There is currently a great demand for bicycles. Many want to get their suitable bike before Easter. In addition, there is a worldwide boom in bicycles, and manufacturers can hardly keep up with production. Therefore delivery delays occur more often.
Anyone who is currently looking for a suitable bike is sometimes put off. Manufacturers have to contend with delivery bottlenecks for many models, especially frames, forks and gears are difficult to obtain. Corona has messed up the supply chains: While bicycle manufacturers, for example, used to have to wait 90 days for a rear derailleur from Asia, it is now a full 600 days.
Strong demand for bicycles since the pandemic
The long waiting times for bikes are not only due to delivery problems, the demand for bicycles has skyrocketed since the beginning of the pandemic. This year there is an estimated increase of 8 percent in bikes sold, sales rose by twelve percent, one of the few bright spots for the sports trade, which lost eleven percent of its sales in the pandemic year. According to international studies, mobility on bicycles has also increased massively. In the federal capital Vienna, for example, cycling increased by twelve percent in 2020.
Because sports facilities are closed, many like to pedal, and public transport can also be avoided. In addition, the Austrians are doing something to counteract the lack of exercise caused by lockdown. This is especially true for children. Dealers generate up to 80 percent of their sales with bicycles for the little ones (up to 18 inches) in the period up to Easter.
Klosterneuburg company market leader in children’s bicycles
The market leader in the children’s segment is the Klosterneuburg company Woom with a share of over 30 percent. During the crisis, sales were up to 70 percent higher than planned, while sales rose by an average of 85 percent annually over the past few years. Woom is currently also experiencing major delivery problems.
Frames come from Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh, for example. In order to be less dependent on Asian companies, part of the production is brought closer. Woom bikes now also come from a Polish factory. Nevertheless, the waiting times can currently be a few weeks. From April the situation should relax again, says boss Guido Dohm confidently.
Trend towards electric bicycles and mountain bikes
In addition, two types of bicycles are growing rapidly on the market as a whole: e-bikes and mountain bikes, the latter also being electronically popular – every second of the approximately 180,000 e-bikes sold in Austria is a mountain bike. The boom in e-bikes has been going on for some time. Because the electronic bikes are relatively more expensive, sales are increasing faster than the number of units sold. There is also increasing interest in mountain bikes, and it has now become a popular sport. This also calls for more and more mountain bike coordinators to take care of the safety on the routes.
Anja Richter & Peter Stadlmüller, Kronen Zeitung