DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — The COVID-19 crisis has had a lasting impact in so many areas and on so many businesses. The bike industry has seen both the good and bad in the demand for bikes. So many people are wanting to get outside and be active that the shortage could be felt for months.
At the Bicycle Lab bike shop in Delray Beach, bike maintenance is a top priority. The problem is getting parts to service the bikes has become a difficult task. Owner Jeff Ruth said before COVID-19 it would take under a week to get parts.
"Right now I just can't get bikes and I just can't get parts to fix bikes. So there's people I can't help now," he said.
Ruth said he can get a road bike or racing bikes. But when it comes to cruisers, hybrids, and sports hybrids they're wiped out.
"We won't get them again two, three months and the only reason we're getting them in that phase is these very big manufacturers have ordered and made their bikes 8 to 10 months in the future," he said.
Ruth said more people were forced to workout outside because COVID-19 has shut down gyms. So people started buying bikes or pulling them out to be fixed and rode.
"Getting really hard, tubes, tires, 7-speed freewheels, that stuff is the hardest to get," Mike Ogonowski with Relentless Bicycles said.
Just up the road in Lake Worth Beach, Ogonowski said the industry has struggled across the country.
"About a month ago it was really getting very notable where things were gone, not here, no product availability," he said.
Mike and Jeff said they're not sure when the market will correct itself.
"I'm happy that so many more people are touched by biking now but it's tough on the bike stores definitely," Ruth said.