From: swancycles via Finger Lakes Cycling Club <fingerlakescycling@PROTECTED>
Date: June 17, 2021 at 1:08:30 PM EDT
To: fingerlakescycling@PROTECTED
Subject: [FLCC] state of the bike industry
Reply-To: swancycles@PROTECTED



An update on the state of the cycling industry at this time...

I keep reading in my "Industry News" that production and reported profits by manufacturers are up by huge amounts, with factories increasing production in some cases by more than 100%, but on the ground we still aren't seeing new bikes, and many parts remain in extremely short supply. I see projections that some of my "preseason order bikes" may be available sometime in September, but there are no guarantees. Meanwhile some parts and accessories are beginning to trickle in, but with national bike shop supplies being depleted, if I don't order parts within a few hours of getting notices that they have arrived at my suppliers, they all evaporate and my searches continue.  The bigger bike manufacturers have pretty much locked up the production of component companies like Shimano, as they need parts to actually build bikes to ship. Like the stories of Ford having to shut down a production line due to a shortage of some computer chips, the bike companies can't ship bikes unless they have all of the parts they need to complete them. Complicating matters, I received an update from Shimano yesterday reporting that due to a resurgent COVID outbreak in Malaysia, where some of their component factories are located, a nationwide lockdown has closed factories and halted production until cases subside. Similarly they report at least one port closure due to COVID lockdown.  Throw in a shortage of shipping containers, shortage of ships for transporting those containers, and backlogs at ports of entry, and you can quickly understand why those estimates of the bike shortage ending by September may be overly optimistic.

I'm not sure what the other bike shops in Ithaca are experiencing right now, but I have only received 3 new 2021 bikes all year, and they were expensive bikes in a price range above where the shortages are most severe, and where most recreational cyclists are looking. My inventory of bikes from earlier model years is getting thinner (still over 100 bikes in stock) but is limited to road bikes with "drop handlebars".  No mountain bikes, no flat-bar road bikes or hybrids.  I have been taking trade-ins and buying used bikes outright, so there are a few used hybrids or MTB's set up for more street or gravel riding. These tend to come and go rather quickly, and I never know what I'll have in hand from one week to the next. I have quite a number of used kids bikes with 16" and 20" wheels.  I'm hoping that as we transition to summer activities and get the weekly kids' nights going again at the Swandrome, that many of these bikes will find new homes. If you have friends with little kids looking for bikes, send them up the hill.

There are a few tandems looking for new riders. There is a pet/cargo trailer. There are several kid-carrying options including a front-platform cargo bike, a long-tail cargo bike, a standard Trail-a-Bike, and a Wee-go Trail-a-Bike.

Jim Sharkness has put a couple of amazing Touring bikes on consignment, with racks, bags, dynamos for lights and charging devices, and other details suitable for world-travelers.

If there are families who are missing the "Family Bike Tour" that was a staple of FLCC's annual calendar of events, I have an interest, and some resources for making an overnight family tour happen close to home. I don't have the time to organize the details of such an event alone, but if others are willing to step up and help I would love to discuss how we could make it happen.

Glenn Swan

Swan Cycles

(607) 592-7037

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