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Re: What do you want from your local bike shop? [TankBoy] [ In reply to ]
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TankBoy wrote:
Pay whatever salary you have to pay to have an honest-to-God pro mechanic on staff.

This.

I don't want someone who works on beach cruisers working on my tri bike. I've had bad service. It was clear the mechanics didn't care about what they were doing. Tires mounted with a flathead screwdriver. Forgot to replace bar tape like I asked them to. Crooked shifters. Wrong torque. One time they sliced a tire and covered it up by pumping the pressure to like 30 psi. Tube exploded as soon as I got home and pumped it up. Lame. This was a well known shop staffed with 4-5 busy "mechanics". Mostly young guys dreaming of riding in TdF one day. Plus one old guy who's bee there forever. I swear he's the worst at sloppiness.

They need to care about what they are doing. If they don't it may be okay for casual bikes, but it's going to turn into a problem on a race bike.
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Re: What do you want from your local bike shop? [BiciVelo] [ In reply to ]
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A friendly staff is #1. I have no idea why, but bike shops seems to be one of the snobbiest places around (at least some of the employees). It's almost like a weird clique. My dad will only use 1 mechanic at his shop because the guy is nice, and he spends a LOT of money at that shop. I'm closer to the city and I can walk in some shops and I won't get any help. When I finally bug a salesperson, I can tell they want nothing to do with me.

If you have a bike fitter, make sure he knows what he is doing. Most around here are just trying to sell stock bikes. I have numerous friends on the wrong sized frames but were told they were "great" so that the store could sell a bike they had on the floor rather than order one.

I'm good friends with a guy that owns numerous running stores around town. Inventory is going to be tough as it puts a lot of money sitting in your store. It's his biggest headache by a long shot. When that stuff doesn't move, its going to be painful to look at and it stresses him out. If you can't carry a lot of inventory, have a fast way to get it in. No one wants to wait a week, and will probably just go around you. You will never be able to compete with online prices, so having a friendly staff, and good customer experience will bring you business.
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Re: What do you want from your local bike shop? [BiciVelo] [ In reply to ]
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x10000 on the attitude portion! When I got my Flo's I took the bike in to have the brakes adjusted. Guy in the shop I no longer visit goes, "Flo? Who makes those? Progressive? They come kind of Asian wheel?" Didn't need the smart ass comment, since found a new shop that will have a part in within 2 days and will do same day adjustments with no appointment.
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Re: What do you want from your local bike shop? [steelrain66] [ In reply to ]
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I formerly lived in the town with lots of shops and lived right across the street from one of them. I spent over $7k in that shop but I was never "a part" of that shop. Three bikes, tons of high end gear, etc. No one knew my name. Then one day I took my $3k bike I bought from them, into the shop to have it tuned for a race. It wasn't shifting right so I asked the guy to go through the bike and make sure it was ready to race. He looked at me like I was speaking swahili. Took the bike, threw a $50 chain at it and a week later I was called to pick it up. Took it outside and it had all the same issues. Took it back in and got a real mechanic who fixed it right then. After all the money I spent in there I never felt a part of the shop and was peeved about the crappy mechanic service. I haven't been back since.

I now live in the next town over (20 miles away). For a long time there was only one bike shop that has roadies, MTB's and BMX. Shop has been there for decades. So one Friday evening I realize I don't have a Co2 for my race the next morning, don't have time to drive 30 mins to the next town so go to the local shop. Asked them for a Co2 and he gave me a look like I had two heads. Finally dug up a box of three Co2's from Specialized and then charged me $25 for them! Have never set foot in that shop again.

Three years ago a new shop opened in my town. 6 months into them being open I heard about them and decided to stop in as I was looking for a shorter stem for me roadie. The minute I walked in I was greeted by the head mechanic who asked my name, what kind of riding I liked to do, etc. He found me a stem, then spent 5-10 mins chatting and inviting me to the group rides they had just started. I had never ridden in a group before so he told me all about it and convinced me to try it out. Been going ever since and have spent well over $4k in the shop, my business sponsored the racing team this year and I group ride with them constantly.

It really is all about the people. I am now good friends with the head mechanic, head of sales and the owner. We hang out often outside of the shop and I don't spend money elsewhere because I care about the shop and their livelihood. They respond by taking care of me and by being a big part of the cycling community in my town. They are involved in every local cycling event and cater to all abilities.

As a new, small, shop they do have some inventory issues sometimes, but they can always get a part within 2-3 days.

One important thing they do realize is that it is all about getting people on bikes, not selling bikes. I wanted to race cross with them this year but didn't have $1,500-$3k for a bike. I found an insane deal on a cross bike on craigslist so I bought it. First thing I did was take it to the shop to show it off and they all congratulated me and then helped me set it up the way I wanted it. They know they will do all the service and put different parts on it so they didn't give me a hard time about not buying brand new from them.

One last suggestion. Have a wall of seats and stems for people to try out before they buy.
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Re: What do you want from your local bike shop? [BiciVelo] [ In reply to ]
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No ridiculous upselling. There was one shop I used to go to that would try to sell you all kinds of parts and services that you didn't need.
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Re: What do you want from your local bike shop? [BiciVelo] [ In reply to ]
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  • Carry some parts.

