Has anyone been able to buy a bike this summer?

[DrDreReturns]

It's DS's birthday next month. I've spent today trying to find a bike for his present. As he's going to be 14 we want to get him an adult bike. I can't find a bike for love nor money! The shops are empty and the situation online is no better. One of the shop staff said Covid has messed up the supply chains for the frames. Has anyone got any tips or will we have to wait until the autumn. I know it's not the end of the world but he has outgrown his current bike.

Yes, we've bought bikes but my friend owns a bike shop! You won't find anything to buy online, your best bet is s local independent bike shop. It's been the busiest time for my friend but he's had no supply chain issues. Just be aware you're looking at top quality bikes, not cheap £100 numbers if you buy from an independent.

First place I went was an independent shop. They were saying October for any new stock.

My budget was £300 to £400

Can he wait til Xmas? There was something on the radio about no new stock til November. We are selling a bike on eBay and have a ridiculous number of people “watching” and already have had bids over the expected value with 2 days to go.

No - there is nothing available and I have looked hard

DH got one from Halfords, kept checking early in the morning (as in 7am!) and got one, also notice Decathlon had a few styles in store and available to order online.

Yes, bought four bikes in the last month. One from Evans, three from an independent bike shop. You just have to call a lot of people regularly - but also there were all more like £700 bikes nothing cheaper was available. Good luck!

He may well have to wait until Christmas! I was shocked in Halfords. There were literally three bikes on display.

Of you local Halfords hasn't reopened you and lucky as they will have whatever stock they had when they closed. I live in between 2 towns and one branch opened a few weeks ago. The other is opening next week.

Cross posted but i would definitely check Halfords within a certain radius in case any are still closed. As soon as they reopen the bikes will fly out

They had bikes in Costco today

I've been looking since the beginning and my husband managed to get one for me today from Halfords that had been resevered and not collected. Lucky me!

Wheelies

eBay

We sold one on eBay. Have you looked on EBay, gumtree etc, although may not be new.

Evan's, halfords and argos all have bikes in stock around me. I got my 2 kids bikes in May quite easily. It must be your area.

I'm in Worcestershire

Try Decathlon. They reset orders at 11pm every day.

We have a charity locally (south west England) that refurbishes second hand bikes and sells them. Do you have anything similar in your area?

@BobbieDraper

Evan's, halfords and argos all have bikes in stock around me. I got my 2 kids bikes in May quite easily. It must be your area.

It's actually a national problem. No idea why you are checking local bike stick now if you bought the bikes in May. Stick levels has dropped massively since then.

Thing is, if you buy second hand, you usually have to collect, right? How do you collect an adult sized bike using a normal car? I don't have a bike, so I don't have a bike rack on our car. The bikes on Facebook marketplace that are even slightly near me are too far to walk there & cycle back. Or they need work doing so can't be ridden immediately!

I called our local Halfords last month and they told me they were expecting bikes to come into stock on the 7th July and to check that day as they would not be added online until then. That worked, and we were able to buy a bike within our budget for DD’s birthday. I don’t know how long you have, but the person I spoke to did say they were getting bikes in in small numbers all the time but they sold quickly as people were watching for them online, so it might be worth calling them.

Exh got one in June for DS's birthday from Halfords.

There are dedicated FB pages for really good bike brands like Islabikes etc. The secondhand market is thriving - I've sold two bikes (and bought two bikes) recently.

Just managed to order one online with Halfords - they must have added it to their website overnight. It'll be ready to pick up in 10 days time. Thanks for the tips guys!