Supporting LBS – How much more to pay over and above internet prices?

Want to give LBS business but it’s just too expensive to justify and extra £100 for Shimano 105 groupset.

They’ve been very good to get back to me quickly with a quote of £400 for the groupset and have said they’ll include the removal of my current campag cranks (I don’t have the tools for this). I could get a 105 groupset online for just under £300 but to be fair I don’t know what I should expect to pay for the removal of the cranks, surely not £100?

To what extent would it be worth haggling on this? I don’t want them to be out of pocket but nor can I afford to pay so much extra if I don’t absolutely have to.

Does this include fitting?

Have you gone back to them and said “I’d really like to spend the money with you, but you’re £100 more expensive, can you come down at all?”.

if that’s fitted, sounds about right.

£100 more for something costing a few hundred quid is a lot of money and I must admit, I love using my LBS because they give me a discount, I can have a wander, spend even more on stuff thats on offer, have a chat etc etc but you’ve got to draw the line somewhere. It seems to be an issue with Shimano stuff especially that theres a lot of unboxed stuff floating around from mainland Europe/grey imports.

It would have been £450 to include fitting.

Njee20 that’s what I’ll do. I’m just trying to figure out what’s reasonable.

 I’m just trying to figure out what’s reasonable.

Only you can answer that. If you have a good lbs, then use it or lose it. The Internet might be cheaper but it ain’t great at sorting out problems.

The internet is the best resource there has ever been for solving problems.
I rebuilt my car engine after a Cam belt failure this year purely by asking the internet. I had never even removed a wheel before I started.

Will usually go to 10% above The Internet Price

Worth it though if only for the fettling advice

Rocketman – you would pay 10% over internet prices or you would expect them to accept 10% over internet prices?

Shimano kit online is often cheaper than an LBS can get it for (i.e., less than trade price from the distributor). Have a look at the RRP for the kit so you can see how good the deal they have offered is.

Hundred quid buys a lot of tools

We tend to agree on what The Internet Price is which eliminates any OEM deals or we-havent-actually-got-any-but-we-could-order-it-for-you offers

if the lbs can’t get anywhere near it then they’re happy to say so and we both move on. Otherwise there’s a potential sale and we take it from there

My LBS is fairly pragmatic about it, they know I know what to buy and can fit stuff my self so would say buy it online, someone else without either the skill or inclination gets to pay for their knowledge and time.

If you know what you want, know where to buy it and know how to fit it, just buy it as cheaply as you can.

I agree with DBW

Im fed up of being fobbed off and given timescales that never work out by lbs’, recommended unsuitable products and waiting patiently while staff finish their chats with colleagues and pally customers. The Internet is cheaper, more competitive and efficient, more professional and saves so much time. Sorry lbs, you’re dumped.

For me it would entirely depend on the situation- How much money do I currently have in the bank, what else do I need money for this month, how likely is the part to go wrong, can I fit and fix the part myself etc.
If it was me buying that groupset, I’d buy it online.

OP if its Hollowtech II is shamefully easy to remove and fit. Most of the modern kit is plug n play- its childs play literally. I remember once a LBS chap was complaining that he could never get a front mech set up quite right so I had a go- minutes it took me, front and rear. It aint car mechanics and even that- with tuition we could all do. We are bloody smart enough. Getting involved in your bikes makes you appreciate them more. Its a more involved-hobby than drop off/pick up post-new bit fitted.

Ok so say I buy the groupset online which I must admit I’m more inclined to do, I’m left with the issue of removing the campag crank arms. I’m not going to buy the tools because they’re extortionate and I’m not going to do a bodged removal because I need to sell the cranks and don’t want to damage them. Here I do need the local bile shop but they’re going to think I’m a total **** for buying elsewhere and getting them to just do that bit. How much should I expect to pay for that? <£30? It’s not difficult but I appreciate there is the 10 minutes to do it and the outlay on their tools to recover plus overheads etc.

