Forum menu
I work for a large German tyre manufacturer, and we can get the tyres at "trade + VAT" and it's only 1-2 pounds less per tyre than the german sites like bike-discount, rose etc..
And that's at 1.28 Euro's to the £ now... Was as high as 1.44 to the £ at Christmas, which meant everything was cheaper from Europe than anyone in the UK could supply it at by some margin!
Deviant, To some extent that is happening, within the bike trade there are some shops pulling the plug on selling bikes and fancy goods, then putting more into the workshop, however "Paid/Guided rides", don't think so, lots of shops put on bike rides for free so I can't see that happening, so that leaves all the little bits, like the spokes, rear mech hangers, tubes and the like, you know, there is quite a lot of parts on bikes, chain rings change formats like the weather, mech hangers go into the hundreds, spokes much the same, and here is the thing, lots of money held in low £ goods, with bigger costs per square foot vs a mail order warehouse, good help us if we don't have the part in stock when you do finally decide to give us your business.
...there is quite a lot of parts on bikes, chain rings change formats like the weather, mech hangers go into the hundreds, spokes much the same, and here is the thing, lots of money held in low £ goods, with bigger costs per square foot vs a mail order warehouse, good help us if we don't have the part in stock when you do finally decide to give us your business.
There are also companies that support LBSs. You can't buy Spesh or Bontrager tyres from any of the larger online retailers, and while I have no particular loyalty to or love for either Specialized or Trek, I do like the current Specialized tyres. The fact they're £30-35 and I can pop over to my LBS at lunch and get a cup of tea added to the bargain is great.
As has been said on here several times there is a place for the LBS, but a lot of them will need to change quite drastically to survive. It's a tough market out there.
There are also companies that support LBSs. You can't buy Spesh or Bontrager tyres from any of the larger online retailers
True, but those suppliers are far and between, besides we can't all be Specialized dealers, big brands give an area to a dealer, not that I would want to sell Spech, although they are easy to sell to golfers and estate agents, bit like Cannonade.
FWIW, you can get all the Trek/Bontrager stuff from Evans. I'd say that they were one of the larger online retailers (though mibbe not in the same league as Chiggle)
True, but those suppliers are far and between, besides we can't all be Specialized dealers, big brands give an area to a dealer, not that I would want to sell Spech, although they are easy to sell to golfers and estate agents, bit like Cannonade.
That's a valid point and one I should have thought of. The shop I worked in stopped carrying Spesh because of their bike purchase demands - ie we couldn't sell as many bikes as they wanted us to. As it happens I asked my LBS about this the other day; they have a good relationship and while a figure is agreed to on paper, it doesn't always happen in the real world, and if it doesn't there are no repercussions.
I am aware though that this is the upside of a long and good relationship, dealing with a larger company and having the area contract.
So in short - yes. Point taken.