Who supplies the LBSs......interesting (to me at least :) )

[Citius]

So it's probable that they have regional distributors, given the distances involved that wouldn't surprise me.

No, as I said there is only one distributor for Shimano in the USA. I would imagine they might well have regional warehousing though, given the size of the geography. But that's not the same as having multiple distributors.

 

[cyberknight]

Buy them yourself and get you LBS to fit them.

I wanted to replace a few things on my bike and I also wanted a couple of other jobs doing that I didn't want to do so I approached my local Specialized Concept store and they couldn't get the parts as cheap as me so I got them and they fitted them at the same time they did another job on the bike for me.

Or get a tool kit and fit it yourself , most bike jobs are easy enough and there are plenty of you tube/help videos .
I just "earnt " a can of beer by fixing a neighbours bottom bracket .

 

[Andrew_P]

Its all about control for companies like Shimano etc. Bit like retail price control in all but words. The reward for Shimano would be that Madison have to support their full range, and Madison in return do not have any competitors in the UK so can work within Shimano suggested trade and retail prices giving them healthy margins. Wiggle & CR I assume bypass this and deal direct where they can, plus they build bikes opening up a bit of abuse of OEM branded parts.

Then you get in to bike builders getting big discounts, but not always fitting the items to bikes and sell them without retail packaging.

There are ways around it as a retailer. Schwalbe for instance controlled the prices in the UK on the One Tubeless tyre on the basis they didn't really want them for sale online as they feared people fitting them to inappropriate wheels so the prices were controlled and much, much higher than mainland Europe, a switched on retailer could buy form a large German online retailer and boost their margins. Or better still buy from a German distributor

 

[Dave7]

Eh?! They also have to pay the staff to fit it and provide the premises etc

I'm sure they do ok, given they've been in business since 1860

WOW............that would make the guy 155 years old. Does he still cycle

 

[vickster]

Lol is same family tho

 

[Citius]

Wiggle & CR I assume bypass this and deal direct where they can

Wiggle & CRC do not buy direct from Shimano.

Or better still buy from a German distributor

If any distributor was caught selling outside of their authorised market, they would be in big trouble. If any retailer was caught conducting a grey/parallel import - they would also be in trouble.

 

[vickster]

Can't see that pricing model lasting forever. So you buy the groupset, they charge the labour for fitting it plus £100?

I understand their thinking; they don't get the margin on the sale of the groupset. But all they will do is push customers towards someone else who just charges the going rate for fitting the groupset.

I expect their SW Lomdon MAMIL customers are happy to pay that for the convenience and peace of mind it's being done by a well regarded shop that they probably use for servicing etc

 

[Andrew_P]

Wiggle & CRC do not buy direct from Shimano.



If any distributor was caught selling outside of their authorised market, they would be in big trouble. If any retailer was caught conducting a grey/parallel import - they would also be in trouble.

I was generalising pretty confident they do not buy their Fulcrums from I-Ride as an example.

Ribble could match all the EU distributors on Schwalbe One Tubeless yet no one else could.

 

[bpsmith]

It definitely isn't rocket science, which makes your conclusion all the more bizarre. We're talking about a surcharge here. It doesn't follow that they are levying the equivalent of their profit margin on a lost sale. I don't know why you've made that assumption.

Call it what you like. A profit loss adjuster or a surcharge.

If they were only making a fiver on a groupset, they wouldn't have a "surcharge" of £100.

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Or get a tool kit and fit it yourself , most bike jobs are easy enough and there are plenty of you tube/help videos .
I just "earnt " a can of beer by fixing a neighbours bottom bracket .

Not everyone is mechanically minded or for that matter can be bothered, its amazing how many people I come across in the middle of no where with broken bikes that I end up fixing because they have no tools and no idea. I sometimes pop mine into my local LBS if i just can be bothered or if I have other things to do and don't have the time.

 

[vickster]

Agreed. Personally, I have limited skills, limited inclination and better ways to spend my non working time (like cycling )

 

[vickster]

Call it what you like. A profit loss adjuster or a surcharge.

If they were only making a fiver on a groupset, they wouldn't have a "surcharge" of £100.

There's a difference between profit and margin, they may make £100 margin but not profit

I'm not fussed either way and would pay £100 surcharge if I've paid £350 say and the list is £550 or even £500. That said I'm going to use a different shop to do my upcoming groupset swap and flat bar conversion. I'm supplying all the parts. They will charge labour, at £40 an hour, should be £150-200, well worth it to save me the time and hassle. My weekend is worth more than that to me

 

[cyberknight]

Not everyone is mechanically minded or for that matter can be bothered, its amazing how many people I come across in the middle of no where with broken bikes that I end up fixing because they have no tools and no idea. I sometimes pop mine into my local LBS if i just can be bothered or if I have other things to do and don't have the time.

It seems odd though that your buying parts cheaper to save money then paying the LBS who are going to charge you a premium to fit non shop parts was all that struck me as odd and liable to annoy the shop in question anyway .

 

[phil_hg_uk]

It seems odd though that your buying parts cheaper to save money then paying the LBS who are going to charge you a premium to fit non shop parts was all that struck me as odd and liable to annoy the shop in question anyway .

I had by LBS fit my bottom bracket and chainset whilst they replaced all the gear cables and indexed all the gears and gave it a once over for anything else that needed doing, I cant remember the exact price they charged me but it was under £40.

It was their idea to get the parts elsewhere, at first they said they would get the chainset then they found out their supplier wanted over £200 for it and I could get it at Ribble for about £70.

I usually service my bike myself but sometimes I drop it off with them if I am busy as they don't charge much, the last time I wanted the gear cables changing and the gears re indexing they charged me £13 which is fine by me.

 

[bpsmith]

There's a difference between profit and margin, they may make £100 margin but not profit

I'm not fussed either way and would pay £100 surcharge if I've paid £350 say and the list is £550 or even £500. That said I'm going to use a different shop to do my upcoming groupset swap and flat bar conversion. I'm supplying all the parts. They will charge labour, at £40 an hour, should be £150-200, well worth it to save me the time and hassle. My weekend is worth more than that to me

Ok, fair point. It is margin, I suppose, but it's still a lot to charge considering they have done nothing for it. If your bike needs adjusting, but you bought it elsewhere, then they don't charge a surplus because they didn't make any margin off the bike, or the parts. They just charge their usual labour?

Just fit the groupset and take it to the bike shop to for "service"?

As for actually paying someone to do the labour, I am not criticising anyone for doing that. Far from it. It's this surcharge that amuses me. I think we have had this conversation before @vickster, and we both agree that it depends what floats your boat. I enjoy fettling and you prefer to do other things. That's cool and I totally get that.