For the bicycle industry, things continue to be as strong this year as business ended in autumn. Many shops are working at full speed and advising. The cycling season has not officially started yet, but the order lists are long gone. “We have never experienced such a strong winter in this industry, we already had a lot of pre-orders in autumn – which is unusual,” says bike dealer Daniel Herlbauer from the Bike Palace in the city of Salzburg.
“Since the weather has been so nice again and the temperatures are rising, you can tell from the customer frequency that the cycling industry is currently booming,” says Herlbauer. Operations manager Günther Pailer von Bergspezl from Puch (Tennengau) agrees: “The workshop is already extreme, we also have ski service and we are two-pronged.”
Months of waiting also for accessories
Most of the goods will only arrive in the coming weeks, but it is already evident that delivery times are significantly longer this year because of the crisis: “If the bike is still with the manufacturer, it can take until the end of May,” says Herlbauer. “We have delays of one or two months. The warehouses are pretty much empty from last season. The industry has long lead times. Most of the parts industry is in Asia and there are too few goods at the moment, ”adds Pailer.
Bicycle manufacturer KTM is also waiting for components such as gears, brakes and tires in neighboring Mattighofen (Upper Austria). In addition, employees in production are constantly absent because they have to be in quarantine. “We do a lot of tests on our own initiative, since we also have positive cases, we lose ten to 20 percent of our own capacity,” says the managing director of KTM Fahrrad GmbH,
Stefan Limbrunner. “We have pre-arranged material, increased production capacities, increased the infrastructure, we have built two halls in the last few years, we are planning another three halls this year. Everything is done on our part, but it’s not that easy, ”said Limbrunner.
Pandemic is causing many to switch to bicycles
Especially children’s bicycles, e-bikes and mountain bikes are in the greatest demand this year. But the dealers are also feeling that many people in Salzburg are switching from public transport to bicycles in times of pandemic.
Bottlenecks in the bicycle market
In the bicycle industry, things are going on as strongly this year as it stopped last. Dealers report of full workshops and an above-average number of bicycles sold – and that already in February. The mini spring has probably reinforced the trend. Because of the great demand in all price categories, the industry expects delivery bottlenecks by summer at the latest.
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