    • Last week I went into the closest of multiple LBS and they didn't have a GXP bottom bracket. Really?!
  • Don't charge me for stupid stuff, especially when you didn't ask.

    • Last week I went to a different shop because I thought I needed a Swiss BB shell retapped to Italian. Brought them a fully broken down frame. Turns out the shell was English and they just needed to chase the threads. They called me to let me know and asked if I wanted a BB. I said sure, I'll take a cheap Shimano. They charged me $15 for a "BB replacement" even though I'm fully capable and they never asked if I wanted it installed.
  • Have a night every couple weeks or once a month where people can bring in their own bikes and work on stuff together. No cost to attend, offer discounts on parts.

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Re: What do you want from your local bike shop? [BiciVelo] [ In reply to ]
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I'd like consistency in maintenance from my tri shop. Sometimes it is excellent, then other times the bike has the same issues as it did when I brought it in after they said it was "fixed"--but one year I brought it in 3x for the same issue. Each time they said it was fixed...finally, I took it to a "roadie" shop & they fixed it right. Makes me wonder if they just wanted my $ sometimes & let it sit on the hook in the back for a while until a day or two went by. I've been going to "other shops" for the most part this year, just for variety sake. Although I did buy some Carbo Pro at the tri shop this year...I think that is about it.
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Re: What do you want from your local bike shop? [Rocky M] [ In reply to ]
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The bike shop I go to has beer on tap. They do a lot of group rides from the shop and post ride it's usually pretty busy with people sticking around and hanging out for beers and such.
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Re: What do you want from your local bike shop? [Dilbert] [ In reply to ]
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Thank each and every one of you for your input! My wife (partner in business as well) and I have read these over and over and so many great do's and do not's to consider and I think we actually will create a new type of shop in hopes it will attract all those that are running away from bike shops and want the customer service in a non-elitist way AND bring in new technology in ordering AND yep...there has to be a coffee bar/smoothie bar in it (that was already planned from my days as a rep in Florida where many of the shops in the Sarasota/Tampa area did this). Please continue the feedback though...I wouldn't mind if the thread went on for months! It's all good for me! Thanks again!!!! I'll get to replying to each post as well...just been too busy to write back (though read them all several times)!
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Re: What do you want from your local bike shop? [BiciVelo] [ In reply to ]
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I'll add one more thing that has sort of already been mentioned but with a twist. A couple of the shops I frequent have a bunch of saddles for you to test BUT you can only test them if you do a fit session :/

If you had a saddle demo area where you could test a ton of saddles for free (or maybe $10 which is refunded if you purchase a saddle there) that would be a huge draw. One key for this, IMO, would be to have either a fork mount trainer (e.g. a fork mount for rollers or an Omnium) or a trainer like the KK Rock N' Roll. In my own experience there's been a difference in how saddles feel on a static trainer vs on the road. The two trainer options I mention largely mitigate any difference.
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Re: What do you want from your local bike shop? [whiteandy] [ In reply to ]
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There are plenty of reasonable things a shop can do make good margins. My answer isn't going to be reasonable. Designing a shop that fits my needs is going to be very niche, there aren't enough people like me to make any money.
1. Carry an extensive selection of high end race fit clothes. You often simply can't find or buy the real stuff in almost any bike store and you really need to try stuff on before buying. I'd be willing to pay full retail to get exactly what I want. Carry brands like Bio-Racer, Ale and Sportful.
2. Sell bikes that only feature threaded bottom brackets. Press fit bottom brackets are all stupidly designed, prone to failure, prone to making noise and finicky to work on without exception. The presence of a press fit BB automatically disqualifies a bike from my consideration.
3. Sell every tool in Park's catalog. Also, run clinics covering esoteric stuff like wheel building.
4. Carry a large assortment of saddles and allow people to rent samples to try for 100 miles.
5. Don't spout hype. "Efficient power transfer", "save you five seconds over 40 miles", "lowest rolling resistance of any tire", "laterally stiff, vertically compliant", "these shoes offer really low stack height" etc, etc. Cycling is full of snake oil bulls#!t these days. I can smell the meaningless hype a mile away, stop it.
6. Host well organized training rides, not 50 riders all over the road in various states of fitness. Tight pacelines, strictly defined groups/experience levels/pace, careful instruction for newbies, quiet focus for serious folk.
7. Be welcoming, professional and cordial when someone comes in. Don't have your front line staff be a sullen 22 year old Cat 1 who hates his / her job.
8. Respect and know cycling traditions. Put a sagging picture of Anquetil on the wall. Offer an immaculate 1986 Rossin with C Record for sale. Call the shop "Souplesse" or something. Get a grizzled Belgian mechanic who says "for sure" a lot. Have a battered espresso machine running, $2 a shot, no sugar on offer. Sell embrocation. Don't be offputting or pretentious about it, be welcoming... but subtly show us that you understand, man.
9. Offer everything from a steel rando bike to a titanium fat bike to an Argonaut SpaceBike with disc brakes. Have a list of local custom frame builders on speed dial.

See, there no money in that. There's money to be made in selling $500 hybrids to path riders who bring their bike in to fix a flat, don't wear a helmet and want "one of those gel saddle pads, because they make your bike more comfortable".
Last edited by: hiro11: Aug 8, 15 21:19
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