[MrBuddyCasino]

Contrary to what people might think, 2020 has not been a good year for bike dealers, especially small ones. The demand was huge, but due to side-effects of the corona pandemic, bike production in Asia was running on at most 80% capacity. Some assembly lines were stopped for several weeks, and distancing rules means reduced throughput. The problem: all orders with the big manufacturers are placed a year in advance. This means that if you were too late to place your orders in 2020, you will not get any inventory for 2021. Any by "too late" I mean "the same time as in 2019".

People want to buy, but stock is depleted and production reduced, and many small dealers won't survive 2021 for lack of inventory.

[trentnix]

Former bike dealer here (I've written about it briefly for anyone who might by be interested: http://www.sciencerocketry.com/blog/great-work-and-new-begin...). You are correct that dealers have been unable to capitalize on the boom to realize big profits. There's plenty of service business but the labor part isn't really profitable (in my experience). The ability to sell parts with service can be profitable, but the distributors and manufacturers don't have any parts to sell.

One positive is that those dealers drowning in older, unsold stock have been able to turn a lot of that into cash. That's allowed a few of them to restore some financial health to their business and get out from under some of their debt to vendors and other creditors.

But even so, the bike business is so commoditized and the supply chain is so lose that bike shops (and manufacturers as well) have a pretty low ceiling of profitability. Even in the midst of a boom, the economics of the bike business restrict it to a lifestyle business at best. For some shops, this (likely temporary) boom probably presents the best window of opportunity to close their doors.

[usrusr]

Bike shops absolutely need to turn themselves into workshops, in other words increase hourly rates until repairs become a worthwhile business on their own. Even if only because internet.

The idea "I could do some bike work on my own, so bike work can't be expensive" has to die, simple as that. People can pop open a beer at home just fine, nobody expects bars to sell beer at a similar price.

If shops insist on offering workshop services at a loss for bikes bought at the establishment, they are free to offer huge rebates as a hardware sales argument.

[midnightclubbed]

There is a value add from going to a bar. I'm paying for the social experience.

A local bike shop repair has two benefits over doing it myself - experience and convenience.

Unfortunately for bike shops the people who are most in need of their experience are those who are newer to riding (or dusting off a 20 year old unridden bike). When the workshop labour charge is approaching the perceived worth of a bike the customer is not going to want to use those services (more likely to dump the bike and buy a new one from a sporting goods store or Walmart).

People who ride regularly are more likely to have bikes where the cost of a repair is a small fraction of the bike's worth (personal or actual) but they are also more likely to have the tools and experience to do the work themselves.

I go back into mtb riding 2 years ago and upgraded to a mid-range full suspension bike at the end of 2019. While I was familiar with basic bike maintenance I didn't know what I was doing with some of the newer bike tech. When my bike needed a service in the summer I tried to use my local bike store - they needed my bike for a month in order to get the work done (backed up due to Covid demand).

Rather than miss all those rides I bought the tools and figured how to do the jobs myself. Now I have the tools I can do those jobs again for almost no outlay (and wrenching is therapeutic).

[MrFantastic]

I do a lot of my own bike repairs. When I take it to the local shop, they can fix it better than I can. When it's slow my local shop will show me how to do some tips on some of the different repairs. I replaced all the cables and shifters on my bike and I had a hard time getting the derailleur adjustments correct.

I had to replace some spokes, that would have taken me a while to do on my own and some specialized equipment I won't need again for a decade.

[matsemann]

Lol yeah, I tried building my own wheel, and getting it true was such an art that I ended up writing my thesis about bicycle spokes...

[ogre_codes]

> The idea "I could do some bike work on my own, so bike work can't be expensive" has to die, simple as that. People can pop open a beer at home just fine, nobody expects bars to sell beer at a similar price.

In the town I used to live in, Performance bought out the only decent bike shop in town so I got into the habit of buying online because I could wrench better than the Performance mechanics. When I moved up to Oregon there are 5 good bike shops here in town and they all charge reasonable rates so I use them whenever possible.

