Essay: On the Supply Chain Shortage

(2021) All I’ve been looking for is an eleven-speed 11x30 cassette. Indoor season is approaching, which means the smart trainer needs to be updated after the basement bike was dished off. On what feels like the tenth rainy day in a row, I commenced calling the local bike shops to be set up by the afternoon. It did not work out.

Grappling with which cassette to go with - a 105 for the trainer or Ultegra to replace the on-bike cassette - the 105 was prioritized. Slowly an Ultegra would be considered if a shop, any shop, had one. To all the cyclists out there looking for 11x32, every shop has your cassette. 

Starting at the localist of bike shops, they informed me the supply for this cassette will not be available until 2022. The phone calls continued to widen from there. The next nearest bike shop was called and an eerie response crept in to each conversation, “You might want to try the internet.” An equally dependable response was the attempt to visit whichever local bike shop might have one stashed away. 

The widening gyre continued until the last two shops’ responses were repeated, “We had to/ a customer wound up… buy[ing] one off the internet to get [them] on their way.” Dejected after calling seven bike shops up to an hour away, I begrudgingly turned to the internet. Sadly, under the 11x30 option, a little green exclamation point announced the cassette was in stock! I hardly found enjoyment in purchasing from a warehouse.

At the risk of answering my own question, I couldn’t help but wonder how the internet bike shops were able to have the elusive cassette in stock. Was it the promise of selling thousands that allowed them to stock so many? Or are these behemoth distributors being prioritized over service warehouses who supply the local scene? Either way, there was no joy in submitting payment after having the personal experiences with local mechanics suggesting the internet. At a time when bike shops could capitalize on a scenario like this, help is somewhere in 2022. 

As is my reputation, I will set up camp at the mailbox and wait for the delivery of an elusive cassette. While sitting out there morning, noon, and night, perhaps other elusive items will pass by like a car that stops at a stop sign or a unicorn. This is not meant to talk negatively toward online bike suppliers, but instead it is a voice of frustration for the shops who would love nothing more than to say, “Yes. We have that, and we will set it aside for you for when you get here.”