CALGARY -- It’s been a death knell for so many businesses, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, one industry took off.
Cycling has grown in a big way over the last eleven months, with so many cooped-up Calgarians looking to get fresh air and some socially-distanced exercise.
At Bow Cycle, that’s only good news.
“The phone started ringing and the online orders started to spry up,” owner John Franzky said. “People started riding bikes again. It’s like having your April, May and June (sales) for a full year.”
It’s not just in Bowness. Across the city, cycling shops are full and speaking of record-setting seasons.
Some customers are buying their first bike, some are upgrading and some are calling on the experts for tune-up help.
And even though it’s currently the dead of winter, not every bike being bought has seasonably-fat tires.
Road and city models have also seen high sales. Some speculate those have been helped along by Calgary lane closures.
The closures were meant to push people outside — officials said they were aiming to aid both physical and mental health — and they’ve done just that.
Many in the industry say they’d love to see biking infrastructure improve even more in the years ahead to accommodate the push.
“I’ve been in the bike business for over 30 years, and this is the busiest I’ve ever seen it,” Ridley’s Cycle owner Ron Uhlenberg told CTV News.
Things are selling so quickly, in fact, that it’s resulted in a problem very few saw coming.
“I don’t want to complain about anything, because we have been very fortunate to keep staff employed and keep our business running, but it has led to a worldwide surge on bicycles, which has led to some inventory issues.”
The backlog is on both bikes and parts and it could last into 2023.
The silver lining for suppliers is options are still available, so the advice from the pros is that if you’re looking to saddle up, you’d better do it soon.