I do still buy online and install parts myself, not to save a buck, but because it's more convenient than taking my bike into the shop and leaving it there for a few days.

[klyrs]

> The idea "I could do some bike work on my own, so bike work can't be expensive" has to die, simple as that.

If the shop charges more than I value my time, than I won't go to the shop except to buy parts and tools to fix my bike with. Not sure why you think DIY needs to die. This is a supply/demand problem and ease of repair will depress prices.

Where the workshop model might work is the fabrication of parts. The supply chain has tanked; I'd be willing to pay double on that chainring I busted and nobody can stock.

[trentnix]

Some in the bike industry have been asking for that very thing for years. The most common answer is, "you first".

[usrusr]

I really don't get what they would be missing though: "foreign" (e.g. internet) brands would usually be rejected before that price hike anyways (unless workshop capacity is desperately idle) and preferred customers (qualified by bike purchase) could still be offered arbitrary service discounts. Is it really just the old bait and switch of offering to service a clunker for the price of a hamburger and then suddenly realizing that the bike is impossible to salvage if the customer happens to be not utterly wrong size for that unloved bike that has been clogging inventory for three years?

[trentnix]

No bait and switch, and my experiences aren't from the boom period so take my commentary with a grain of salt. What I can tell you is that there is an immense amount of pressure from competitors and from customers to keep service prices low. So the prospect of raising service prices is challenging when your customers are spoiled with cheap labor.

Also, servicing a lower-end bike ends up meaning the service is a large percentage of the original cost. So the prospect of paying, say, $150 for a tune-up, cables, and a new chain on a $400 bike feels excessive. But if you do it for any cheaper than that, you are either compromising the quality of your work or compromising your ability to turn a profit.

[usrusr]

Sure, a "boutique bike service station" certainly wouldn't attract your typical Wal-Mart bike owner. But those bikes won't be served by the bike shop that runs the workshop at a loss for his loyal bike buyers either.

That part of the market is usually served, quite well actually for both sides, by a shop that is one third preowned bikes, one third budget parts and one third highschool job repairs (sometimes they also rent out the preowned). Lifesavers for my theft-immune three speed (they'll happily take on daring salvage operations nobidy else would even attempt), but I surely no place were I'd leave one of my Campag steeds even for just a tire inflation.

[Mauricebranagh]

You know On Licenses ( Pubs/Bars) pay massive amounts of tax compared to Off Licences (Supermarkets / Bodgegas)

[cycomanic]

I see that you're from the US, I know that in many places in Europe and Australia, the workshop has become the most profitable part of the shops. In fact in Australia I know of several workshop only bike "shops", essentially with the raise of online sales lots of people just need their bikes fixed.

I find it interesting though that you say the bike business is commoditized. In particular there are several bike manufacturers who have transitioned into live-style brands (the big one being specialized). Their prices have gone through the roof, while their manufacturing is all outsourced to cheapest bidders in China. It's now common for top of the line race bikes to cost >$10,000 while the frames for the bikes cost them ~$300 shipped to the US (and the total bike might be on the order of $1000-$2000 max). Mind you nothing of that ends up with the dealers.

[MrBuddyCasino]

> Mind you nothing of that ends up with the dealers.

Not true, the very expensive bikes definitely have better margins.

[cycomanic]

Ok interesting, this might be different in different countries again.

What I heard from friends of mine is that the margins are not really any better on high-end bikes. Because you sell significantly less of those it used to be that it was much easier to make decent money on low end bikes (i.e. everyday bikes used for riding around town). I think things changed a bit with the popularity of e-bikes now (they are generally more expensive but also much more in demand, don't know about the margins exactly).

[MrBuddyCasino]

Looks like you had a sizeable well-run business, too bad it still didn't work out. At least you tried! I always wonder about those tiny inner-city bike shops and how it is possible to make a living.

[trentnix]

We had our day! Business was okay, just not going to go far beyond a lifestyle business. A lifestyle business that takes away your weekends and part of every evening is a grind, so it was just time to move along.

I very much learned the importance of business models and product-market fit, though!

