Narhay

We refer a lot to the bike boom of the early 70s when many of our bikes were made. We are inarguably in the midst of a new bike boom this strange year.

I've been trawling the local classifieds a lot but there is a huge amount of competition. Still, I've been buying and selling more than ever. Bikes that I have completely rebuilt are going for a premium because bike shops have long waits for repairs and new bikes are sold out. Bike paths are teeming with activity and everyone seems to want help finding a bike or with bike repairs.

What are your stories? Maybe someone will read back on this in 50 years.

SpeedofLite 

More e-bikes than ever in my area.
But I'm also seeing riders on a single electric wheel with foot pegs (i.e. no pedals).
5 riders yesterday
Wheels look to be 20" diameter with maybe 3-4" wide tires.
I can't stop thinking about B.C. comic character Thor whenever I see one.
But I wonder if any of these kids would even know the reference.

3speedslow

Bike shops here are slammed with repaired on neglected or cheap bikes. Same shops are cleaned out of rolling stock BUT...

While I ride all day I don’t see a whole lot of bike traffic. Can’t figure it!

T-Mar

That makes sense for the GTA, where a lot of people depend on public transportation but don't want to use it due to the epidemic and are resorting to cycling. However, in my small city, it's just the opposite, with bicycle business and 2nd hand prices plummeting. One shop closed in April, while the other only lasted until the end of May.

Edit: E-bikes make sense too, as they're a relatively low cost alternative to public transportation for the non-energetic person and you don't require insurance or a license.

Narhay

That is interesting... I live along one of the preeminent bike trails in Toronto (granted one of the quieter arms of it) and there is regular, sometimes heavy cycle traffic by my living room window.

I've been hearing of accessory shortages. I just posted a couple bottle cages I had on a shelf and got near instant responses. Who knew $10 for a pair of basic aluminum cages was so desirable? On the other hand I am having a hard time ordering some parts like 27" tires and 3 speed ISO 590 tires for my rebuilds as they seem to come and disappear instantly.

3speedslow

Yes, check out the shortage thread, it has legs!

gear64

I feel like I detected a significant bump in people out and about a couple of months(?) ago, particularly on urban low volume streets. More recently I feel the most popular trail near me is about normal, definitely crowded, but it's always been that way. Early in COVID restrictions it was charity event crowded. The other trail near me I always felt was very nice and sorely underutilized. It increased to steadily busy, now more busy than pre-COVID but below the peak. Not really seeing a significant bump on street any more. Perhaps the novelty is wearing off already and there will be a sell of in the fall.

Narhay

Yes I am waiting for the first snowflakes to fall when the prospect of living room bikes in 400sqft condos for 6 months is suddenly very unappealing.

clubman 

I'm in a small university town with 4500 full time residents. The (only) bike shop's revenue is up 60% and they've sold their years inventory of bikes. They can't get black bar tape for me. Good for them.
I think the main driver is the rails-to-trails gravel path that connects all the towns in the Annapolis Valley, over 110 kms of decent riding. Overcrowding is not an issue with the small population.There's very few athletic opportunities available to people anymore. It's not about commuting in this region, you need a car.

thinktubes 

Guitar repair too - not accepting any more repairs until August. Thankfully, I have N+1....

old's'cool

Now isn't that a self fulfilling prophecy?!!
I love the euphemism for [insert your own description here]
Not to diss anyone actually disabled who has no alternative to motorized perambulation.

John E

I have been putting a lot of miles on the mountain bike, wearing out a thumb shifter and breaking a pedal in the process. I had no trouble finding replacement thumb shifters (old SunTour 6-speed indexed, which I run in friction mode anyway), and I had a 50-year-old pair of KKT Pro Ace road quill pedals I was able to modify slightly for mountain bike use, by breaking/filing off a couple of vertical protrusions.

SurferRosa

Sold two bikes this year a week after listing them. One of them, I couldn't sell last year for my asking price.

Can't really find a vintage lightweight locally that is "in the money" to flip. Finally found a really nice mid-level Windsor. Am fully rebuilding it and will list it locally for $400, at least $100 more than a year ago.

