Pandemic bike boom is still going strong
#27
Tragically Ignorant
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: New England
Posts: 15,613
Bikes: Serotta Atlanta; 1994 Specialized Allez Pro; Giant OCR A1; SOMA Double Cross Disc; 2022 Allez Elite mit der SRAM
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8186 Post(s)
Liked 9,099 Times
in
5,054 Posts
If the boom describes bike sales, this doesnt support the narrative that the boom is still happening. It could be fewer bikes than pre-covid and more $ per bike is being spent.
Im not saying you are wrong, just that this graph only shows spending and inflation has kinda happened since 2020.
Im not saying you are wrong, just that this graph only shows spending and inflation has kinda happened since 2020.
Inflation is controlled for by using the 2012 dollars. There could be disproportionate inflation in bike prices (e.g., tariffs, lingering supply chain issues), but that 's a lot of disproportion for that to be the only explanation.
#28
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: North Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,687
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3044 Post(s)
Liked 1,206 Times
in
787 Posts
That data in the graph is a bit bogus. A lot of bike shops are sitting on a lot of bikes that they bought but that they can't sell. I'm hearing it a lot from LBS that I've been in recently. They have bikes in boxes not even put together. So that graph may be indicating bikes that were bought that are now sitting unsold.
Also if you poke around online, a lot of bike companies have slashed prices on bikes to a level near what they were priced in 2019-2020. For instance the bike I purchased in 2020 for $5200 rose all the way up to $7000 by the end of 2022 and is now "on sale" for $5500. That same scenario is now playing out across the entire industry including component parts.
Also if you poke around online, a lot of bike companies have slashed prices on bikes to a level near what they were priced in 2019-2020. For instance the bike I purchased in 2020 for $5200 rose all the way up to $7000 by the end of 2022 and is now "on sale" for $5500. That same scenario is now playing out across the entire industry including component parts.
Last edited by prj71; 06-01-23 at 10:21 AM.
#29
Sunshine
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 16,681
Bikes: '18 class built steel roadbike, '19 Fairlight Secan, '88 Schwinn Premis , Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross V4, '89 Novara Trionfo
Mentioned: 124 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 11035 Post(s)
Liked 7,584 Times
in
4,229 Posts
Yeah, in my next post I clarified that using 'inflation' in that post was intended to be specific to bike industry and not general economic inflation.
#30
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: North Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,687
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3044 Post(s)
Liked 1,206 Times
in
787 Posts
Take away the e-bikes and that graph is a lot different.
#31
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,443
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1587 Post(s)
Liked 1,761 Times
in
990 Posts
That data in the graph is a bit bogus. A lot of bike shops are sitting on a lot of bikes that they bought but that they can't sell. I'm hearing it a lot from LBS that I've been in recently. They have bikes in boxes not even put together. So that graph may be indicating bikes that were bought that are now sitting unsold.
So I don't think it is counting inventory as sales.
#32
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,443
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1587 Post(s)
Liked 1,761 Times
in
990 Posts
Traditional bike shops that don't sell e-bikes are missing the wave.
#33
Tragically Ignorant
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: New England
Posts: 15,613
Bikes: Serotta Atlanta; 1994 Specialized Allez Pro; Giant OCR A1; SOMA Double Cross Disc; 2022 Allez Elite mit der SRAM
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8186 Post(s)
Liked 9,099 Times
in
5,054 Posts
Likes For urbanknight:
#35
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Elevation 666m Edmonton Canada
Posts: 2,494
Bikes: 2013 Custom SA5w / Rohloff Tourster
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1243 Post(s)
Liked 328 Times
in
252 Posts
E bikes are 10x the cost of Walmart bikes. That's where the $$$ are adding up.
All bikes are up 50% the last 5 years. There's $21,000 bikes now.
All bikes are up 50% the last 5 years. There's $21,000 bikes now.
#36
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 8,006
Mentioned: 42 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7072 Post(s)
Liked 11,147 Times
in
4,758 Posts
Likes For Koyote:
#37
WGB
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Niagara Region
Posts: 2,937
Bikes: Panasonic PT-4500
Mentioned: 46 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1808 Post(s)
Liked 2,356 Times
in
1,389 Posts
I'm with @SurferRosa . Everyone always talked about how the Toronto bike market is overpriced but I've been watching the listings there and the used market has stalled. C&V bikes are just sitting and the prices seem to be dropping.
Likes For WGB:
#38
Banned
I wonder how much of the increase is the result of affordable electric bikes. Many of the new bicyclists I see on the roads and on local bike paths are riding e-bikes. There has also been an ongoing interest in mountain and gravel bikes to be able to more safely bicyle without worrying about motor vehicle traffic.