[whalesalad]

I emailed 7 shops in my state of Michigan recently about a fat bike. All but one emailed me back with a sad face and said everyone is screwed until summer due to no supply.

I got really lucky and found one a 2 hour drive away. Now it’s an appreciating asset in my garage if you can believe it. I ride it of course but ever have I seen this kind of demand for bikes in my entire life.

I hope this is going to serve as a global correction on our need to be more self sufficient. I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how we took two steps forward with globalization and tech and we probably need to take one step back. Pretty much every bike and bike part is made in Taiwan or China. I’d love to have a made in the USA bike just as much as I’d imagine folks in the UK, South America, etc... feel the same.

[UI_at_80x24]

Look into the niche markets then. Like recumbents.

http://longbikes.com located in Colorado https://www.terratrike.com located in Michigan

There are atleast 3 others I can think of off the top of my head.

If you are looking for "A Generic Bicycle at Walmart prices", then yes you are SOL.

[busterarm]

You got emails back!?

Here, in NYC of all places, I have 0 returned emails and even having cast a wider net.

Of course there's plenty of cheap e-bikes with junky components.

[jrockway]

What sort of bike are you looking for? I had these folks build me a custom bike a few years ago: https://www.acmebicycleco.com/ and I loved every part of dealing with them.

They also did some custom work on my commuting bike (which involves quite a hodgepodge of fender/brake compromises) which was 10x better than I could do myself.

[whalesalad]

It took a while for some of them. I actually just got one reply yesterday and this all happened before Xmas.

[busterarm]

My problem is mainly with looking for specific components.

I want a decent commuter with belt drive and higher end components. Disc brakes.

I can get the cheap versions of this all day but not really the best stuff unless I possibly order it built by Maxx or get a Riese & Müller e-bike. Still looks like waiting until at least April though.

[Filligree]

I got the Riese & Müller, and I don't regret it. Just make sure you get the high-speed version. 25 km/h is not very fast.

[busterarm]

Trying to justify an $8k bike in the bike theft capital of the world is...difficult.

[whalesalad]

If you are comfortable/familiar with wrenching - it is often cheaper to build a bike yourself. It can be a pain - but in this situation I think it is the next best option.

One of the bike shops I had contacted suggested it, since a lot of shops around the country have a good stock of parts and you can usually find a nice used frameset online.

[petre]

There's also a problem with component availability. If you just want a fixie or a frankenbike it's okay but for anything else be prepared to wait and compromise. I just managed to order the last components I need for the bike I'm building this year. I had to compromise a bit, mix hubs drivetrain components from several Shimano lineups, past and current. The frame was preordered and paid in full in June, it should have arrived in August, finally got it in October.

[busterarm]

It is almost never cheaper to build a bike yourself. Labor cost is not a factor. Completes are 99% built by the time they get to a store for selling.

Complete bikes are a highly competitive market whereas bike parts are mostly not.

You will get much more mileage for your dollars buying completes that have exactly what you want or with some small delta of upgrades.

[enriquto]

So true. I went to a local bike shop in november and they had no bikes to sell. The guy, almost in tears, desperately showed me the waiting list on the provider website: next bikes expected by April 2021. He had sold all his stock a couple of months before, and had a lot of people willing to buy him bikes, yet he had to close the shop at the end.

[mauvehaus]

It might be a lousy year for sales, but it should be an absolutely killer year for repair and tuneup work. The required bits for most tuneups are limited to lube, tubes, cable, and housing.

Those four things will get you a long way with most bikes that "ran when parked" 10-20 years ago. There is a vast number of bikes in the US that meet basically that description.

Source: was a volunteer bike mechanic at the Ohio City Bike Co-op. They got a lot of donations in that were at most 60 minutes of work from being rideable.

https://ohiocitycycles.org/

[CydeWeys]

Brake pads aren't on that list? That's the other obvious consumable I can think of.

And for what it's worth my mechanic ran low on chains and sprockets at some point. I don't know if that was just him or larger supply chain issues though.

