So sadly my local bike shop blazing saddles in rustington West Sussex is closing down with in the next couple of months after many years of hard work and service to us local riders! Bad times for the local community!
But having said all that he’s pretty upbeat about as the stress was just getting to much and as a fair few of us will know there is always light at the end of any bad tunnel!
So unsure if this is really allowed as its kinda of an add but if it isn’t I’m sorry and by all means delete it.
But he does have one canondale trigger 3 left 2016 in red and size medium hes selling off at trade price.
so if anyone is in the market for a 140mm travel full sus it might be worth a phone call as its priced at £1960 plus post. So if some one wants a bargain bike google the shop and give them a call he does have a couple of dale cx bikes there at trade price to if that’s your thing.
Cheers and sorry if this is naughty Bats.

That’s sad.
Bought my Yeti 575 frame from them years ago.
Its a shame when shops just can’t keep up with the internet big hitters.

Sad times. Too many people buying on the internet from companies paying minimal tax and employing very few staff. It cannot end well 😥

The Internet Will Not Fix Your Bike.

In a nut shell thankfully he’s going to keep a work shop open so at least the oldies can still get there bikes looked after as can I lol.

The Internet Will Not Fix Your Bike.

A lot of people don’t need someone else to fix their bike for them.

A lot of people don’t need someone else to fix their bike for them.

the problem a significant number of people believe they dont – and they actually do…..

* i spent last sunday talking someone through gear cable replacement over skype……. he is a car mechanic. Still couldnt get his gears working even with youtube.

And more importantly, not everyone is lucky enough to have a parent or group of mates into bikes who can fix things for them and help them out.

Before we were all big smarty pants with garages full of tools I’d bet that a majority of us on here started our MTB journey by walking into their LBS. I know I did.

Good bike shops are the infrastructure that makes the sport accessible to the curious member of the public. Without that local back up cycling and mountain biking in particular, is pretty daunting yo get into, so less bike shops = less cyclists.

Noone ever took their first steps in this brilliant little pastime of ours because of Canyon or CRC.

I ordered my first bike as an adult from Evans and ventured solo onto my local trails because of places like here.

I didn’t know where my lbs was (4 miles away) until it was mentioned on another forum. Even if I would have known I would have still bought a bike online as my lbs didn’t at the time stock/have access to anything I wanted.

I’m all for supporting my lbs at every opportunity but unless he has or can get what I want my hands are tied.

All of that said, it’s sad to see another small business close.

plus one

A lot of people don’t need someone else to fix their bike for them.

I use LBS but most stuff I do myself, the market has changed globalisation is a thing and we need to move on, stay competitive.

Has the rise in road biking resulted in less work for bike shops?

IME road bikes need a lot less maintenance, and you don’t break things anywhere near as often compared to MTBs.

The Internet Will Not Fix Your Bike

But even that appears to not be the case, Wiggle are promoting (a new?) bike servicing service.

Speaking of Wiggle, when did they leave Portsmouth? The returns label that came with my few goodies from them midweek was somewhere near Wolverhampton!

Sad to read another shop going, I purposely bought those bits from Wiggle rather than Amazon (who were fractionally cheaper), as a conscious choice to “help the specialized minnow” store.

I purposely bought those bits from Wiggle rather than Amazon

Look at who the seller is on Amazon – it could easily be your LBS!

Id also add that, thankfully, reliability has improved. Shops need to develop to a new model, looking back to what was needed before isn’t likely to be successful

Maybe more of us are inclined to do more maintenance ourselves, rather than book the bike into the LBS, to save a bit of cash in these frugal times. Certainly applies to me, I’ve spent ~£30 on a Jobsworth Shimano tool kit and a pair of Park Tools master-link pliers this year, will easily save me money in the long term (plus I’ve kind of enjoyed doing new stuff like removing/installing cassettes etc.).

A lot of people don’t need someone else to fix their bike for them.

I don’t service my car myself either btw. Without my LBS I wouldn’t be riding in all likelihood. I have neither the aptitude or facilities to service a bike as I live in a flat.

