Yes.No.

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Trent Nix
Owned and operated Tri Shop
F.I.S.T. Advanced Certified Fitter | Retul Master Certified Fitter (back when those were things)

I've bought bikes at three local shops in recent years, and I also bought my diamondback direct to consumer. I have no issues taking any of those bikes to any of those shops. I think if shops only wanted to service bikes they sold, they would be out of business very quickly.

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

What gets you the most bang for your buck if not service?

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Selling profitable products that people are looking for.

A Service Department is necessary, we work very hard to be good at it, and I have an absolutely excellent staff. But it is probably the least bang for our buck. And conversations with other retailers with a pretty good idea how their business works have revealed my experience is not unique.

It's why I don't tend to believe the talk of the "service-focused" retail future and mobile repair. I just can't make the numbers add up. Will there by pockets of success? Sure. But I don't think you'll see broad success. Time will tell if I'm right or wrong.

I am a big believer that retailers that succeed in the long run will be excellent at service, bike fit, and all of that. And I've invested considerably to that end, and accumulated a staff full of smart girls and guys that can help customers solve problems and recommend good products that will provide value. Time will tell if that investment was the right one or wrong one as well.

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Trent Nix
Owned and operated Tri Shop
F.I.S.T. Advanced Certified Fitter | Retul Master Certified Fitter (back when those were things)

Yeah, I do not understand how one can turn away business. Although I was talking to the new owner of my local LBS (which I will continue to go to), and he actually told me that if a bike comes into his shop that is from a Direct-to-Consumer Bike company that he will send them away and not even look at it. He had no issue with bikes from another Bike Shop.

Funny you bring this up. I just did this, and brought in my bike to a local shop for some work. I literally told them "I bought the bike at X shop and they do great work, but it is too long a drive for me, so I wanted to try you guys out." They were more than happy to take my bike in. It will be interesting to see the results. My expectations are high because they seem to have a pretty good reputation. We shall see.

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"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

I don't get his differentiation. Why does it matter to him whether or not the bike is from another LBS in town or Canyon or Diamondback or Dimond?

I get that a LBS doesn't like the direct to consumer model but the plus side for a LBS in the direct to consumer model is the fact most people will need some kind of service at some point.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Depending on the brand, there's $1000-1500 to be made on a $4K bike, not counting the cost of assembly.

I don't get his differentiation either.

But I will tell you that the dynamic with the customer in these situations is usually a bit different. The customer, in many of these cases, made the purchase to "beat the system" so to speak. And they view the shop as part of the system they are fighting, creating an implicit distrust between the parties involved. You can see some of that in the responses on this thread.

And it can make hard conversations even more difficult. Ever had to tell a rider that the Canyon aero road bike he just spent 5k on is too small and can't be configured in a good position? I have. Ever had to tell a rider that the Dimond frame he spent 11k on should not be ridden because the fork doesn't fit into the frame symmetrically and we refused the liability of being the shop to build it? I have.

In the first situation I think the customer thought I was telling him BS, and I didn't see him again, unfortunately. My recommendation to him was to reach out to Canyon and get the larger size. I have no idea if he took my advice.

In the second situation our relationship with the customer was strong enough that he trusted what we were telling him. But even then, we provided neutral, third-party feedback to justify what we were saying for fear of being seen as dishonest.

And I understand their skepticism - we have a competitor that tells every one of our customers that enters into his shop that the bike we sold them doesn't fit/rides terribly/is too heavy/nobody likes them and on and on. It's unfortunate that customers are so skeptical of the advice they get in shops and unfortunate that so many shops give bad, self-serving advice. So we just try to give our opinion and justification and let everything fall where it may.

Our strategy has been to build a business off of the fair exchange of goods, services, and expertise. And that's not what every customer wants, so we aren't right for every customer. And it's our hope that there are enough customers that do want that, and we want to be the shop for them.

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Trent Nix
Owned and operated Tri Shop
F.I.S.T. Advanced Certified Fitter | Retul Master Certified Fitter (back when those were things)

That's pretty close assuming that the $4k is the MSRP and that the LBS has a decent relationship with the manufacturer. Wholesale prices are generally tiered based on your pre-order or total annual order volume. So if a shop is doing $100k per year in purchases from a manufacturer, they can get a better wholesale price than the LBS who's only doing $25,000 in sales.

This is sometimes a problem for your LBS though as they'll order more than their known demand just to get into the higher tier, and end up with too much stock that they need to mark down. So that $4,000 MSRP bike that they bought at wholesale for $2600 might get sold at $4000 for a profit of $1400...or it might get sold later in the year at a discount of $3000 for a profit of $400. Or worse...it's one of those 2 year old models they sell for $2100 at a $500 loss.

I see more and more bike shops passing up on the big pre orders just to move up a tier in wholesale pricing and partnering with brands that allow them to do smaller orders even if the wholesale cost is higher. They don't make as much profit, but they also don't risk losing money and wasting space on inventory.

as long as you are not looking for something free, i can't imagine why they would turn you away. if you want them to do the check on the house without paying a labor cost, then i would understand why they wouldn't want to provide that on a bike sold elsewhere.... how would they know you didn't just move to the area and might be a regular in the future?