Thinking of what brands in clothing and components? what would make any one bike store a destination store ( travel to get there) Only recently I’ve started work in the industry and I have strong ideas on what we need , what’s yours if any.

Strong margins, broad market appeal, solid supply chain reliability, good credit terms.

Leave the latest gnarduro fluo hot threads to the mail order companies.

Endura – one of the few brands to control their supply so that smaller shops aren’t consistently undercut by the big guys (I know some folk think this is baaad).

The only shops that I go out of my way to visit carry a wide range of stock. I couldn’t tell you what the actual brands are that any of them stock without looking it up but I know that whatever the thing it is I’m looking for there’s likely to be a couple of options to compare.

That’s mostly for clothing, shoes, maybe saddles and grips, bags etc. All the type of things I’d want to have a good look and feel of before buying. Mechanical bits I tend to buy online. I’m a long way from a serial bike buyer but when I do look to buy a new one I’ll do my research online then find the nearest stockist.

It’s not “out of way” because they’re so common but Fox seem to have one of the best allround ranges.

As above, Endura. I’m not sure if there are other brands out there that support smaller outlets like them. The last thing you want is to become a fitting shop for on line dealers.

Remember when halfords sold off a load of hope kit for silly money? Iirc the Reason for it was they went to Hope, demanding a bigger discount for big orders and getting into ‘the UKs largest cycle retailer’ at the time. Hope told them to go forth and multiply, as they didn’t want to shaft LBSs. Halford threw their toys out of the pram and had a fire sale.

So, err, Hope.

What Did you have in mind?

travel to get there

Stuff you can’t buy online.*

*I’d buy something else if I couldn’t buy it online so not foolproof

Endura fan here too. dont see it heavily discounted, which is ok by me, it is good vfm stuff i dont mind paying for.

also, i like specialized, and their shops………..might be a middle aged thing.

scotroutes – Member
Endura – one of the few brands to control their supply so that smaller shops aren’t consistently undercut by the big guys (I know some folk think this is baaad).

Or is that price control/fixing? 😉

Endura stuff is always reassuringly expensive it seems and never in a sale, even in an LBS. As much as I like to help out a good LBS, I also like to see competition and less over inflated pricing just because it’s a bike brand.

Nice stuff but I’m not convinced the price is justified by the quality. I wear through their shorts quite a bit and on three sets of gloves having worn through fingers each time after a year.

Endura might be good from the shop relationship side but as a punter, I’ve been disappointed too often to want to give them another penny and I don’t think I’m alone.

Madison, no question.

Endura might be good from the shop relationship side but as a punter, I’ve been disappointed too often to want to give them another penny and I don’t think I’m alone.

i have used endura since it first came out, singletrack shorts and trousers, firefly trousers, humvees, zymes shorts and crops. and nowadays the urban stuff.
i can honestly say that i have never worn any of it out. torn it in crashes, split the arse when bending down, shrunk a merino top by washing it wrong, but never worn anything out.
and i would like to add, endura zymes are so well made and tough that they will stand the next nuke bomb when it is set off.

I had to buy some new Endura Humvee 3/4s a couple of weeks ago as the last pair had worn through the stitching on the seams. They were at least six, maybe seven years old.

But yeah, as deadkenny, suggests, it’s a method of price control. Not one I object to though as the Endura prices still fare well against their competition. It also means your LBS can offer you a wee extra discount, rewarding customer loyalty.

Endura – fitted with a special amnesia compound… I’ve finally learnt after the 3rd set of bibs died in the same way (pad stitching fail), the shorts that seemed to have a permanent crease in the chammy that went right up your arse crack, the shorts that have the worst waist adjustment in the world and a t best felt like cardboard….
I do however applaud their approach as especially with clothing no shop in their right mind wants to stock stuff just to be a fitting room.

what would make any one bike store a destination store ( travel to get there) Only recently I’ve started work in the industry and I have strong ideas on what we need , what’s yours if any.

