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Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For!
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A little rant here, so I apologize, but this is becoming epidemic and I'm sick of it.

Many modern tri bikes, especially those with proprietary front ends, come with multiple options to adjust the height and fore/aft position of the base bar, arm pads, and/or extensions. Most, if not all, come with extensive parts kits to allow for these adjustments which are part of the cost of the bikes; the consumer pays for them. They're essential to fit these bikes, yet all too often clients come in having not been provided with these parts from the shop where the purchase was made. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's almost a daily occurrence for us, and the consumer is quite surprised when we inform them we need specific parts for their bikes to fit, and that these parts should have been provided by their bike shop upon purchase.

A common response from the shops is, "We forgot to include that, we're sorry." Okay, but when it happens over and over again, you'd think they'd do something to correct that. What's worse though, is when those parts are held for ransom. The shop attempts to charge the consumer for parts that were supposed to be included with the original purchase of their bike. That gets me boiling, and I'm seriously ready to begin outing the repeat offenders, some of which are prominent shops here in SoCal. Seriously, just give the client what they paid for! It's frustrating.

Okay, I'm done.

Jim Manton / ERO Sports
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]
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Please, please don't get me started on this subject.
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]
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I feel your pain.
"Can you bring in the parts kit that came with your bike?"
"what parts kit"
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]
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I hear ya. Besides, what are the shops going to do with them, anyway?

Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Travis R] [ In reply to ]
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I didn't ask for my parts. But, my shop does adjustments and tweak for a year (from purchase of new bike). I might be naïve, but I figure those adjustments will become evident in that year.

Tell me....what all does come with a new bike? I might re-think my approach........lol.
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Travis R] [ In reply to ]
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Travis R wrote:
I hear ya. Besides, what are the shops going to do with them, anyway?

Sell them back to you.

Look awesome&prepared when they have parts on hand when you come in dissatisfied with the fit a month later?
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [nc452010] [ In reply to ]
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Well I can tell you that my Felt DA came with an extra seat tube, like 10 different stems, a Di2 battery cover, a DVD for assemble, and probably other stuff I am missing too so A LOT of stuff if you need to tweak things without having to go back to the shop.

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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]
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Careful... let's not paint with a broad brush now. Just because a couple of shops do this in your neck of the woods, it doesn't make it an epidemic.
Last edited by: AndresLD: Oct 1, 15 15:00
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [AndresLD] [ In reply to ]
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If it were only a couple of shops in my neck of the woods, I wouldn't bitch about it here. Since over 3 of our clients per week are fly-in, I can tell you it's a problem all over.

Jim Manton / ERO Sports
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]
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I couldn't agree more. I've bought two 9 series speed concepts from two different shops. The first one was in 2011 and they gave me all the spacers/bolts that came with the bike. I didn't really know any better until my fitter needed them a year later. I then bought a newer sc last year and was only given the mono spacer that I told them to put on the bike per my fit coordinates. I didn't realize it until a few days later after I had already taken the bike home. Next time I was there I specifically asked for the other spacers and I just got a weird look and was asked why I would want them. I still only got 3 total monospacers out of 4 as they couldn't find the biggest one. Not a huge deal as I don't see myself ever needing but it's still the point. Give me what I paid for.... Now I wonder if I was supposed to get anything else that came with the newer sc...

One way to avoid this happening is to not let the lbs build the bike up for you and do it yourself instead. Assuming the bike had to be ordered or is still in the box. This doesn't fix the problem but it at least avoids that awkward conversation with your lbs and you might learn a thing or two about your new bike.

blog
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [stevej] [ In reply to ]
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Very few of our clients are provided all their mono-spacers when they purchase Speed Concepts. Very few.

Jim Manton / ERO Sports
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [AndresLD] [ In reply to ]
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Michigan here. I know two friends that had an issue with this. Any bike shop that says they forgot to give you the parts to your bike is a bike shop I cross off my list.

_________________________________
The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]
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Jim@EROsports wrote:
A little rant here, so I apologize, but this is becoming epidemic and I'm sick of it.

Many modern tri bikes, especially those with proprietary front ends, come with multiple options to adjust the height and fore/aft position of the base bar, arm pads, and/or extensions. Most, if not all, come with extensive parts kits to allow for these adjustments which are part of the cost of the bikes; the consumer pays for them. They're essential to fit these bikes, yet all too often clients come in having not been provided with these parts from the shop where the purchase was made. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's almost a daily occurrence for us, and the consumer is quite surprised when we inform them we need specific parts for their bikes to fit, and that these parts should have been provided by their bike shop upon purchase.

A common response from the shops is, "We forgot to include that, we're sorry." Okay, but when it happens over and over again, you'd think they'd do something to correct that. What's worse though, is when those parts are held for ransom. The shop attempts to charge the consumer for parts that were supposed to be included with the original purchase of their bike. That gets me boiling, and I'm seriously ready to begin outing the repeat offenders, some of which are prominent shops here in SoCal. Seriously, just give the client what they paid for! It's frustrating.

Okay, I'm done.

A common issue.
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [AndresLD] [ In reply to ]
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AndresLD wrote:
Careful... let's not paint with a broad brush now. Just because a couple of shops do this in your neck of the woods, it doesn't make it an epidemic.