[mauvehaus]

Brake pads wear out after thousands of miles. Most of the neglected bikes in the US got parked long before they accumulated enough miles to wear out brake pads. I've got maybe 4000 miles of mostly urban commuting (i.e. much harder on brake pads than rides in the country) on my nice road bike and I haven't changed them yet. For casual cyclists, brake pads are a lifetime part.

Possible exception: glazed brake pads, but still relatively uncommon. Cables and housing are much bigger wear items for most bikes. Mostly because they aren't stainless at the low end and rust.

Chains will also rust, but it's pretty hard to end up with an unsalvageable chain unless a bike has been left outside for a long time. Source: left my beater road bike outside at the curb for 9 years in Boston, including winters. Lubed the chain a couple times a year. It still runs.

[midnightclubbed]

Maybe on road bikes but MTB brake pads are definitely a non lifetime part. Replaced my rear pads at the weekend, maybe 0.2mm remaining after around 800 miles or so of riding.

Getting oil on pads is also fairly easy to (accidentally) do. Learnt to be less liberal with the spray oil the hard way!

Unfortunately for bike shops replacing disk brake pads is trivial. Bleeding the Hydraulic system not so much, if it wasn't for the stopping power I'd trade back to brake cables any day.

[fredley]

By extension: it seems to have been a great year for bike thieves, in the UK at least. Anecdotally, bike theft is through the roof.

[KraftKacke]

Business idea: Make something like the iPhone's snitching low power bluetooth thingy for bikes. I am sure bike owners will glad run an app which monitors the surrounding for stolen bluetooth beacons. Make it work so it can be barricaded in the seat tube or integrated into the frame, not easily removed or destroyed. Make stealing cheap bikes risky and troublesome. Nothing will protect a 5k$ sports bike.

[secfirstmd]

FYI an alternative is you can get tiny GPS trackers about the size of the top of your thumb for about the same price as the various Bluetooth LE options (about 20 Euros on Alibaba. Stick a SIM in them and put it on the bike, underneath the seat hidden etc and they are pretty decent, can last up to two weeks without recharging. Plus they are more likely to work and much much easier to track down your bike as you can use various apps to track in real time.

[avn2109]

What do I type into google to buy this? A bit of searching has not turned up anything similar to what you describe :( Lots of ads for Tile and similar (aka not GPS trackers).

[secfirstmd]

There's loads out there. For example on Aliexpress

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001742170443.html?spm=a2...

[patrickk]

I wrote about bike GPS trackers here: https://ampedcycling.com/do-electric-bikes-have-gps-trackers...

The Guardian bike tracker is one potential option. I would caution against a generic bluetooth tracker, I am not sure if you can integrate it with a SIM card easily.

[fredley]

> not easily removed or destroyed

So like a lock? It's an arms race, and if these things did really take off, bike thieves would find a way to defeat them (easy enough to detect if a bike has one after all).

Also it's not as if many many iPhones aren't being swiped on the streets of London either.

[CydeWeys]

No, a lock is easy to remove/destroy. It's at most a minute with the right tool (angle grinder), and the bike itself is left unaffected.

A tracking device though would be embedded inside the frame itself, and thus not be removable without cutting up (and thus likely destroying) the frame. The frame is the single-most valuable component on a bike.

[usrusr]

> The frame is the single-most valuable component on a bike.

Depends. And parts can be fenced with much less risk than entire bikes. I doubt that trackers provide any actual safety improvement, neither in the small (what will you do with the information you might get?) nor in the big (will trackers eventually reduce the number of thieves?).

What might help, I think, are serial number registries. Rohloff hub serials can be registered by owners and checked by would-be buyers, which I think does have some of the desired effect of making those bikes less attractive to thieves.

[Someone]

I’m not that knowledgeable about what materials can be used to construct one, but doesn’t “embedded into the frame” mean “embedded in a Faraday cage”? Or could one use the frame as an antenna?

[KraftKacke]

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. I have the hope the frame itself may be used as antenna.

