SANTA MONICA—Since the Coronavirus pandemic began earlier this year, and people have had to stay indoors, citizens have discovered that riding a bike is a good way to be active outside, while still practicing social distancing.

After figuring out this new interest, bike shops have seen a large spike in customers coming in. So much so that they’re running out of bicycles, and have to keep ordering more, just to sell them in their stores.

The owner of Helen’s Cycles, Jay Wolff, has had his hands full getting more in stock. “We’ve just scrambled to find inventory. We have thousands of bicycles on back order – thousands. And we’ll get maybe 30 a week.”

Typically, summertime is left for repairs, so most shops will have to fix a lot of bikes that have their usual wear and tear. Since people want to be out during the pandemic, the bike shops are also getting regular customers, who want to buy.

One of the more well-known bike shops in Los Angeles County was Helen’s Cycles in Westwood, near UCLA. They were forced to close permanently, due to the effects of the Coronavirus, but their three remaining stores in the area are still getting plenty of business.

While bike shops have low inventory, in general, the hardest bikes to find are entry level mountain bikes and bikes for kids.