At the start of the bike season in a regular spring, this situation is common: bike dealers have the bikes pre-ordered in the previous summer or fall in stock in the store. The manufacturers have well-stocked warehouses so that bike stores can reorder bikes over the course of the season. In March 2021, the situation is different from normal and the situation is tense: Numerous bike manufacturers are already sold out for the 2021 model year. Although the bike stores have pre-ordered a very large number of bikes for the 2021 season, they have not yet received them or have received them in reduced numbers. And the coronavirus crisis is continuing to boost sales of bikes and e-bikes, which are already in demand even without the pandemic. Overall, there is currently an imbalance between supply and demand on the bicycle market.

Andreas Kessler, CEO of Swiss e-bike pioneer Flyer since 2016, shows how difficult it is to change the situation of being sold out: "It is possible to reorder, but with procurement times for certain components of over a year, the goods simply no longer arrive in time for the current season. Procurement times of over a year are now commonplace and for certain components such as gears and suspension forks we are talking about procurement times of up to 18 months. In comparison, the procurement time for these two components was still around 6 months a year ago. Frames are also affected. Before the coronavirus crisis, we had a procurement time of around 8 months here, today we are at 15 to 16 months."

Higher bike prices due to rising logistics costs

However, Kessler gives the all-clear for his company: "Thanks to our very prudent and professional purchasing and order logistics, we have the situation well under control. We have made forward-looking purchases from our suppliers for the 2021 season. However, we assume that the situation with suppliers will not ease in the near future."

The price of a bike is affected by rising logistics costs: "The coronavirus pandemic is also having a far-reaching impact on global logistics. Flyer - like the entire bicycle industry - has been massively affected. For weeks now, there have been capacity bottlenecks for freight from Asia, resulting in rising freight rates. The situation has come to a head at the end of December 2020. Prices for container freight are now around 4 to 5 times higher than just a few months ago. Many of our suppliers are asking us to pay and are demanding high transport cost surcharges on their part. At Flyer, we are forced to pay them because otherwise we won't receive the important goods," says the Flyer CEO.

Like many other bicycle manufacturers, Flyer has responded with price changes and increased the recommended retail price by CHF 100 per model as of January 1, 2021. "Flyer's prices have been increased due to transportation costs and we expect further price increases for the 2022 model year," says the 56-year-old, describing the situation.

Currently sufficient material

"Our assembly department is working in strict compliance with safety regulations and sometimes in staggered shifts in order to meet the increased demand and to be able to deliver the encouraging orders from specialist dealers on time. Our procurement department is in close and continuous contact with our long-standing suppliers, who we are currently unable to visit due to the pandemic. We currently have sufficient material," says Kessler, describing the situation in production and procurement.

Flyer is optimistic despite the difficult conditions: "Despite the coronavirus pandemic, we are looking to the future with confidence. The demand for e-bikes continues to grow. The e-bike is a future-oriented and sustainable means of transportation, as the current crisis has shown. We are continuing to prepare for growth and are investing further in the Huttwil site with an additional flow production facility," says Kessler.