So far I’ve been unable to buy
Trail King tyres.
Specific chain lube. Although they did offer an oil. (got from bike hut)
Rear light that didn’t strap to my dropper.
Nw front rings,
Expander cogs
Stans fluid. (got from bike hut)
Rim tape. (used gorilla tape)
Chainring bolts (got some from wheel spin)
Jockey wheels (sourced from wheelspin)

Am I being unreasonable to expect stuff like this to be in stock?

Depends on what type of bike shop it is and what customers they cater for, I suppose.

Your lbs might not be your nbs

You need to look at it from both sides. They need to have a good stock but you cant expect them to stock everything. My LBS holds loads of stock and anything they don’t have they can usually get within a couple of days. They are honest enough to tell me to buy it online if they cant compete on price or cant get it within a reasonable amount of time. That’s why I keep going back.

I guess it depends on whether you need stuff to be in stock, or just available in a short timeframe.

I’m increasingly using my LBS as an ordering service. My LBS is very local, though – within 3-4 minutes’ walking distance.

My most recent purchases have arrived within 24 hours, with the added benefits of: the chance to look at things and / or advice, prep when required (e.g. frame facing) and not having to collect a parcel from a depot if I wasn’t in at the time of delivery.

I’ve paid 10% more than if I’d ordered online, but I’m happy with the added services I’m getting. For brands like Surly, Hope etc – when the discount online is small – I think the model works well.

id love them to order me stuff.

id like it even more if they stocked some stuff.

Oh brake pads were another and shock hardware.

they did have some xt clipless pedals in though. So ill give them that.

Wheelspin in Huddersfield?

Good god man. If they’re keeping you happy who is this hell hole where you’re going now?

Winter shoes? No pairs at all.

I’m increasingly using my LBS as an ordering service

I use the internet for that part. It also has the advantage of delivering it to my home so I dont have to make a second visit to collect it.

The reason for using an LBS and paying the higher price is for the service and being able to walk out with your purchase. If they have to order it in I might aswell do that myself and save the money.

aye, very few visits to wheelspin but they seem ok. At least willing to help.

Bike hut also seems to have at least some stock of components (like stans, tape valves and pads etc)

Id like to use VS (the one that doesnt seem to want to stock/help) as it would mean i could pop in at lunch, buy bits without the missus knowing and have them fitted and out for the evening. Alas it seems ill be a perpetual crc customer.

LBS is where you go to get your bike serviced if you are too lazy/time poor/inept to do it yourself.

Or where you go if you just broke your last tyre lever and need a new one right now. Or if you are a beginner and into being sold whatever new bike the salesman has to hand for you to sit on.

If you actually want a specific bike/tyre/wheel/shorts in a specific size then you’ve no chance. Just google it, get it 30% cheaper and save yourself the wasted trip.

Am I being unreasonable to expect stuff like this to be in stock?

Partly yes.
We’ve certainly got most of your list in stock, but not all.
For example:
We don’t stick Conti tyres, but we’d get them in for you.
We’re a family/commuter bike shop so we don’t keep N/W rings or expander sprockets because in more than 2 years here I’ve never fitted either. But I could advise you and source both.
If you’re being super picky about chain lube that’s down to you though!

very surprised they didn’t have any jockey wheels, I usually see most LBS I’ve been in keep in some blingy Hope ones at least.

OK from a “shop” Veiw
Trail King tyres.
With loads of “brands” out there maybe not, but should able to offer something else, but then when you ad in 3 BASIC wheel sizes. then types of riding, XC enduro, DH, then top end price, middle price, it is very hard to have all in stock. and a lot of money tied up, But be able to order in.

Specific chain lube. Although they did offer an oil.
No chain oil at all, of any brand? if so, poor,

Rear light that didn’t strap to my dropper.
not many light come with small clamps these days, would of thought you be able to fit a light to the non moving part if the post close to the frame

Nw front rings, yes, but chances are not the size the customer wants.
Expander cogs yes, but its “moved on” where you can get 10spd cassettes with big sprockets, or people going 11spd so demand is less, so prob not stock again when sold through.

Stans fluid. yes (or some brand)
Rim tape. yes
Chainring bolts. yes
Jockey wheels. yes

As they say “can’t please everyone all of the time” also as stated above really depends on the shop if they more road or MTB and size.

Never used VS since I asked my wife to call in and get some inner tubes with schrader valves.

He told her no such product existed and sold her a couple of presta ones instead.

It would be easier with things like nw rings if there wasn’t at least six different fitting standards, also boost spacing, then at least three or four popular sizes and then maybe oval, in a variety of colours…..most shops just can’t afford to have thirty or forty rings just sitting around for ages, ordering what a customer wants is far more efficient. Not always great for the customer but if you extrapolate outwards for various components it’s a lot of money invested in stock that you might have for a year or more before then selling it cheap as something new appears, very hard to balance.