Contrary to what the other commenter said, this is not attractive for carbon frame owners as I wasn't thinking GPS tracking, but low power, snitching networks (like Apple's stuff, where the stolen iPhone only needs to be seen by another iPhone; or like corona tracking). How often do you see a carbon bikes in the wild? A frame like that may also have other components worth destroying the frame over.

[CydeWeys]

Yes, you'd need to handle the antenna issue. As far as engineering problems go though that's not a particularly hard challenge. Phones and laptops with metal cases have no problem with this despite a lack of external antennas.

[fizx]

Bikes expensive enough to have a tracking device will largely be carbon fiber.

[matsemann]

My insurance on the bike is lower if I use a https://bikefinder.com/en/ which is a device in the bike that tracks it (gps).

[Leherenn]

Already exists. A friend has his expensive bike with this system stolen, he tracked it back a few months down the road when it was found by a receiver.

[KraftKacke]

I assume that's a different system with GMS/GPS systems. There is one manufacturer doing this, but it's not privacy friendly and not universal.

[ubermonkey]

"Contrary to what people might think, 2020 has not been a good year for bike dealers, especially small ones. "

Well, that depends on who you ask.

Several local stores here saw it coming, and places enormous orders with their distributors when there was still inventory. My local did WELL -- they were aggressive and basically maxed their credit buying bikes from $400 to about $1200 (ie the sweet spot for casual riders), and sold every single one they could get their hands on.

They're now the go-to joint in inner Houston for e-bikes, too.

So there was a play to be made, and a way to surf this thing, but I also wouldn't be surprised to learn that this shop in particular was one of the few to really do it right.

[jacurtis]

Well my experience talking to all the local bike shops in my area is that they actually have less inventory to sell than previous years, compounded with the problem of increased demand.

My local shop that is a Trek Dealer said last October that they were only just starting to get the bikes that they ordered back in February (pre-pandemic). Meaning that their standard inventory for summer never arrived. I just talked to this shop again this weekend because I was in there for ski service (like many bike shops in the Rocky Mountains, they are ski shops in the winter and bike shops in the summer), and the guy showed me their list of pending orders. They are expecting an order of bikes from Trek by the end of January that will complete the order they placed LAST APRIL. So at least for Trek, that is how far behind they are.

I have also visited 2 different dealers that sell Specialized ("Specialized" is the brand name). One of them (the smaller one) told me that they have $100,000 worth of bikes and accessories on order and have been waiting for over 5 months on them to arrive with no update on any changes.

The other Specialized Dealer is a big dealer in this area and they only have one bike in stock, a Peter Sagan edition Race Bike priced around $10k and 2 child sized bikes. They said they are still waiting for their orders from April to arrive.

One good sign was from a local shop that sells Santa Cruz Mountain Bikes. They apparently are only about 2 months behind. But that shop has still struggled to keep bikes in stock. So their demo fleet for people to take up to the ski resort (for downhill mountain biking) last summer was all previous model-year bikes because they couldn't set aside bikes for their demo fleet because they were selling as fast as they arrived. In fact he told me that they have been selling bikes off a waiting list for people 4-5 states away who are driving 12-24 straight hours to pick up bikes because this shop has been able to keep some in stock.

[cycomanic]

One of the aspects that really exacerbated the situation for road bikes was that Shimano (by far the biggest component manufacturer) was expected to release their new top of the line group-set this year.

Because they typically introduce new technology which is somewhat incompatible with previous generations (they were expected to go to 2x12 speed like the two other manufacturers), everyone was holding off on orders and the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019.

The manufacturers also expected a low volume year, hence they did not order that many components and frames either, so everyone was caught off-guard when the pandemic hit.

[ubermonkey]

"Because they typically introduce new technology which is somewhat incompatible with previous generations"

Just to clarify:

He doesn't meant that each year's new kit is incompatible with last year's. He just means that major generational changes introduce incompatibilities.

11-speed cassettes have been the rule for most new road bikes for quite some time now, but obviously when it was introduced it wasn't compatible with 10-speed systems.