As for “new business model”. Internet sellers don’t pay high street business rates or for the most part UK tax and ni for employees. That IMO is the prime reason they sell products for less. If there are less businesses we will all have to pay that tax instead and/or pay the unemployment benefits of the people no longer in work.

My LBS was the prime organizer behind the majority of the local trails.

The demise of local business at the hands of internet sellers is a material issue imo.

I can fix most stuff on the bike but there are bits and bobs that always need a profesionnal’s touch. That said I live in edinburgh and there is always at least a weeks wait for anything to be done at the shops I approach, so busiess can’t be that bad.

Rarely buy anything from them to be fair however but I’m surprised more can’t survive on maintanence alone.

A lot of small bike shops will have to go and the remaining will offer maintenance service only without need for an expensive shop front.

They will never compete with internet sales on price and will never have good enough stock levels to satisfy those that want specific items they get from the internet shops.

I haven’t shopped in a LBS for a long time, if I go to one I always have to go twice once to be told they don’t have it but can order it and another to go back and pick it up. My time off work is precious and I’d rather be riding my bike to be honest. If I work on my bike I take it to work and fettle in their time not my own.

The past few times I’ve let a LBS do any work on my bike it’s not been right resulting in a 2nd visit so I too have purchased some tools this year, a proper pair of cable cutters, BB spanner, chain whip, master link pliers. That way if it’s not right I can blame myself, this saves a total stranger blaming me for having my chain too long resulting in him taking out 6 links? Throwing my rear mech into the spokes and screwing everything up after charging me £40 for a rear cable replacement. So I’m not surprised that more LBS are shutting, it’s a shame to see them slip away but it is a sign of the times I’m afraid, people can see what they want on line, it tells you if it’s in stock and delivers it within 24 hours.

I’m surprised CRC, Wiggle etc haven’t started opening service only stores in UK cities already? There’s gotta be a market for drop in service shops, plenty of folk order stuff they don’t even have to tools to fit. So servicing and repairs are surely the way forward.

#racetothebottom

Ime of people ordering stuff and coming to the shop to have it fitted.

Often they bought the wrong thing. And that’s the shops fault-or we are lying. You pick.

Agreed Rubber, I think it’s desperately short sighted. I have posted before I’d stick 15-25% extra tax on stuff bought online.

Xyeti I think the shops stock much less than they used to as folk stopped buying and/or complained about the price of stuff. I have been in my lbs when a guy has come in for a tube on Sunday morning as he needed it asap for a ride and then complained about the price.

Aside from ability to fix things you need the tools and as I said the right spot to do the work, we don’t all have fully equipped man caves

Lots of people do still pay for repair work but as above the shop I’m in stocks far less of the shiny things compared to 10 years ago , just no point.

well these days i use a bike shop mostly for this reasons : get energy gels and energy snacks , get information about off piste trails , and occasionally buy consumables ( disc pads , chain links , chain lubes) never components unless its emergency as when i snap mech on saturday practice before an enduro race.

I’m surprised CRC, Wiggle etc haven’t started opening service only stores in UK cities already? There’s gotta be a market for drop in service shops, plenty of folk order stuff they don’t even have to tools to fit. So servicing and repairs are surely the way forward.

Because these shops cost money to run, need staff and are not based in the cheapest possible locations. They also know of their business model and its not shops.

Aside from ability to fix things you need the tools and as I said the right spot to do the work, we don’t all have fully equipped man caves

Which is why there will be a need for shops to do maintenance and repair work. Just like there are garages who only fix your car, do MOTs etc,. but don’t sell cars or car parts.

Bike shops who have adjusted are doing well, i.e. Primera in Bournemouth who competed by offering internet sales but also keeping two fairly good shops. A small shop only business trying to succeed on people walking in and paying over the odds for bikes and parts is simply not going to exist (and shouldn’t either)

It is not a race to the bottom it is the evolution of shopping and simple supply and demand.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/incompetent-spannering-doh

I purposely bought those bits from Wiggle rather than Amazon (who were fractionally cheaper), as a conscious choice to “help the specialized minnow” store.

