SOLD OUT

Online and in-store, everything from hard tails to e-bikes are out of stock: where have all the bikes gone?

- Jamie Darlow

Out of stock. Three little words that have come to haunt retailers these past three months, as websites and shops run out of bikes. From big players like Leisure Lake Bikes and Chain Reaction Cycles, to small independent shops like Ace Bicycles and MB Cyclery in Surrey, decent bikes have been getting harder and harder to find. Hardtails and entry-level bikes are about as scarce as bog roll was in April, while some brands have reportedly completely run dry of e-bikes and high-end trail bikes too.

“We’ve never seen anything like it, every bike shop has sold out,” says Rob Sherratt from Nukeproof. “My mate runs a bike shop down the road, a Leisure Lakes store, and there are people coming in saying: ‘we have £1,500 to spend, what can I buy?’”

So what’s going on? Is there a blockage in the supply line, with factories temporarily closing in the Far East, or have UK riders stripped the shelves bare, adding bikes to their shopping lists alongside pasta and bottled water?

There have indeed been supply-side problems, according to Andy Jeffries from Whyte – Shimano’s rotor factory in Malaysia shut for nine weeks in March, while shipping has naturally been delayed, with fewer containers moving across the seas. “There’s not been one big issue, though, it’s numerous issues that have contributed,” he says.

Supply-side problems have been dwarfed by a huge surge in demand though, with people desperate to get hold of new bikes, or sort out their old neglected ones. “It’s been crazy, we sold a month’s worth of Scout hardtails in the space of about 20 minutes,” says Sherratt.