BentRims]

Pretty slim pick'ens in my neck of the woods, people still paying a alot for BMX and Rare's on Ebay

 

[ParkRNDL]

I have a part-time job putting together bikes at the big chain sporting goods store whose name gets censored by the forum software lol. For a while there we only had a few bikes at any given time; we'd get half a dozen in and they'd all sell in a few days. Now we are getting more in on the trucks and they're not selling as fast. Pretty sure there's 25 or 30 on the floor right now, 8 in the back room waiting to be built, and I was just told there's gonna be 18 more on the next truck.

I also noticed the local Target had 10 or 12 bikes in when I was there last week. Last I checked, Wal-Mart still only has training wheel bikes and maybe 3 or 4 adult bikes.

The used bike market will be flooded for the next couple of years.
With all the bikes sold this year I have not noticed any more bikes being ridden.
Go figure.

I was talking to the owner of the LBS here and he absolutely feels this is what is going to happen. He has been selling everything he can get his hands on, but he says by next year it will be dead again and the used market will be flooded.

 

[motorhedfred]

stuff that i could buy around here for 20 or 30 bucks last year was selling for 120 to 130 and i have gotten sooooooooooo!!!! sick of the words vintage,patina and old school

Add survivor, barn fresh, barn find, extremely rare...ect, all words designed to add "value" to an otherwise unremarkable and common item.

 

[macncheese]

Used bike sales cooled off in August but the listings were still high until just recently. Usually, I still have people interested through the end of September but I think the lack of back to school/college really cut down on fall demand. I've been able to buy a bunch of reasonably priced used stuff in the past week which is when my buying usually starts.

We'll see what next season brings but I'm expecting the demand to be similar. Don't see why wouldn't it be, especially if bike shops think this was a one-year anomaly. My understanding is bike shops w/dealer agreements probably need to be ordering their new bike inventory for next season soon if not already?

 

[Short Stuff]

I'm just smilin', sittin' on this here sack of seed. Be Well, Short Stuff.

 

[bunnyman666]

My local Wal Mart has gotten a few more adult-sized bikes back in, but the racks are still relatively bare. Stock is getting closer to normal. My local bike shoppe (which is a town over) has always had decent stock of new, but the used is still non-existent. The local repair and parts only shoppe (which has been around for 40 years) is busier than ever, and the closest bike shoppe (which was the newest) to me is gone. The last place mentioned is in a weird location and when I enquired via telephone about freewheel removal, he told me that “BMX bikes don’t have freewheels anymore and when I remove one, it is destroyed”, so I think the attitudes of the employees also killed that place LOL My general region is actually a strong bicycle market, and the numbers of all walks of life on everything ranging from BMX, cruisers, road and tri along with a large number of motorised bikes (and the unmistakable sound of their chainsaw engines!) says that Covid literally grew the use of bikes!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

The guy I just bought two Hardrocks from had four, and he sold them all within a day, was contacting his source for more because he had buyers lined up. This is in October in Canada, so the demand usually drops off at this point. I don't think the boom is done just yet, and I also think that more people will be cyclists after it has finished. Have you tried biking? It's awesome! How could you try it, and not like it?

 

[Duchess]

I agree that a lot of new riders will keep with it, but enough won't that the used market should be plentiful next year—[Darth Vader voice] never underestimate the power of being sedentary.[/Darth Vader voice] Or just going back to whatever they used to do before.

 

[us56456712]

There is a real shortage of quality bike parts that will remain for awhile. There is almost a years back log on some group sets. Italy is shut down and Campy groupsets are getting hard to find. A lot of factories are not up to a 100% and more will have to shut down. I think overall choices will be down for awhile. Slim pickings. I waited all summer for new seven speed derailleurs to be available. Someone gave me a free 7 speed bike and I used that derailleur. About then they became available but I saved $40. Cables are not available in all colors. With no jobs there have been a few new sites that supposedly have bike parts but when you check them out they are bogus. Poor English is the first indication, cheap prices another and suspect location like Jakarta. I read that all these new bogus sites are trying to prey on us cycle nuts. Be careful is all I can advise.

 

[bunnyman666]

There is a real shortage of quality bike parts that will remain for awhile. There is almost a years back log on some group sets. Italy is shut down and Campy groupsets are getting hard to find. A lot of factories are not up to a 100% and more will have to shut down. I think overall choices will be down for awhile. Slim pickings. I waited all summer for new seven speed derailleurs to be available. Someone gave me a free 7 speed bike and I used that derailleur. About then they became available but I saved $40. Cables are not available in all colors. With no jobs there have been a few new sites that supposedly have bike parts but when you check them out they are bogus. Poor English is the first indication, cheap prices another and suspect location like Jakarta. I read that all these new bogus sites are trying to prey on us cycle nuts. Be careful is all I can advise.

You’re definitely not wrong.

My contacts in the bicycle business are running in circles right now, as they are having trouble meeting expectations of customers. One friend of mine is in the very niche area of disc wheels for triathlon bikes. He is always busy, so to speak. His hub supplier has been shut for awhile and his rim supplier is getting low on stock. Luckily, he still has enough to get himself through the next four months IF there isn’t a big holiday order rush, but after that, he is not certain what he will do.
The other guy who specialises in fit parts (seats, seat posts, cranks and stems) is already out of his cranks (he carries odd crank sizes) and his high end seats are out and not expected back for an indeterminate amount of time. These are suppliers of specialty stuff and not general bike merchandise, but they are feeling the pinch, as well!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Yeah, went into the lbs to buy a single speed chain for the wife's cruiser. I wanted baby blue, so I had to order it. Was told that he'd have it by spring. I placed the order, but I hope that I will find it elsewhere before then

 

[schwinn boy]

Yeah in my area it’s like an off switch got flipped. It’s finally riding weather but I haven’t sold a bike in weeks.


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