Minnow? They made £13.2m profit (from £172m revenue) in 2014.

One thing I have noticed is that in any decent bike shop the workshop is always busy.

There are bike shops near me doing very well, rammed with new stock, customers buying it and plenty of indication they are doing well and expanding into new shops.

There are others that are like ghost towns, nothing changes, same old stuff hanging around for ages, no customers and you feel uneasy when your there.

Thats business, success and failure, neither is anyone elses fault but the person running the business.

Certainly applies to me, I’ve spent ~£30 on a Jobsworth Shimano tool kit and a pair of Park Tools master-link pliers this year, will easily save me money in the long term (plus I’ve kind of enjoyed doing new stuff like removing/installing cassettes etc.).

Not a dig at you personally, but this does sum up the attitude of many cyclists these days. I’ve invested in the region of £5k-£6k in tools for the workshop in my shop, in order that we can fix just about anything anybody brings in to us, but we still know our limits and would still send a high end fork off to LoCo/TF/Mojo for a full service as we know they’re the specialists in the field and will do a better job than we can. You’d be amazed at the amount of bikes I’ve seen “fixed” using a £30 tool kit after the owner has spent an hour on YouTube and read a couple of Internet forum threads…

With this mentality, why not have a go at brain surgery? Even less tools required there, just a few different sharp objects and some rubber gloves, what could possibly go wrong! 😉

In all seriousness though… The reason this happens a lot is your average customer feels relatively time rich and cash poor these days compared to a decade or two ago, and this forces their hand to giving things a go themselves. I know more than enough about cars to have a good go at fixing mine myself, but my local garage has invested tens of thousands of £ in tools and diagnostic equipment and training for their staff, and I know that if I pay them to fix it it will be done properly in the minimum of time, and my time is better spent fixing other people’s bikes and/or selling them a new one! If you’ve got a job which pays you to stare at a computer screen all day, possibly (often) allowing you to read forums like this and go on YouTube, the temptation to DIY is much stronger!

Lol at the suggestion bike maintenance compares to brain surgery; this highlights the problem for struggling LBS … an over inflated ego.

Bike maintenance isn’t difficult, and as said, if the LBS sends the specialist stuff like forks to the likes of Mojo … then cut out the middle man and send them there yourself.

Seriously, what job on a mtb can a reasonably adept person not do apart from regas a shock? It’s just a bicycle you are not setting clearances to microns or anything. I am genuinely amazed people actually hand over money to get something as basic as a gear cable changed. Remarkable.

This is where I get to do my usual discussion about how the Venn diagram of bike shops and STW users doesn’t have much intersection.

Most people who ride bikes don’t know or care an awful lot about the mechanical details, just like most car drivers. Most people have little mechanical aptitude, inclination or time to learn. Most people don’t have home workshops. Many people like to see and try stuff for real, not just read opinions on Internet forums. (Fora?)

Bike shops are having it tough at the moment for sure. I’ve been saying on trade forums for, well, forever that bike shops need to stop marketing to cyclists. Cyclists are the worst possible customers for a bike shop. Internet selling and other outlets have had a serious impact. It’s certainly possible that the LBS will go the way of many other local shops, and disappear entirely – and if it does we’ll be the poorer, just as we are with the loss of local bookshops, record stores etc.

Glenn did a lot for the road community round here. The Blazing Saddles road train is legendary, take no prisoners.

It’s not a popular statement but I found the shop looked a bit forgotten for the last few years. Sussex Velo round the corner is a smaller shop in a cheaper location and seems (on the face of it to be doing well).

South Downs Bikes, Quest and the Bike Store all within a few miles of Blazing Sadles have been thriving for years. The LBS is not dead round here at all and that’s a red herring OP, something else was wrong.

As for ‘brain surgery’ mboy, really? I’m no genius but outside of wheel building (don’t have the time) there isn’t a single normal job on a bike that would get more than 2 difficulty stars in a proper Haynes manual. Even forks aren’t difficult to do a standard rebuild.

