Bend bike shops are struggling with supply to meet surge in demand

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The boom in bike retail bike sales during this pandemic has made it difficult for Bend's bike shops to deal with the limited supply and meet the demand for bikes.

In an effort to stay active and safely keep physical distance, biking is one way to recreate outdoors.

Sunnyside Sports, a bike shop off of Northwest Newport Avenue, says the demand for bikes is high right now, and the lack of available bikes to sell is affecting them.

Co-owner Mike Schindler said Monday there also has been a spike in bike repairs, a shift in the clientele they're serving and the prices of bikes being sold.

"I've been here for over 20 years, and I've never had less bike inventory than we do now, Schindler said. "I've kind of lost track, but I think we have about 60 bikes on back order.

"And it was communicated to me from my understanding that during the April time in China, some of those places that are producing the types of bikes in the price point we're talking about were shut down."

"In essence, we've missed a whole production window, and the increased demand of that is sort of a one-two punch," Schindler said.

Bend Velo off of Northeast 1st Street says their bike demand is normally higher in the spring and summertime, but now the demand is almost two times higher than usual.

Owner Eric Power says they were super-busy at the start of the pandemic, and sales have consistently risen. Now, they're facing a shortage of bikes and bike parts.

Although they do not have a list of bikes on bike orders, the Powers says the challenge is not knowing when suppliers will have bikes, many people come to Bend Velo for electric bikes.

“We look at it as a good thing, we love to see people get on bikes for whatever reason," Power said. "I hated that a pandemic is what caused this demand but seeing that cities maybe opening up streets, or closing them down to cars and opening them to bicycles. Bicycles can save a lot of the world, help with a lot of the world’s problems. So this is just another way that bikes are great for the environment and for people.”

Both Sunnyside Sports and Bend Velo are hoping things smooth out for bike availability and purchases by the end of summer.