do people begrudge other people earning a living these days?

[M-Power]

Re:

The brutal reality is that bike shop labour rates should be at least double what they are and staff paid a decent living wage. It takes intelligence to set up ever more complex bikes properly and quickly. There has always been this big chain store mentality to cut prices in the race to the bottom, killing off the indie competition in the process and shrinking the total size of the market pie.

Always wanted my own bike shop, having worked in the trade in my youth - such happy days. I still do but I just can't see how it can make a decent income unless you import stock directly from the Far East or group buy ( I know some indies do this )

As for difficult customers...agree with the above. Negotiating is what I do for a living and I had no hesitation in politely telling a customer they were misguided. They respect you for it IMO.

 

[dbmtb]

I had a bloke in last week with a bike he'd bought post order in Germany who expected me to tell him for free how to take his snapped and frayed gearwire out of his STI lever. Didn't even want to buy a gearcable from me.....

Told him politely that he didn't need a bike shop when he bought his bike, that it was therefore a little odd that he needed one now and that I charged non-customers for advice on an hourly rate and that he would be cheaper paying me the £40 to do the job.

Don't expect to see him again.

Customers like that... you just have to get rid of them ASAP. Waste of time, effort and energy.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re: Re:

The brutal reality is that bike shop labour rates should be at least double what they are and staff paid a decent living wage.

Same could be said for most jobs in the low end pay scale. All bike mechanics are doing is screwing a few bolts and blowing up some tyres and checking it. Nothing too difficult and brain taxing. Suspension get more complicated but just follow the manufacturers guides and it's easy. It's why many people like it as a pastime.

Not talking race techy as they run more like engineers*, analysing and feeding that back into the 'bike/person unit' and setting it up for conditions on the day.

*I should hope they bloody do anyway.

 

[dbmtb]

Screw you Chicken. (Good naturedly of course)

Your point is relevant to a degree - many repairs are indeed routine and mundane. But you really should see some of the botch-ups we have to save that were caused by so-called amateur experts who thought they knew what they were doing.

This kind of attitude is exactly what we are up against!

 

[The History Man]

It's not exactly complex or difficult though is it? It's a bicycle.

 

[dbmtb]

Neither is cooking - but people pay through the nose to eat out.
Neither is digging the garden - but people pay other people to do it.

And so on... for most people it is a question of prioritising their time. And time is money.

Arguing about the price (unless it is clearly incompetitive) is just being cheap, tight-fisted and a waste of everybody's time.

 

[The History Man]

That's fair enough but I'm competent at all the above. We're talking difficulty not convenience. I pay my window cleaner etc...........

Not arguing against a decent wage, just the idea that it's that skille/difficult.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Bicycle repair and maintenance is perhaps simple in the scheme of things, but most basic repairs on vehicles are too yet command £30 plus per hour.

I have a lot done at the best local shop, and always add a generous beer token tip for the grease monkeys.

 

[dbmtb]

I'd also have to add that there are a hell of a lot of cowboys who fix stuff using dodgy tools. A full repair kit is something of an outlay and there is wear and tear on cutting tools etc which can be pretty expensive. This is all stuff that "Joe Punter" is blissfully unaware of.

So yes - if you're paying a cowboy full rate to do stuff with a hammer, then you might be in your rights to wonder what you are paying for....
But if you can see that your wheels are being built with a tensiometer, that your frame is being properly prepped before being built up and that you are getting something for your money, then - perhaps there is little mystery - but the shop has spent thousands on pro-level tools so you don't have to.

My wheel truing stand alone cost £500, frame tools about £750 and I've not even bought the full kit yet (buy stuff the first time I need it)...... Tool outlay for a workshop is expensive. Last financial statement there were assets for about £7500 just in the workshop! So it's not just the man hours you are paying for.

 

[jonnyboy666]

That's fair enough but I'm competent at all the above. We're talking difficulty not convenience. I pay my window cleaner etc...........

Not arguing against a decent wage, just the idea that it's that skille/difficult.

you may be competent but you'd be surprised at how many people aren't, and even though they are aware of their limitations they still argue over costs, when i get my van fixed i pay the mechanic to do it because frankly i haven't got a clue, i might say that i'm a bit tight on funds meaning i'll go for the pattern part over the manufacturer part but i wouldn't dream of telling him his job, but maybe that's because i'm not like some of the knobs i have to deal with.

this is an argument that can go on forever but i still think people are really trying to screw you down on a price as much as possible to get the best price for them, in someways i can understand that but when you tell them it's not worth your time doing it for that price they think you're lying, the bike trade traditionally (in independent dealers) doesn't make a huge amount of money and i realise there are other trades that are similar i just feel that a lot of consumers would rather you do so many deals to keep them happy to the point of going bust and then they'll move on to the next convenient option.