Bit of a rant. Phoned bike shop up for some spokes. Guy asked what spoke sizes? I told him. He said he thinks they have them in. I said well do you or not. Ohhh we should there commonish sizes I think those ones but I’m at other side of shop! Said shop is no bigger than 25m x 25m. WTF I make no wonder so many shops go bust. This seems to be the norm though. When you do actually find someone at a shop who is helpful, polite, knows an arse from an elbow and treats you with a modicum of respect as a paying customer. It seems then you find yourself suprised. Um this is not how it should be is it? I should add I was wanting 200 spokes! not just a single spoke! Thats why CRC, Merlin and Wiggle have had a packet of me in the last 10 years or so and the bike shops next to nothing. Just wish CRC sold longer spokes!

Not to mention there rip off prices for stuff. The tea and hob nob cliche is well and truely a myth in my experience. I would rather buy a pack of hob nobs for my noisey obnoxious neighbour than any bike shop I have been to !

the best service in a bike shop i’ve had is from a couple of guys who work at halfords in bracknell.

one local shop to me even had a girl working there…. a girl i tells ya?!?!?

Some bike shops are good and some a useless, same with online companies.

It all comes down to if they give a sh1t or not!

Some bike shops are good and some a useless, same with online companies.

It all comes down to if they give a sh1t or not!

stop right there, this is no place for sensible responses young man. go away and only come back when you’ve thought of something controversial or offensive to say!

Not to mention there rip off prices for stuff.

🙄

my local shop looks a bit like my loft. I know there is items of value in there, but its a bit of a mess and would involve moving ten items to find them.

Most shops make money out of servicing cheap bikes. 200 spokes, the shop probably can’t get much cheaper than you can. So its probably not in his interest to move ten items, climb a ladder and fish around in a box, to find out if he has exactly 200 of the right size for you.

It’s perhaps not the best attitude, but i bet if you bought the spokes, rims and hubs from him he’d be much friendlier.

Yes but I would need a major injection of cash to buy, hubs, rims and spokes from the shops near me. Well the would not have any! ome on 100 of one size 100 of another. I was harldy asking for 20 different sizes

Shop somewhere else and stop complaining.

It’s not a case of weither some bike shops deserve to be in business its weither they deserve YOUR business. In this case no they don’t.

I just cant see why so many people have a problem with LBS’s !
Why cant i find one LOCAL to me that is any good !

I,ve got to be honest with you i’ve thought about opening my own bike shop just to see how Rude / Pretentious / Obnoxious and stupidly unhelpfull i could be !

I mean it cant be very hard !
So many other people seem to be doing a very good job of capitalising on incompetant ham fisted idiots like myself………….

Don’t think most small bike shops are in it for the money, so if they think you’re an a**hole or a pain in the fundamental they’ll try to ping you off asap. Probably suspect many telephone enquiries are people doing internet comparisons.

Terrible innit?

(Not saying it’s good business 🙂 )

Well !

I,ve just been to a NONE LBS not near to me ! infact 279 miles away from me and they charged me £2.50 to change my rear cassette !
I,m working away and ordered the rear cassette to be delivered to my place of work,

I,ve been invited out on a ride & i was talking in the shop for nearly an hour !

Last month at another none LBS i recieved the same treatment ! EXCELLENT service knowledgeable friendly advice,
Went back home popped into MY LBS and was made to look a PR!CK infront of about 12 School kids 👿

In my experience, the LBS phenomenon is a bit of a weird one. I’m matey with a coupler of LBS owners, and I have to say it rates alongside jobs such as sewer worker, traffic cop and ambulance driver as things I personally wouldn’t want to deal with.

The number of times I’ve heard punters telling the LBS guy how little he knows and how much they know is unbelievable that alongside favourites like:-

Punter: “How much would it cost me for you to check over this bike I bought from Halfords/Online/Tescos??”
LBS: £30” ….
Punter: ”**** me it only cost me £60 for the whole bike!”

Another classic at a recent 12hour event was
Punter: “Have you got any pads for an XXXX,
LBS: yes certainly they’re £14 a pair”…..
Punter: ”**** hell I get them for £11 on-line”…..
LBS: ”I think you’ll find that Wiggle don’t deliver to the forest in the middle of the night sir!”

Or

Punter: “Can you just slip in these pads that I bought online”… in a voice clearly indicating that they expect it to be done immediately and don’t expect to pay for that work.

Ultimately the LBS is going the same way as every other small business in that it is being undercut by large corporates and the online retailers. It’s a shame, but there will be a day when its beyond difficult to get the simplest thing done if you don’t have the tools or skills yourself.

