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Aerospace and defense made up 48 percent of total carbon-fiber sales in 2015. Meanwhile, the US is the global leader in carbon-fiber manufacturing, but most of this market is in aerospace, defense, and energy. In contrast, the US government has for decades not had any coherent industrial policy for manufacturing, much less a specific policy for bicycle production. It’s worth noting that the Chinese government’s industrial policy was quite loose, even laissez-faire: The central government gave autonomy to the provinces to build their own bases, so in 1995, these factories were producing at only 55 percent of their capacity, and many of these firms were unprofitable. The number of Chinese manufacturers of bicycles or bike products increased from 38 in 1978 to 1,081 by 1995. Paramount among these reasons is the support of China’s and Taiwan’s governments to build up their manufacturing industries, mass-produce selected products, and increase exports. Globalization-spurred in part by a liberalized global trading regime with reduced trade barriers and China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001-was also a key factor in China’s success. Many US companies, particularly in the bicycle industry, decided to move production offshore to take advantage of lower costs, whether to increase profit margins or stay afloat amid increasing competition. What changed? During the past few decades, the Chinese economy has featured lower production costs from cheaper labor and raw materials, as well as lower regulatory standards, and China has benefited immensely from these comparative advantages. Travelers and essential workers, wary of public transportation for public health reasons, have been seeking viable alternatives, none better than bicycles.īut back in 1994, China provided only 24 percent of bikes sold here. Moreover, the coronavirus shut down bike production just as bikes became a smart defense against the virus. The pandemic closed factories throughout Asia, and a fragile production system collapsed. You see it in the bike industry.” This nationwide shortage has yet again revealed America’s dependence on one or two countries and one or two suppliers for bicycles and bike products. “You see a delay in the supply side of everything. “China went to bed and took a nap and stopped production of everything,” says Michael Carrol, the purchasing manager at Colorado Cyclist, a bike shop in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “It’s really hard to get anything bike-related since the pandemic started, because so many warehouses manufacturing the bikes shut down,” assistant manager Daiquan Medley says. Demand for bikes here and nationwide has skyrocketed since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The shop sells used, reasonably priced bikes repaired by Washington-area teenagers. Because the shop usually has 10 to 15 bikes available to sell, most people in line will go home empty-handed. But it also created a shortage as bike companies everywhere sold through their entire year’s stock in just a few months.On an early Saturday morning, the line to get into the nonprofit bike shop Gearin up Bicycles wraps around the block in the Eckington neighborhood of Washington, DC. When did trek stop making bikes in the USA?ĭuring the global pandemic, when gyms and other indoor activities were shut down, riding bikes became a favorite activity for a whole new set of riders.Why are bikes sold out everywhere Reddit?.What bicycle companies are publicly traded?.