here’s what i’m asking: what bugs you about your LBS, or what makes you happy about your LBS, that they either are doing or that they aren’t doing? as examples, a shop either is now doing, or doesn’t and it want it to begin doing…
providing good, professional bike fitting aboard modern fit bikes using modern fit methodology.
offering custom footbeds and effective pedal/shoe interface.
working on my consumer direct purchases without sneering and giving me attitude.
providing service on my bike in a more timely fashion (even by appt).
offer a coffee bar with a barista in the shop.
and so forth. what is it that turns you on about your shop or shops you’ve seen? what is it you want that you don’t now get?
It all fits under the general heading of “value.” I know LBSs are struggling, but it feels like every interaction with them is treated as a chance to redress that. Gear is sold at full or near full MSRP. Five minutes of repair work costs 30 minutes at the hourly rate. It’s just not a lot of fun to go to a shop when you know you are getting overcharged, even if you need to do your civic duty and help maintain the existence of a shop.
I wonder if some shops could offer an annual service package, where you could get a couple full tunes, and the periodic pre-race cleaning or adjustments. I would pay a few hundred bucks to lock in that service for a year. The cost would be fixed and I wouldn’t avoid the shop for fear of paying $50 for something that should cost $15. Maybe add a flat discount off gear.
-Variety: It seems like all of the shops around here are either Specialized or Trek shops.
-Inventory: The days “we can order that for you” are gone now that I can order items myself at a discount many times.
-Group rides: A good group ride on the weekends fosters a sense of community and loyalty to the shop.
-Competent repairs: There is nothing worse than returning a bike back to the shop (or taking to a different place) because the mechanics didn’t address the issues.
More of a wish but better inventory outside of bikes. Although I somewhat understand why it’s limited.
What bugs me about LBS
Upselling. I use two shops one local and one not. The local one I have gone in for a skewer for the trainer only to be shown something like a wahoo kicker. Not in the sense of check this out but rather you really need this. I get it’s sales but this shop has a history of it.
Attitude, from mechanics or sales people. In the spirit of I am some kind of annoyance for being in their shop. Or lecturing / talking down to people who might be new to the sport.
Things I like
The shop I use locally knows me by name. Is usually pretty friendly. Will work on my direct purchases without an issue. Although I have to explain at times I didn’t buy the stuff from them.
The not so local shop has a RETUL fit system with fit bike. Good selection of bikes on hand. Has a room full of trainers for classes and coaching. Is usually pretty friendly. The mechanics are super friendly, ask lots of questions about your bike before taking it from you and generally make you feel like they care.
I have found a shop that holds evening presentations. One time it was fit and the next Zipp wheels. There have been others focused on women riders. Offers pizza and beer. It gets you into the shop, provides a relaxed atmosphere and increases the knowledge of the customer base. The service is fast and consistent. Interactions with all staff is pleasant and I don’t feel like they are pushing a hard sell. It is a 20 minute drive and I pass a couple of other shops to get there, but in my mind worth the extra time.
Inventory. I checked 5 local shops last weekend and none of them had a compact double 50/34 Ultegra 6800 in 175 mm cranks. Nor Hollowtech 1 BB. Only 2 which doesn’t fit right on my frame. These parts are NOT exotic.
So I got what I needed delivered from Amazon, and way cheaper too. A couple of shops offered to order the part. Uhhh don’t worry about it. I can do that better faster and cheaper than they can. Plus they quoted a week’s lead time and I got it from amazon in less than 48 hours.
Which brings me to price. I would not mind paying 10% or 20% more over internet prices to support the shop and have the item in my hands right away. But the markup is often much higher than that.
Good wrenches. Patient, adept, and they need to care about what they are doing. If my fancy tri bike is just next in line between a $300 mountain bike, and someone’s commuter, they will rush the work and do a shitty job of it. That’s why smaller shops are better at wrenching than larger busier shops. I do nearly all my wrenching with some rare exceptions when I need help. I’d recommend anyone here get a set of tools and learn how to do maintenance themselves because the shops are a crapshoot.
