The New Toilet Paper - Bike Sales
 

Here is a piece from CNN.com - The new toilet paper:' Bikes are flying off shelves, overwhelming shops

enjoy,

You would think a major news outlet could do better than being a few months behind on a story. I can buy toliet paper now. Good luck on a new bike.

The LBS I deal with has "0" bikes for sale and doesn't know when they'll get any. Meantime the racks and floor are full of repairs. Must be 100 bikes in a tiny shop.

Stopped my the LBS today and it was exactly the same scenario. They haven't even opened up the store to walk-in customers since they have almost no new merchandise for sale and are so busy with repairs. Said getting repair parts was becoming a problem.

Same story with my LBS-- no bikes under $1k left on the floor, repairs are booked out 6 weeks, and parts are getting hard to source.

I've noticed parts have jumped up 50-100% in price, if you can find them in stock. I'm holding off on buying parts for now.

Same in my part of the woods. Craziness.

Just today a friend reported that a Walmart's bike section was empty. 2 weeks ago I went to the LBS for a small part, didn't think to check on bike availability but if the racks had been empty I would have noticed. So maybe the lower-cost bikes are mostly the ones in short supply. On the MUPs I see a lot of riders with older bikes that look like they haven't been used in a decade.

The shop I work in is almost out of bikes. We have several stores and there exactly 373 bikes total available. Most of them are the higher end models or little kids bikes. Mid range mountain bikes are sold out and only XL or XS left in hybrids and comfort bikes. Repairs had been whittled down from 5 weeks out to 3 weeks out, but we had a resurgence yesterday and are pushing out at 4 weeks again. The owner has clamped down on OT so the repairs are going to sit out there the full 4 weeks this time around. My guess is he is worried about availability of new bikes and needs to conserve on labor dollars to make it through until bikes are available again. Parts suppliers are starting to run into the same issue.

Curious, a few weeks ago I called a LBS to inquire about a Trek FX--they (with 4 stores) were completely sold out of all models of FX. Didn't ask about other models, but most likely the same. Waiting to see if lots of used bikes become for sale in the near future. It's a seller's market now, might reverse in the future.

It's interesting to read this thread. Most seem to be lamenting the lack of bikes in inventory, no doubt related to the pandemic.
I'm guessing many of those purchased with languish in garages after folks get back to work. Some will come into the used bike market. However, many may continue to be used by folks introduced, or reintroduced to cycling.
Wouldn't that be a plus, more people supportive of cycling interests in municipalities, more and improved cycling infrastructure?

This is great news for people who will want to get into bicycling in two years.

I suppose this means that the modest assemblage of bikes in my garage qualifies me as a hoarder. Great.

I buy a lot of small parts from JensonUSA, and yesterday I was browsing through their online bike selection and the selection was quite limited. Even some of the spares weren't in stock. Really unusual for them. They are one of my go-to online shops.

Waited 45 min in line, at one of my LBS just to get in. Then had the privilege of paying 8 bucks for a Shimano shift cable from a bulk package. Hardly any new bikes in stock.
Tim

One of my local shops has this on their homepage...

All XXXXXX are open Tuesday-Saturday 11am-5pm and closed Sunday-Monday.
Due to high demand and the volume of business, we’re suspending internet orders until further notice.
Please stop by your local XXXXXXX during business hours and we'll work hard to make you happy!

We’re unable to answer store phones at this time, the volume of clients we're making happy at our front door is the highest EVER! We are working hard to answer "leave a message" and "contact us" emails, response times are delayed.

It's CNN you're talking about here. They're anything BUT a news outlet making The Enquirer more credible.

I bet they had all sorts of kewl graphics and meaningless numbers.

Just because they can doesn't mean they should.

I visited a LBS this week and no gaps in inventory on the floor. Their front door was locked and they allowed 2 customers in max. I needed a tube and after waiting to enter, the "clerk" didn't want to sell me a tube. Shrader 700 because he wanted to save it for someone else. I lectured him over his attitude. I am a business consultant. They are closed extra hours and extradays.

I hit Walmart for Slime and their display was stripped except for bikes for little kids.

Funny I dropped a wheel off at my closest LBS a few days ago. Staff not wearing masks. Patrons wearing masks around their chins for some odd reason. Went back the next day (wearing a mask) to pick up my wheel and I commented on the sold out inventory. The owner told me the coronavirus is a hoax. I paid, walked out, and won't ever go back to that shop.

Hell, I can’t a replacement derailuer hanger so had to repair my broken one. Started a thread on it here.

Link

If the bike doesn't fit, sell it!
 

Now is pretty much a bad time to buy a bike. Most stores, at least in my area, don't have much if any inventory. There are no garage sales, no church rummage sales, and very slim pickings at crazy prices on CL and FBM. However, it is a great time to get rid of bikes that will only be taking up space otherwise. Clean them up, make sure they are in working order, and price them reasonably at a modest premium. In my area they sell within a few hours. It's an opportunity we might not see again when stores start restocking.

It's more credible than anything else on TV. And no I don't watch CNN, I read news from various sources, and draw my own conclusions.

Just seems so silly that people are always bashing CNN when they're the most accurate cable news station of all three.

https://www.politifact.com/article/2...-meter-scorec/