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The director of the UK’s longest established e-bike specialist has warned that price hikes are on the way for the sector, due to consistently high demand.
Eddie Kehoe, director of electricbikesales.co.uk, which has stories in Cambridge, Bristol, Oxford, and York, has said demand is so high for electric bikes that supply is not able to keep pace.
During the pandemic, Kehoe’s business, established in 2005, has seen 40% growth, and an annual growth in e-bike sales of more than 20%.
As a result of the demand, Kehoe said at times his stores were unable to keep up with consumer appetites, despite strong relationships with leading manufacturers.
“Electric bike price rises are once again in the pipeline,” Kehoe said, “due to global pressures on supply chains and transportation costs. While our quality EU suppliers have been responding to these trends by on-shoring as much supply as possible the electric bike industry remains a global endeavour and price rises are unfortunately feeding through to end consumer prices.”
He added: “We’ve made a commitment to hold prices firm for as long as we can but we can’t do this forever. For anyone thinking of buying an electric bike then we recommend looking now.”
Electricbikesales.co.uk has invested in greater stock levels in the hopes of combating price rises for customers in the short term.
But with the ongoing demand, combined with manufacturers struggling to get materials and components, brands are already feeling the pinch. German e-bike manufacturer Reise and Müller has already announced a 4.9% price increase for March 2022.
Read more: Business boost as 25,000 cyclists set to descent on London and Essex for RideLondon 2022
Electric bike growth is expected to continue at pace, as three major European cycling organisations – Cycling Industries Europe, CONEBI, and European Cyclists’ Federation, believe there will be a 470% increase on pre-pandemic sales by the year 2030.
