New bike - supplier resistance to swapping components.

[martint235]

I'm not sure how much an LBS makes on a bike. To them, you may have bought it from them purely cos they are a dealer for that brand. You may never visit again. So does the guy take a punt and effectively give you a free bit of kit and then hope that you come back or does he charge you for the bit and give you the spare? I know which is least risk.

As I said I wouldn't expect it even given my relationship with the LBS. It would be a nice thing for him to do. Like it's nice that he fits parts that I've had delivered to his shop without getting miffed I'm not buying the parts from him. He still makes money on labour. Like it's nice I can jump the maintenance queue if I need to and he knows that if I'm not in a rush I'll tell him so he can slot other "emergencies" before my bike without worrying I'll be miffed.

This kind of relationship comes with work, not buying a bike and asking him to just swap bits for me.

 

[derrick]

So today I toddled off to look at four bikes ranging from £1299 to £1799 - not top end by any stretch but a reasonable amount for a bike.

Hit a bit of a problem as I really liked two but wanted the rear mech' (105 & Ultegra respectively) changed for longer cage and the 11-28 cassette changed to 11-32 to work in conjunction with 46/36 front.

Shop is happy to do the swap (plus new chain) but don't want to include as part of the deal so I end up with a mech',cassette & chain to sell on.

Not the end of the world but I really don't understand the attitude - I can't imagine that they will not be able to use the three components in pretty short order as part of their bike servicing business.

What's the CC view on this?

Find a proper cycle shop, I have had this done twice at two separate shops. They are new components so they sell them on as new,

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I'm not sure how much an LBS makes on a bike. To them, you may have bought it from them purely cos they are a dealer for that brand. You may never visit again. So does the guy take a punt and effectively give you a free bit of kit and then hope that you come back or does he charge you for the bit and give you the spare? I know which is least risk.

As I said I wouldn't expect it even given my relationship with the LBS. It would be a nice thing for him to do. Like it's nice that he fits parts that I've had delivered to his shop without getting miffed I'm not buying the parts from him. He still makes money on labour. Like it's nice I can jump the maintenance queue if I need to and he knows that if I'm not in a rush I'll tell him so he can slot other "emergencies" before my bike without worrying I'll be miffed.

This kind of relationship comes with work, not buying a bike and asking him to just swap bits for me.

I wasn't asking for free kit. I just didn't want to pay for stuff I didn't want.

I guess it comes down to whether the shop wants to make say £500 margin on the deal less a few quid (I can't imagine any shop not being inventive enough to recycle brand new parts at a decent price so they're not going to take a big hit) or £0 if I walk away. Not my loss but Dodo-ish on their part imo. But,
as I said before, if the good times are rolling for them then good luck to them.

Maybe it would work better if the manufacturers had a more flexible approach to some items of specification that are relevant to fit and some aspects of performance?

 

[vickster]

What bikes are you looking at?

 

[winjim]

Maybe it would work better if the manufacturers had a more flexible approach to some items of specification that are relevant to fit and some aspects of performance?

It seems weird that if spending upwards of £1000 that you wouldn't be able to do this. I reckon for that price you should at least get a choice of cassette, crank length, stem length. Possibly also bar width / drop and choice of standard / compact chainset. Triples are a bit more niche as not all groupsets do them. All this could be spec'ed when you order the bike and delivered to the dealer, who wouldn't have any extra hassle at all.

 

[Milkfloat]

Unless you have an incredibly good relationship with your lbs (which would have cost you a fortune in the first place), there is no way that can beat the price of the combined Internet. IMO, the days of the traditional lbs are over, a few boutiques will survive, but unless the remainder move to a full servicing model they will die.

 

[vickster]

It seems weird that if spending upwards of £1000 that you wouldn't be able to do this. I reckon for that price you should at least get a choice of cassette, crank length, stem length. Possibly also bar width / drop and choice of standard / compact chainset. Triples are a bit more niche as not all groupsets do them. All this could be spec'ed when you order the bike and delivered to the dealer, who wouldn't have any extra hassle at all.

