Advance booking for bicycles was quite unheard of, at least, in the recent past, as customers could walk out with their preferred bike from the showrooms after completing the sales formalities.
However, the situation now is such that people are booking their orders and waiting for at least a month to get their preferred bikes. The increase in demand for bicycles by at least two times and the supply reducing by about one-third are being cited as reasons by some bicycle dealers across the State.
The closure of gyms during the lockdown drove the demand for bicycles as many preferred them to be the best mode to maintain physical fitness, said S.I. Mubin from Taj Cycle Co., Kankanady in Mangaluru. “As soon as lockdown 1.0 ended, we almost exhausted our stocks and recovered lockdown losses. However, there is no supply from manufacturers, either domestic or international, subsequently,” he said.
Bicycle production was hit world-wide due to COVID-19 as a result of which popular brands, starting from children’s to adults, from normal to premium, were not available in the market, Mr. Mubin said. It may take more than a couple of months before normality is restored, he added.
New models
Stating that he was getting queries for bikes from far off places, including Guwahati, Ganesh Nayak from Jyoti Cycle and Fitness, Kadri in Mangaluru, said that more than 20 customers have pre-booked their bikes, which was unheard of.
International manufacturers of brands such as Trek, Scott, Giant, Merida, bring out their next year’s model during July-September the previous year itself and the products reach India by March-April 2021. Meanwhile, though they have exhausted the 2020 model in their respective domestic market, they would not produce 2020 models thus causing a vacuum in the market, he said.
There was also an enhanced pressure on Shimano Inc., the Japanese bicycle component manufacturer whose gear components almost all international manufacturers use, Mr. Nayak said.
Domestic brands are unlikely to get new components until Shimano fulfils its commitment to international brands. The Indo-China stand-off too has contributed to the situation as a majority of bicycle frames are manufactured in China and Taiwan, he added.
Amit Sharma from Everest Cycles, Yelachenahalli, Kanakapura Road in Bengaluru, who boasts of being Bengaluru South’s biggest showroom, too said that dealers are finding it difficult to cater to the demand that has doubled. Supplies have drastically gone down, he said.