What do you think will happen to the UK bike retail industry?

[Smokin Joe]

Appealing though the latter type was / is, they could sometimes stray into Smith & Jones Hi-fi shop territory

They probably did in some instances, but I was lucky with the two near me in east London who were never anything but helpful and friendly even when starting out as a rookie.

Rory O' Brien in Manor Park and EG Bates in Plaistow, both shops long gone, sadly.

 

[DCLane]

Note bikes specifically, but Shimano is closing their Milremo clothing arm - https://road.cc/content/news/shimano-scraps-custom-clothing-line-and-cuts-13-jobs-313781 . Which I didn't realise was Shimano's

 

[Aescott]

Halfords will hate me then, all my new bikes have been on Cycle2Work though one of them did come from Halfords.

I think the money is going to be in decent quality servicing and repairs. I used my LBS this week after a brake pad change went wrong. I suppose the saying 'use it or lose it' applies so whilst I'm certainly still going to do basic maintenance anything more complicated is going to them.

Halfords administers the scheme so gets its cut, no matter where you buy the bike. I go a new bike through Cycle2Work and used my LBS - they asked if it was OK to add a bit on to the price to cover what Halfrauds took in commission for the sale. Happy to do so as I’d always use the LBS rather than Halfrauds.

 

[rydabent]

I think the cycling business is picking up do to E-bikes. I see so many older couples now riding E-bikes and trikes. A friend of mind that used to laugh at me for cycling, now has bought an E-bikes for both him and his wife. They now ride them all the time.

 

[Pblakeney]

I think the future for lbs's is servicing which is helped by manufacturers making bike harder to service at home. Not impossible, but harder.
This is exacerbated by manufacturers selling direct which cuts lbs's options.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I think the cycling business is picking up do to E-bikes. I see so many older couples now riding E-bikes and trikes. A friend of mind that used to laugh at me for cycling, now has bought an E-bikes for both him and his wife. They now ride them all the time.

I'm not sure how long that will last, possibly the lifespan of the supplied batteries.

We get a lot of upset customers in our workshop because we either can't work on the motor because we don't have a contract with the manufacturer (this is a big issue with many online bought bikes and Decathlon bikes). If we do work on the bike, many are shocked at the cost either of the diagnostics or replacement parts, especially batteries.

 

[teeonethousand]

I bought a new bike in Nov 24 , which has now been in the shop for the last 3 weeks awaiting a replacement grifter under warranty so I think I have experienced the buying and warranty service process from one of the majors.
I wouldn’t do it again…I don’t feel appreciated and I think they need a kick up the ****. I would buy private used so at least its clear that there is no obligation beyond the sale and that is reflected in the price. YMMV.

I agree LBS should profit or lose by their own service which doesn’t help when manufacturers seemingly don’t trust them enough to make replacement issues swift.

 

[Binky]

I think the future for lbs's is servicing which is helped by manufacturers making bike harder to service at home. Not impossible, but harder.
This is exacerbated by manufacturers selling direct which cuts lbs's options.

How is is harder? Concealed cabling maybe but otherwise everything else is accessible.

Given a lot are going to electronic groupsets there is less to service.

Some people take their bikes to LBS to get a punture repaired. Others like myself do everything themselves. This will always be the case.
The only issue is for some jobs need specific tools which are costly to buy - some presses and extractors are exhorbitantly priced for a job you might do once every few years at most. However, it is possible to hire them.

End of day it's a bicycle not an F1 car.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I bought a new bike in Nov 24 , which has now been in the shop for the last 3 weeks awaiting a replacement grifter under warranty so I think I have experienced the buying and warranty service process from one of the majors.
I wouldn’t do it again…I don’t feel appreciated and I think they need a kick up the ****. I would buy private used so at least its clear that there is no obligation beyond the sale and that is reflected in the price. YMMV.

I agree LBS should profit or lose by their own service which doesn’t help when manufacturers seemingly don’t trust them enough to make replacement issues swift.

I feel that.

I'm, via my LBS, are awaiting parts. They were in stock at Tektro (Taiwan) but have taken several weeks to find their way to the UK distributor. Its now a case of waiting for them to decide to send it to the LBS. Considering in that time I've ordered several none bicycle items from the far east in that time that arrived far quicker with better tracking its given me food for thought as to whether I'd use Tektro again. I don't think my LBS is at fault here BTW.

 

[Pblakeney]

How is is harder? Concealed cabling maybe but otherwise everything else is accessible.

Given a lot are going to electronic groupsets there is less to service.

Some people take their bikes to LBS to get a punture repaired. Others like myself do everything themselves. This will always be the case.
The only issue is for some jobs need specific tools which are costly to buy - some presses and extractors are exhorbitantly priced for a job you might do once every few years at most. However, it is possible to hire them.

End of day it's a bicycle not an F1 car.

Nice of you to answer your own question. Saves me the bother. 😉

 

[Binky]

Nice of you to answer your own question. Saves me the bother. 😉

I wasn't, I was responding to your claim it's harder to service bikes. I agree it's harder due to cabling but otherwise not and in some cases easier.

I could have just said "it's not". But then you'd object to that no doubt hence the fuller explanation.

 

[teeonethousand]

I feel that.

I'm, via my LBS, are awaiting parts. They were in stock at Tektro (Taiwan) but have taken several weeks to find their way to the UK distributor. Its now a case of waiting for them to decide to send it to the LBS. Considering in that time I've ordered several none bicycle items from the far east in that time that arrived far quicker with better tracking its given me food for thought as to whether I'd use Tektro again. I don't think my LBS is at fault here BTW.

I don't think my LBS is - my issue is that , following LBS assesment and video evidence, they should send a new one straight out to either fit to bike at agreed future time or to replace dealer stock if they had it in. It should be a customer focussed process and clearly is not.

 

[wafter]

I think the future for lbs's is servicing which is helped by manufacturers making bike harder to service at home. Not impossible, but harder.
This is exacerbated by manufacturers selling direct which cuts lbs's options.

While I largely agree, I also think this will probably have a negative knock-on to those doing the work professionally - more complex jobs require more specialised tooling and an increased amount of propriatory / non-standard components so more stock to carry / more delays in sourcing etc.

On top of this there's the rise of e-bikes which will bring their own set of restrictions (intentional or otherwise) plus the need for different skillsets and tools.

All this against a backdrop of perpetually changing standards, suppliers going bust, spares availability becoming reduced through the ever looming spectre of obsolescence.

If one good thing's come out of the collapse of the bike industry, I hope it's that it might have slapped some sense into the manufacturers who were running away with change for change's sake; often to the detriment of the end user.

I think the smartest route for shops is undoubtedly going to be service-led, however I doubt it'll be a picnic.

 

[Mike Ayling]

I bought a new bike in Nov 24 , which has now been in the shop for the last 3 weeks awaiting a replacement grifter under warranty so I think I have experienced the buying and warranty service process from one of the majors.
I wouldn’t do it again…I don’t feel appreciated and I think they need a kick up the ****. I would buy private used so at least its clear that there is no obligation beyond the sale and that is reflected in the price. YMMV.

I agree LBS should profit or lose by their own service which doesn’t help when manufacturers seemingly don’t trust them enough to make replacement issues swift.

What is a grifter?

 

[cyberknight]

What is a grifter?

i assume they mean brifter ? combined gear / brake lever

this is a grifter