Hi everyone,
I've heard everywhere that bikes are in extremely short supply, especially because of an extremely high demand currently, and that this dynamic is even more pronounced due to tariffs imposed on China.
Now obviously, this might spur domestic production of bicycles, which maybe could be awesome. But in the meantime, it isn't awesome - people can't get bikes.
Those of us out there - maybe most of us - who deal primarily in used bikes, in the meantime *are* (or can be) that domestic production.
I'm bringing this up in case anyone hasn't though of it all or really processed it yet, because I imagine everyone's local or even state governments are currently accepting proposals for various grants.
At this time, collectively, we literally, physically are positioned to be major gatekeepers to possibly tens of thousands of people becoming cyclists or resuming cycling who otherwise wouldn't, when major retailers and various LBS have no ability to meet demand.
This is also a huge opportunity to turn the general public on to the goodness and soundness of reused bikes. A lot of people think if it's old or used, it's diminished in some way. All of us know that isn't true, and now we have a greater ability than ever to prove the truth of this message.
Here at Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles we've been running nonstop, though with a skeleton crew, since the virus hit, and reusing old bikes for ecological reasons has been one of our primary purposes for several decades. I'm sure most of you don't need it, but if anyone needs or wants pointers or advice, I'd be happy to help. Getting funding to pay mechanics or hire additional mechanics is probably the starting point.
Survive, cyclistas!!! <3
~cyclista Nicholas