Addressing these points-
A destination – great service, parking, good mechanics, friendly, can do attitude and attention to detail. Be worth driving past a good LBS and be close to something worth going to – very few people will travel far for retail these days.
“I have strong ideas on what we need” – makes no odds what do your customers want – some bike shops become very self indulgent, great when you are the go to for a good core of people but you need to sell what your customers want.
Also STW is a terrifying microcosm of the bike world, in all honesty I’d treat suggestions with a lot of salt and take stock of who your potential customers are – wouldn’t wish most of this lot on my worst enemy 😉

For me it isn’t particularly brands or components. If I were looking out for a £3k full susser, I’d travel to different shops to look at their in-stock bikes. No one shop is going to have anything.

Things I’ll need at short notice like spokes, brake pads, various size bolts etc.

It’s much, much more about attitude. When I moved to Southampton for uni, I got to a bike shop 2 mins before their closing time but shop was already in the dark with the owner about to lock the door. I wanted the cassette removing. The guy popped inside with my wheel to use their vice / whip etc and, as the till was cashed-up, just told me to buy something from them in the future.

Another shop (another city) told me it would take 3 days to fit a headset. Whilst the workshop might / must have been busy, I was the only customer in the shop. I was going to buy the headset from them. Whilst first come first serve is fair, for the few minutes it takes to press a headset in when a customer is standing in the shop, I wasn’t impressed.

The former got 4 years of my business until I moved. Never went to the latter again.

Endura – fitted with a special amnesia compound… I’ve finally learnt after the 3rd set of bibs died in the same way (pad stitching fail),

Agreed.

Whilst I also agree with ton and scotroutes about the Humvee shorts which do seem to go on forever their bibs are quite literally, pants.

For me a good shop needs to provide me with choices. I understand the financial and logistical issues of stocking wide ranges but that’s what would get me to travel further.

Brands I would like to see in store that I would have confidence in selling , top five , Hope , Maxiss , Endura , Camelbak , Endura plus more , must I say I am a brand snob.

One of the lbs has the right idea

They have a fair bit of the latest TLD/Hope in prominent places throughout the shop but it’s not really a TLD/Hope kind of shop. Thing is, all the TLD/Hope is RRP so it makes everything else look reasonable. Aspirational but crucially – affordable. SOme very astute buying going on

Well-heeled punters by the TLD/Hope kit because it’s expensive so it must be good. Less affluent types go for other brands

win-win

Before you decide on what brands you want to sell, you’ve really got to decide on what your USP is. What’re you hoping to do that other shops in the area don’t? What do you want the business to achieve and who is your intended market, is the local environment conducive to such a business model.

Look at shops like CTBM, Brick Lane Bikes, Fat Birds and Mud Dock; Each has a certain something which lets them stand out a little from the crowd.

I am always disappointed when I go into a bike shop to look for a new jersey or shorts or whatever only to find that the only option is black, sometimes there is black and dark black, but usually its just all black.

Somewhere where sold something with a bit of colour would be nice. Fox, Raceface TLD and Dakine are expensive but at least they offer you the option of something different.

I think One planet adventure in llandegla is a good shop. It has bit of everything. I know it has the market all sewn up as it is at a very busy trail centre but every time I go there I see something that I would like to buy. Or maybe I’m just attracted to bright colours.

Not a lot would make me visit a shop far far away. I might pop in and accidentally buy stuff if the staff are friendly and the coffee ridiculously strong, and the shop is on or near some of my favourite trails and road rides, though.
(the shop has a limited range of some things, but excellent choice of wheels and wheel related items, and big Al doesn’t seem to mind chatting endlessly about a fairly minor purchase such as a hub or set of tyres).

@sheepshifter

the bike industry is going through a period of severe disturbance / turbulence with margins squeezed to the limit as many brands sell direct to retailers like Wigglechain and European on-line retailers who are bypassing in country distribution to enjoy dramatically lower stock-in prices for their warehouses

choosing the right brands that protect their LBS is key, in conjunction with understanding the needs of your local customers, and not trying to be everything to everybody

a great phrase for a smaller business is “Niche, not compete”.

do things the internet cannot offer like an excellent workshop, excellent bike fitting, in-store group activities like training / coaching and a small coffee /cafe to bring in riders out on long rides and also the non riding public

partner with quality bike brands that don’t discount, and hold a smaller range of stock with more depth – does any small shop need 20 different shoe or helmet models to choose from?

its tough out there…

Endura might be good from the shop relationship side but as a punter, I’ve been disappointed too often to want to give them another penny and I don’t think I’m alone.

