Is the LBS dead? I tend to buy most of my gear from the likes me CRC and Wiggle nowadays, do you think the LBS still ‘matters’ today? How can they compete with online stores? What makes a good LBS? Discuss…

if you go to Wiggle with a packet of biscuits and a sheepish grin will they squeeze your bike in for an emergency repair?

I prefer to buy anything new from the LBS if the price difference isn’t too great.

The only new things i’ve bought online recently have been heavily discounted DT forks.

An LBS actually fixes your bike, not just sells you bits to clumsily bolt on with your engineering expertise. 😛
They help you out when you need it most, fit parts for free, and have the bike shop smell. And someone to talk to about bikes!

You can look at bikes in the metal as opposed to just pictures on the net, some you can even ride!

Being within 25 miles, friendly service, knowledge and a kettle.

Biscuits earn bonus points

Letting you have a part mid ride, then paying for it on the way back past when returning home later in the day.

Having a friendly service, great bike and local trail knowledge.

Carl

Trust – one vital ingredient but it can’t be bought. e.g. I’d apprecaite a shop that rang me up to dissuss the workshop work I asked them to do when it has become more ‘complicated’ and not treat me like a free cash machine and do what they like.

Escape Route in Pitlochry has the best coffee north of Edinburgh. Always helpful. Great stock, and route guidance. Try and get that online.

Hmm… Some interesting points there. Nice to know you lot still care about the your local bike shops.

I’ve a confession to make though – I want to open up an LBS but I’m worried it wouldn’t succeed in competition with online/more established outlets.

Bit scary really! :-S

Any thoughts?

A full range of everything I want in every size / colour combination and a healthy locals only discount…….

dogthomson
Hmm… Some interesting points there. Nice to know you lot still care about the your local bike shops.

I’ve a confession to make though – I want to open up an LBS but I’m worried it wouldn’t succeed in competition with online/more established outlets.

Bit scary really! :-S

Any thoughts?

Well it doesn’t help when online giants like CRC actually go out of their way to try and crush local bike shops.

Service
Friendship
Banter
Cake
Coffee
Tea
Club like atmosphere
Good stock
Good knowledge
Looking after customers with pricing
Interesting new products
etc. etc. etc.

I am blessed with a sublime LBS in Salisbury, Stonehenge Cycles. The LBs is not dead.

Double post edit.

I would like to be able to get stuff you need and want now, chains, cables ,cassettes, BB’s ,bearings, brake pads etc. I dont want to be told “I can order it”, well so can I mate and get it cheaper & quicker than you will , I quite willing to pay a bit more for stuff if you have it on the shelf.

I love my LBS, get great advice, and abuse; tea and biscuits and knowledgeable discussion; lots of shiny things to pick up and try; staff that go out of their way to help me have the best bike for my needs at a good price. Sure I take advantage of silly offers online, but personally I like to support local shops were I can. I’d hate cycling to go the way of photography were there are no good shops in my local town, only a single chain store, manned by muppets.

I find places like CRC and Wiggle rubbish, as i’m pretty sure that once i’ve got off the phone or internet ordering my stuff with them they arn’t slagging off/making fun of my bike/clothes/skin conditions/riding skills/sexual orientation etc etc with each other in the way i would have been talked about once i’d left an LBS – and that i can abide! 😉

Being able to have a look before you buy, get good advice on whats best and also the banter thats not available online… 😀

Oh and almost forgot, they will price match CRC or even beat on some big stuff so I will be spending my hard earned dollars there all day long

Sorry i meant CAN NOT abide! I couldn’t type i was just way too angry at the polite and efficient manner of the staff at crc last when i ordered some shifters this morning.

A bit of respect & understanding for customers would go a long way rather than the often cliquey – club like – attitude

My wife was in a LBS last week looking to get me something for my birthday [tomorrow 🙂 ] she left empty handed and felt like she was a nuisance to them rather than a potential customer.

They also need to look at opening hours & tailor them to suit customers rather than themselves

A bit of respect & understanding for customers would go a long way rather than the often cliquey – club like – attitude

My lbs feels a bit like this. I wouldn’t mind but I bought the bike from them and have taken it back to them for some repairs. When I took my bike in on Fri to get the rear brake sorted as it was weeping, they noticed it was missing a spring retainer clip. When I said I was told it was ok to run it like that the guy laughed?? I wouldn’t mind it was that shop I rang up and asked to see if it would be ok and they said it would be 😆 I dont think I will be going back there!