I can do accounts – I got a degree in astrophysics, doing the business accounts would be easy in comparison. But I don’t, I have an accountant, because I don’t have the time and I hate accounting.

I could service my own car. Cars are pretty simple to work on. But I mostly don’t because I don’t have the time and I like the knowledge that someone expert has looked at it.

I could install and service my own alarm system at the shop – it’s only a bit of wiring, it’s not hard to do. But I get an alarm company to do it because I don’t want to spend the time and I like the knowledge that it’s done properly – and so do my insurance company.

Sure, most bike maintenance isn’t that hard if you have the time and tools – and if your bike is decent and well maintained already. Those conditions don’t apply to most people.

Ok, but there at least 6 thriving ‘proper’ bike shops around here. There’s clearly still a market here.

…your average customer feels relatively time rich and cash poor these days

Interesting assessment. I’d suggest it’s the complete opposite; I struggle to find opportunities to ride my bike never mind fix it. I was riding around on a (road) bike with creaking wheel and headset bearings for waaayyyy too long before finally swallowing my pride and letting the LSB do it. Maybe it’s a bit of laziness too.

I used to love disappearing to the man cave to fettle with my bike and have learnt the skills over the years to be able to build a bike. I used to find it very satisfying but there are so many other things I’d rather be doing – or have to do – instead nowadays. Most are related to being a parent; a joy and a pleasure but also the epitome of a double-edged sword

Ok, but there at least 6 thriving ‘proper’ bike shops around here. There’s clearly still a market here.

Possibly they’d all say business has been harder over the past year or two. I don’t know why this shop is closing but it could be the lease is up for renewal and the owner has decided to get out now rather than commit to x years. It must be hard to kiss goodbye to all that hard work over the years but I can also imagine it to be a relief to escape the stress

I have noticed that the type of bike shop that flourishes has changed round here over the last 10 years or so. The traditional ones (small premises, does all types of bikes, small staff count etc) are falling by the wayside as they’ve failed to adapt to the internet providing the knowledge that they excelled in and the big warehouse sellers are undercutting them on kit for commuters for example so no-one has a reason to visit. The ones that are doing well have targetted a certain segment of the cycling fraterity like commuters, roadies, students with their fixies etc and become the go-to place for that customer. Where two shops decide to target the same customer base one usually fails and shuts where the other succeeds.

I was surprised to learn that Castle Bikes of Caerphilly is closing though, they haven’t long moved from the top of town into a new unit in Trethomas next to a busy Tesco’s. The area has a lot of riders and I don’t know of any competition nearby, apart from Halfords. Have had good service and advice from them in the past so will be sad to see them go.

(small premises, does all types of bikes, small staff count etc)

Tamed Earth in Hindhead has closed up too. 🙁

porter_jamie – Member
Seriously, what job on a mtb can a reasonably adept person not do apart from regas a shock?

Got a pen and paper…
I know people who are smart, technical and very sharp but don’t get things like setting gears, badly designed mechs that hide the adjustment screws and break a link between seeing and doing don’t help.
Wheel building, just a dark art to me and I don’t really care I’ll pay somebody who does hundreds of them a year to build one properly.
As said elsewhere not everyone lives in perfection with a shed/garage etc. At the moment I don’t even have space for all my tools (or bikes) so the simple job of swapping some bearings today took a lot longer.
I need to get the linkage bearings changed on my SC this week I’ll take it to the shop who has the proper SC tools to do it, they service loads of the bikes, I only do one so not worth another tool taking up space I don’t have.
Everyone can do a suspension service but if the options are in the kitchen or the living room then maybe a shop is a much better place for it. I could do it in half the time in a proper workshop with all the tools an all the stuff you need if something isn’t right at hand. The oil goes in the oil pan for bulk disposal rather than trying to collect it all up for a couple of years.

As most within the industry have been saying and seen for a while now it’s tough times ahead.