What’s Happening To The Bike Biz?

 Four years ago, North America, Europe and other parts of the world were experiencing the biggest “Bike Boom” in decades.  It was a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which engendered lockdowns and shutdowns. In the wake of social distancing and the closure of gyms, other recreational facilities and transit systems, bicycling became one of the few available options for transportation, exercise and simply getting out of one’s home.

Among the facilities that shut down were ones that produced bicycles and related equipment. Most of those factories are in Asian countries that were subjected to some of the strictest lockdowns and closures.

The inevitable result of surging demand and dwindling—or no—supply meant that people waited weeks or months not only for bikes and helmets, but for replacement parts, let alone accessories. Some shops—most notably Harris Cyclery (Sheldon Brown’s home base) closed.

Those closures were unfortunate, but remaining shops, online retailers and bicycle manufacturers themselves (who, remember, were dealing with supply chain disruptions) figured that all would be well once factories resumed production and transportation was back on track.  

It seems that the supply situation started to get back to “normal” around late 2021 or early 2022. Retailers bought up what they couldn’t get for the previous two years.By then, however, people who couldn’t get a bike gave up. And, those of us who are dedicated cyclists know at least one cyclist who simply has to have the newest and latest of everything, most people don’t trade in their bikes every few years the way other people do with their cars.

Now we are seeing a “bust.” Retailers are sitting on inventory they bought two years ago.  And they aren’t buying what manufacturers are making, and suppliers are providing, to “catch up” with previously-unmet demand.

The result is that businesses throughout the bike industry—from local shops to manufacturers and the mega-online retailers—are going bust. One notable recent casualty is Chain Reaction/Wiggle. Planet Cyclery is on its way to following them.Other “big wheels” are rumored to be in trouble. I won’t name them, simply because I don’t want to run the risk of setting off a panic over a business that might actually be doing OK.

One problem with the “fire sales” at retailers like Planet Cyclery—at least from the consumer’s point of view—is that the big discounts are on prices that were inflate by the pandemic because retailers and suppliers, when they finally could get inventory, were paying , in some cases, double or triple pre-pandemic prices.

So what will be the new “normal?” If I could predict such things…