I don’t really have an LBS anymore (not somewhere I can just pop to on the bike) so buy most of my stuff from Wiggle/CRC, it’s mostly about stock to. I don’t want to make a trip somewhere only to find out stuff needs to be ordered in. My old LBS was great though, spent many an afternoon there drinking tea and chatting away, had free or cheap repairs, could pop in in an emergency without cash and get a tube/tyre/pads etc and settle up another time, they also went out on a limb on warranty repairs (as in getting crash damage stuff done under warranty). I’d gladly pay extra for all that but the bike shops around me are mostly a bit more clinical so I may as well order online.

service is key – they often can’t compete with the likes of CRC on price so why try. mine seemed to go from bad to worse when i was trying to spec parts for a bike slowly – they took so long to sort out the rims that i found them somewhere else – didn’t call back when they said they would etc. in the end it cost them the rest of the bike – i just picked up parts elsewhere.

and a good range of clothes – i’ll happily pay retail on clothes if i can try it on first.

What makes a good LBS?

The 4 good LBSs near me (Geoffrey Butler, Bike Plus,Pearson’s, & De Ver Cycles) all have one thing in common, you have to wait endlessly for ages in a packed shop to be served on a saturday. So no, I don’t think they will die a death. The other thing all 4 have in common, is that they all give 10% discount to local CC members.

when my riding buddy left his 20mm thru-axle in his car, outside my flat, 24 miles away from lee quarry last friday, we wouldn’t have been able to just borrow one from wiggle or CRC to enable us to still ride that afternoon… ride-on in rawtenstall did just that though.
it’s that kind of thing that makes the LBS very very important to our sport/hobby/life/whatever.

unless the discounted online prices are really really too good to pass up on, then i’d rather pay a bit extra and buy from an LBS every time.

I can’t see how bike shops make a profit let alone a living. Having rented and paid business rates on a commercial property for 20 years, I feel for anyone trying to recover that, week in week out, year in year out selling and serviceing bikes. The hourly rate for bike repairs is just too low, you’d need to charge a minimum of £40.

They also need to look at opening hours & tailor them to suit customers rather than themselves

Doesn’t the fact that standard 9-5.30 opening hours are still used by a lot of small businesses indicate that there might be a problem with trying to break the mould?

Would you like to work a 12 hour shift at £6.50 an hour? Or, from an manager’s point of view, pay staff the extra? Or try and recruit from what is a pretty small pool of people who are enthusiastic, clued up, and prepared to work for peanuts, with the additional deterrent of long hours?

CRC and Wiggle don’t invite you out for a ride normally. 🙂

I have 2 fave LBS’s, both different and both very handy.

What do I like –

-getting faulty stuff looked at quickly and without any real hassle.
-not having to post stuff off when it goes wrong.
-someone to talk to about all problems biking.
-someone who will take a pair of forks in on Friday morning and have them serviced and ready for me on Saturday morning – and not charge me £80 odd for the privelege.
-someone who will take you out for a ride, show you new trails and not want any money.
-tea.
-ok so sometimes they have to order stuff in, but usually it will still be quicker than CRC who seem to have slowed down recently.
-free parking in town.

The list really is very long, the service is great and the pricing is competitive is you buy buscuits and are loyal.

That is my two penneth.

SC

Would you like to work a 12 hour shift at £6.50 an hour? Or, from an manager’s point of view, pay staff the extra? Or try and recruit from what is a pretty small pool of people who are enthusiastic, clued up, and prepared to work for peanuts, with the additional deterrent of long hours?

I thought the question was what makes a good one rather what I [or anyone else] would like to do?
Anyway, doing late openings on Thursdays seems to pay dividends for a lot of shops.

you should try running a shop 14 miles from crc, thankfully the service in their showroom sends us plenty of business. LBS business is now for the customer who likes to be looked after, likes to try things on, likes to shop!

Thankfully there are a lot of new cyclists who need advice and we’re more than happy to stay out of the price obsessed component market