Rich Stianche slides by the counter, keeping conversation while he wheels another bike toward the stand, fielding questions as customers move about the store, his focus unwavering.

Multitasking is one of Stianche’s many skills and maybe his best asset, at least lately.

Stianche’s Dn’A Bikes in the heart of Tamaqua has been a hub for many in the cycling community during a boom for the business.

While many industries have hit the brakes during the coronavirus pandemic, the bicycle industry has shifted into another gear.

“In 20-plus years of doing this, no one has ever seen anything like this, ever,” said Stianche. “Normally, let’s just say I carry anywhere between 90 and 120 bikes this time of year. I have 15 bikes left in my shop. I’ve turned at least 30 people away in the last two weeks because I have no bikes for them; I have nothing to fit them.”

And it’s not just new bikes people are after.

“We’re seeing also a tremendous number of people who are repairing bikes,” said Jerry McAward, President of the Lehighton Outdoor Center. “We would have pickup trucks with families with five or six bikes coming in for repairs because clearly the bike is a socially distanced outdoor activity.

“People aren’t going to be soon going to treadmills or gyms, or aerobics studios because of the respiratory nature, the airborne nature of this virus. We’ve been super busy with it and we can’t get that many bikes, which is one of the problems. But we have orders in and the companies are trickling bikes in as they get them.”

While Stianche is in the business of bikes, he’s equally invested in the people that are coming into his store on West Broad Street, which began in August 2012 and officially opened its doors in January 2013.

“Everybody is like, ‘Oh, that’s not a bad thing.’ It is and it isn’t,” he said. “It’s not a bad thing because we’re doing our best and we’re doing what we can to help people and find people stuff. But most bike shop owners aren’t retiring because we’re bike shop owners. We’re in it because we want to help the community, we want to see people get healthier.”

That he can’t always service their needs has been one of the biggest drawbacks during the developments of the past few months.

“That’s the frustrating part,” said Stianche, who holds group rides every Thursday. “We’re not here just to sell stuff. We’re here because we want to see people get out, and be active and change a lifestyle. And when we’re turning people away because there’s no product, it’s frustrating. I don’t even have dates to tell people when I am going to get stuff available.

“I’m also starting to turn repairs away because I have no seven- or eight-speed shifters. I’m running out of tubes in certain sizes. Now tubes are supposed to be back in stock in the next week or so, so that’s something where I’ll have enough to make sure I can get through the next few weeks even if I have a big run on them. But normal, everyday items I usually keep 10 or 12 of here in the shop, I haven’t had for two or three weeks now, and there’s nothing available.”

Bike shops have been tasked with performing a variety of services as people look for ways to make what was old new again.

“The pandemic-driven sales are happening everywhere, whether they’re parts or new bikes,” McAward said. “But a lot of the people have bikes they haven’t used, because they’ve gotten into the habits of the gym, and then they go to pump up the tires and the tires burst because they’ve been hanging upside down in the basement for however many years.

“But also the comfort items, like seat covers or comfortable seats. If you weren’t cycling before this much, now you go out and realize your backside is a little sore. So we’re doing everything from raising handlebars, where people bought these bikes years ago and now they’re sore. So we’re raising handlebars, raising stems, putting on comfort seats. People are discovering it again. All I have to do is look out my window at anytime. Right now I’m standing at my counter and I see seven bicycles going in different directions in front of me.”

It might have been a boom few saw coming. But it was a perfect storm in the middle of a most unpredictable time.

“Everybody kind of dove into the whole bike aspect of things because there’s no youth sports right now, boys or girls,” said Stianche. “There’s no real clubs going on; everything kind of just ended. There was nothing for people to do.

“Everybody likes to ride a bike. Everybody gets into bikes. Most people know how to ride a bike, and if they don’t, it’s easy to learn. So what happened was it was something everybody said it’s something we can all do together to get us outside, keep us moving and keep us active. When there’s nothing to keep us active, we can go ride bikes together.

That’s the movement, the momentum that many are looking to maintain moving forward.

“What I’m hoping for, is that at the end of the summer we don’t see an influx of people looking to sell the bikes that they bought during this time,” said Stianche. “Normally, we take our time, we go over what type of bike people are looking for, where people are looking to ride, how much do you want to ride. And don’t get me wrong, we still ask those questions, but a lot of people just want a bike. But we still go through that process to make sure people get something they’re going to use going forward.

“I’m hoping people that came in to pick stuff up are going to stick with it, even if they don’t become and avid cyclist, I’m OK with that. But if it’s something they do a handful of times a year and get out and enjoy it, that’s all that matters to me. That’s all I want to see out of it, because in the long run, the more people who ride bikes, the better off we all are.”

McAward echoed that sentiment.

“There are very few things about this pandemic that are good,” he said. “Some of the side effects might be that people discover the outdoors, boating, tubing, cycling. And then maybe there’s some point where they say, ‘This is nicer than the gym.’ Or, ‘This is nicer than me going into the basement and riding on the stationary bike.’

“And there’s a lot of that. We see so many regulars here, that even the past two months the bikes have changed their lives, with weight loss and psychological benefits of being outdoors. A lot of people get lost in their indoor life, so the silver lining here might be that families ride together again, that people of any age, married or single, that you’re riding again.”

And that bike Stianche was wheeling around? It belonged to Scott Fell of New Ringgold, who can’t wait to embark on his next adventure.

“It’s changed my life,” said Fell. “I love it.”