11 has been around for a while now. Shimano has 3 "serious" tiers of road bike components: Dura Ace, Ultegra, and 105 at the "bottom". (The bottom here is the bottom of serious cycling, not the bottom of cycling generally; the lowest 105-equipped bike in Specialized's road line is $1,400 MSRP.)

When I bought a bike in late 2014, Dura Ace and Ultegra were 11-speed, but 105 was still 10. Then, for a while, everything was 11. You could (and can) mix and match within Shimano or within SRAM as long as everything was 11 speed (with the exception that you can't mix mechanical derailleurs and electronic shifters, or vice versa).

A year or two ago, SRAM introduced a new 12-speed electronic-only group at its high end ("RED"), which has since filtered down to its middle-grade ("Force"). SRAM still makes 11-speed mechanical and, I think, still makes parts for its first electronic setup ("eTap") which was 11-speed.

Shimano is behind, and still hasn't introduced a 12-speed system, but there's a lot of anticipation for it, which is what OP is referring to.

(I should also note for the record that Shimano still makes and sells lower-grade component groups, too; the cheapest road bike on the Specialized web site is intro level Allez at just $900. It comes with an 8-speed Shimano groupset called Claris, which is currently Shimano's bottom-of-the-line. They also still make a 9-speed (Sora) and a 10-speed (Tiagra).)

[cycomanic]

Thanks for adding to this. You're right that I didn't mean to imply that Shimano and others make old kit obsolete very quickly. I would even argue Shimano and Campagnolo (SRAM is still a bit unclear) have been quite good with keeping even old groups supplied with parts etc..

However, people who buy a new high-end bikes are generally reluctant to get a bike with a groupset that will not be the the latest in less than a years time. Especially because traditionally you could get extremely good deals on bikes with the old groupsets once the new one came out.

[ubermonkey]

I mean, given the opportunity to be nerdy about something...

I have a vague sense that the move through 9 and 10 to 11 speed was pretty quick, and that the moment of effective 11-speed hegemony has been long and really shows no sign of truly fading, but I have only a few points to go on.

The biggest one is that SRAM has kept its 12-speed stuff segregated. They still sell mechanical Red and Force in 11, and the web site still shows Red eTap (the 11-speed electronic groupset). All the 12-speed stuff is at another tier and uses the "AXS" suffix for branding.

Nobody knows yet what Shimano will do. Campy is really on its own in lots of ways (I dunno about you, but in my circles riding Campy is mostly a way to say "I have lots of discretionary income and/or a very understanding spouse").

My neighbor is a bike tinkerer and serious rider. He's moved a couple of his bikes to AXS, but only by doing some wheeling/dealing on eBay & whatnot. It does not appear to have made him materially faster. ;)

I was itching for an upgrade on my bike back in the spring, and found the upgrade price for even Force AXS really offputting. I ended up putting Red eTap on, and have REALLY loved it, especially at < 1/2 the cost. I didn't really even consider the Shimano stuff, as I DRASTICALLY prefer the SRAM cockpit interface -- to say nothing of the simpler install, as eTap is wireless.

[ubermonkey]

Dealers for Trek and Specialized have not done as well here. I think this MAY be because those dealers are mostly all-in on whichever brand they carry. The shop I bought my Specialized Roubaix from in 2014, for example, HAS a very small number of non-Specialized bikes (maybe 4-6 AllCity plus a couple Moots), but the rest of the shop is ALL SPECIALIZED. You know what folks say about egg/basket redundancy.

The shop I mentioned that was clever and has done well as a result isn't a dealer for either. They carry BMC, Cervelo, Santa Cruz, Salsa, and some others, and they've managed to stay busy and stocked all year.

[FreshFries]

Here in Switzerland it has been a good yeah however. During the Lockdown the sales have increased by 25%. People use their bikes more too. And the both the in and export of e-bikes has increased.

Sorry, all in German:

https://bellevue.nzz.ch/reisen-entdecken/velo-boom-in-der-sc...

https://www.velosuisse.ch/e-bike-markt-waechst-weiter-mit-gr...

