Eye on the Buck
Gordon Hobbis November 8, 2007

The David Earl Newsome is one fellow who might reconsider using his bicycle for work. While many people are finding ways to incorporate a bicycle into their daily commute or errands, David Newsome found out his bicycle was an unsuitable get-away vehicle for the air conditioner heist he had perpetrated. The attempted burglary occurred in Greenville, Texas where hijacking an air conditioner is a felony offense and can lead to a conviction. David Newsome was spotted by police hauling the two ton air conditioner on his bike just a few blocks from the building he had liberated it from. How he had managed to move a two ton air conditioner and what kind of bike he hauled it with is omitted from the story published by the Greenville Herald-Banner. Remember though, this story is from Texas and everything is always bigger there right? David did have the sense to drop the stolen goods before making his get away but he was eventually apprehended a week later pulling off a similar heist. David Newsome will have plenty of time to cool off from his air conditioner crimes as he could get a two year sentence in a state jail. I suggest there should be additional time for putting the good karma that bicycles enjoy in jeopardy. 

High commodity prices are at the root of David Newsome’s crime and are reported as being responsible for the Canadian dollars escalating rise against the US dollar and other currencies. With the Canuck buck doing so well Canadian retailers are under pressure from cross border shopping and the call for prices to be lowered. Bicycle retailers are feeling the pressure as well. I mentioned this in an article a few weeks back and did some comparative shopping at that time in Bellingham to see if there are any savings to be had. I found that bicycle consumers have it pretty good in Canada because with all things considered there were no savings in the US that would justify the drive. Since that article, a few Canadian bicycle suppliers have released statements in regard to this situation. 

In a November 2 letter to their dealers, Jim Harman, president of Norco Products Ltd states that as new inventories arrive, Norco will be adjusting prices. As of now though, Mr. Harman points out that suppliers and retailers are selling goods that they have in stock and bought months ago at a higher exchange rate. He points out that there are other factors that affect Canadian pricing relative to the US as well. Among those are the lower taxes and duty rates that US pricing is structured under, as well as the economies of scale in the US. These are hard points to argue against but they only stand as justification to the most compassionate of consumers who don’t mind opening their wallets a little wider.

Mike Hieptas, the Canadian Sales Manager for Trek Bicycle may have hit the nail on the head when he wrote to all his dealers on November 1 that “I understand that the consumer doesn’t care what the exchange rate was at the time the wholesaler or retailer committed to the inventory. They just want to know if it’s cheaper to buy the bike in the US or in Canada.” To determine this include these factors in your calculations. There is a 13% Canadian Import Tariff (duty) for bicycles to consider along with the 6% GST payable on imported goods. There is also the 8.5% Washington sales tax to consider in your cross border shopping budget. Keep in mind that there is NO Provincial Sales Tax on bicycles in BC.

For our part we are keeping a close eye on pricing and adjusting to make certain that it doesn’t cost you anymore to support your local bicycle store. We are also supporting as many Canadian manufacturing companies as we can in our product mix. These dedicated people are facing some tough times as their export business is being severely affected at this time. Raceface, Devinci, Louis Garneau, Flat, Arkel, and Envy are a few of the Canadian manufacturers we are proud to represent. And like David Newsome we are doing our part to recycle and take advantage of rising commodity prices. Countless loads of the scrap aluminum and steel that usually gets discarded have been hauled to the metal yard and our cardboard is sent to a recycler as well. Unlike David we only recycle the stuff that belongs to us and we prefer to carry loads well less than two tons on our bicycle, that way we can keep our pedals turning.