Demand still high for bikes in Sudbury, especially electric ones

Even after two years of a steady increase, bicycling continues to be a hot commodity and more recently, there has been a sudden spike in demand for e-bikes as fuel prices soar.

Adventure 365, a Sudbury sports equipment store, has seen an increase in customers since the pandemic started and staff told CTV News bikes are still very high in demand.

"We’re receiving bikes on a daily basis, but they’re kind of leaving just as fast as they are coming in. So, certainly lots of people still looking to ride and still some riders who have been waiting a couple seasons to get their bike," said Jay Thomson, with Adventure 365.

"We probably have about a hundred bikes in stock today, but it’s a rotating door. We’re probably going to sell five or 10 bikes today and then receive a couple more. The inventory is always in fluctuation."

Thomson said there is an ongoing wait list of between 200 and 250 people for bikes in Sudbury, but he adds those riders are waiting for a specific model.

"We like to cater to our local market so that we don’t have waitlists for lots of people from out of town. It’s all about sizing, right? So the vast majority of the ones we have here are for either small riders or very, very large riders. The average size rider... that bike is in very high demand. That’s the one that leaves as fast as it comes in,” he said.

Sudbury E-Bike is another popular bike store in the city. It said electric bikes have been a popular item recently.

"We've seen an increase in the number of people interested in e-bikes and e-bicycling, especially with the gas prices being up and people also want to be outdoors as well because of COVID, they’ve been home," said Urnaa Foucault, with Sudbury E-Bike.

"If we compare to the last year's sales, it’s about an increase of 30 per cent."

Both stores said they don’t see demand slowing down anytime soon, especially with the warmer months ahead.