In the meantime I shall continue to content myself with smiling politely at the folks waltzing about on bikes built and checked by a certain famous retailer as they sail past with the forks on back to front…… 🙂

Am I the only one to wonder why you would want 200 spokes, that’s like 7 identical wheels (reaches for calculator).
Even the best stocked (for spokes ) LBS I know will only hold a box of each of the most common sizes, especially when a box of spokes is £50-£80. That’s a lot of capital tied up when you consider the number of different lengths involved.

I went to three shop this last weekend (not because I’m a fanatic but was simply killing a lot of time) two were very good the other pretty rubbish. I’ve built up my bike from scratch using parts I’ve mail ordered parts that I’ve brought off here second hand but still get a great service from my local shop when I do go in. Yes they aren’t the cheapest everything is pretty much RRP but you need it in a hurry then you can’t really shop around haggle if you like but your service will go down for the couple of pounds you will save. However most of the time I’m talking to the owner and he is very knowledgeable and will always give his honest opinion. Good bike shops with good staff will always stay in business.

Well I’m sorry I need so many spokes. I was going to build a few sets of wheels, on some spare rims and hubs I have had ages! Can’t see the point in having them hanging around anymore. I also would like a few spare spokes for my other wheels which happend to be the same size as the ones I need. I guess I will sell on a set once they get done !

Everyone needs a good LBS I their life. It’s just like coming on here, but with real people, face to face. I don’t buy everything at mine, but I spend enough to make it worth their while helping me out. On a lot of stuff they can prety much match online with their regular customer/mates rate, but I’m usually willing to pay a bit of LBS tax anyway. I’m sure some people find their lack of organisation and presentation annoying, but for me it just adds to the fun. The world would be a lot poorer without their like.

santacrews – Member
Well !

I,ve just been to a NONE LBS not near to me ! infact 279 miles away from me and they charged me £2.50 to change my rear cassette !
I,m working away and ordered the rear cassette to be delivered to my place of work,

I,ve been invited out on a ride & i was talking in the shop for nearly an hour !

Last month at another none LBS i recieved the same treatment ! EXCELLENT service knowledgeable friendly advice,
Went back home popped into MY LBS and was made to look a PR!CK infront of about 12 School kids

Has anyone managed to translate that yet?

To balance the thread…

From another post earlier today by me on another thread. With regards to Minster Cycles in Beverley:

“I can vouch for Minster Cycles – I went in there looking for the bottom half of a brake lever mount (the small ‘U’ bit under the handlebar). They don’t stock such items but took a brake set off the shelf and took the component from that and sold it to me They then took the hassle of re-ordering from Hope and putting it back into the brake set. Top service!”

From my LBS (Wheelspin in Huddersfield) – went in last week looking for bearings and cones in a bit of an emergency… He gave me the bearings gratis (but couldn’t do the cones because I didn’t have them with me and he wanted to check that they had the right ones).

My next-to-LBS (Velocity, also in Huddersfield) – always friendly and helpful and with a 10%* ‘members club’ whereby you get points for each purchase. I’ll then cash them in at the end of the year for a treat – effectively 10%* off everything I buy. (* I think it’s 10%, but even if a bit less, it is still a good deal)

My next-to-next-to-LBS (Halfords) – fine, good helpful service and place to buy stuff if I’m in there getting car stuff (and I get 10% discount through membership of my car club anyway :))

There is just one shop around these parts. I’ve only been once and did wonder how they ever got into business and then stayed there. But they are still going strong :S They don’t sell anything that I’d ever want to buy. I do wonder who their target market is.

Accounts at Wiggle, Evans, CRC etc. too if I need something that the LBS would just order anyway.

cynic-al – Member

Has anyone managed to translate that yet?

Something about getting his winkle out in front of some kids? Quite frankly, I’m disgusted.

i,m just saying that there seems to be a lot mentioned on here ref LBS some happy some not so happy !

On the whole i,m overjoyed with any bike shop that is not local to me,
For instance the one i have just visited and the service i received was absolutely brilliant…..

I visited my LBS recently enquiring about Gear Cables and when asked what i was running at the time i replied “GOODRIDGE” which amused the shop assistant greatly stating my confusion as Goodrige only make brake lines and NOT gear cables, I was told to bring it in and he would clear up any confusion and identify the problem i was encountering……

At the time there were a load of school kids in the shop hanging round the counter like groupies !

santacrews – Member

I visited my LBS recently enquiring about Gear Cables and when asked what i was running at the time i replied “GOODRIDGE” which amused the shop assistant greatly stating my confusion as Goodrige only make brake lines and NOT gear cables, I was told to bring it in and he would clear up any confusion and identify the problem i was encountering……

Hmmmm…..