Bob at Velocity is one of the few bike mechanics I’ll happily let work on my bikes. He’s generally got very low or no stock of parts but will order anything in required or will tell you to buy it online and he’ll fit it for a small charge.

VS seems to do more trade in road bikes than MTB, but his spannering on my MTBs has been spot on

Never used VS since I asked my wife to call in and get some inner tubes with schrader valves.

He told her no such product existed and sold her a couple of presta ones instead.

I’ve used VS for the last 8 years and that doesn’t ring true for Bob to say that at all.

One of my LBSs has all of those in stock, except for the tyres because they stock better ones 😆 . They also have great staff and cracking cake.

This is Banjo Cycles, Newbury, btw.

Cokie, you might want to mention to them that their website seems to indicate they have no products at all as I couldn’t find a single product on the site. Obviously I didn’t check everything but probably worth checking out.

For me the LBS customer experience has to now include friendliness & flexibility. If you go in asking for something and the answer is a gruff ‘no’ then it’s no wonder people don’t come back. But if it’s a ‘no, but….’ + some helpful suggestions and options then at least the relationship is there.

I’ve tried to build a relationship with my LBS, even bought a bike from him but you would have thought I’d asked for a go on his wife instead. the surly git.

I’ve used VS for the last 8 years and that doesn’t ring true for Bob to say that at all.

Was a lot more than 8 years ago, I would reckon about 2003, possibly earlier.

Maybe new owners since then?

Rear light that didn’t strap to my dropper.
not many light come with small clamps these days, would of thought you be able to fit a light to the non moving part if the post close to the frame

Doesn’t everyone stock Moon lights these days? 😉
All their rears can be attached to the saddle rails. Bingo!

Cokie, you might want to mention to them that their website seems to indicate they have no products at all as I couldn’t find a single product on the site. Obviously I didn’t check everything but probably worth checking out.

I know, it’s a shame! That same issues applies to many great LBSs. I suppose they either don’t think it’s cost effective, or aren’t aware of what’s possible.

I know a few LBS owners on here whos site could benefit from an overhaul. Even if it’s a simple webpage of all brands stocked, and that they hold accounts with, it would be an improvement.

The world has moved one due to the internet when it comes to Retail.

We want all the choice at the lowest price now.

For just walking into an LBS (or even an Evans etc.) my expectations wouldn’t go beyond them having some lube or some tyres in the right size. They should definitely have consumables like rim tape. Whether I’d expect the chainrings, cassette etc. depends very much on the shop. I doubt very much that the one closest to my house would even have heard of them!

Was a lot more than 8 years ago, I would reckon about 2003, possibly earlier.

Maybe new owners since then?

You’ve managed to belittle a guys current business based on something that happened 13 years ago and you weren’t in the shop at the time and have no clue if it was anything to do with the guy who owns it now.

I could understand chipping in with that if that was a recent issue, but that was ages ago.
Anecodotes like that can harm businesses that rely on word of mouth.

Suppose im asking too much,

I will say though that the guy in the shop is a lot more amenable than he used to be. Even chatty last time i went in (and bought nothing 🙁 )

Interesting. Another “from the LBS” reply here – from a small mostly-workshop LBS that mainly deals with road and commuters, in other words we’re not an out-of-town bike supermarket:

Specific chain lube – if you mean lube that is specifically for chains, most LBSs should stock SOMETHING that fits the bill – we hold at least three kinds (wet, dry and in-between, and sometimes ceramic in summer) but only one brand. If you were after a specific brand of chain lube, you’re going to be very lucky to turn up to an LBS you’ve never been to before and find out they stock the one you want if you haven’t done any previous research (look at that brand’s stockist listing on the brand’s website – or phone the shop!).

NW rings – as someone else has said, with the different BCDs, different tooth counts and even different colours, only a big LBS that specialises in mountain bikes is likely to keep a decent stock of these. Most should be order one for you though.

Expander cogs – see above, though perhaps fewer options a bit of a niche product, especially if the store doesn’t do a lot of MTB.

Stans fluid – we don’t stock it because it doesn’t behave well with CO2 inflators, which many of our customers use instead of a compressor or a home-made air charger. We sell the SlimePro stuff instead because it works with CO2, although if someone _really_ wants Stans we can order it from them.

Rim tape – that’s a standard. Every LBS should stock that, in at least couple of widths, and probably some tubeless too.

Chainring bolts – I’m surprised they didn’t have any of those, unless you wanted something weird or a particular colour.

Jockey wheels – again, most LBS will keep a few of those but if you want something very specific or niche, phone ahead.

