A SUBSTANTIAL increase in the number of West Fifers taking up cycling in lockdown has led to demand outstripping supply in bike shops.

Data gathered by Cycling Scotland, which has a network of 60 automatic cycle counters across the country, has shown that there has been a significant increase in people pedalling on roads since social distancing measures were introduced to combat COVID-19.

According to statistics released in April – the next set of data for May is due to be released imminently – a counter in Dunfermline's Kingseat Road recorded a staggering 215 per cent increase in people cycling, per day, in the second half of March this year compared to the same period in 2019.

West Fife firms have reported increased custom for both sales of bikes and for repairs.

Craig Hardie, of the family-run Hardie Bikes in Cairneyhill, has kept his shop open while adhering to social distancing measures, and said that he had sold out of new bikes last week.

"I've just been on my own so it's a challenge but it's good to still be working," he explained.

"Nobody could predict how this would pan out. Manufacturers have been caught out, as have bike shops, and there are not a massive amount of them about.

"It's phenomenal the number of people I see out on bikes. People will not be travelling very far, and are looking for things to do at the weekends and during the week."

When asked when he might get more bikes in stock to sell, Craig commented: "It looks like maybe August or September at the earliest.

"It depends on the models but the bikes that get people in, around the £400-£500 mark, are gone."

Dave Robertson, owner of Planet Velo in Dunfermline's Canmore Street, has also sold out of new bikes thanks to eager customers, and said recent weeks had been "pretty mad".

He said: "We can't get enough bikes for folk. We have sold shed-loads.

"It has been pretty hectic but you've got to take the rough with the smooth. It's good to get a boost, from a business point of view."

Ryan's Bike Surgery, of Inverkeithing, also posted on social media of the need to catch up with the "massive backlog of repairs".

The data collected by Cycling Scotland was part of the National Monitoring Framework, managed by the organisation and funded by Transport Scotland, to monitor cycling rates across the country.

Cycling Scotland's chief executive, Keith Irving, added: "Many people are rediscovering cycling during lockdown, for exercise or essential journeys.

"I hope people continue to cycle when we emerge from this crisis and carry on benefitting from the massive positive impact cycling has on our physical and mental health."