SUPPLY CHAIN PAIN

A KIN TO A LOT OF YOU OUT THERE WE’VE RECENTLY FOUND OURSELVES SWINGING BY OUR LOCAL BIKE STORE TO STOCK UPON A FEW PARTS AHEAD OF OUR PLANNED TRAIL ADVENTURES, ONLY TO FIND, EMPTY RACKS AND SHELVES? IS THIS THE NEW VERSION OF LAST YEAR’S SUPERMARKET TOILET PAPER PANIC BUYING? WHERE HAVE ALL THE BIKES, BRAKE PADS, TIRES AND EVERYTHING ELSE GONE? WITH AROUND A 30% INCREASE IN BIKE SALES ACROSS AUSTRALIA (AND THE WORLD) DURING THE PAST 12 MONTHS ALONE, BIKES HAVE BEEN FLYING OUT THE DOOR THE SAME DAY THAT THEY ARRIVE… WANT A NEW BIKE? GET READY TO WAIT. THIS TIME LAST YEAR THE PRE-ORDER WAITING LISTS FROM MOST BRANDS FOR POPULAR BIKES WAS AVERAGING 1-3 MONTHS, NOW, IT’S BLOWING OUT TO ANYWHERE FROM 6 MONTHS TO A FULL YEAR! IT’S CRAZY. IT’S SCARY. IT SUCKS. BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE BIKE INDUSTRY IS ON OUR SIDE AND BRANDS ARE DOING THEIR VERY BEST RIGHT NOW TO FIND SOLUTIONS TO TURN IT AROUND.

Whilst it is getting a little scary and or frustrating having to deal with lead times on availably for bikes and parts that we want right now, we can all take some comfort in knowing that the greater industry is rising to the challenge and being as proactive as possible to minimize the impacts of global supply chain shortages. Brands such as RockShox are on the front foot, constantly developing and implementing innovative procedures to ensure that their products and spare parts continue to be readily available to riders world-wide. Sit tight because the glass really is half full, not half empty.

Let us give you a bit of the background behind how this is booming more than ever in history as a bi-product of the COVID pandemic. It has all got to do with the huge bottleneck in the supply chain and the wide-open gates of demand. In 2020 we saw a massive boom in the cycling industry. Every month shops were doubling, even tripling, their monthly intakes. They braced for the bubble to burst, the words “this can’t continue” have never been said in a bike shop as much as they were in 2020. Bikes couldn’t come in quick enough for the waiting lists of hundreds. Bikes were being sold while mechanics assembled them in the stand. Day after day, five, ten, or twenty bikes would leave the shop and the line out of the shop door never seemed to shorten.

It was amazing but, like a dam, if you leave the water running, you will eventually reach the bottom. That is where we find ourselves now, we are at the bottom but, the water has stopped trickling in. A university professor once told us his demand is ever greater than the supply you are in a good position, however we would like to debate him on that now.