Bike shops get their supply chain up and running | Local News

Stan & Dan’s Sports of North Conway veteran sales associate Dick Denney says there was such a demand for bikes in the summer of 2020 they expected an even busier summer in 2021.

“We were looking forward to one of our best summers, but it turned out we couldn’t get the bikes. We’re not alone because everyone is in the same boat, ”Denney told The Sun.

“It’s all from China – but with the factories closed due to COVID for a long time, you can’t get the raw materials,” he said. “It then becomes a shipping issue with the product once it gets here sitting on the docks in California for two to three weeks because it has to be quarantined.”

“Then you have time to load it onto trucks to ship it to dealerships,” he said. “It just took a long time.

Denney said the bike shop was run by veteran sales associate Peter Moore, who was busy maintaining the bikes – but again, there’s the problem of finding parts.

A relatively new phenomenon on the local scene are e-bikes, known as e-bikes, which give uphill cyclists a boost.

Regarding the pesky inventory problem, “We don’t know when the situation is going to change – some companies have told us that we have to start thinking about 2022-2023 orders just to get into the queue. They didn’t even buy us our bikes for the 2020-21 season, ”said Denney.

Similar comments have been heard in other bike shops. Some have been more successful than others in obtaining products because of a combination of factors and depending on their suppliers.

Erica Frieswick, director of Sun & Ski Sports of North Conway, and Anthony Walker, owner / operator of The Bike Shop, located at the roundabout near Walmart, said they were lucky to have a regular inventory.

“We have about 30 stores across the country and an online store located in Houston, so we’re able to share orders, and we share inventory between stores as needed,” Frieswick said, noting his store in the village (formerly Joe Jones) sells and rents bicycles.

“The majority of our (adult) bikes arrived early; the children’s bikes arrived late just a few weeks ago as a lot of the children’s bikes we had ordered were in shipping containers so there was a delay, ”said Frieswick.

She added that being down the street from the new Cranmore Mountain Resort mountain bike park has been a boon to business and she looks forward to the planned construction and opening of the highly anticipated MWV Rec Path.

“People rent bikes from us if Cranmore is rented out of their fleet for the day so that has helped – and I think the Rec Path is going to be amazing for our community for families,” she said.

“It will add a safe route for people to move around town, and it will be a draw for the area,” she said, adding that in addition to sales and rentals, her store also has ‘a service store.

Walker, who has owned and operated The Bike Shop for 26 years, agreed that business is booming with strong prospects ahead as the Rec Path will be just steps from his store.

When it comes to inventory and demand, he said, “Last year has been the busiest year the store has ever seen, and this year we are determined to be on the right track. way, so far.

“Our service business has been very, very busy – in terms of the demand for bicycles it has been a little less this year because people are aware that there is not much around,” he said. noted Walker, a comment that was echoed by Jake Inger, Ski the Whites’ bike director in Jackson.

“We just had three or five Giant bikes in stock, and I think they’ll be gone by the end of the month. Our loyal customers also brought in used bikes for sale, so we did well with that, ”he said.

Manager Sara Thomson of Gorham Bike & Ski’s last store located on Route 16 across from Dunkin Donuts in North Conway, agreed that it has been “a little difficult” to get quick service for people due to the lack of parts, but the reaction to the store since it opened on May 29 has been strong.

“We had a lot of foot traffic,” she said. “And we’ve done a decent job of bringing in inventory – we’re fortunate to have our other stores in Maine to do inventory.

“That being said, it was a bit difficult not always being able to have the fastest turnaround time for parts,” said Thomson, who thanked seasoned shop mechanic Sawyer Bickford for its know-how in repair and service.

Meanwhile, Cranmore Bike Park and the Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center in Pinkham Notch are riding the wave of mountain biking popularity. “We have the same passion for cycling in the summer as we have for skiing in the winter,” said Ben Wilcox, CEO and President of Cranmore.

He said Cranmore kept its rental fleet after the fleet’s first year last year, refraining from putting them up for sale, which has proven to be a good idea given the shortages.

They ordered next year but are keeping the fleet until the new bikes arrive.

Wilcox said he only sees potential for valley cycling. “I tell people there is so much great work going on by Ride NoCo, the White Mountain NEMBA Chapter and the MWV Trails Association – and we are adding trails. Just close your eyes and I think in three years we will see a lot of great opportunities in the valley, ”said Wilcox.

Nate Harvey of Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center has seen continued growth in his mountain bike trails (which are used for Nordic skiing in the winter) at the base of the Mt. Washington Auto Road, but the inventory was until recently a problem.

“We didn’t receive full delivery of our new bikes until mid-August; we had to make do with what we had left of last year after selling the majority of our fleet last year, ”said Harvey.

“The demand for kayaks is even worse,” he added, noting, “It takes longer to make a kayak, so there is a safeguard. Last season was busier for bike rentals, but our kayak trips have seen greater demand overall this year as we sell tickets to ride bikes to people using their own bikes on our network.

A relatively new store serving the local cycling community’s thirst for scenic adventure is Andrew Drummond’s Ski the Whites in Jackson Village, south of the Shannon Door Pub.

The Drummond Shop sells and rents cycling and trail running gear, including electric bikes, with an experienced mechanic to maintain what they sell.

It also includes a café to give bikers and hikers a boost as they travel the trails and roads, a joint venture of Drummond and former pro cyclist / roaster Pier Pennoyer.

“I think the reason for our growth is a bit of everything,” said Drummond, a former Friends of Tuckerman Ravine’s Inferno Pentathlon multi-winner.

“We’ve spent the past four years building our customer base with our Ski the Whites series at Black Mountain here in Jackson. Then we had the opportunity to move into this facility, which we did in April 2020, ”he said.

“The pandemic has definitely taken a toll on business, and we learned last summer that you need to order early and be patient; to keep our rental bikes and to make sure you have everything you need to maintain the bikes, so there was a lot of forecasting involved to keep people riding, ”Drummond said.

As for the amenities of the region as a cycling center? “We have perfect terrain with dirt roads, trails and scenic views and landmarks,” said Drummond, noting that his store is located between the Presidential Rail Trail in Gorham and the many routes in North Conway.

When it comes to the demand for bicycle parts, Tony Jerome of Downeast Bicycle Specialists, a local distributor based in Conway near Tuckerman Brewing Co., says cycling is just a “small sliver” of a situation. global supply shortage as the world adapts to demands. of the pandemic and its impact on the shipping of all goods.

Over time, that will change though – and more trails, as Wilcox said, will be built, adding to the valley’s reputation as a mountain biker nirvana.