THE WAITING GAME
Back in 2020, I lifted the lid on bike shortages. Well, inched it open, poked my nose inside and then slammed it shut. Was Brexit or the pandemic behind longer lead times? Conclusions weren’t clear. Neither was an end to the shortfall. Fast forward to March 2022 and the situation seems frozen, with queues for orders remaining longer than the convoy of lorries choking their way in and out of Dover. It begs the question: is there any light at the end of the very long production and supply tunnel?
“Sadly, it still feels very dark.” That’s Chris Ratcliff, business development director at Brighton-based Reilly Cycleworks, who kindly picked up the illuminated analogical baton. “I heard Dominic Langan [CEO of distributor Madison, which brings multiple cycling brands into the country, including Shimano] saying that he feels things will be fine by the end of the year. I’m not seeing it.”
Langan was talking at digiBike, a month-long online version of the iceBike trade show that Madison usually hosts at its Milton Keynes HQ. He was candid about the supply issues that have suffocated the industry over the past two years, specifically on the component side. “The whole market changed dramatically from March 2020. The demand for supplies just went through the roof. And whilst we started with