#39
Senior Member
I wonder how that translates to actual numbers of bikes, wheels, tubes, etc. we’re at $8B of 2012 dollars today ($10.50 in today’s dollars) but were at $6B of 2012 dollars in 2016 ($6.50 in 2016 dollars).
$10.5B vs $6.5B is a big jump - 61% - but how much more expensive is the average bike sold that it was in 2016? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was close to that much more and the number of bikes is actually the same.
$10.5B vs $6.5B is a big jump - 61% - but how much more expensive is the average bike sold that it was in 2016? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was close to that much more and the number of bikes is actually the same.
#40
Clark W. Griswold
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: ,location, location
Posts: 13,728
Bikes: Foundry Chilkoot Ti W/Ultegra Di2, Salsa Timberjack Ti, Cinelli Mash Work RandoCross Fun Time Machine, 1x9 XT Parts Hybrid, Co-Motion Cascadia, Specialized Langster, Phil Wood Apple VeloXS Frame (w/DA 7400), R+M Supercharger2 Rohloff, Habanero Ti 26
Mentioned: 55 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4436 Post(s)
Liked 4,085 Times
in
2,723 Posts
Now say if you bought your bike in the 90s and the equivalent is $700 today I can see that but that is 20-30 years on and irrelevant to this conversation.
In terms of it being anecdotal it is anecdotal, you are just telling us a story and while it may or may not be true there is no evidence to back it up and again it is one bike out of probably hundreds of thousands of different bikes from different brands over the world.
Getting back to the topic at hand the boom is over and has been for a while. People are still buying bikes but nowhere near boom levels. However steadily electric bicycles have been a growing market that has been getting bigger since before the pandemic was a thing. Also tack on the electric mopeds that usually get lumped in with bicycles and you will see growth or at least some higher numbers than pre-pandemic but there is no boom anymore and the idea it is still around is crazy to think about as working in the industry from well before the pandemic till not that long ago I could see not just at the shops I worked at but through talking with other shops and vendors in the industry and looking at industry news that things were not booming. Certainly not doing poorly but not as well as we would all like.
#41
The Wheezing Geezer
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: Española, NM
Posts: 1,088
Bikes: 1976 Fredo Speciale, Rivendell Clem Smith Jr., Libertas mixte
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 422 Post(s)
Liked 969 Times
in
465 Posts
No need for your personal anecdotes, folks!
Our resident eggheads will speculate using their own.
Our resident eggheads will speculate using their own.
#42
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 8,006
Mentioned: 42 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7072 Post(s)
Liked 11,147 Times
in
4,758 Posts
By the way, I once won a pile of money by betting on 14 Black at the Roulette table. So that proves that 14 Black is always a great bet!
#43
Senior Member
Read only a few comments from page one.
1) the chart is in 2012 dollars. So inflation has been removed.
2) If you can bought a bike once during the pandemic, I don't think the accessories you purchased in the years after total per year to be the same as the bike purchase. So $8billion in sales in early 2020 was maintained into 2023 were all new bike sales as compared to $6 billion in 2019.
1) the chart is in 2012 dollars. So inflation has been removed.
2) If you can bought a bike once during the pandemic, I don't think the accessories you purchased in the years after total per year to be the same as the bike purchase. So $8billion in sales in early 2020 was maintained into 2023 were all new bike sales as compared to $6 billion in 2019.
#44
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Hudson Valley, NY
Posts: 33,045
Bikes: Merlin Cyrene '04; Bridgestone RB-1 '92
Mentioned: 326 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 11993 Post(s)
Liked 6,726 Times
in
3,513 Posts
Old news, everybody knows that.
__________________
See, this is why we can't have nice things. - - smarkinson
Where else but the internet can a bunch of cyclists go and be the tough guy? - - jdon
Likes For BillyD:
#45
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 8,006
Mentioned: 42 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7072 Post(s)
Liked 11,147 Times
in
4,758 Posts
Likes For Koyote:
#46
Tragically Ignorant
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: New England
Posts: 15,613
Bikes: Serotta Atlanta; 1994 Specialized Allez Pro; Giant OCR A1; SOMA Double Cross Disc; 2022 Allez Elite mit der SRAM
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8186 Post(s)
Liked 9,099 Times
in
5,054 Posts
#48
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,422
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18490 Post(s)
Liked 15,789 Times
in
7,414 Posts
Likes For indyfabz:
#49
Tragically Ignorant
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: New England
Posts: 15,613
Bikes: Serotta Atlanta; 1994 Specialized Allez Pro; Giant OCR A1; SOMA Double Cross Disc; 2022 Allez Elite mit der SRAM
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8186 Post(s)
Liked 9,099 Times
in
5,054 Posts