Isn’t the point of an LBS that like the Cheers bar, they do at least recognise you and show you a bit of respect. If not take your custom to the next nearest LBS.

Perhaps the term FBS for Friendly Bike Shop would be better.

bike shops rock = fact

Some bike shops are good, some bike shops kind’ve suck. Bit like most things really…

I think the point is there are bike shops out there that just resent the whole online thing, and I think these are the guys that are going, or will go out of business. Those that realise they aren’t going to compete on price of various components but play to their own strengths, and provide a good service, are the ones that will keep getting good custom.

FWIW decent bike shops will always stay in business, people buy bikes for way more than just an expensive hobby (which is most of us on here) and all those people go into bike shops, try bikes out for size, and then pay RRP (or near enough) over the counter.

I always make a point of having a chat the guys in any of the bike shops I frequent, build up a rapport etc. And that usually gets me better service and/or prices as and when I shop with them. It’s a 2 way thing guys… One thing I will say though, all of the bike shops I’ve shopped in over the last year or so have all been doing VERY well from polite conversation. All seem to be very busy, and selling lots of bikes all the time…

I live near 2 LBS’s – 1 has five shops ‘locally’ the other is a bloke and sometimes a mate helping him out.

I fully support the second – helpful and knowledgeable – they both offer the same discount due to my club membership.

The thing is….. do you choose to support a bloke who loves cycling and tries to make a small living from it, or a chain / online retailer who doesn’t care if you come back….. I, personnaly am torn!

I live on a fixed income of not very much (ta bankers 😈 ) so have to be very careful, but was self employed so know the facts.

If I owned a bike shop now, I would look for those 200 spokes – it’s money and would be profit – thats good 😆

“GOODRIDGE” which amused the shop assistant greatly stating my confusion as Goodrige only make brake lines and NOT gear cables, I was told to bring it in and he would clear up any confusion and identify the problem i was encountering…

Shows your LBS knows jack… (or more likely does not stock that brand so instead of just saying that, makes you out to be a thicko)

Goodridge Gear Cable Kits
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=22234

I feel that at times distributors are making it difficult for LBS’s to retain business and are forcing customers to shop online. They are doing this by demanding that the LBS place a minimum order (whether that be £ or units).
I’ve experienced this recently – About 3 weeks ago I popped to my LBS to enquire and order product X. They took my details and advised me they’d order product X for me and asked me to call back in a few days just to see if they had come in.
I called back and was told that they are waiting to make the order up as they couldn’t just order the product I wanted (total price for the 2 items would be £50 rrp).
Now it’s been 3 weeks, I need the items – I would have probably had them the next day if I’d have gone to CRC – But as I chose to support my LBS we are both being punished by the distributor

My LBS is outstanding. A true family run business, it has recently passed from Father to son, and son has expanded into the online market. SHop prices not remarkable, by which I mean not as cheap as online, but par for the course for most LBS – I always get a 10% discount for being a regular customer & member of a local bike club.

Their online prices are reasonable, and at the moment they seem to have pretty much continuous discount codes for online purchases, so much so that that I bought some Shimano MW80 online because with the discount they were offering I could get them for just over £100.
http://www.bikesyoulike.co.uk formerly known as Thatto Cycles.

Seth in ref the your OP, I understand where you are comming from, I have been on the receiving end of similarly poor customer service.

BUT IMO, the problem is not exclusive and as a former small business (shop) owner I could easily have the same rant about customers. And I’m as guilty as anyone on this scale….

I used to bend over backwards for customers, gave them a wealth of advise and help and then as soon as the big name turns up in town they get their advice (free) from me and go buy from the big guy. And suppliers did not help, two of the biggest removing my account in favour of the big boy.

Thats the way of things unfortunatly; LBS v’s Evans, Chain Reaction, Leisure Lakes, Wiggle……

These big boys are run by experienced business minds, your average LBS (for the most part) is not. Horses for courses.

Our local LBS is a case in point. I think the shop is great, fully wish them the best and hope it works for them. I hardly spend a penny in there though. My friends think its great having such a shop on our door step, I think that the range of bikes (Lapierre only) is limited, as is much of their other stock; no clothing to speak of, no shoes, and only a few helmets. I think they service a bike bettter than anyone else but thats their only benefit for me.

So, Noah’s or Evans for me for more choice etc…

I dont think the LBS has had its day, but I do think in this age of customer awareness and fast moving technology, the small business owner needs to catch up with what their customers realy want and capetalise on their benefits.

Its certainly not easy. Speaking from experience and a heavy financial loss!

The correct method of handling your call probably would have been to take your number, the spec of the item and quantity and promise to ring back before end of day.
Then, ring back within twenty mins having checked they were available to order perhaps.

