AKRON, Ohio — Ryan Adams, the owner of Dirty River Bicycle Works in Akron, said bike shortages from last year will continue this year, and probably next year, too.
“We sold last year’s bikes and this year’s bikes in one year,” he said referring to the entire industry.
Adams said backups are coming mostly from overseas orders, whether it be lay offs or ships waiting to be off boarded.
“Lines of production have changed and every little backup affects everything else,” Adams said.
Adams prepped his shop by ordering an aggressive amount of bikes for 2021, but he said most bike shops order a conservative amount of inventory, which means they’re running out of stock faster.
“At least half the bike shops around are about to run out of bikes,” he said.
This is happening nationwide and online. Since the start of the pandemic, bike sales and related accessories, like bike parts and helmets, have skyrocketed.
In April 2020, just one month after the pandemic began, those sales jumped a combined 75%, which is nearly $1 billion, according to data from NPD. In previous years, April sales fell between $550 and $575 million.
As of now, if you look at Target or Schwinn’s website, a handful of bikes priced on the lower end are sold out or only have a few left.
“There’s a lot of online places that have no bikes to sell,” he added.
If you do have a bike, Adams said to get out and enjoy it.
“We can do it in groups and be safe and have fun,” Adams said.
