[biggins]

i am a consumer. i am a cheap bastard. i have only ordered one part on line and i regreted it. I love my LBS. I like sitting there on the shop couch watching bike videos and drinking free coffeefor hours at a time. the three person staff at pro-bikes has taught me so much about bikes and their differing opinions have helped me through tough choices about products and their advantages. i use the workstands and tools at the shop, i use their pisser, i use the computer in the office and change the cd if i think what is playing sucks. if i cant fix it then the mechanic throws it on the stand right away or tells me how to do it. why does this happen? why do i get a discount on everything i buy? it happens because i have forged both a friendship, commeraderie, and customer realtionship with everyone there. i am as dedicated to spending my money there as they are to riding bikes and subsiding off of the few fruits of the cycling industry. do i ask for discounts?nope. do i tell fred that www.such-n-such.com has this part for half the price?nope. do i care? nope. fred and the pro bikes staff have gained my loyalty and they will always have it because they emanate the true desire and lifestyle of a two wheeled life. not a desire to just make money.

 

[Revolver]

I remember reading this BIKE magazine a while back. Ever since, I stopped buying their magazine for two reasons: 1. The magazine is a slim thing of pictures for the most part, 2. I don't buy into scare tactics. Shame on anyone trying to decided where and how I should spend my money!!!

I've entered close to 20 bike shops in my time and out of those maybe one knew about customer service, had good mechanics and didn't try to shove a piece of shait down my throat.

This socialist attitude of yelling "Support your X" makes me ill. Why do I have to support a crappy local music scene? Why do I have to support a LBS? If you want to make a living selling overpriced products, sell to the toilet seats to the government man. I support me myself and I.

Will the LBS dissapear? No, just the ones who can't compete. This is part of evolution and there's no whining or complaining that's going to change that. That's the way our country (speaking for the US at least) has gotten to be the powerhouse that it is.

For those of you who are mechnically challenge or simply don't like to fix your bike, you might be dependent on the LBS. I continually train myself and get great pleasure from repairing my equipment to my liking. For me it's part of the entire cycling process and I couldn't imagine cycling without it.

LBSeeya

 

[BigMike]

OK, I origianlly was not going to post here, but, after reading for a loooong time, I figured I'd put in my own experiance.

I bought a bike, and moved to school. I had no one to ride with, and no where to ride. I went to the local shop to get a part, and one of the guys said, come on out and ride with us. That was the start of a great relationship with the shop. I know everyone there, and they all know me. When I go in, I go in through the shop door, say hi to the mechanics, and then go out to the front to take care of my buisness. I usually end up spending an hour or two there if I have nothing else to do. This is also true at the other bike shop I go to at home. I bought my new bike there, and when it came in and they rang me up, it was $32 cheaper than what was originally told to me. but that INCLUDED tax, so I actually saved about $100. They always pull little things like that for me, because I am a loyal customer.

HOWEVER, When I can find somthing cheaper online, I go in there, ask their opinion on what I should order, Go home, hop on the 'net and order it. I was talking to the owner of the shop about my New York Kryptonite lock I ordered. They had it at list of $75. I ordered it for $50. He said "as long as your bike wont get stolen again, I dont care where you get it". I bought a SuperT Pro to put on my bike online, and took it to the shop to have it changed out from my old fork. They are totally in it for the sport, not the money. They are happy to help me out with anything I have, gotten from them, or ordered from the 'net. I don't think this shop will ever close, they have too close of a family of riders in the area that are totally loyal to them.

I think shops and 'net companies keep each other in check. Previously in this thread it is repeatadly stated that shops dont make much money off sales, they make it off service. If I order a part I cant put on myself online for cheaper, where am I going to go to have it put on? Its a win-win-win situation. The 'net/mail order company got their money from me, the shop gets their cut, and I saved some money. Where is the harm?

I have however been in certain shops that are out to make a buck. They piss me off to no end, and all deserve to go out of buisness. There is no room in mountain biking for shops that dont know anything, and do not want to help you with anything except selling you what you dont want.

There is my rant and 2 sense

 

[CRUM]

Originally posted by Merwin5_10
The answer is; honestly, we won’t survive. I don’t mean my shop. I mean bicycle retail. I mean the shop you have a relationship with. ....... Is it worth the money you save? You will answer that.

Excellent piece! As an owner of a small bikeshop in Maine, I am dealing with more and more pressure from internet sales. At first, I figured it would be like dealing with catalog, a pain, but not really enough to stay worked up over. But the Internet is different. The Internet is the culmination of our desire for instant gratification at discount pricing. I forsee a bigger bite out of brick and mortar operations in the near future. The trick is to survive. A tough business just got tougher. But I am ok with that. I opened this shop 5 years ago with no illusions. I had already owned one before. Made mistakes and self-destructed. But decided that owning a bikeshop was what I was put here to do, so I am at it again. The Internet doesn't scare me. The bills do.

 

[Skookum]

Originally posted by biggins
www.such-n-such.com

no cheap lbs killing bike parts here

 

[Silver]

Support them if they are good. If they aren't find another one

I realize that some people don't have that in their area, but if you do, it is such a godsend. My LBS orders stuff for me and I get it under online cost all the time.

Switchback Cyclery in Orange, btw. Great people, great service.

 

[CRUM]

After taking the time to sift through most of the posts on this thread, I have to say, it one of the best relating to LBS's and their higher end customers I have read. The posts on both sides have been excellent. I have much to think about regarding my own operation. Thanks folks.

