The bicycle trend requires paying more and waiting longer
Start of the Velo Berlin
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The bicycle trend requires paying more and waiting longer
Sat 09.04.22 | 2:14 p.m. | Of
If you need spare parts for your bike or want a new model, you have to be prepared for waiting times and dig deeper into your pockets. However, industry representatives see no general bottleneck despite high demand. By Gerd Dehnel
The demand for bicycles is higher than ever. Corona had triggered a surge because many no longer wanted to take the bus and train to work. Now the high fuel prices come into play. But the offer is tight. First, the measures against Corona caused supply chains to tear. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions that followed exacerbate the situation.
Nevertheless, Jörg Müsse from the Bike & Co dealer community does not want to know anything about an expected delivery crisis. “Do you care if you have a ’21 model or a ’22 model now?” he asks. “That doesn’t matter. But now we’re talking about the fact that the new models haven’t been delivered yet. But that’s not interesting if there are several bikes.”
Manufacturers plan well in advance
Behind the scenes, the workflow has changed a lot. If certain components such as tires or brakes are not available, manufacturers are now more likely to build in suitable alternatives. And they plan much further in advance, explains Burkhard Stork from the two-wheeler industry association. “I know a lot of manufacturers who have already made plans for ’24, some for ’25. They say I’ll need these parts then, may have already pre-ordered them or actually ordered them. That would have been unthinkable before Corona, with to work such long prelims”.
There are enough bicycles and it WILL stay that way, promises Storch. But the logistical effort for manufacturers has increased, as have sea freight prices. Russia’s war against Ukraine has pushed up commodity prices. The representative of the two-wheeler industry association estimates that bicycle prices will probably rise another five to ten percent in the next few months.
Six months waiting for the racing bike
Erik Jungnickel and his wife Daniela own the “Radkunst” shop on Kantstrasse in Berlin-Charlottenburg. City bikes are currently among the expected new acquisitions, they note. So far there have been no major delivery problems in this segment, the waiting time is around six weeks.
With racing bikes, however, things are different, says Daniela Jungnickel. “The delivery times are never less than four to six months, sometimes longer. But the manufacturers and manufacturers are simply missing parts and components, some of which come from far away, from China or Taiwan.”
Another big revenue driver for the industry is e-bikes. According to information from the industry, the number of these bicycles with electric assistance has increased tenfold within ten years to 8.5 million. The Potsdam “Radhaus” is the largest specialist retailer in Berlin-Brandenburg with eight branches. Here, electric bicycles account for half of sales, according to managing director Stephanie Horstmann. Demand has been increasing rapidly for two years, and the corona pandemic has accelerated the boom. The high fuel prices do the rest.
High demand for e-bikes
Almost all age groups now belong to the e-bike customers, monitors the dealer. She currently has 300 to 400 models on offer, with subsequent ones starting at 2,000 euros. Prices have risen sharply over the past two years. “Many components come from Asia,” she explains. “Chips and batteries come from Taiwan. The transport costs are very high there. On the other hand, bicycles have become a scarce commodity. Demand is greater than manufacturers can actually offer.”
The Ukraine war made the situation even worse, explains Stephanie Horstmann. Because the train service with bicycle parts from Asia normally runs through Russia and is currently suspended. Only shipping is still running, but the containers are full. That also drives up the prices.
Regardless, e-bikes are becoming more sophisticated. “The batteries are always better integrated, smaller and therefore less visible,” she observes as a trend. “More and more people are using their bikes for sport, riding off-road. Younger people between the ages of 20 and 25 are also buying an e-bike. On the other hand, transport by bicycle is becoming increasingly important. Cargo bikes are experiencing a clear boom, especially in Berlin.”
E-cargo bike instead of diesel transporter
Traders are now also showing increasing interest in cargo bikes. For example, the Berlin company MEWA relies on transport with the electric bike. It supplies companies with suitable work clothing. Instead of driving them from a laundry in Groß Kienitz by truck directly to the individual companies, MEWA has been delivering them to a depot on Leipziger Platz since last summer. From there it goes to the customer by cargo bike. “We don’t get stuck in traffic jams on our way to Berlin in the morning and back out again in the afternoon, because we start right in the heart of Berlin and after a few meters we can believe the first customers,” explains Kay Simon, who is responsible for mobility issues in the company.
The cargo bike was developed by Onomotion from Berlin. It is specially designed for urban goods traffic and is intended to be an ecological alternative to diesel-powered vans, explains co-founder Beres Seelbach. “A Sprinter causes 230 to 300 grams of CO2 per kilometer in the city, we zero. And of course we also take up much less space, we are not in the second row like a diesel sprinter, so we don’t create a traffic jam,” says Seelbach.
According to the company, 120 cargo bikes from Onomotion are already on the road. Delivery services use it to promote parcels or groceries, craftsmen their equipment. The structures can be flexibly adapted. A coffee bike can also be made from the model. The Berliners have their cargo bike produced near Munich and, depending on the structure, it costs from 350 euros per month including maintenance service and insurance.
Broadcast: Inforadio, April 9th, 2022, 11:43 a.m