+1

Clothing brands are tricky as is it a mtb shop or bike shop? Road cycling seems to be bigger right now, so Castelli, Sportful at the high end, then something decent mid priced. But really it is pretty hard to differentiate from the crowd.

Component wise, even trickier, probably Lyzene, Garmin etc. decent accessory brands. Shimano and SRAM will take care of the 90% of groupset kit.

I just buy stuff on Wiggle, or where ever does free returns, choose a couple of sizes etc.

Don’t have to visit any shop 😀

Carradice.

Brilliant kit that just works.
Mostly UK made and genuinely decent people to deal with.

Appeals to pretty much everyone – big with the newbeards, loved by middle aged grumps like me and probably by your grandparents too.

Quality and functionality on the kit I’ve used over the years has been fantastic.
Beautiful things to own as well, not so expensive, has the ‘just one more’ factor too.

I gave a lot of my old stuff to the stepkids/godkids and ‘upgraded’ to Ortlieb.

Big mistake.
Will be changing back when I can justify it.

I got to say i have been super impressed by Madison kit lately, sadly my favorite LBS doesn’t seem to supply it. Luckily others do, including as mentioned earlier in the thread the Shop at Llandegla, I treated myself to another spring jacket over the weekend which proved excellent in use. Loved the look of some of the new Fox helmets they had in stock, will be top of the list when I buy another shortly.

Great suggestion Rusty, but probably quite a niche thing for a lot of shops isn’t it?

Your LBS may not stock Madison kit but I’d be very very surprised if they can’t supply it as I can’t imagine an LBS without a Madison account

Your LBS may not stock Madison kit but I’d be very very surprised if they can’t supply it as I can’t imagine an LBS without a Madison account

I know they can get hold of it (Christ there cant be many if any bike shop without a Madison account) so saying they don’t supply is wrong of me, however…I am not a geek when it comes to buying my MTB kit so have no idea whats cool or currently Enduro. Normally i take a mooch around a shop and buy something that takes my fancy. I very, very rarely order something in and can count on one hand the amount of technical clothing i have ordered online. I wouldn’t want my LBS to stock a shed load of kit just off my say so, As i appreciate i may be unique in my taste and approach. But if asked what kit I would want them to stock it would be Madison, i just find the quality, look and feel superb.

Not Muc-off, they seem to have some anti-competition clauses/preferential rates.

Trawled round a few bike shops recently looking for chain lube. 1st three I tried all had big Muc-off display stands and nothing else. At least one of them used to have loads of choice, Rock n roll, White Lightning, Finish line, Fenwicks…

Now you can get any lube you like as long as it says Muc-Off on it.

Hopefully it’s good deal for the shop, though. It’d be distressing if customers and shop owners were worse off.

Mike, they do lots of non-trad stuff that competes very well on quality and value.

I’ve lost count of the number of seat packs I’ve trashed, but I can’t break my Carradura one.
Much smaller ones are available 🙂 .

Their range covers the old stuff to the modern – it’s a well thought out selection of kit.

Raleigh stuff seems very well thought out for everyday needs too.
I’ve just bought some RSP Kustom Slim Sealed pedals, impressed so far.
Their prebuilt wheels look good value too.

ook at shops like CTBM, Brick Lane Bikes, Fat Birds and Mud Dock; Each has a certain something which lets them stand out a little from the crowd.

This +1

People shop with Charlie because there’s an element of ‘curator-ship’ in his stock, sounds **** and hipsterish, but I’d rather a shop sold a few things from brands which were good and the guys in the shops use. Rather than (as mentioned above) endura bib shorts just because they sell endura baggies.

Don’t bother stocking stuff you can get online like cranks. I think I’ve bought 1 crank in my entire cycling life from an LBS.

