Bike business still booming in Isla Vista, even with most UCSB students at home

ISLA VISTA, Calif. - With most UC Santa Barbara students finishing the school year virtually and away from Isla Vista, the town is much quieter these days. But there is still a bevy of bicycles around the area.

The students that remain in the area are staying active, while neighbors from I.V., Goleta and Santa Barbara are all breaking out old bikes or buying new ones to battle cabin fever.

Bike shops like Isla Vista Bike Boutique are the beneficiaries. Manager David Ruiz says many people are spending their stimulus checks from the government at his shop.

He also says the demand is affecting bike shops nationwide, and that he's received calls about bike inventory from multiple stores on the East Coast.

“A lot of bike shops are sold out of bikes,” he said. “They can’t get bikes because where they’re getting shipped from—most of them from China and stuff—weren’t making them. So there’s no supply. So we get people calling us, want us to ship bikes. From North Carolina, New York, Florida.”

College students remain stable customers, but so do professors.

“I teach at a community college and I, just like, sitting on the couch with a laptop for hours and hours,” said Bike Boutique customer Steve Palladino, who recently bought a new bike. “I had to get one.”