July saw shipping manifest data for both traditional and electric bikes increase. The larger increase in traditional bikes is reflected in a decreased share of ebike imports at 18%, though still in line with the annual trend of approximately 20%. Also of note is that both categories of bikes hit their peak import level of the year. This makes sense in a historical context as it typically coincides with peak bicycle sales a retail.
| Month | Electric | Traditional | Electric Import Share |
| Jan 2023 | 50,560 | 179,678 | 28.1% |
| Feb 2023 | 46,132 | 205,907 | 22.4% |
| Mar 2023 | 35,999 | 195,368 | 18.4% |
| Apr 2023 | 37,656 | 216,028 | 17.4% |
| May 2023 | 31,613 | 272,576 | 11.6% |
| Jun 2023 | 52,733 | 253,823 | 20.8% |
| Jul 2023 | 56,053 | 311,869 | 18.0% |
This data falls in line with the annualized information presented by Steve Frothingham in Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. The article is full of interesting information and insights. The data used for that report is more precise than the shipping manifest data we present here, but almost entirely misses electric bikes, due to the way they are categorized.
A recent webinar hosted by the NBDA had Bob Margevicius, Executive Vice President of Specialized Bicycle Components, on to explain some of the supply context. In the webinar, Bob referenced how the product we are receiving now into the US were ordered upwards of 12 months ago. Since then lead times have plummeted, but it will take some time before we will see a normalization of supply. He pegs the inventory in the US at ~14 months worth of sales.
