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My sister and brother in law own an electric bike store in Scottsdale, they are selling like crazy. I have 2 of them, I bought my GF a new non electric Trek bike for Christmas (she is killing it with 50 mile rides). I've done 1300 miles on the new bike since November, lots of people out riding, lots of newbies still learning the rules (and getting in our way), but, if something good comes out of this lock down it is that people are rediscovering biking, and hopefully cities will start making the streets more bike friendly. In Phoenix, we have hundreds of miles of canals that cris-cross along the metropolitan area, making it really easy to get across town. But we are still nowhere near like it is in Europe.
Thinking of Buying a Bike? Get Ready for a Very Long Wait - The New York Times
Thinking of Buying a Bike? Get Ready for a Very Long Wait
By Christina Goldbaum
May 18, 2020
Some bicycle shops in Brooklyn are selling twice as many bikes as usual and drawing blocklong lines of customers. A chain of shops in Phoenix is selling three times the number of bikes it typically does. A retailer in Washington, D.C., sold all its entry-level bikes by the end of April and has fielded more preorders than ever in its 50-year history.
As the coronavirus pandemic shrinks life in major American cities — limiting pastimes and discouraging use of buses and subways — hundreds of thousands of Americans are flocking to one of the most basic forms of mobility: the bicycle.
In March, nationwide sales of bicycles, equipment and repair services nearly doubled compared with the same period last year, according to the N.P.D. Group, a market research company. Sales of commuter and fitness bikes in the same month increased 66 percent, leisure bikes jumped 121 percent, children’s bikes went up 59 percent and electric bikes rose 85 percent.
By the end of April, many stores and distributors had sold out of low-end consumer bikes. Now, the United States is facing a severe bicycle shortage as global supply chains, disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, scramble to meet the surge in demand.
“I have never seen anything remotely approaching this,” said Ryan Zagata, president of Brooklyn Bicycle Company, where sales have soared by more than 600 percent this year compared with the same period in 2019. “If you went into a store three weeks ago you could find a bike under $1,000. Right now shelves are bare.”
The spike in sales comes on the heels of stay-at-home orders that have temporarily curtailed daily life, but that may permanently transform the role of bicycles into something more essential, including a safer alternative to public transit as the nation slowly begins to reopen.
Some American cities are already planning for a lasting shift after the pandemic — a significant departure in a society that has favored cars over bikes for decades, even as European cities embraced cycling as a transportation mode as integral as New York City’s subway.
“We are absolutely confident we are going to see more bike commuting in the months ahead,” said Polly Trottenberg, New York City’s transportation commissioner.
In April, New York announced that it would temporarily open 100 miles of roads to pedestrians and cyclists — a move that may lead to permanent closures, officials say. Oakland plans to shut down about 10 percent of its streets to cars during the pandemic, while Seattle said it would permanently close 20 miles of roads.
“We are already seeing people who hadn’t biked before are trying it for the first time,’’ Ms. Trottenberg said. “We are going to see a lot more of that as the city starts to come back to life.”
The change would be a notable departure from the role bikes have tended to play in American life. For generations, riding a bike has been a symbol of relaxed summer days and a nostalgic rite-of-passage for children growing up in suburban sprawl.
Thinking of Buying a Bike? Get Ready for a Very Long Wait - The New York Times
Thinking of Buying a Bike? Get Ready for a Very Long Wait
By Christina Goldbaum
May 18, 2020
Some bicycle shops in Brooklyn are selling twice as many bikes as usual and drawing blocklong lines of customers. A chain of shops in Phoenix is selling three times the number of bikes it typically does. A retailer in Washington, D.C., sold all its entry-level bikes by the end of April and has fielded more preorders than ever in its 50-year history.
As the coronavirus pandemic shrinks life in major American cities — limiting pastimes and discouraging use of buses and subways — hundreds of thousands of Americans are flocking to one of the most basic forms of mobility: the bicycle.
In March, nationwide sales of bicycles, equipment and repair services nearly doubled compared with the same period last year, according to the N.P.D. Group, a market research company. Sales of commuter and fitness bikes in the same month increased 66 percent, leisure bikes jumped 121 percent, children’s bikes went up 59 percent and electric bikes rose 85 percent.
By the end of April, many stores and distributors had sold out of low-end consumer bikes. Now, the United States is facing a severe bicycle shortage as global supply chains, disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, scramble to meet the surge in demand.
“I have never seen anything remotely approaching this,” said Ryan Zagata, president of Brooklyn Bicycle Company, where sales have soared by more than 600 percent this year compared with the same period in 2019. “If you went into a store three weeks ago you could find a bike under $1,000. Right now shelves are bare.”
The spike in sales comes on the heels of stay-at-home orders that have temporarily curtailed daily life, but that may permanently transform the role of bicycles into something more essential, including a safer alternative to public transit as the nation slowly begins to reopen.
Some American cities are already planning for a lasting shift after the pandemic — a significant departure in a society that has favored cars over bikes for decades, even as European cities embraced cycling as a transportation mode as integral as New York City’s subway.
“We are absolutely confident we are going to see more bike commuting in the months ahead,” said Polly Trottenberg, New York City’s transportation commissioner.
In April, New York announced that it would temporarily open 100 miles of roads to pedestrians and cyclists — a move that may lead to permanent closures, officials say. Oakland plans to shut down about 10 percent of its streets to cars during the pandemic, while Seattle said it would permanently close 20 miles of roads.
“We are already seeing people who hadn’t biked before are trying it for the first time,’’ Ms. Trottenberg said. “We are going to see a lot more of that as the city starts to come back to life.”
The change would be a notable departure from the role bikes have tended to play in American life. For generations, riding a bike has been a symbol of relaxed summer days and a nostalgic rite-of-passage for children growing up in suburban sprawl.
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