I always try to support my local bike shop in whatever town I happen to be living. I try to purchase my bicycles, clothing, tires and acessories at an actual store instead of a much cheaper online outlet. I completely believe in the “buy local” ethos. Recently I took my bike in for a spring tune up after a long indoor season – and was told it would be 10 days – not a big deal, I figured that in early April I’d bring it in for an overnight stay and she’d be good as new. Makes sense – what moron thinks late March is gonna bring a quick turn around. Then the sales associate dropped on me that my bike would need to be at the store for 10 days, and then they’d do the tune up. I’m not a super dedicated triathlete, but that’s about 7 workouts.
I guess I’ve run into this problem before, but what am I missing – why can’t I make an appointment?
If I pay for the tune up ahead of time, would they save me a spot in the lineup?
Why should I continue to make local purchases if the “service” they offer doesn’t seem up to my standard?
As a mechanic who has worked at multiple shops I can say 10 days is a standard turnover. That being said most mechanics are riders or can sympathize with dedicated athletes. In most cases if you talk to the mechanics they will be able to work out something with a bakery ticket type appointment. I never liked talking to “sales people” bc often they dont realize how the back shop works. Also, good relations with your LBS will help you when you need stuff worked out. Dont accept a 10 day turnover if you dont have a spare bike look for a different shop.
Khai – no worries, actually kinda froze up when sales guy said 10 days. I mentioned my training and if I could drop it off ‘bakery ticket style’, his only reply was that I should have brought it in in february with the 4-5 day turnaround.
PS I will probably use ‘bakery ticket style’ verbatim henceforth
I used to work at a bike shop. I will tell you this, they don’t need it for 10 days. Make an appt. ahead of time, and take the bike in the day before the “work day” is scheduled for your bike to be done. That way you keep your bike and you still keep your slot. We would ask for a $5-$15 deposit-which went toward your cost of repairs.
I hope that helps. There is no way your car would sit in the shop for 10 days. If they know how to run the place, then they should be able to give you an accurate time of when your bike would most likely be worked on.
It sounds like worse than the long 10-day wait you were offered for service turnaround was a poor attitude on the part of the sales person. He should have tried to solve your problem by suggesting something like the appointment process that Khai has suggested. The unfortunate thing is that the 10 day wait indicates that there are dozens of people that are willing to wait for the service to be done, and that is perhaps why the sales person didn’t find a need to come up with a solution for you, but in the end he might have lost you as a customer. Maybe a pro-shop type of store would be more sympathetic to your need to train on your bike in the meantime and only leave it for a day or two? We try to accommodate that type of thing when we can and when it is requested.
Must be a big shop to be able to store that many bikes for 10 days. An appointment should allow you to bring the bike in a day before the schedule appt. and get it back by the end of the next day. At least that’s how it works in my store.
It’s not like you go to a doctor’s office 6 months ahead of time and do you work from their facility…
I have worked for a few shops in Metro NYC and one in the middle of nowhere upstate NY, all had the capacity to store 20 days of back repaired bikes. With ceiling hooks and a little floor space in a basement or upper level you would be surprised how many bikes you can pack into a small space. Also you do not realize the number of people who drop off their bikes, even nicer road bikes and dont pick them up until a month after they were ready. We need to be able to store all those bikes, we never like to turn a potential customer away.
A tip? I always bring water to the local dump which also has mulch for free. I bring a case of water each time. They load the mulch for me while all the rest of people shlepp it in thier trucks themselves. I am in and out in 10 minutes. Moral of story do something they like and most likely they will do for you.
I always try to support my local bike shop in whatever town I happen to be living. I try to purchase my bicycles, clothing, tires and acessories at an actual store instead of a much cheaper online outlet. I completely believe in the “buy local” ethos. Recently I took my bike in for a spring tune up after a long indoor season – and was told it would be 10 days – not a big deal, I figured that in early April I’d bring it in for an overnight stay and she’d be good as new. Makes sense – what moron thinks late March is gonna bring a quick turn around. Then the sales associate dropped on me that my bike would need to be at the store for 10 days, and then they’d do the tune up. I’m not a super dedicated triathlete, but that’s about 7 workouts.
I guess I’ve run into this problem before, but what am I missing – why can’t I make an appointment?
If I pay for the tune up ahead of time, would they save me a spot in the lineup?
Why should I continue to make local purchases if the “service” they offer doesn’t seem up to my standard?
You REALLY need to learn how to do that tune up yourself. A couple of hours (max) on the park tools website and you should be able to do it no problem. You will save yourself much frustration and $$$ in the future if you learn how to do most of your own maintenance. In the time it takes you to drive to the bike shop and back, you can do half of what they were going to do for the tune up anyway.