But, we all know that the reality is the guys on his tod, he’s got orders to do, 14 tube changes to do, and an annoying seized bb on an old roadie.

It’s very simple for me. MTBs take a lot of maintaining and invite a lot of upgrading. If I can do a job myself i will order the part online and do it.

But there are several jobs I just don’t want to attempt: basically anything to do with suspension and hydraulic brakes. And then there are the jobs I mess up that need rescuing. That’s what I need my LBS for.

For stock, I think they should focus on:
1) common consumables, including brake pads, tubes, tyres, BBs, chains, cassettes, rings etc
2) clothes, with a changing room so you can select and buy clothes that fit
3) bikes, if they can sell them and get the markup

Ultimately the LBS is going the same way as every other small business in that it is being undercut by large corporates and the online retailers.

this is true. I’d be happy to pay premium prices and wait for stuff to come in if the service was top notch.

it is when the service is lacking you start to go elsewhere. why would you go to a shop to be talked down to, lied to or given bad advice. then you have to wait for stock and pay more.

CRC have no advice but i can work it out on here and get it next day.

I am lucky to have a few good LBS’s near.

What you lot forget is the average STW user is not indicative of the average cyclist in the UK. A lot of shops exist because their customers are not internet savvy or technically minded. When me and my 2 brothers were younger and had BMXs then mountain bikes they would regularly go to the LBS to be repaired. Dad didn’t have time to keep up with our destruction. The workshop is where a lot of these businesses make their money, not trying to compete with CRC on selling suspension forks to people like you / us.

I believe you could run a successful bike shop and not actually sell a single bike.

I believe you could run a successful bike shop and not actually sell a single bike.

I believe you could run a VERY successful bike shop, just selling bikes and servicing them. It’s the aftermarket upgrades route that LBS’s cannot compete on price or availability with the big boys.

I feel that at times distributors are making it difficult for LBS’s to retain business and are forcing customers to shop online. They are doing this by demanding that the LBS place a minimum order (whether that be £ or units).
I’ve experienced this recently – About 3 weeks ago I popped to my LBS to enquire and order product X. They took my details and advised me they’d order product X for me and asked me to call back in a few days just to see if they had come in.
I called back and was told that they are waiting to make the order up as they couldn’t just order the product I wanted (total price for the 2 items would be £50 rrp).
Now it’s been 3 weeks, I need the items – I would have probably had them the next day if I’d have gone to CRC – But as I chose to support my LBS we are both being punished by the distributor

Pretty shameful attitude by the distributor if you ask me… If they can’t be bothered to help out the smaller businesses, then you have to wonder how soon it is that they too will be out of business!

Buying in bulk saves money, of course it does, but you should never penalise someone only wanting to buy one item with total unavailability. That’s not only rude, but poor business sense to not sell something to a customer willing to pay you for it!

Buying in bulk saves money, of course it does, but you should never penalise someone only wanting to buy one item with total unavailability. That’s not only rude, but poor business sense to not sell something to a customer willing to pay you for it!

There aren’t many distributors that do that. Most will post out single items, there will be a carriage charge that in some cases will wipe out any margin on the sale though.

Well, after years of poor service in Edinburgh from the Bike Coop and Alpinebikes, I have for the last 2-3 years used The Bike Chain – as I know others do on here. ALWAYS get EXCELLENT friendly service. Not the biggest shop or range of kit, but the quality customer service makes up for that in spades. I still buy the odd thing off Wiggle or CRC if TBC don’t have what I want, but I wouldn’t go anywhere else in Edinburgh and my next bike purchase will be from them. Just helped me get some Shimano boots this morning.
So if you don’t like a bike shop’s service, head elsewhere…

Pretty shameful attitude by the distributor if you ask me… If they can’t be bothered to help out the smaller businesses, then you have to wonder how soon it is that they too will be out of business!

Not really – they have time & carriage costs to consider also, it’s not fair to treat them like mail order retailers.

I’d like to add that LBSs are staffed by people, all of whom act differently… When I work in the shop part time, I think I am very helpful. I know that there are others in the same shop who are not. And though I am pretty knowledgeable, I don’t know everything about every product in cycling – sometimes I am wrong. That is all.

Another classic at a recent 12hour event was
Punter: “Have you got any pads for an XXXX,
LBS: yes certainly they’re £14 a pair”…..
Punter: ”**** hell I get them for £11 on-line”…..
LBS: ”I think you’ll find that Wiggle don’t deliver to the forest in the middle of the night sir!”

Many thanks for that. It has cheered me up no end.

Another response could have been:
LBS: yes, so do we but then there is the special OOH delivery charge.