For me it’s primarily about attitude. My local bike shops mostly do good work, but on occasion I’m blown away by the condescending attitudes of a few of those working there. The vibe is that they’re doing me a favor working on my bike at all, they give half-answers to questions, force me to inform myself before going into the shop because I can’t rely on them to talk me through an issue. Thankfully, this is the exception rather than the rule. But I encounter it far more with bike shops than other businesses, and it always leaves me perplexed. And for what it’s worth, I go out of my way to be friendly and deferential, so I don’t think I’m triggering these behaviors through my own bad attitude.
you want inventory, but you don’t want to pay MSRP. you understand that amazon and chain wiggle don’t have inventory, right? they don’t have same-day. there isn’t same-day impulse buy. there isn’t service (as in wrenching) at all.
so, what i want are creative ways for a bike shop to offer what you want it to offer while not mandating that they do so as a charity to you. figure out ways to extract value from them while allowing them the privilege of staying in business.
i’m asking for you to imagine a new, 21st century way of retailing where you get what you need, they get what they need, you continue to buy from mail order occasionally, and everybody gets along.
attitude? some of you mentioned that. that’s great. attitude is free. you’re not asking for something that’s going to cost the shop money. so, asking for competency and attitude is not a problem. just, asking for a healthy stocking of all the inventory you’d likely want, at a price that’s 20 or 30 percent MSRP, that’s not going to help me help them help you.
put your thinking caps on. this question i’m asking, this thread, this is not simply a thought exercise on my part.
Shimano grease, rather than some funky new brand that they get great margins on. But then again, pretty much anything I need has to be ordered in so I just end up ordering it myself and saving a trip a week later, after having phoned to remind them to order my part… If they focused on fits, had a decent fit studio and guys who were regularly trained and knowledgeable, I’d have a biannual or at least annual fit on road and tri bike.
Yeah, I just order online now. Clothing: buy two sizes and send one back. LBS should focus on the entrant market.
I like that there’s a shop directly on my commute, 2 minutes from my work. Put it in there in the morning and tge work is finished at 5. Prices are reasonable.
Otherwise: nice gear at decent prices. If I need advice, I come here.
I’ve never understood why the local bike shops don’t have an annual service package or at least they don’t send out reminders recommending tune-ups. They should operate a like a dentist office, schedule the next regular service before the customer leaves the building, then call with a reminder when that service appointment is approaching. I’ve noticed one shop that offers the package if you purchase it with a new bike, covers chains/cables/pads, etc for a year for $100-150. That’s a pretty good deal, but I don’t want to buy a new bike, in order to get that benefit.
Group rides are always something that seems to fade. Its always dependent on the character of the individuals in the group, in order to keep the group together.
A lot of my local bike shops are harsh with their comments about how triathletes treat their bikes (which is probably accurate), but its not something that attracts a consumer.
“I am a bit tired of the constant slights against consumer-direct.”
i get it. that’s a reasonable beef. no sneering when you bring your consumer direct brand into the store. let’s take that as a given. no need for anyone else to list this, because this is already on my list (and it was before i started the thread).
It all fits under the general heading of “value.” I know LBSs are struggling, but it feels like every interaction with them is treated as a chance to redress that. Gear is sold at full or near full MSRP. Five minutes of repair work costs 30 minutes at the hourly rate. It’s just not a lot of fun to go to a shop when you know you are getting overcharged, even if you need to do your civic duty and help maintain the existence of a shop.
x1000
I would personally prefer that this become the norm.
This time of year especially, shops like to charge completely outrageous prices to support their unsustainable overhead. I flat will not buy anything from them at retail, because my pricing from Chain Reaction, PBK, Ebay, Wiggle, et al is less than their wholesale cost. They ultimately charge me significantly more for service time from their $13/hour employee than I make myself. Veetooler can’t scale itself up soon enough as far as I’m concerned.
here’s what i’m asking: what bugs you about your LBS, or what makes you happy about your LBS, that they either are doing or that they aren’t doing? as examples, a shop either is now doing, or doesn’t and it want it to begin doing…
providing good, professional bike fitting aboard modern fit bikes using modern fit methodology.
offering custom footbeds and effective pedal/shoe interface.
working on my consumer direct purchases without sneering and giving me attitude.
providing service on my bike in a more timely fashion (even by appt).
offer a coffee bar with a barista in the shop.
and so forth. what is it that turns you on about your shop or shops you’ve seen? what is it you want that you don’t now get?
