Anyone else in the cycling industry?

I know there's plenty of people that pedal, who works in a shop or industry? I agreed to buy an existing bicycle shop in my town at the end of this past February. So, pre-covid. I hadn't even heard of covid yet. A few weeks later I was in Daytona testing for the AFT flat track opener where we got the news that everything was getting the pause button hit. So, no work for the foreseeable AFT season. I became a bicycle shop owner/mechanic/younameit rather quickly. Bit nerve racking buying a business when everything was coming to a halt but it's been wide open busy since we started. The backlog of work, bikes and parts is outrageous. What end of the business are you in and what's your year been like?

 

Good for you. Now is a great time to be in the bicycle business. Sales are through the roof ! My local high end bike shop looked like it had been burglarized when I went there last month. Only 5 bikes left, and we're talking about a shop that specializes in $7k+ equipment here. (Colnago, Pinarello, Wilier, DeVinci, etc.)

 

Good luck finding bikes or parts.
Been buying bearings directly from China so I can rebuild bottom brackets.
I bought and buy in massive quantities when I can and have $8k in parts & bikes on backorder.
Some products are trickling in.
I've been told there are several container ships sitting offshore waiting to dock & be unloaded.
But because of Covid ports are understaffed .
Still doing inventory for 2020, but income is close to three times my usual.
Message me if you need any help.

 

Construction hasn't slowed down one bit since Covid hit. I have not missed one day of work or one day from going into the office. Right now we're so swamped that we could hire 20+ more workers, but of course there's only one group that wants to work currently and there aren't enough of them in the country. We're probably turning down 10 jobs to bid a week.

 

That was probably the best time ever to buy a bicycle shop. Way to go! My LBSs cant keep stock of anything.

 

That’s fantastic, what ya got on the bicycle shop front?

 

My bike was in the shop for two weeks, waiting on the derailleur to come in. (Some schmuckfuck stole it)

 

Someone stole just the derailleur? Fuck, that sucks.

 

This is truth. I bring in 30-50 containers a month. And the last couple months have been horrible. LA/Long beach is a mess. I had containers sitting there for several weeks. Normally we see a delay of a couple days...maybe a week. But the last few months...fugetaboutit. Ships are delayed because they cant dock to load or unload somewhere. Then once they do dock...stuff sits unable to get on rail or truck do to previous congestion, lack of manpower, no chassis to haul..etc etc etc. Other ports arent as bad but just this week a container going thru savannah was delayed a couple days.

 

Well, you took it to the wrong shop

 

I make handmade Bicycle bags. If you have in interest in carrying them send me a PM. I launched late in the year, and its been very good.

 

Nice products. The majority of my business is cruiser & hybrids .
I have a very small customer base that would be interested .
Never know what the future is going to bring though.

 

Good for you Gary. You as well Mooney.

 

Thanks, still not recovered fully from the stress of non stop business.

 

good, one of you guys help me set up my cannondale slate gravel/road bike with 105 hardware, or my giant xtc advanced with deore xt hardware, with a smat trainer. please? want to just buy one with the cassette already on the trainer, so i dont have to pull apart my wheels. the options make my head spin, skewers, holders, with cassette, without etc... interested in tacx, wahoo, elite direto or suito. or if you have suggestions. I am looking for plug and play, dont want to have to buy a bunch of adapters, or extra accy's to make it work. want to unbox it, and go to work. thanks in advance, glad things are going well for you guys! Ski

 

Eric, I just put a 12speed NX cassette on a Kickr Core (on it now as I type).

I had the base model Kickr a couple years ago and then the high end Kickr after that, and sold it for a fat bike last winter. Then got a dumb trainer for over the summer and realized with all the riding now, I want both a fat bike and smart trainer for the winter.

I've got a Checkpoint SL7 hooked up to the trainer, so like you, I didn't want to pull the cassette, especially if the weather breaks a bit and I can get outside. My bike has a 12speed on it, so I wanted to match cassette dimensions between the trainer and the bike. You don't have to do this though. I used to have my 12speed MTB on the high end Kickr, which came with a 10 speed cassette. I was just careful to not shift off the cassette.

I was looking at the Tacx also. Good stuff. My LBS happened to have one returned for not liking it due to some "buggy issues" and I was familiar with Kickr, so I changed course and got the Kickr Core. I think you'd be best getting a cheap and durable cassette to mount onto the trainer. My LBS mounted it right there for me, but a simple lockring tool/socket should do it.

So far, so good. Happy to answer any questions you might have.

And relative to the thread topic, the bike shops here have been crazy busy during COVID. As mentioned, having bikes and parts in stock is the biggest challenge for everyone.

 

thanks Eddie! the cannodale has an 11 speed on the 105 set up. the giant has a 10 speed set up on the deore XT. i am going into withdrawals, havent been on the bike in a week now. i rode, until we got snow then i was kinda done, as i dont have a fat tire bike, and i dont want to end up on my head. i need to get off my ass, and get a LBS to help me get set up, so I can just use the smart trainer, and tv/display to help keep me riding, motivated. Ski

 

I'm involved in several businesses.
Software development: Suffered at the beginning of this thing because clients were reluctant to commit to large capital projects while things were so uncertain. Towards the end of the year, deals began signing right and left and now we are overbooked. 100% work from home since February and it may remain that way forever as it is saving a ton of money.

Veterinary: Best year ever due to being one of the only places locally that stayed open the entire time. Picked up business from other places that closed or limited their appointments. We have been able to double the staff. There are people that actually want to work and those are really the people you want working for you.

You picked a great time to get into the bicycle business. It will be interesting to see how many people remain devoted to their newfound corona hobbies.

 

That's my concern.
My season usually ends when the tourist leave town after Labor Day and does not pick back up until Easter.
Never happened this year. Had a small slow down, but stayed busy right up until it the daily highs dropped below 60 a couple of weeks ago.
Still have a good supply of men's bikes, but women's are pretty much gone.
The big craze here has been e-bikes. I pre-ordered 10 2021 models a month ago and 6 just became available .
I was a little apprehensive about taking them until my rep told me he's not sure when the next shipment was expected , non are on the water and the next batch will be 7% more expensive when they do come in.
I've already turned down 10 adult trikes which I could not keep in stock over the summer, but not taking a chance with these.
Lucky Corona has increased my credit score by a substantial amount and I have 180 day terms