KneesUp
Guru
Post mount cantilever blocks? It's 2015, GrandadYou're probably correct, but if the supplier can't supply something like this...
...maybe the LBS should use a different supplier.
We All Want to Support Our LBS......BUT!!!
- Thread starter Dave7
- Start date
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I love my lbs John's bikes in Bath and often but things from them when in the shop. Last Saturday I had my bottom jockey wheel come loose out on a ride and popped in as the bush had gone missing. They dug around in the workshop and gave me three if differing lengths as the derailleur is a 1980s golden arrow for nothing.
I also buy lots online and also get the bike shop next to work to order me tyres when needed. I think a good LBS is a wonderful thing. And not sure the maths in the OP are right?
I also buy lots online and also get the bike shop next to work to order me tyres when needed. I think a good LBS is a wonderful thing. And not sure the maths in the OP are right?
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
I still wear my pants around my waist too!Post mount cantilever blocks? It's 2015, Grandad
Smokin Joe
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
The LBS will never disappear anymore than the corner shop disappeared with the rise of supermarkets. They will be smaller in number but there's still a demand for them and the good ones will survive and thrive. If you want to go back to the "Golden age" of the LBS you'll also have to put up with the 50% of them who were crap with terrible customer service and poor performance.
RedRider
Pulling through
- Location
- Location Embrocation
Time will tell but the decline of the LBS is far from obvious in this part of London.
Off the top of me head...Seabass Cycles, Balfe's, Cycle PS, Edwardes, Paul's Custom Cycles, another Balfe's, the fab Brixton Cycles, Apex Cycles, Herne Hill cycles...all small independent shops, each with their quirks and offering something slightly different within 10 minutes easy ride of here. Four have opened in the last two or three years.
Ok, the internet is best and cheapest for some stuff (tyres anyone?) but have a good relationship with a good shop and be rewarded with continuity of care, a wealth of knowledge, the occasional freebie and 'for you' prices which are almost as cheap but with added value.
Off the top of me head...Seabass Cycles, Balfe's, Cycle PS, Edwardes, Paul's Custom Cycles, another Balfe's, the fab Brixton Cycles, Apex Cycles, Herne Hill cycles...all small independent shops, each with their quirks and offering something slightly different within 10 minutes easy ride of here. Four have opened in the last two or three years.
Ok, the internet is best and cheapest for some stuff (tyres anyone?) but have a good relationship with a good shop and be rewarded with continuity of care, a wealth of knowledge, the occasional freebie and 'for you' prices which are almost as cheap but with added value.
Turbo Rider
Just can't reMember
- Location
- A compounded speck of dust
Or a private online seller perhaps? Giant were selling innertubes for 10p at one point...nearly considered starting up my own business off the back of it...3 for £10 + P&P or something...there's money in them thar hills.
Not the big cities as there is a large catchment area of customers. Its smaller towns who can't match on price. Even online and smaller chain stores struggle to survive with the bigger volume purchasers.
The LBS owner can have the widest smile, work 20 hrs a day and even make pancakes while you wait but its straightforward economics where his margin is concerned. Its no longer within his control.
The other viable option is to differentiate your value proposition. Be a very different from other mainstream LBS. Thats means that your product is different so price match is not possible.
RedRider
Pulling through
- Location
- Location Embrocation
True enough and I wouldn't want to downplay how hard it must be for those I listed above to stand out and make a go of it either, even with a bigger potential local market.
We get to make our choices as customers though and while times are hard we'll often look to the bottom line but it's not necessarily where the value lies.
Tin Pot
Guru
It's £3 dude. Chill.I needed 3 new bottle cages so..................
I went to my LBS and chose the one I wanted. The guy was very helpful..........brought his own bike out to show me that THAT is the cage he uses etc...
Deal done (sort of
I just purchased the one and went 1/2 mile to Decathlon.
EXACTLY THE SAME CAGE.............£6.99.
The last cycling item I purchased I found (exactly the same item) nearly 50% cheaper elsewhere and told the LBS---then asked him what he could do. The answer was "nothing".
As I (and others) have said before.............
a) I accept that the LBS can NOT compete with the buying power of the multiples.
b) If the LBS can get "somewhere near" the price I will happily pay the extra
BUT
50% more ?????
Never having run a small business I have no idea what the margins are or what the difference in buying power makes so I am not "having a go" at the LBS..........just the situation.