2 things:
I want them to tell me I’m awesome rider, with straight face.
fix my bike so I do not have to come back for readjustment, don’t give me BS my chain might rub against FD in last 2 rings… Unacceptable and not true.
I would never get pro fit at the bike shop…(for many reasons)
This. This is the fundamental value that shops provide (along with keeping commuter bikes up and running, but even there they fall down…my LBS recently gouged an employee of mine for $200 for a wheel issue that should have cost $100 max). I worry when they dry up the sport will lose out on a lot of growth potential. Jerry and Geraldine might not want to go into some big intimidating REI or Dick’s and buy a Novara or a Diamondback. They might want a different type of bicycle purchase experience. It would be a loss for the sport if new riders never find the sport due to the disappearance of the LBS.
timely basic bike maintenance - my LBS tends to be a little slow when bringing in my bike for a basic tuneup. I’m not sure if my expectations are off but they tend to give me time estimates of over a week for their most basic tuneup package. I’m guessing probably saving money by not having too many mechanics there at once.
bike inventory - used and new. at least one popular LBS I go to has a good inventory of used AND new. And I’m talking about used road, mountain, tri bikes. not just used 10 hybrids or cruisers. I’ve bought all my bikes from LBS. I try to get them on sale or do a trade in but if I’m paying close to full price I’m okay with that. I figure if something goes wrong it’s nice being able to take it back to them for assistance
clinics and/or product demos - one bike shop has clinics typically once a month. how to change a tire. how to change your bar tape. basic stuff but good. and if you go to their clinics they usually give discounts on stuff related to the demo (20% of bar tap for example)
bike fitting. I don’t care what system they use as long as they’re a good bike fitter.
work on consumer direct bike purchases. I have ordered bikes online yet but it’s getting to that point where it makes sense to. 1) cost 2) LBS rarely have the bike I’m interested in, in my size so it’s not like I’m going to get to test ride it anyway.
I certainly don’t have the answers for keeping the local bike shops going. I’ve been okay buying bikes there up to this point. I’ll usually buy something there when I’m in there for bike maintenance but most of the time they have such low inventory in everything that I don’t have many choices.
Involvement in the community is a big plus for bike shops for me. Hosting group rides, trainer classes, and skills clinics show that a shop cares about it’s customers and wants to grow the biking community in a positive way. I also like the idea of a coffee bar (doesn’t have to be fancy) with a lounge/tv area showing past races for all cycling disciplines (may make some people want to try mountain biking or cyclocross instead of just road riding).
I don’t have an issue with the pricing of inventory, but the amount of time for an order to come in sometimes can be a pain. I waited for a pair of shoes for almost 3 weeks because they forgot to order it and then the shipment was delayed. Also communication can be an issue. I tend to have to ask about things instead of them reaching out to me to let me know something came in or my bike is ready (sometimes aggravating when you missed a ride because you thought it wasn’t ready and it was).
With a welcoming atmosphere and staff that seem open to discussion and help the customer in every way they can (even if that means telling you to buy it somewhere else), a LBS can create value and become the go to answer for any question a cyclist could have. Of course this means the customer has to try and build a relationship with their LBS as well for it to be truly beneficial.
My LBS is friendly, welcoming, offers great service. They are also a coffee shop with homemade cakes including gluten and dairy free options which suits my girlfriend.
They tend to market themselves towards the higher end of the spectrum of road bikes stocking Colnago, Cannonade, Storck, Lightweight, and Cippolini. This tends to mean you don’t get anything ‘cheap’ in there but it suits me. I don’t mind paying retail prices over wiggle prices.
The shop has only been open a couple of years but they have created a real local hub for cyclists to go to. They organise sunday rides, and weekday ones during the summer. In the winter they have a Zwift ride on tuesday evenings.
Their website has a forum on it for locals to organise rides and generally socialise along with an active Facebook presence.
In the grand scheme of things i’m not sure there is anything beyond lower prices which they could do better and lower prices are not something a small local shop with the extra overheads would be possible.