B.C. Finally joined

[steve50]

For a paltry £20 a year it is damn good cover with the bonus of discount at some top cycle retail
outlets. Oops, cocked up , bought the wrong membership now amended.

 

[IBarrett]

£20 ?
I joined this week and it was £35
Do I get a covered trailer to take me home if I break down or something

 

[mjr]

discounts that reward you for not supporting your lbs and money going to an organisation that's messing up a lot of charity fun rides

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

discounts that reward you for not supporting your lbs and money going to an organisation that's messing up a lot of charity fun rides

There's still plenty of opportunities in the market for both online and LBS. The best LBS's have adapted to the reality that it's far cheaper for their customers to buy parts online. But that still leaves good opportunities for the LBS to sell new bikes, bike fitting, clothing, and a first class workshop service.

 

[Jimidh]

There's still plenty of opportunities in the market for both online and LBS. The best LBS's have adapted to the reality that it's far cheaper for their customers to buy parts online. But that still leaves good opportunities for the LBS to sell new bikes, bike fitting, clothing, and a first class workshop service.

Agree totally there is a place for both in the market - I've bought all my bikes from my LBS but I still spend a lot of cash online especially on kit where they cannot compete on price. I bought a Gore Jacket earlier in the winter where the price difference was £70 - no matter how much I like my LBS I'm not throwing money at them.

As a dedicated road rider then BC is a better fit for me than other organisations out there. If you don't like them don't join.

 

[steveindenmark]

lBarratt. It appears that Steve50 only paid for Race Membership and you bought Regular membership.

Is that correct Steve?

 

[steve50]

lBarratt. It appears that Steve50 only paid for Race Membership and you bought Regular membership.

Is that correct Steve?

Correct @steveindenmark , I didn't read the benefits of the race package correctly and have now amended my membership to "Ride membership".

 

[Racing roadkill]

I've been with B.C. for a couple of years now. The insurance alone is worth having. I'm finally doing an official Skyride leaders course organised by B.C. and it's free. Add the discounts at stores, and it makes a lot of sense to have the membership, for me personally.

 

[mjr]

The best LBS's have adapted to the reality that it's far cheaper for their customers to buy parts online. But that still leaves good opportunities for the LBS to sell new bikes, bike fitting, clothing, and a first class workshop service.

Online is online and sometimes it's cheaper but not often if you've competition between LBSes still. The big advantage is that you can get more obscure parts than most LBSes can. But I'm really unhappy about the half odds discount more than the CRC one.

It might just be that my bikes aren't new enough but in my experience, even if you take off 10%, half odds is sightly dearer than the LBSes when they stock the same brands and often what half odds stocks is worse quality (Clark's!), plus there's usually no specialist advice available. The only thing it has in its favour is Sunday and later evening opening. I think it's rather annoying that BC pushes its unsuspecting members towards an inconsistent chain store by offering a fake discount instead of negotiating something with ACT or the LBS suppliers.