Do bike shops have any idea about retrobikes?

[secret_squirrel]

The indignation of people on this site, who are amazed that their LBS doesn't cater for a niche group that represents a tiny fraction of the market, astounds me.

That's just simply not true their customers own bikes ranging from kids bikes with cotterless cranks, old 3 speed sturmey archer Hubbed bikes, racers with downtube shifters, 25 years worth of Sti's and indexing, and gawd knows how many years of tapered BB's. By contrast how often do they sell a loaded mid range mtb or road bike?

Retrobikers who visit this site may be niche - customers with old bikes aren't.

 

[mattr]

Saying what I've said, some time ago I was rebuilding my son't youthbike to sell so he could buy his first XBox, OK it was a road bike, but I asked Halfords for a 10 speed Ulergra mech. The chap said there is no such company as Ultegra and no one makes 10 speeds :roll: some of them no NOTHING about ANYTHING!

well, if you will go in halfords, you have no one to blame but yourself!

 

[Russell]

Sorry, but this is all just daily mail sensationalism. As others have already noted, square taper bottom brackets, quill stems, cantilever brakes all feature on many companies modern ranges. If someone in your LBS doesn't know how to work on them its got nothing to do with being insensitive to 'old bikes', its just that they're generally ignorant/incompetant anyway.

 

[jimo746]

If someone in your LBS doesn't know how to work on them its got nothing to do with being insensitive to 'old bikes', its just that they're generally ignorant/incompetant anyway.

Quite true, I just attended a cycle mechanics course and it covered the whole range of components...square taper, isis, HT2, GXP, BB30, canti's, v-brakes,discs etc etc... so really if someone is employed in a LBS as a mechanic they ideally should have the basic qualifications to do that job, and if they did then they'd have at least a basic understanding of "retro" parts. (although I will never forget going into a "respected" bike shop one time and asking for some cantilever brake pads..."are they for disc brakes?" :facepalm:

My LBS is actually rather good, they like to see the retrobikes for a change, it's always a good conversation starter, and they do actually know what they're talking about! I've built up a good relationship with them and quite often they'll turn my bike around in the workshop as a matter of urgency, or if I need a few bolts they'll just give them to me free of charge.
I remember not that long ago your LBS was a friendly place where you went to buy stuff, get stuff fixed, and chat about stuff, quite often people would just drop in for a chat... There are still some of these LBS's about, but more and more have either closed or turned into corporate mass-marketing machines

 

[We_are_Stevo]

The difference is that a typical member from this forum would go into a LBS with a fairly specific request, and legitimately expect not to be treated like a complete knob...

...an 'old bike' rider will take his BSO into same LBS and accept all manner of b*ll*cks as gospel because they don't know any better, and pay for the privilege into the bargain! :|

 

[Silvergoat]

The little old LBS that we refer back to starry-eyed, is near enough a thing of the past and was not always perfect in it's time. However, today's business model is about marketing aspirational added value, branding, catering for a cash rich time poor clientele and also catering for those who see cycling as more of a fashion trend.

So there's a combination of big national chain LBSs, on-trend boutiques, plus some independent LBSs. The big chains and some LBS are geared up to sales and signing the cash rich time poor people up to schemes, payment plans and maintenance plans – they don't really cater for us strange folk who know what obscure bike bits we're looking for and know how to tinker. A lot of places don't hold much parts stock either, so it's best finding your bits online, etc.

The boutiques are for cash rich hipsters to hang out in with a coffee from the mini bar and aspire to the glamour of it all. There's two places near me in London N21:

One is Le Peleton which caters for 'Mamils', selling high end road machines and clobber, plus a mini coffee bar and screen for the watching Le Tour. I once went in to enquire about wheel building and with every technical question the owner kept having to refer to the wrench monkey in the back room. After letting me look through a catalogue, the owner suddenly turned paranoid and snatched the catalogue away from me and rudely accused me of taking notes so that I could spend money elsewhere.

Then there's Bike Boutique, which was forced to downsize to less expensive property quite soon after opening. It started as an odd mix of fashion boutique and bike shop, selling Coopers, limited parts/accessories and cross over urban fashion clobber. Now it has even less expensive fashion stock for sale and just seems to cater for weekend 'Mamils' with a coffee and cake seating area, plus a minimal workshop in the back. After popping my nose in, I wouldn't trust it with a spanner. Plus it has an electric bike in the window...

With the big chains, there are some store locations where genuinely helpful bike enthusiasts and mechanics do work. It's not all bad and it's good that more people are getting into cycling. There's room for all of us.

 

[wookiee]

In my opinion few LBS's know what they are looking at...as has been pointed out most are staffed by the under 30's... I asked about canti pads the other day at my LBS and the reply was "why would you want them they won't stop you any better than paper mache!" I left promptly before the wookiee mist descended!! :evil:

 

[bm0p700f]

A customer has come up from London do drop his Klien Quantum of for some work beacse he can't apparantly for reasons aready expressed in this thread.

I get this on clubs rides - why don't you ride something modern do it's not just LBS staff.

What worng with canti's they stop yo fine if they are setup right.

 

[wookiee]

What worng with canti's they stop yo fine if they are setup right.

I'm with you! Having not used cantis for years I was pleasantly surprised how well they perform when set up right!...still they are not amazing in the wet brown stuff!

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

^+2. Most folk don't have a clue about setting up any cable brake properly, much less cantis. It think they're brilliant - you can play with the arm range and straddle cable length and have a huge range of efficiency to play with, so you can have mega mechanical advantage and stunning stoppers, or loads of feel and modulation the other end of the spectrum. My secret weapons are a 3rd hand tool and a paperclip to act as a shim for setting toe in.