Except often you are buying a bike that is already in the showroom

You can do this with Rose, Canyon, Ribble, PX, Dolan, Pearson, Condor, Fatbirds etc etc

 

[derrick]

Unless you have an incredibly good relationship with your lbs (which would have cost you a fortune in the first place), there is no way that can beat the price of the combined Internet. IMO, the days of the traditional lbs are over, a few boutiques will survive, but unless the remainder move to a full servicing model they will die.

It's the cycle shops that don't offer good service, they will be the ones that go first. I bought a mtb for my daughter a few years ago, they upgraded the rear mech for free. A year and a half i bought my wife a bike and they swapped cassette and rear derailleur for a long cage one. Free of charge.

 

[martint235]

I wasn't asking for free kit. I just didn't want to pay for stuff I didn't want.

I guess it comes down to whether the shop wants to make say £500 margin on the deal less a few quid (I can't imagine any shop not being inventive enough to recycle brand new parts at a decent price so they're not going to take a big hit) or £0 if I walk away. Not my loss but Dodo-ish on their part imo. But,
as I said before, if the good times are rolling for them then good luck to them.

Maybe it would work better if the manufacturers had a more flexible approach to some items of specification that are relevant to fit and some aspects of performance?

You are asking for free kit though. You're asking him to give you kit out of his stock to fit to your bike that doesn't have that kit. Whether or not he can then shift the bits you don't want is down to him.

And £500 margin? On a bike? Really?

Based on the OP, I actually had some sympathy for you when everyone else was saying you were taking the mick by even trying. I tried to offer advice on how to build a relationship with an LBS so that you got to the stage where you could start to have these conversations. Now this post just strikes me of an attitude where if I'd been the LBS, I'd have said a straight no.

 

[bonsaibilly]

When I bought a mountain bike from my local shop back in 2010, I had them order in and fit a derailleur upgrade, Acera to Deore front and back, they charged me the difference in their stockist prices even though the bike itself was out of a box so they didn't have to do that, nice surprise the "Bag that comes with the bike" not only had user manual, bell etc but also the mechs they had removed. I later sold them on as-new. It never came up in discussion that this might happen so I took it as a nice gesture, and shopped there again.

Same shop a couple of years later, you couldn't even get a different saddle on point of sale.

Doesn't really add to the thread to be fair, except to suggest that you shouldn't get all hoity toity because you failed to bag a freebie against a clearly-published spec and price. Bb

 

[SpokeyDokey]

It's a changing world:

http://searchmanufacturingerp.techt...stomer-needs-with-demand-driven-manufacturing

 

[martint235]

It's a changing world:

http://searchmanufacturingerp.techt...stomer-needs-with-demand-driven-manufacturing

I'm a big fan of it. I often rant on Facebook about ads in Sept promising Xmas delivery. However this thread isn't about manufacturers, it's about service. The LBS is there when something breaks and you need the bike back on the road asap. A good LBS will either provide the service or the parts (cos we all operate a JIT attitude to spares at home). No LBS' and you'll be walking home from tubes+1 puncture

 

[Drago]

Is one person requiring such a thing sufficient label it "demand"?

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I'm a big fan of it. I often rant on Facebook about ads in Sept promising Xmas delivery. However this thread isn't about manufacturers, it's about service. The LBS is there when something breaks and you need the bike back on the road asap. A good LBS will either provide the service or the parts (cos we all operate a JIT attitude to spares at home). No LBS' and you'll be walking home from tubes+1 puncture

I was just pointing out the principle of listening to customers and adapting. LBS's are a diminishing breed - maybe they have their heads in the sand at times.

I've already said that if it doesn't work for the shop then fine. If the math doesn't work for them then so be it. It's not my loss. And maybe it's not their loss.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Is one person requiring such a thing sufficient label it "demand"?

Yes albeit low.

I can't imagine I am alone though - and some responses up-thread confirm this.