Bikes might be hard to find on P.E.I. again this summer
'Unfortunately at this point, you're probably not early. You're probably late to the party'
Some P.E.I. sporting good shops are continuing to feel the shock waves from last year's bike shortage while also trying to keep up with a boom in demand.
"This time last year the pandemic had just started. Bike inventory was good, all of the warehouses were full. Bike companies were ready to start shipping and selling bikes," said Brett Doyle, the owner of Outer Limit Sports in Charlottetown.
"The difference this year is the inventory's been completely depleted from last year. Companies have not caught up, warehouses are empty and demand is at the exact same point."
Over the past year, outdoor items like bikes, kayaks, skis and snowshoes have been hard to come by on the Island. Businesses previously attributed the challenge to COVID-19 encouraging outdoor activities but also acknowledged the impact it had on the supply chain.
"I hate to say it, it's worse. It's much worse than last year," said Doyle.
"When they build a bike, we're relying on 50 different vendors to put that bike together so if any one part of that equation is delayed ... well that delays the whole production."
'Not going to be solved by next year'
According to Doyle, demand seemed to have started even earlier this season as well.
"We saw in January days where we would sell as many bikes in that day as we would the entire month the year before," he said.
"We have customers coming in saying they're here, they're here early, they want to get ahead of the curve. Unfortunately at this point, you're probably not early. You're probably late to the party."
That being said, bikes are still available at Outer Limit Sports. However, while the shop would typically have around 400 on hand, right now it has 100. So, Doyle said customers might have to tweak their expectations or be patient.
"Don't be shy to put your order in for next year," he said.
"It seems crazy to order a bike for that far out but the situation is not going to be solved by next year so if you think you're going to wait until next year and get that blue bike you've been dreaming of, it's not going to happen," he said.
'We have to turn people around'
It's a similar story down the road at MacQueen's Bike Shop.
"We do get a big demand in bikes every day and every day we have to turn people around," said Dayan Gonzalez, the manager.
Inside the shop, bikes hang off the walls and while it might look like a lot of inventory, it's the only stock Gonzalez has left.
"We actually went ahead and put the order in like a regular year, they treated things the same way as always, assuming and expecting things would be normal by now," he said.
"Unfortunately, that did not go that way."
So far, Gonzalez said just one company has guaranteed the bikes will arrive in Canada at the end of May. Other orders aren't expected to show until November — when the season is already over.
'The best we can'
Looking ahead, Gonzalez said MacQueen's has already purchased everything it needs for 2022 and is taking down the information of customers looking for a specific bike.
"We do not take any kind of payment because as soon as you take payment, you have to guarantee that bike," he said.
"I don't want to have to upset anybody by saying, 'Sorry I took your money but the bike's not coming. I have to get it back to you.'"
Canadian Tire said it learned from last year's increase in demand and brought in five times the number of bikes compared to 2020.
But even there, the store's owner said the question now is if that will be enough to last the season and if not, can the stock be replenished?
As for Gonzalez, he is remaining positive and hopes Islanders continue to be understanding about the situation.
"We'll give you the bike when we have it and we'll try to do the best we can to get it," he said.