It's an epidemic.
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [AndresLD] [ In reply to ]
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AndresLD wrote:
Careful... let's not paint with a broad brush now. Just because a couple of shops do this in your neck of the woods, it doesn't make it an epidemic.

Sounds like a good poll question Slowman! I bet that is more common than anyone believes.


Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [AndresLD] [ In reply to ]
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AndresLD wrote:
Careful... let's not paint with a broad brush now. Just because a couple of shops do this in your neck of the woods, it doesn't make it an epidemic.

Right, I've had experiences at both ends of the spectrum. Beyond Aero took good care of me.
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]
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Maybe this is something you can put on your website for potential customers. You can layout for each bike what he/she should bring with him (eg monospacers for an sc). If they don't have them, encourage them to get them from their lbs before they come to you. I'd say the majority of the time, the customer doesn't understand they should have those specific parts to their bike. We should be educating those so they come prepared and you are able to give them the best experience possible.

blog
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]
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Cheeky buggers...
I have been stewing on a similar happening for a while now...
I got my road bike fork steerer cut down by a bike store a while back and when I went in to pick the bike up I asked if I could have the spacers that were taken out as I wanted to use them on a different bike. The store manager and mechanic were there and the store manager laughed and said that the mechanic makes necklaces out of them and they would try and remember to get them... I knew at that moment I would never see my poor little spacers again...
Also at that moment I remembered back to when I was a teenager and watched universal soldier and dolph lundgren makes a necklace out of enemy ears and then says 'I'm all ears' to Jean Claude Van Damme...
Not quite sure why I included the universal soldier thought but felt it was necessary... Possibly one of the greatest lines in any movie ever produced... I felt I should have said something like that... Perhaps if I ripped off a few dérailleur hangers off display bikes and replied with 'don't leave me hang in'....
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [JeremyWallace] [ In reply to ]
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JeremyWallace wrote:
Cheeky buggers...
I have been stewing on a similar happening for a while now...
I got my road bike fork steerer cut down by a bike store a while back and when I went in to pick the bike up I asked if I could have the spacers that were taken out as I wanted to use them on a different bike. The store manager and mechanic were there and the store manager laughed and said that the mechanic makes necklaces out of them and they would try and remember to get them... I knew at that moment I would never see my poor little spacers again...
Also at that moment I remembered back to when I was a teenager and watched universal soldier and dolph lundgren makes a necklace out of enemy ears and then says 'I'm all ears' to Jean Claude Van Damme...
Not quite sure why I included the universal soldier thought but felt it was necessary... Possibly one of the greatest lines in any movie ever produced... I felt I should have said something like that... Perhaps if I ripped off a few dérailleur hangers off display bikes and replied with 'don't leave me hang in'....

You should've kicked that store manager in the face...just like how JCVD did to Ivan Drago...err I mean Dolph's character in the climatic fight scene. Anyways, I would've said, either you give me those spacers back, give me brand new ones (on the house) or I'm paying you for services rendered minus the difference between how much those spacers cost (or how much they sell them at that shop). They aren't his parts to do whatever he likes he deserve a punch (or kick) to the back of his head. Or five across the eye works too.

Also, when I bought my Tri bike from a LBS I had no idea they can with additional aerobar armpad rest spacers. The shop never gave them to me and the only reason I found out you were supposed to get them is trying to buy them from another ST'er and he told me they came with his bike when he bought it. Sure enough, when I contacted the LBS to get them they didn't have any in stock and had to order them...made me pay for them too. I also found another shop that deals in the same bikes that sold me some spare ones that were lying around (smaller size than the ones I ordered from the first LBS).
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [loxx0050] [ In reply to ]
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Another Speed Concept this morning - no parts included. That's 3 SC's in two days, all three 9.9's.

Jim Manton / ERO Sports
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [JSully] [ In reply to ]
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JSully wrote:

Sell them back to you.

In my experience it's not quite that sinnister. Instead, the extra parts end up in the trash because it's easier to toss them in there then to try and keep track of them to later sell "back" to an unsuspecting customer. In other words, it's laziness rather than anything devious.
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]
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Looking at Trek's website I don't see a parts list, if they included that on their tech specs people would know what they should be getting.

Felt has the following listed for the IA FRDs accessories:
"Carbon assembly paste, aero seatpost slot covers, IA Aeropac, IA Calpac, Di2 Interal battery charging cables, valve extenders, touch-up paint"

Specialized includes a +/- 12.5mm set back an +/37.5 set back seat post, don't know if their are a reversible seat post or two separate ones, that is the only multi option thing I see on the shiv's specs.

I don't think it is unreasonable to list all of the included parts in the owners manual. If you don't get all of those parts, send an invoice to your LBS for what they kept. You paid for all of the "appurtenances."

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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Travis R] [ In reply to ]
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Put them in a bin & sell them to people who didn't buy the high-end bike that came with all the bits. Ie, SC 9 comes with them, 7-series does not.
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]
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My Speed Concept came with 3 mono spacers plus the one on the bike. Anything else I should have gotten?
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Re: Hey Bike Shops - Give People What They Pay For! [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]
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I bought a cervelo P2 2 years ago. I never received anything... This is the first i am hearing that there were spare parts...

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