Dive Brief:

• Alongside paper products and household cleaning items, Chad Brown, CFO of Trek Bicycle Corporation, said bicycles have flown off the shelves by the tens of thousands during the pandemic.

• A bicycle sales boom resulted in widespread shortages, but Trek is nonetheless managing to meet demand, Brown told CNBC last week.

• "We're still shipping out tens of thousands of bikes every week, so there are bikes out there," he said. "I promise you, there are a lot more bikes on the way."

Dive Insight:

Brown and his team first noticed a sharp uptick in sales in April, right as lockdowns became mandatory across the country. "It's really been a rocketship since then," he said, adding the company had initially been bracing for a dip in sales. Around Christmas, factories in China, where most bikes are manufactured, began shutting down as a result of the coronavirus' early spread. 

Instead, Waterloo, Wisconsin-based Trek's sales jumped 10 to 15% in early March, when Brown says bike season typically begins. 

As bike shops were deemed essential retail, Brown quickly noticed "very unique shopping patterns," and named Easter weekend as an inflection point, when sales began "soaring."

"Everyone bought toilet paper, and then they bought kids' bikes and entry-level mountain bikes," Brown said. "We took a wait-and-see approach as both the pandemic took hold and demand surged."

The U.S. cycling industry overall saw a 75% year-over-year sales growth, CNBC said, citing market research firm NPD Group. Bike sales increased 63% in June alone, compared to 2019.

Despite the unusual uptick, Brown doesn't see the popularity as a flash in the pan. 

"Whether for recreation, transportation or just as a way to social distance, it's such a great opportunity to get people outside and off screens," he said. "When you look at indicators like foot traffic and call volume and even just website traffic, we're still seeing a lot of pent-up demand."