We All Want to Support Our LBS......BUT!!!

[Turbo Rider]

Agree. There's a world of difference between the quality of bolts and screws - I've ruined enough of the cheap ones to know this and it's not much fun trying to dig them out afterwards, if you haven't got the right tools.

 

[Mile195]

Seems an odd thing to fall out with your LBS over. How much profiteering do you think they're doing? If the bolts have anything special about them (size, thread, metal, colour, quality) then they are going to be made in a different way to your tub of bolts from Wilkinsons, which means they are going to be made in smaller quantities, which means they are going to cost more. Just because they both look similar on the outside doesn't mean they are identical things. Agreed some things are over priced (always an issue for me when the child was in to skateboarding and buying ludicrously overpriced bearings which really were just identical bearings plus marketing fluff) but that's a buyer beware thing surely. A couple of Shimano bolts are going to cost largely what Shimano have decided to charge for them...

Maybe. First impressions and all that though isn't it. If you feel ripped off by the first thing you buy somewhere, it's natural (even if slightly illogical) to feel that its a sign of things to come.
I felt ripped off by a motorbike shop when I was 16. I saved for months to buy an old moped for 300 pounds. It lasted 6 weeks, and they weren't interested at all when I went back to say what had happened. Not so much as a cursory "oh well we could have a quick look and see what's wrong with it". I had to dismantle it myself in the end to find out it was completely catastrophic engine failure.

Since then I've probably spent around 35000 pounds on motorbikes and associated gear over the last couple of decades - not a penny of it at Littlehampton Motorcycles. Maybe I just got the salesman that had a bit of a bad day, but that's what you remember eh.

 

[KneesUp]

Seems an odd thing to fall out with your LBS over. How much profiteering do you think they're doing? .... A couple of Shimano bolts are going to cost largely what Shimano have decided to charge for them...

In fact 2 for £2.50 seems quite a good price:

 

[Smokin Joe]

I wouldn't moan at £2.50 for two bolts. As for Wilkinsons, their gear is often cheap for a reason.

 

[Bollo]

I've got some sympathy with Dave after a recent experience at an LBS. I'd had a spate of p******* and run my stock of inner tubes down. Normally I either buy job lots from decathlon or wiggle for a unit cost of about £1.00-1.25. LBS - that'll be £5.99 each. What ground my gears was when he opened the cupboard to reveal some fancy boxed Conti inner tubes. He hovered over them for a sec before selecting some off-brand rubber that is certainly no better than the crap I normally buy.

The buggers could have nipped off to Decathlon themselves, bought a load, doubled the unit price to £2.50 and I'd have been happy, but a 400%-500% markup over retail is just taking the pee.

My point here is that, if a shop is relying on hiking the price of consumables like inner tubes to stay afloat, then it's in trouble. Regular riders who actually consume reasonable amounts of stuff will feel like they've been burned and not return, while the occasional buyer is exactly that, also yielding no meaningful profit.

I need some wheels truing and a possibly a new headset fitted. Guess where that's not happening.

 

[axwj29]

Given the amount of time I spent discussing the merits of different sets of lights, helmets etc with my LBS, plus the time I took the bike in after a fall and they checked it and adjusted something free of charge.. I'm happy to pay more for the items I buy from them, if I choose to buy some things elsewhere it won't be because of price.

 

[Arrowfoot]

LBS that depend on selling small consumables will go the way of the Dodo. It has to be repairs and service. Wholesalers no longer enforce lower limit to support the smaller players as they face stiff competition from parallel importers. Its a difficult world and many will exit their business. Its just not LBS, all the small traders are in the same boat.

 

[roadrash]

seriously .... you felt ripped off for £2.50, how would you have felt if he charged you £1.00 for two bolts , but later miles from home the bolts failed and you discovered that the £1 bolts were actually made of cheese.
you can hardly say that £2.50 for the right bolts for the job is a ripp off

 

[Mile195]

Guess I'm wrong then... Seems the profiteers in this are actually Shimano!

 

[nickyboy]

LBS that depend on selling small consumables will go the way of the Dodo. It has to be repairs and service. Wholesalers no longer enforce lower limit to support the smaller players as they face stiff competition from parallel importers. Its a difficult world and many will exit their business. Its just not LBS, all the small traders are in the same boat.

It seems so obvious doesn't it? The old LBS business model of selling bikes and all the consumables to go with has gone out with the ark. Other than specialist shops for niche stuff these shops just retailing will disappear. It's all about supplying something you can't buy on the internet. And that's repairs and service.

On the subject of expensive bolts, it's not the retailer, it's the supplier. Spares in any industry get marked up to high heaven. Smart purchasers seek out bit and bobs that work but aren't supplied by the OEM

 

[GrumpyGregry]

For the record we don't all want to support our LBS's. I'd rather support Halfords and my not-so-local LBS's as they offer better prices and better service.

 

[MontyVeda]

Last summer i was after a set of cartridge brake blocks... went to one LBS and they didn't have any in stock, but i wasn't a rush so asked if i could order some... but 'their suppliers' didn't do the specific type i needed. So i went to another LBS and got the same story... so i went home and went online, found what i was looking for and bought it.

What got me was the 'our suppliers' bit... are they restricted to just one supplier for everything they sell?? (one was independent, the other part of small chain)

 

[mrbikerboy73]

Since then I've probably spent around 35000 pounds on motorbikes and associated gear over the last couple of decades - not a penny of it at Littlehampton Motorcycles. Maybe I just got the salesman that had a bit of a bad day, but that's what you remember eh.

@Mile195 Maybe this is why Littlehampton Motorcycles are no more!

 

[KneesUp]

Last summer i was after a set of cartridge brake blocks... went to one LBS and they didn't have any in stock, but i wasn't a rush so asked if i could order some... but 'their suppliers' didn't do the specific type i needed. So i went to another LBS and got the same story... so i went home and went online, found what i was looking for and bought it.

What got me was the 'our suppliers' bit... are they restricted to just one supplier for everything they sell?? (one was independent, the other part of small chain)

I expect the suppliers have a minimum order level , and the trade they do wouldn't justify it - and in order to be able to place minimum value orders, they have to restrict themselves to a middle-man type supplier who buys stuff off a lot of manufacturers and sells it on (with a profit) so they can't get everything in, and they can't get it in as cheap as Halfords et al if they can. I don't know this happens btw - but I imagine it does. I can't see Shimano bothering to ship thousands of tiny orders a week to various small shops.

 

[MontyVeda]

I expect the suppliers have a minimum order level , and the trade they do wouldn't justify it - and in order to be able to place minimum value orders, they have to restrict themselves to a middle-man type supplier who buys stuff off a lot of manufacturers and sells it on (with a profit) so they can't get everything in, and they can't get it in as cheap as Halfords et al if they can. I don't know this happens btw - but I imagine it does. I can't see Shimano bothering to ship thousands of tiny orders a week to various small shops.

You're probably correct, but if the supplier can't supply something like this...

...maybe the LBS should use a different supplier.