Billed as the most efficient machine on the planet, the bicycle started to gain popularity at the beginning of the last century and thanks to those early riders our roads were paved proving good news for the newly emerging motor vehicle market.

Move on fifty years and the nation moved by bicycle. Such was the mass enthusiasm for cycling that the British government even passed a law banning road racing; presumably to keep growth under control. Move on another fifty years and the UK changed. Whilst European countries passed planning laws to make cycling safer, often against the wishes of their electorates, the UK saw its brave new world in the car.

Move on almost a quarter of a century and the UK did all it could to promote car use. And then we had a global pandemic.  For all countries social distancing meant travel was by bike. Here in the UK even before the need to managed socially distanced travel the nation took a few of months off with nothing to do apart from walk and, yes, CYCLE.

But cycle on what? The industry had grown cautious over the last few years and there were very few bikes in stock. We then ran out of bikes. The rest of the world is in the same situation so there are no bikes left to order.

Lead times at the factories in the Far East have gone from 5 months to 10 or even more. Brands are now working on their 2022 models to ensure that their orders arrive in time.

So, if you want a bike and find one (even if you have to wait a few months), chuck the money down now and get it while you can.