[disabled]

True. In Switzerland, it is expensive to even hold a driver’s license. Driving in general is expensive.

While public transportation is phenomenal, clean, and can be relied on, it’s a pandemic. So, it makes sense that people are riding their bikes.

[Leherenn]

I disagree, driving is cheap in Switzerland. It's cheaper than public transports unless you really want to drive that Porsche Cayenne in Geneva and your employer pays for your GA.

[MrBuddyCasino]

The year 2020 was good in terms of sales. But its effects in 2021 will lead to vendor consolidation.

[walrus01]

For some news on this from the perspective of the individual bicycle retail stores, there's a vertical/trade journal for them:

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/

If you go through the past news articles there, lots of info about import data, sales boom and sell out of in stock inventory during 2020, etc.

[Symbiote]

There's probably a gap in the market for bike shops in Denmark (and the Netherlands too). Everyone here already owns at least one bicycle, so there was no need to purchase another. The shops still have plenty of stock, and a quick look a the website shows 10-15% "January" discounts.

However, none of the four online shops I tried deliver outside Denmark.

[ogre_codes]

In a moment of inspired genius, one of the local bike shop owners stuffed a big chunk of savings into bike inventory back in March/ April. He had bikes stuffed into every corner of the shop and was pretty much the only shop with decent inventory for most of the year.

But now even his inventory is bare. Maybe I should sell one of my bikes to help relieve the pressure.

Hmm

Nah.

[usrusr]

But the reduced availability surely enabled dealers to sell a far bigger fraction (likely very close to all!) of what they sold at list price or reasonably close, whereas a typical season will see a considerable part of inventory being pushed out at wild discounts. The entire pricing structure is built for a high margin/high discount pattern. I wouldn't be surprised if some would be able to earn more than usually even on less than half the inventory, and the upstream availability surely didn't collapse that hard.

[KraftKacke]

In my yard I can see about 6-10 bikes rotting away. Shop owners could make upcycling a business.

Anyway, I think it's getting really cold the next months, so demand will probably go down a bit.

[kasey_junk]

No they can’t because they can’t get parts. Even things like patch kits were hard to find for a big chunk of the year.

[Triv888]

Around here, even Walmart has no bicycle inventory... had to go to the flea market and buy a used one.

[learnstats2]

Do bike dealers not also make money from increased demand for services?

[dfgdghdf]

Servicing (except perhaps puncture repairs) is a very low margin business. This is why online retail has hurt the bike industry so hard: the servicing was subsidized by bike and component sales. Now, local bike shops are expected to service bikes purchased online.

[tonyedgecombe]

My nearest bike shop is only servicing bikes bought in the shop. They introduced this before Covid.

[enriquto]

Isn't this self-defeating? Why would they refuse a service instead of charging more? I expect to be able to buy a bike online and the shop assembles and adjusts it for me (of course for a price).

[tonyedgecombe]

I'm assuming they had a stream of cheapskates in the shop who expected high levels of service without spending any money.

[notesinthefield]

Ive experience with three shops, given the lowish margins, transaction costs of stock and sometimes reduction in mechanics - its not nearly enough to make up the deficit. The most lucrative services, fittings, are not something every shop does or is equipped for. Maintenance is relatively cheap and 2020 waiting lists were sometimes months long given the spike in riders forcing many to DIY. Many will let you order parts through the shop but prices are almost always more expensive than going to the vendor site.

[learnstats2]

> Maintenance is relatively cheap and 2020 waiting lists were sometimes months long given the spike in riders forcing many to DIY.

As another commenter has said - why don't shops charge according to the increased demand? This situation benefits them.

[notesinthefield]

If youve only so many mechanics, who do you really benefit increasing the price when most people will end up on the wait list anyway? Then you run the risk of losing them to the next shop.

[tonyedgecombe]

Supplies of spare parts have been constrained as well. It took two months to get some replacement tyres for my bike.

[Manfred]

Do you mean they only got 80% of what they ordered in 2019 for 2020?

[MrBuddyCasino]

No, 2020 is unaffected. 2021 will be problematic.