 

[X-rider]

This is one of the best threads I have read on any of the mtn. bike forums I frequent in a long time. Outstanding! Well said, intelligent , thought provoking dialect. I have my opinions too, but I don't feel that I could really add anything that hasn't been offered. I especially enjoyed the post by "Nobody". He sure put a different light on the subject... I never thought about it that way, having never worked in a bike shop. Interesting point of veiw... definitely some food for thought.

 

[nicklin]

Originally posted by RideMonkey
In the end it comes down to business. I'm going to spend my money where I feel its going to return the greatest benefit for me. If I wanted to donate to charity it would probably go to cancer research not the LBS.

I have spent 100% of my money this year at the LBS. Not because I am loyal to the LBS but because they have had what I needed when I needed it (of course one of my LBS is a big mail order warehouse that happens to have a retail front).

To be honest, I have not been happy with my LBS experiences this year. JOJO and I spent a fortune at one bike shop and she still had to leave her bike for almost a week mid season to get her "complimentary" tune on the bike she bought there. And they charged us full price to install some brake pads during the "complimentary" tune.

On another occasion I bought a bike from them on a Friday. I bought this bike for one reason only: I really wanted to get 2 days of riding in that weekend because I had been without a bike all season. It turned out that on my first ride Saturday the bike developed a problem that needed attention. I brought it in Saturday afternoon for what would have been a quick fix but guess what!! Everyone in the shop had decided to cut out a few hours early! So my ride was ruined! The whole reason for getting the bike down the drain!

At another shop I was denied use of their restroom while I was shopping in their store. I go out of my way to never shop there now. At least when I am shopping online I can walk across the hall to take a leak.

Last summer I had some emergency repairs to make so I could get off to a race 1000 miles away. Of course every bike shop in town was booked for weeks so I ended up driving all over town and then fixing the damn thing myself with inadequate tools just one day before the race. So much for the "but you need the mechanical support of the LBS......" cuz I have to do it all myself anyway if I want to keep the bike going mid season.

The LBS needs to be run like a real competative business or I'm going to spend my money elsewhere. Could a car dealership tell you that they would have to keep your car for a whole week to do some minor repair? 3 weeks? Hell no!

So LBS: modernize, streamline, compete before you get trampled by progress.

Dude, you totally said what was on my mind
LBS are dreat if they can streamline and get with program, like NOT charging you ten bucks for taking off a crank arm and put it back on just because the customer doesn;t have a crank puller at home. (Which is why i am ordering a cranking puller from Jenson USA, who gave me the best service I have ever had, LBS or not, believe me, i tried to cut the LBS guys slacks, but it only goes so far).

Actually I stand corrected. THe best bike shop i ever been in, with the exception of DOwn Cycles in Croton, NY, is Dave's Bike in Santa Cruz, CA, where Anthony might not be a snoddy racer, at least he put ordrs in on time and tell me when it's in.

But his shop is not the shop most people go to. And he honestly loves bikes, he jsut does it for the heck of it.

I won;t mention any names, but a lot of shops in SC could learn a lesson or two from this thread

 

[JRB]

One shop here in town and he treats me ok. I like him and even go do repairs for him sometimes. He has never had a mech that I would use. I do my own. Forks or whatever, I just do it. He knows that for $20 I will shop there. More than that I cannot.

Case and point - Last weekend bought shoes for my wife for $133 that were $210 last year. I don't think they lost money selling them to her, but had pretty friggin good margins last year when people bought them.

The guys that whine cuz they can't stock things, get over it when peeps shop online. You just order as I need it and don't have any overhead besides store front(which isn't always cheap). You don't stock it so why do you have to make the margins the same as if you had? That is what baffles me. The online folks I use besides performance(sorry RM) are shops that are local to their area that mail order. This is a stupid debate to have. If you are a shop, you had better not ever buy anything at Walmart or from an online retailer or you are a huge freakin hypocrit.

 

[JRB]

One more point - I ordered a salsa der hanger over 1 month ago and it hadn't been ordered from QBP last Friday and then he got all pissy with Quality cuz they didn't have something else he needed. Still didn't get ordered, but blamed them. He has an order every week, but dropped the ball.

 

[kingbee]

I have been lurking around here for a while. This topic actualy sparked me to sign up. (not to mention that Im bored).

There are 2 bike shops in the town I live. One is part of a small chain and the other is a Single guy that owns and runs a small shop.

For a long time I just delt with the small shop. I bought my first bike from him and supported him 100%. When I went to buy another bike, I talked with him for a long time. The problem was that he only carries Trek bikes. The Trek line didnt carry any bikes that would fit what I wanted. And at the time the one that did fit me was way to expensive. I told him from the start that I would probably have to go elsewhere to get a bike that was rite for me. I still planned on going through him for every thing else that I need. I came back a week later with my new bike. He would not talk to me. He may have lost out on a bike sale but he lost out on a lot of money from everything else I bought from him.

The other shop is where I hang out the most. I ride with the guys that work there and often I just go up there to hang with them. I have never bought a bike from them. And I probably never will. But I get parts from them if they have it in stock. But when it comes down to components I cant afford to pay twice what I could get from mail order. Even the employes of the shop buy mail order. They even have a Price Point and Jenson magazine in the shop.

I think when it comes to the hard core XC, DH and FR guys the shops just dont carry what we need. Bike shops dont make money from us. They make money from mom, dad and their son. They get money from the recreational bikers that dont even know about mail order. Such a small ammount of their income comes from the hard core riders that they dont give the few of us any trouble.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Since the topic has come up yet again, I'll give this thread a Big Fat loco *BUMP*