How to local bike shops survive

Workshops, tyres, tubes, and the odd sale usually of a low end bike.

The locals around here have it tough.  You’ve got Terry Wrights in Peterborough who most of the serious riders go to, or Rutland, who are fast becoming a big chain and do a lot with hire due to their locations.

There’s one shop in Stamford, and he’s part of Pell And Parker / Richardsons so it’s all Oxford, Raleigh, and the associated brands, with the odd Kross if you want something more flashy.

Most of his customers come in wanting something they’ve seen in Halfords or Rutland and they simply don’t stock it, or can’t compete, so it’s all servicing work and accesories.

The previous guy in there had been there for ages, good guy and known to a lot of local cyclists, the new guy is an ex Rutland Mechanic and is handy, and rides to boot.

I can’t imagine it’s cheap to operate in a retail environment, especially in a place like Stamford, but they keep on keeping on.  Probably due to relatively terrible pay of the employees.

I know he did a repair on a Kona a few months ago now and it’s still sat in there not collected, because the bloke doesn’t want to pay for the new brake he had to fit, or the labour that went with it.  That’s a sharp bill to take for a small shop.

I’d say their days are numbered, and that makes me sad.

As I do repairs and sell the odd used bike, I try and support them where I can with buying nick-naks from them.  Unfortunately they seldom have what I need unless I’m in a hurry for a tube, or some tyres for a twenty or something.

I don’t see how a workshop only lbs will survive either, imo people just won’t pay labour rates for work done that will provide a reasonable income.

Easy. The vast majority of “people who cycle” are exactly the same as the vast majority of “people who drive” or “people who have central heating”. They use the item (bike/car/boiler). They know or care nothing about how it works and if/when it breaks they take it to someone who knows or call in someone who knows.

This website is a niche within a niche and while it seems that many people on here will happily strip a set of forks or replace wheel bearings, that job is way beyond the ability (or level of caring) of most people. It’s further complicated by the proliferation of “standards” now. The days when you needed a few basic tools are gone; you may end up needing any one of half a dozen BB tools or other specialist items and it becomes easier to just take it to the shop!

Just need to charge corkage on parts and get customers to order on crc. Save hours selling, explaining, ordering and get rid of cash flow holes. Then focus on paid workshop.

As above – direct to customer and online cannot fix / service. Focus on what they can’t do. Plenty of technical people with no time or just want piece of mind.

Other ideas:

* Start doing subscription packages for unlimited indexes and brake bleeding kind of thing for guaranteed money.

* Push customers to CRC directly from own site and take in affiliate commission for referring sales, in addition to charging corkage.

<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 16px; background-color: #eeeeee;”>What none of them do is aim at the STW type owners except ronde who are a coffee shop with a few overpriced bike bits. </span>

A good coffee shop and sell high end bike stuff.

They target a market as do gamma transport division

After visiting my mate in his new workshop only business at the weekend, I’d say that is definitely the way forward.

Previously he worked as head mechanic for the local high end shop which went bust just before Xmas. He was allowed to take the tools and with a bit of funding from friends he’s now doing a storming trade on his own. He has minimal overheads because he only carries the bare minimum of stock (cables, chains and so on). He actively encourages people to shop online and have the bits delivered to him to fit. He’s not held to any specific make or brand of bike/part and because he makes no profit, people ask for advice knowing they’ll get impartial recommendations, rather than whatever has been sat on the shelf the longest. His rent is minimal because he moved out of town and has a small unit on a farm – no rates because it’s under a certain size and people are happy to travel out to him to drop off/pick up. He also collects bikes when necessary.

In his first month, he’s done 3x what he was making previously and because other than workshop space he has few costs, that revenue converts pretty nicely to profit. Keeping in mind it’s January too and most of his marketing has been done by Facebook, it’s amazing the success he’s had.

It helps that he’s a bloody good mechanic and he’s also based somewhere quiet affluent where people are happy to pay to have their bikes fixed. However I’ve always worked on my own bikes but I’m happy to drop it off to him as it’s like getting a new bike every time I pick it up.

Problem is that if it were to end up with just lbm’s (local bike mechanics) in the town it would only be a matter of time before CRC and others just open up their own cheap overly competitive bike maintenance store and under cut the experienced mechanics by using non skilled cheap labour (see decathlon etc).
If I remember wiggle had a bike servicing outlet in Homebase a while back. Shut down pretty quickly but you can see they are keeping their eyes open.

Just need to charge corkage on parts and get customers to order on crc. Save hours selling, explaining, ordering and get rid of cash flow holes. Then focus on paid workshop.

Have you see the what fits threads on here, how much do you charge to explain what the right bits are, tell them to send them back and reorder them?

CRC/Wiggle are cheaper when they want to be, a LBS with fitting should be able to get close on some items if the people above want to make it work. Most people however don’t want to ask.

Green wheel cycles are pretty good.

Rutland are terrible at customer service but have good stock.

Terry Wright have the best service – that’s why people go back.

>If I remember wiggle had a bike servicing outlet in Homebase a while back.

They did and it failed. Ours lasted maybe 3 months.