Did you phone the LBS before turning up? If customers turn up at our shop without knowing anything about it we’re used to politely managing their expectations (no, we don’t sell bikes / clothing, but we can recommend a couple of friendly bike shops not far away who do). However, as a customer if I wanted a particular brand or a slightly niche or unusual (or retro) part that, realistically, is only held in stock by a handful of shops in the country, I’d make sure I phoned the shop first to ask them about what they keep in stock, to ensure I didn’t have a wasted journey!

Ninja edit (because I’ve just seen Andy’s reply 3 minutes before mine ) – I would like to point out that I’d never try and make the customer feel stupid because we don’t have what they want in stock. We’ll always try and help them out (including recommending where they could buy it online, if necessary). It’s only the few times that I’ve had someone saying something like “why don’t you have four 650c Continental Grand Prix tubulars in stock today? Call yourself a bike shop?” that I feel I have to point out that they could have saved themself a journey by phoning ahead…

Thinking back to when I worked in a lbs in the early 90s (helping out when they were busy, during the school holidays), so was so much less choice then. No disc brakes, few suspension forks, one bb size, two headset standards, one wheel size, no tubeless, etc, etc. It’s just not realistic for an independent shop to stock the range of parts necessary for modern mtbs.

the lbs is there when you need stuff in an emergency, stuff that might prevent me from riding that day; rim tape, fluid, gear cable etc. for these consumables i dont really mid paying inflated prices… all that other stuff you can usually do without for a few days…

I guess if we want our local bike shops to be there to help us out in a fix, when we need a cable or an inner tube or some kind of generic essential, we need to give them a chance of surviving by asking if they can order things in for us before buying online, so they’re there to help us out – and maybe advise on the parts they order too.

Can’t remember where I last saw Conti’s in stock, expensive and fragile mostly so not something you want to be selling 😉
Lube? Can’t stock every brand, most will pick a job lot supplier of what is popular (you get a deal from someone for taking it all + display stand etc.)
Light for dropper? Did they have only one? My LBS’s have a selection or various lights at different prices though fitting to dropper’s isn’t always easy (all mine strap around the seat tube rather than post)
Fluids etc. again No Stans or no Tubeless sealant – normally I’d guess what they stock in the workshop is what they sell.

It’s probably past the point for a lot of shops these days, the best deals online are never going to be matched but general online can be people just need to go and ask. Interesting watching people in a shop these days, a lot are very non commital, don’t want to be talked to and certainly won’t ask if they can’t see anything – one local shop kept pads in a box out the back as they were short on shelf space, same with a lot of conumables, the internet has left people unable to ask etc.

My LBS had a customer who ordered some rims and hubs on special for him to build – no real issues the price was better than trade. He dropped the box off with the rest of the CRC receipt accidentally left in, they rattled through and reckoned they could have matched or got close on most of the order – just nobody asked they just assumed.

See the threads “Where to buy [generic small part]” the simple answer is generally any shop with a Shimano/SRAM account will either have one or get one, nobody is going to list them all and maintain a stock level count online.

Rear light that didn’t strap to my dropper.

Our madison rep said such a thing didn’t exist & then got all huffy when i showed him 3 different solutions online

stock winter shoes

And become a trying on service for the online boys who discount even before the model year has started at a price below trade?

Velocity cycles are good but don’t hold much stock. I’ve bought from there and will again but it’s nice to browse sometimes and they don’t have enough stuff to do that for more than 20 seconds!
Not a fan of Wheelspin, been going in there on and off for 20+ years and they never have what I wanted and service has never been great. Been trading for a long time so must be getting something right for some people.

Oh brake pads were another and shock hardware.

Shock hardware? I wouldn’t expect shops to carry this as a stock item. I’m guessing 9o% of shock servicing is done by shops & you’d expect to wait a few days for your service appointment, time enough to get routine bits in.

Unless they have “[your brand] service centre” signs in the window & you bought your shocks from them …

My LBS is pretty good for all things ‘consumable’. In fact excellent in fact, however, it is bloody expensive (read Std RRP).

alot of what is said here is true, from both sides of an conversation.

admission first, i own my own shop. i say this so you can get my stand point

expecting a shop to have everything, no chance, the bike trade is a nightmare! that NW ring, as has been said, BCD? size? colour? oh and not forgetting how many people make the damn things! most of which aren’t the current fashion brand after a week! not to mention you see it advertised etc before sometimes its available.

but that’s not my point here, there are mistakes made on both sides of the shop counter and with mail order companies aswel this is a hard trade to compete in, not that i’m expecting you to get the violin out and play a sad tune! i made this choice . . . oh god . . . i did!what was i thinking?!!

anyway, i had 16 years in the bike trade, all in LBS places, i left for a well paid chemical plant job, got made redundant then started my own shop 8 months ago.

