Are there signs of oversupply? In spring 2020, it was difficult to keep an overview - and your nerves - in the specialist bike trade. After the initial shock, the bike industry was overwhelmed by an unprecedented surge in demand. At the same time, stores had to satisfy this demand, which was of course fundamentally pleasing. At the same time, the specialists in the stores had to order new bikes and parts. These could only be built years later, partly due to completely disrupted supply chains. And are now arriving late in the stores this fall and winter.

According to industry experts, this could temporarily lead to a glut of bikes in (some) bike stores (depending on the supplier mix). There is even talk of resulting liquidity bottlenecks in specialist shops. At the same time, the increasing supply of bikes is being met with a cooling consumer climate.

First suppliers are now reacting to this situation and offering specialist retailers the opportunity to clear so-called backorders. In this still tense supply situation, specialist retailers and their suppliers are getting to know each other even better: Who is being accommodating and cooperative, who is being stubborn?

At the same time, specialist retailers are realizing what counts. Experience pays off. Anyone who has ever experienced a bike boom (be it the big first mountain bike boom or a rush on individual segments such as e-mountain bikes or gravel) knows that this boom doesn't last forever. Anyone who manages their ordering system with slips of paper is shooting themselves in the foot. Efficient business software is essential to keep track of open orders for repair materials, accessories and bicycles. And there are of course other factors that make a bike store crisis-proof, but these are beyond the scope of this blog.

One thing is certain - namely the uncertainty: it remains completely uncertain in some places whether bikes can be built at all and when they will arrive. It remains more difficult than ever for specialist retailers to have the right bikes in stock and to place further orders with a sense of proportion.