Tour of Courage
Gordon Hobbis September 27, 2007

Undoubtedly you have read or heard about this past weekends “Tour of Courage” bike ride. By all reports, about 400 riders gathered at Thunderbird Stadium to start their journey along routes of either 30, 60 or 90 kilometers. To earn a spot in the ride, each participant had to raise at least $1000. The motivation was to raise money for the BC Cancer Foundation. The motivator was Lance Armstrong and it shouldn’t be necessary to recap his accomplishments in winning bike races and fighting cancer. I particularly liked his answer to questions about pro cycling, “I’m out of that business now”. It’s apparent that when Lance sets his mind to something, and makes it his business, it gets done. So with business in mind it must have pleased all those in attendance that the event not only earned an estimated 1.8 million dollars, but also that those dollars are at par with US dollars. It now makes no difference where Lance chooses to fundraise; the dollars are all the same. Five years ago, the fundraising achievements would have been discounted by nearly forty percent. The strong Loonie is good news for sports teams as well as fundraising teams.

The rising dollar has been the lead story on the news for a while now and the pictures that show people streaming across the line to shop with their more powerful buck are the ones that concern me. There’s a little patriotism involved, but like everyone else, I have been wondering if bicycles are cheaper in the US. There is also the negative impression left by the news reporters that Canadian retailers are in some way ‘cashing in’ by not instantly adjusting prices to reflect the stronger dollar. Oh “contrare mon frere”, in my shop I am looking at some US product I bought with eighty cent dollars. I’ll have to adjust the prices on these products to keep them competitive but in doing that I will loose money, This is all because of the stronger Canadian dollar. My situation is just the microcosm of the macrocosm though. Bicycle suppliers have new product on their shelves or have already agreed to pricing months ago. The economic reality for manufactured goods isn’t favourable to rapid rising currency.

In case you’re still not certain, I did a little cross border bike shopping for you to see if the economic science was true in reality. Before heading south for a bike there are a few things to take note of. The term ‘country of origin’ is important. This is where the bike is made, not where the catalog was printed or the customer service office is.

Bikes manufactured in the US can be imported under NAFTA and are therefore subject to no duty. I’ll leave it up to you to decide how you prove country of origin to a customs officer. Bicycles made in most other countries are subject to thirteen percent duty. Either way there is the GST to be paid as well. A little research is necessary to make sure you don’t get caught by the anti-dumping duties. This applies to bicycles below certain prices and can really put a crimp in a bargain hunter’s day.

After a quick trip to a ‘brick and mortar’ bike store in Bellingham there doesn’t appear to be any bargains when it comes to buying a bike in the US. I am not comparing to internet or catalog business, if you want to dance with that devil that’s up to you. The store I visited was Jack’s Bike Shop, a long established bicycle retailer in Bellingham that I like to stay in contact. They report that sales to Canadians are on the rise, mostly with bicycles over $2000. A popular model with Canadians is the Giant Reign X1. It sells for $2799 in Canada and at Jacks the price is $2500 US.  After duty the price paid in Bellingham would exceed the Canadian retail. If you’re thinking of not paying duty then I would prefer not to know about it. I did another comparison of a high-end American built road bike. The 2008 Trek Madone 5.5 retails in Canada for $4399, the price south of us is $4399 US. There would be no duty on this because it is made in the US but the price is the same. Considering what your local bike shop adds to the value in the way of free service, bike fit and nice smiles it doesn’t seen to make economic sense buying across the line to keep those pedals turning.