i set my stall out to try and solve a few of the common issues but i’ll be honest, as always, and tell you that i don’t expect one of you here on this website to ever walk through my door.

why you may ask? simple, CRC, wiggle, merlin etc, frankly they all do a great job, they have a huge amount of stock and can afford to buy the new bling parts in bulk before i know i need them sometimes! But, and here it is, the “But”, i’m not catering to you, shops have stopped catering to you (the singletrack massive) why? because you don’t pay our wages like back in the day. most high end customers use mail order companies and it makes sense that you do (and i don’t begrudge you for it) you guys know an awful lot and i bet a fair proportion of you can pretty much service a bike as well or better than most shop mechanics so you can buy your parts at the cheapest online shop and there’s no issue for you, however you may still buy your top end bike from a shop, but wait, now there is Canyon and YT selling direct, not to mention the big companies sending the bike fully set up to ride straight out the box, and with demo days you now don’t need to test ride the exact bike.

everyone keeps saying the internet has changed the market place, they are so correct, it has. everyone wants it faster, cheaper etc, and cheaper seems to be the driving force more than anything, i get that, we’re all on limited funds still trying to get the best thing we can. this however means that alot of shops have tried to avoid having the in shop conversation about matching CRC’s price etc, how do they do this? simple, aim for a different customer, one that doesn’t know CRC even exists.

and this is where i came in, i started a small repair shop, i don’t sell bikes, that is the item that costs the most and you make the least on and people expect the most discount on, and you need a sizable premises to house them, = staff and utility costs, i don’t stock clothes or shoes, why? internet sells them way cheaper than i can and i don’t want to be a try it on station for mail order, so what does this leave me with?

Workshop and accessories.

i think long term bike shops will be like some car garages, you pay a higher labour rate but the prices for parts are almost no mark up.

but in the mean time my aim is to stock a good amount of spares for people with bikes up to about £500 rrp, this sounds like i’m dismissing most of you here on this forum, and i suppose i am a bit. but the customer i’m aiming for is generally a decent customer who pays their bill with no quibbling and is happy their bike is back on the road. this means that i actually might make a living rather than just turning over cash by constant discounting, this is because they buy basic stuff and are willing to pay for labour costs because they can’t or don’t want to do the job themselves, and that is what it is all about being paid to do something that someone else can’t/won’t do (in any trade, i don’t want to fix my toilet when it dies so i call a plumber, also i don’t know how to fix it so i have to, i then pay his labour price).

for the record though, i don’t completely dismiss the higher end customer, i am that customer myself, i have shop rides (even now in the winter which is a more high end rider and alot now use me) i do stock spares like jockey wheels, various shimano, hope and sram and bbb for emergencies or old school mechs, i stock a fair amount of chainrings from shimano, fsa and stronglight aswel as some NW rings from hope and raceface, i stock as many of the popular brake pads as i can and i currently have 9 options on chain lube from 4 brands. regarding tyres, i stock alot but i get a mix of basic to mid range for the local mountain bikers and then loads of hybrid tyres for the local commuters, the conti tyres you like i can get next day but i’d be honest enough to tell you to buy mail order or attempt to do a deal on them as i expect if i’m going to order them they would need to be competitive on price for the wait.

regarding mail order in any form of retail, it’s there, it will always be there, customers have demanded through their buying habits that it is now the normal way to shop, i don’t begrudge that but you should ask yourself should you expect everything you want to be in your local shop at the price you want to pay? shops stock what they can sell, if they can’t sell it then it won’t be there, like the shop eventually.

my main aim in my little shop is to be able to fix anything that can be fixed, in a sensible timescale with a smile on my face with a bill that doesn’t leave you the customer feeling anally abused with no lube and me with a little money in my pocket for my life to continue, and i think that is a fair way to do it.

and for the record this isn’t a rant, i hope it comes across as an explanation as to how the trade has changed over the years, some of you get it, some of you won’t or don’t care, and i wouldn’t expect to change your mind but sometimes it’s worthwhile giving the guy behind the counter a little thanks as he’s on crappy wages but he likes the job he does.

🙂

I understand that the role of the LBS is changing. However its not my issue.

Just for the record, yes i did phone up in advance. They often told me where to buy it from if they didn’t have it in stock.

Not used velocity but ive heard decent things. Its just a shame that theres a shop where i can walk to, could pay cash in and deals with bikes but i cant get bits. Ill ask specifically to order something in next time.

Labour and consumables, there’s still money there. Why bother with the rest of it? If the bike’s in and needs a spare part, the (real world non stw) bike owner will happily take your advice and wait while you source, order, fit it and mark it up appropriately.

Since when did RRP become ‘inflated prices’?