id agree with a lot above….p7 pure is cool as is the orange g4 as a complete…hed possibly struggle building a cotic/custom build within a grand

that would be useful if he cycled….i wanna try and get him something without grabbing something off my shelves…

Longer downs at tress…more protection when the rain comes… Cafe..goto tress!

Ha ha! Excellent inappropriate ideas… He’s married. Whores out.like the cake… Budget £100ish

Where do u live? Is they’re not a nearer shop?

@cycleworlduk…I stopped using it but all the shop Facebook posts go there now…sold a few things through it.mates and bike co.s mostly..

I can help with a cotic if needed…..

id second the cotic…or one of these is pretty good value
http://www.cycle-world.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b85s6p9161&z=11297

bad picture though!

Giant do a 13″ frame now and I could sort u out with a 13.5″ felt lAdies bike also…theirs tons of options really…

no tape worm here…..get your eyes checked or ease up on the drinking? 😆

weve got an etape warm up weekend on that date 😉

theyre good ideas poly…some im looking at implementing shortly….thanks for all the ideas/suggestions 😀

goto to orange dealer ” say can i get a 18″ or 16″ demo bike please?” one will come within 2 weeks,ride then decide…

simples!

shame cos i got some good cakes off you! 😛

thanks for the biggup stewart….

yep good plan…im already in trouble for it… 😆

cash seems to work pretty well in the till…i reckon the crumbs could cause a problem over time 😆

every year/meeting i try and do that…i think the bottom line is i dont spend enough….

yep were the same….09/010 we had a 60k staff bill….tis scary…

leaflets/links to lbs….we get a lot of customers who ride abroad.
facebook/twitter
invite journos
do deal with bike shops if they bring x amount of folk along
send invites for freebies to suppliers in the uk
take a stand at one of the many outdoor shows geared to punters
a stand at mega/world cups etc…

what he said! yes mtb sales last year were down…..not sure by how much,we did more road/hybrids last year

thats one of the main problems…..rrp is increasing as is the trade price but so are our running costs….year on year they increase.

as the rrp increases so does the deals online….someones making money and it isnt the lbs..

2 of my bike suppliers have reduced my margins despite me doing more business with them last year

vat? thats 20%……

thats the big question….i think most of the good shop owners i know do knock something off 9 times outta 10….but my questions is why should we? and if we only lost 10% of our turnover because of a no discount policy we’d all be better off…

i think this would make the shops better because theyr’ed be more money to reinvest in stock/training/staff

the mags dont help by telling everyone to use the local shop to check prices and then recommending products be bought online…interesting where the mags would be without the revenue from the big companies placing massive ads

it will be a sorry place when a lot of bike shops have gone to the wall and most stuff has to be bought thru a puter….

idlejohn,i agree,i mystery shop the shops in scotland(or get the gf or mates to do it) and the service generally is awful..btu theyres some good eggs still left….

the innertube cost has nearly trebled from that price now…especially if its a branded tube like i sell…even if you buy in bulk

“LBS charging £5 for a tube is scandalous imo!”
ha ha! best laff ive had in a while…..mine are £5.95!

it seems fairly apparent that service is not that important any more and that the price is…..very sad! 🙄

i dont understand the difference between shopping at a supermarket and another shop…do you guys haggle in butchers? record shops? fishmongers? hairdressers?

these wealthy lbs will either have other business interests or have very well financed shops…ie no debt..

there is very little kit that we now get with a 60-70% margin.most of it enthusiasts wont buy(cheap consumables) i can guarantee things have changed a lot in six years….

Join the fsb it’s 150 a year and you get free legal advice…I’ve used it loads…

Does service count for nothing then? Does no-one want any help/or be looked after with loads free advice??

Having worked in car sales the similarities are stark… I would say bike shops are in the same boat. I get every type of customers asking for discounts…( and I made more wages selling cars!)

” too proper to ask” come do a week with me and I’ll prove u wrong

It’s interesting what folk say…the big Internet boys don’t help.I had a guy at the weekend checking my prices against Crc on his phone. I said”do you want to go for it?” he said ” nah I’ll buy it online” I was just pricing it up…” we were the same price…very odd!

Panaracer ribmos are really good…grippy with puncture belt

We get a few customers from a nearby lbs because he doesnt offer any discounts…I’m hoping it’s not just that but that maybe he’s a bit grumpy.I think he’s probably got the right idea…

Nope 10% isnt built in to the margins… (which are going down from some companies) this is why the owners of cycles heme are almost retired!….that was a genius idea. Big turnover almost all profit..

I sometimes feel like Iive in a bikeshop

Great story…I’ve done a few.I was tagging along with mountain rescue types and always ended up doing hard technical ones.. My first was an teallach..

May try and do a few this year…

abuse your contact sphere!

pop into our shop in stonehaven and speak to joe…he and various guys ride every week….theyres always something on…