So:
Impulse buys (nice clothes)
Consumables (chains, cassettes, pads)
Niche stuff (bikepacking gear, XC weigh weenie stuff, or whatever your niche is).

If your not halfords or CRC, why try and compete with the mainstream, stock the stuff they don’t sell.

Component wise, even trickier, probably Lyzene, Garmin etc. decent accessory brands. Shimano and SRAM will take care of the 90% of groupset kit.

Based on the poll on this site, I’d stick with Shimano over SRAM. 73% of responders had Shimano on their bikes. I’d keep a couple of stock bikes that could be used for SRAM parts if required.

@nedrapier

Fisher’s have just done a stock trade-in deal for shops wanting to move their lube offering over to the Muc-Off brand

you can send back your Finish Line, etc. and get the equivalent value in Muc-Off as a credit.

their margins are very competitive too, and a free quality POS unit, meaning its a no brainer for many shops

he bike industry is going through a period of severe disturbance / turbulence with margins squeezed to the limit as many brands sell direct to retailers like Wigglechain and European on-line retailers who are bypassing in country distribution to enjoy dramatically lower stock-in prices for their warehouses

choosing the right brands that protect their LBS is key, in conjunction with understanding the needs of your local customers, and not trying to be everything to everybody

a great phrase for a smaller business is “Niche, not compete”.

do things the internet cannot offer like an excellent workshop, excellent bike fitting, in-store group activities like training / coaching and a small coffee /cafe to bring in riders out on long rides and also the non riding public

partner with quality bike brands that don’t discount, and hold a smaller range of stock with more depth – does any small shop need 20 different shoe or helmet models to choose from?

its tough out there…

This.

Before you decide on what brands you want to sell, you’ve really got to decide on what your USP is. What’re you hoping to do that other shops in the area don’t? What do you want the business to achieve and who is your intended market, is the local environment conducive to such a business model.

Look at shops like CTBM, Brick Lane Bikes, Fat Birds and Mud Dock; Each has a certain something which lets them stand out a little from the crowd.

And this.

I too would take what’s on here with a pinch of salt. Who do you think your customer is going to be? Then cater your shop to them. If you’re targeting people that will travel for niche kit, then have easily accessible parking. If you’re aiming at roadies, then a café and a somewhere to lean bikes will help. If you’re selling high-end kit then you need an environment to match (think Mud Dock or Bespoke in London). Usually most income is from low-end sales, spares and workshop, so bear that in mind.

I worked in a shop with a well-known (on the circuit) ex-cat one roadie and grass track champ who was a trained Bio Racer fitter. People would come from all over the south east for fitting and Simon’s wheel building. It was a tiny shop in a tiny Essex village, but in that particular situation it worked.

As above – there’s more to a bike shop than selling kit, and personally I’d avoid TLD / Fox / Da Kine and the more ‘on-trend’ (dahling) brands because they are the ones appearing discounted on Wiggle / CRC / Sports Pursuits at the end of the year.

you can send back your Finish Line, etc. and get the equivalent value in Muc-Off as a credit.

Or you can buy it at Tesco’s, Sainsburys etc.
There is a trade off.The popular brands with the best exposure are stocked in a lot of places,including non specialist retailers (and often have lower margin).So you get leading brand recognition but lots of competition.
The less well known brands (regardless of whether they are ‘better’ or not) will give you some exclusivity against other retailers but less instant recognition.
You can literally buy Endura/Muc Off/SIS anywhere….why buy it from you?
If you stock Altura/Fenwicks/Torq (arguably do exactly the same job) you have to convince the customer why they are better than the established names.

Green Oils products and refills as they are like the ecover of the bike lube/cleaning world.

Clothing wise I like endura and not had a problem. Also Altura has to be a mainstay, helmets other than bloody awful (for my head) Giro.

Hope

I quite like race face clothing/armour as well as 661 and expensive POC stuff whichbis best seen in the flesh to help justify the cost.

mikewsmith – Member
I’ve finally learnt after the 3rd set of bibs died in the same way (pad stitching fail), the shorts that seemed to have a permanent crease in the chammy that went right up your arse crack

Are you quite sure it’s not your arse that’s the problem…?

😉