How much should I expect to pay for that?

packet of biscuits should cover it…

Pay Evans Cycles to remove = £11.50.

Go home fit yours.

Sorry I don’t ‘support’ a business that is there to make money/make a profit when I’m taxed to death. Harsh but I give charity to those that actually need it. Flame me 😀

Err……

I don’t know what I should expect to pay for the removal of the cranks, surely not £100?

removing some campag cranks is near-impossible w/o a specialist tool that isn’t cheap.

Hora I’ve no issues with fitting/removing everything on the bike although I’m pretty bad for forgetting to maintain things along the way. It’s the outlay for campag specific tools that has put me off this single task. It’d cost me about over £80 just for the tools to remove the cranks and then I’d never use them again as I wouldn’t go back to campag again.

I shop at/with..not ‘support’.

Echo the above that online prices are close to / better than Madison’s best trade prices to your LBS.

But Madison’s landed cost when buying from Shimano… that’s pretty shocking 😉

It’d cost me about over £80 just for the tools to remove the cranks and then I’d never use them again as I wouldn’t go back to campag again.

You’d get £60 for them if you sold them on surely?
I won’t pay through the nose for the pleasure of using a LBS. If I **** something up, I’ll take it in and they’ll charge me a fair price to put it right which is the risk I’m happy to take.

I have removed my Power-Torque crank a few tiems using a pulley remover, a g-clamp and two ring spanners. A little tricky, not ideal, but there’s no way I was going to buy a very expensive tool just for that !

I also have no intention of ever buying Campag stuff if they keep doing stupid things like this.

Shimano stuff in an LBS sometimes is outrageous (£70 for an XT cassette! 😯 ). They mostly seem to have cheap deals with SRAM, which suits me as I’m SRAM mainly (I only go with the XT because one of my hubs that has “compatibility issues” with SRAM).

Really depends how much more the shop price is and how much I like the shop. I do like to support good ones, but there are limits.

Often if I buy in an LBS at a bit of a premium it’s because I’m desperate. Sometimes I’ll buy something on impulse though depending on price and push for a price match or at least something near to a sensible price. Clothing, knee pads, gloves etc I might consider from a shop as can try them on.

The best deal with an LBS for me is bikes themselves. In particular ex-demo, second hand or discounted old models. Can get a good deal, and even if it’s technically second hand it will also be serviced & warrantied and sorting things out is a trip to the shop for a chat. If you’re paying a lot you may be able to get sweeteners on the deal, upgrading components or chuck in extra cheap or free for example.

Don’t haggle just buy bits like that online and get the LBS to fit it, maybe ask for a post winter service , even if its something you could do yourself, workshop is where the profit is at at.

why would they think you an idiot for saving £100? Just go in, explain that it was a bit too much but you’er willing to pay for the Campag cranks to be removed. And hope they don’t charge you £100.

I’m with Hora on this one, it’s my money, not someone who want’s to run a bike shops, I’ll buy it from the cheapest place and fit it myself.

LBS’s seem to be a bit of a cult. I went back to sailing last year after a geographicaly enforced 10 year break and a broken arm enforced break from cycling. Frankly I was amazed that I could go into a Chandelry and buy bits at near internet prices, have access to their tools, bits from the spares bin, a hand with heavy jobs and occasionaly actual freebies, and never have to cross the owners palm with a packet of hobnobs or spend years buying parts exclusively from him to reach that point. Last week I turned up with the boat on the trailer the day before a race, went in for a bit, fitted it, realised I neeed a few more bits, borrowed their drill, a few ft of rope from the spares bin, etc etc etc. Can you imagine an LBS being that accomodating!

LBS you’re paying for someones laminate floor and well lit showroom.

If a spit’n’sawdust LBS opened up and sold brake pads for superstar prices I’d shop there all the time. But all those overheads are useless to me, I want to enjoy riding my bike, ‘shopping’ is a purely functional activity to facilitate that!