Ben, that’s quite an odd statement even for someone in the trade. You cater to a very niche corner of the market and have heavy machining facilities, win! Carl at Bikelove 2 doors down used to offer high end and now seems to be a workshop, probably picking up some of the trade from the departed Alpine. Gear still offer high end stuff as well as decent quality base models. Dales are an established name and offer the full spectrum. In the south side you have Willy Bain doing workshop only (and nice enough to lend me a suitable sized socket to dismantle my bombers once) with a decent array of spares and tools and a decent waiting list. Craig McMartin may or may not still have an internet business and out in the sticks you have big Al at Wheelcraft. Sure its tough but Glasgow has a decent selection of good shops that aren’t inhabited by gobby gits.

Can think of a few butchers and grocers in your radius too.

Before on-line, it was mail order.

Same problem, different technology.

No ones getting rich with just a workshop, mechanics salaries are barely above minimum wage, and rents are too high in decent locations. The market is caught between those who do their own servicing and those who simply don’t use their bikes enough for it to need work.

In the Netherlands there are workshops at all of the major train stations, even there they have lots of work but always have a whiff of desperation.

No you don’t do well out of just a workshop.  People want bikes fixed, but don’t want to pay for it.  We got slagged off on Facebook this week for asking for £4 to swap two cassettes on two wheels.  He just walked in with his wheels and expected it to be done there and then for free as it was just a quick and easy job.  He said he’d do it himself if he had the tools.  True, but he didn’t have the tools and we did.

Folks with high end bikes tend to do most work themselves, and the majority of people who ride regularly for commuting don’t understand why it could cost £100 to service a bike that they bought 2 years ago on Gumtree for £30.  They don’t get that chains, cassettes, chainrings, brake blocks etc wear out and need replaced, and wheel rims don’t last forever.  I currently have over £600 of repairs waiting to be collected from more than 6 months ago and I can guarantee the owners have abandoned them and got something else from Gumtree.

I think decline in bike shops is the fault of keen cyclists just like those of us who inhabit this site. When you have a group of people (us) who understand the myriad new standards, can undertake the vast majority of mechanical tasks and are prepared to thoroughly research the options before buying a new bike, then the requirement for expert advice diminishes. When I got my first MTB (in 1989, shudder) I was never out of the local shop, bugging them for advice or stroking the latest shiny stuff. Now I know my passion inside out I only pop in occasionally and frankly the shop itself has moved on to a different customer base.

The more casual cyclist or commuter is in need of all the advice and mechanical know how a LBS can offer and it’s them who are keeping the shops alive.

That probably accounts for 1% of the decline. Vast majority of people who ride bikes are not that interested.

But the vast majority don’t care enough to differentiate between Tesco, Halfords and the LBS.

As less LBS’s are available it’s just easier for them to pick up a bike when they are doing the food shopping… Our local Halfords is next to Asda.. our LBS closed last year sometime… (though it was a Bikes Direct) and Evans is still here but no parking.

<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 12px; background-color: #eeeeee;”>Have you see the what fits threads on here, how much do you charge to explain what the right bits are, tell them to send them back and reorder them?</span>

Most of the money is in box stock mid/low end bikes with cheap (acera) level stuff and people generally don’t dick around with non-standard upgrades. So as long as they speak to you first, it’s less than 5 minutes to find the right part.

Most of them will be on QR or nutted wheels and (probably) 1″ headsets!

[Waffle]My interactions with Southampton LBSs have been very sporadic over the last ~20 years…

Hargroves have had most of my business, buying a Principia RSL road bike and a runaround Rideback hybrid from their old Bitterne store, then ~10 years later a bargain Tricross Singlecross from their Millbrook Rd West store. Bought a few consumables, but not much, now both stores are gone and the closest is in Totton (which I’ve yet to visit). If I’d been more decisive last year, I could have got my carbon Cube road bike from them for £1k, same as online… But they ran out of stock before I increased my budget.

Dave Harding Cycles in Woolston was so enthuistic when I was looking for a new road bike, but his stock for my budget were not brands I was familiar with, so I ended up just buying bits like Time ATAC XS carbon pedals and Shimano shoes (which still both get use 12 years on). I’m not when, but at some point, the shop closed (but I think the racing team is still running).

Cycleworld (now rebranded the Giant Store) in Thornhill has never been more than a place to get the odd consumable for me, even though I liked some of their bikes (but not their recent “Conduct” hybrid hydraulic system), because their prices were always way beyond my budget. They were a friendly bunch when I took my Wazoo up there to fit my On One carbon fat fork last year, with a new headset bought from them, but I’ve not been back since because I’ve not needed much bike gear.[/waffle]

Especially in recent years, I’ve had very little disposable income compared to many, so I have to hunt out the bargains online to get the most I can for my money. Even though this increases the risk that one day there might not be any LBS around here to fit new parts for me, do a bike service etc.

 the majority of people who ride regularly for commuting don’t understand why it could cost £100 to service a bike that they bought 2 years ago on Gumtree for £30.  They don’t get that chains, cassettes, chainrings, brake blocks etc wear out and need replaced, and wheel rims don’t last forever.

Good point that, I know our LBS have had to advise people not to bother with the repairs on well worn cheap BSOish bikes – what’s the point shelling out £150 – £200 for new drivetrains, wheels, brakes etc when you can buy a whole new BSO to replace it for less than £100? Effectively at that end of the market, with complete “bikes” so cheap compared to the cost of individual parts, bikes are becoming a disposable commodity.

Ben, that’s quite an odd statement even for someone in the trade

I was probably in a bit of a cynical mood! Lots of shops have gone, those that have survived have got a good niche, though I know it’s also not easy at the moment for some of those who are still going. 30% fewer bikes were sold in 2017 compared to 2016.