Bike buyers' boom as Kiwis race to hit the road during Covid-19 lockdowns

Many businesses around the country are struggling to survive the second round of Covid-19 lockdowns, but one industry isn't feeling as much pain as the others.

As Kiwis hunt out an activity that gives them freedom, bike retailers are seeing an unexpected boom.

My Ride owner Jeff Webb says the first lockdown came with a fear for the future of the business. 

But then things changed.

"We found towards the end of Level 4 we were getting a lot of demand," he told Seven Sharp.

"There was a lot of talk, a lot of people needing to tee things up for Level 3. That was positive and that sort of changed at Level 3 and Level 2."

That change was the bike boom.

"It went from, 'Oh no, what is going to happen', to, 'Oh no, I can't keep up anymore!'" Mr Webb says.

Since April, the bike market in New Zealand has been manic. Kiwis are buying bikes at rates like never before.

It's not just in New Zealand; around the world, the cycling industry is racing.

"We've seen it in the US, Europe and most recently in Australia, when they could get in to bike stores," Mr Webb says. 

"Once gyms, pools and all other means of fitness closed down, the bike was the obvious choice for people."

Giant is one of the biking industry's biggest brands. They say biking stores overseas have been stripped due to a Covid buy-up.

"You could walk into a store over in the States or over in Sydney or possibly in Melbourne and possibly only see a couple of bikes in the store," Giant's Jason Foster says.

The issue is, the industry is having a hard time predicting the demand.

To complicate things further, most bikes aren’t made in one factory; parts come from different countries all over Asia.

As each dipped in and out of lockdown, the number of bikes being shipped around the world dropped.

Christmas stock is already on it's way to New Zealand but the worry is, will there be enough?

"Going into the springtime we could see some empty stores because demand could be that crazy, so I think the main takeaway is if you are keen on a bike, [get one] sooner rather than later," Mr Foster says.