We tried starting up a (motorcycle) old school (tea, coffee, biscuits…) LBS a few years ago and it didn’t work. I got f-ed off with people mooching in asking for prices on stuff then coming back a week or so later to say that they’d found it online for such-and-such a price and could I match it. I had no problem with fitting parts they’d sourced themselves but couldn’t fit due to lack of tools or whatever. Our time was where we made the ‘extra’ that made it worth staying open. Generally, bricks and mortar shops can’t match t’interweb prices or if they try to they sharp go under. I made no apologies for not being prepared to not be able to put food on the table (seriously, it was that close to the bone sometimes) to people who just didn’t get it.

If you like that it’s an LBS (the main thing there being the ‘L’ bit) and would like them to be able to stay ‘L’, then just ask if they’d be ok to remove the crank and pay for the work they do. There’s no need to tell them you’ve bought the stuff elsewhere.

Exactly, no problem just being a customer and saying you want x-y-z job done, no excuses or chatter on buying parts required.

Buy off t’net, fit yourself, put 50 quid in the LBS letter box to make you feel better. You’re 50 quid up and have resolved your moral dilemma.

I another who doesn’t like the term ‘support’ that’s what football fans do when they’re buying £70 nylon t-shirt to look like the players who despise them, oh and pay their stupid wages.

I buy a lot more from them than I did a few years ago, it’s a bit like my line of work – I recognise the value in their expertise – they’ve talked me out of some expensive mistakes and into buying decent robust long lasting kit, the work they do it perfect – I can do most things bar wheel building but they’re neater than me and don’t need a second go of it like I do sometimes.

It would be a shame if the LBS as we know it ceased to exist – they always seem to be expanding in Cardiff so perhaps it’s not a universal thing – they have changed though – 10 years ago you could walk in with something broken and walk out with a new pedal, headset or bars etc but now they stock almost none of that – no market for it, it seems not walk-in trade anyway – anything like that has to be ordered in for a repair job – hundreds of spares and no parts it seems – same goes for clothing and tyres – takes up too much floor space and everyone buys online – its almost all complete bikes now, cleaning stuff and Halfords esq bolt on crap.

I like my lbs. They have stuff I want in stock and if I ask a question the answers are usually bullshit free. They tend to only stock stuff that I would want as well. This makes life easier as if you have to find something on the net, convince yourself it is right, post a question here to be sure and then find it in stock it can readily eat an hour or two. I’m happy to pay 20% for the privilege of good advice and stock

Blocks, chains, rings and most consumables are online though as I always use the same stuff.

I’d like to think Leffeboy (as ever) has it.

For most of us enthusiasts who can spanner, it’s CRC etc & online advice for 90% of purchases. LBS is there if you need something urgently or are going outside your comfort zone.

I think most LBS accept this and try a bit to accommodate us, but there’s no point in doing so if we don’t make a profit. Our customer base is folk who are too busy/not into cycling enough to get savvy online with pricing/learn to do stuff themselves.

Just don’t showroom!

Ok for a start 105 RRP is just over £500 so you got 20% off already, better than the “standard” shop/local club discount.

ALSO IS THE CHEAPER GROUPSET THE SPEC YOU WANT FOR THAT PRICE?
crank length
Chain ring sizes
Front mech type (band/direct etc)
Cassette ratio
mech cage length
colour

As most “groupsets” on line are “this is the spec” if you like to change anything it is extra £5 etc

Wheres if the LBS gets it from the office shimano distributor, they can choose you spec (normally at no extra cost) have the back up if thing go wrong, prob happy to help give advice on spec and set if you fitting yourself.

But again it’s your money, time, know how etc

Getting involved in your bikes makes you appreciate them more. Its a more involved-hobby than drop off/pick up post-new bit fitted

Says the man who is to scared to SHORTEN his brake hoses