Can't find gum Rustines hoods in america. Paying a lot for Paselas, tubes, and cotton tape. Hate wearing a mask in the bike shop.

Really enjoying roads with very little car traffic.

gthomson

I don't know about other areas throughout N. America but there is a boom here in the GTA. My local bike shop won't allow patrons in the shop but are doing repairs and selling out front. There's a line up into the shop every day and they tell me they have never sold or serviced more bikes ever. They have a sign every day by 11am, "Tune Ups full for the day". Good for them and good to see that if people can't do anything else then they are turning to cycling. I'll bet it will be a buyers market come the fall and next spring when people can head back to the malls to shop.

ramzilla

My full restoration vintage bike sales still take quite a lot of time. But, I've picked up & sold about four bikes in the last couple months that I did practically nothing to except lubricate & adjust. So, I guess that I've been "flipping" a few bikes recently. The bike shops down here in N Florida have definitely run out of bikes. But, there are plenty of used bikes for sale on Craigslist & Facebook in the greater Jacksonville area.

katsup

I've sold 7 bikes this year, but have been trying to stop fully restoring the ones that are not for me. I do regret discounting one back in February, but I didn't know where the market was headed at the time. I've also noticed more competition on the used market for the deals and you typically have to contact the seller within 10 minutes to have any hope.

Components have also sold well which caused me to delay purchasing parts due to high prices.

delbiker1 

I live in a beach resort area, Bethany Beach, De. The bike shops here have been slammed with repairs and are sold of much of the new bike stock. However, the numbers of vacationers here has been greatly diminished due to the crisis. I am seeing a very limited number of bicyclist, walkers and runners in all the areas I ride. Normally, Rte. 1, Coastal Highway, has a whole lot of people engaging in all of those activities. Vehicle traffic, of course, is also relatively light compared to a usual summer season. I surely like the reduced traffic.

2cam16

I've been slowly cleaning up and going through my bike parts and components. I've sold two bare framesets in the past month. A day after advertising. Also have sold 3 OLD helmets! I guess people are just desperate too. So tempting to let something from the herd go. I've gone through each bike in my mind finding one to sell, but I just can't let go.

mstateglfr 

Central Iowa shops sold much of their regular inventory(so excluding recumbent trikes or odd stuff like that). Bikes that are $1500 or less are seriously scarce. Hybrids and kids bikes are even more rare.
Repairs have been going gonzo. I had to go to a local shop 4 times over the span of about 6 weeks to pick up 4 different special orders for a program I work with. It was neat to see the cavernous store steadily empty. Currently, there is a 30 bike rack between the entrance and repair area that has an assortment of bikes that are completed for service. Its a steady stream of people coming in and out for repair.
The same goes for another quality shop in the metro.

I have no idea about the remaining shops- they dont interest me.



Ive been looking thru CL, ebay, and facebook marketplace for months now and havent found a good quality 26" rigid 15" MTB full bike or frame for what I want to pay. Prices are sky high for what is quality and everything else is junk. The inventory is crazy low, it appears to have been gobbled up earlier in the year and whats left is the absurdly expensive stuff like $350 and up for a Trek 930 frame.

squirtdad

multiple bikes shops locally have signs saying they are not taking in any new shop work because they are so backlogged. This is a benefit for a local bike charity groups that is still taking in shop work....but that charities for sale selection is way slimmer than normal

sheddle

Had to use cheapo Wellgo SPD pedals instead of my standby Shimano M-520s, which were out of stock everywhere. Shame!

tricky 

The Marvel movie universe knows no bounds... Thor Ragnorak, 2017. He's also in a few of the Avengers blockbusters. Recent enough to where the youngins would know about it.

SpeedofLite 

Oh no, not that Thor.
This Thor (B.C. comic strip).

gthomson

I am glad you added this post as I had forgot about this cartoon! Nice one

retiredguru

In my neck of the Upstate New York woods, I'm 'blessed' with bike boom pricing and shortages without any evidence of a bike boom going on. I pass one, maybe two of the regular serious cyclists while riding on the road. I see about that or a couple more while driving around. All others are the townies who ride barely running bikes year round. Anyone would be hard pressed to see any change in the bike world here, but then, I admit, we live in an area time forgot.