'Never Has It Been Anything Like This': Bike Shops 'Overrun' With Sales, Repairs During Pandemic
HAVERTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- If you're looking for a bicycle so you can stretch your legs this summer you might have to cool your heels. Demand is outstripping supply during the pandemic.
Bicycle customers expecting same-day repair service get a roll of the eyes from Havertown Bicycle Shop owner Jon Newman.
"We're overrun with repair work. We're two-and-a-half weeks deep, we're doing as much repair as possible as fast as possible," Newman said. "But it's just been crazy."
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Work at his 40-year-old business has spiked, and the exact same thing can be said for Drexel Hill Cyclery on Burmont Road — a shop that boasts being Delaware County's oldest continuous bicycle shop.
Kamal Gatewood just bought the place from the original owners.
"It's a pretty interesting experience to come into as a first-time owner of a business at all, but especially at this particular time where there's so many bikes coming in that it's just able, with Frank's help, to keep up with what's coming in and out the door," Gatewood said.
Newman says there have been bicycling peaks over the years. Stay-at-home orders, which were first rolled out in March, sparked this latest run.
"When I got in the business around '79, there was a bike boom that started around '80 or so. Gas prices were going up," Newman said. "And there was another bike boom in the '90s for fitness craze stuff but never has it been anything like this."
Used and refurbished inventory lines the racks. Nothing new is rolling in because of plant closures in Asia
"It doesn't stop, it's relentless. It just keeps going and going and going," Newman said. "I took Sunday and Monday off for the holiday and there was 38 phone calls and people waiting at the door."
So if you're in the market for a bike, shop owners say you better have some patience. They may not get new stock in until at least August.