dorset boy
Senior Retro Guru
Sadly modern bike shops have nothing for me 
State of the industry: a running thread
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How I wish there was more availability of early 90’s Hei Hei, Brodie and Dogs BOLX…Absolutely agree with this and I've mentioned this before. A visit to the likes of Gumtree produces pages upon pages of unwanted bikes. Practically spoilt for choice, and prices for complete bikes going lower and lower and making the price gap between new much bigger and bigger everyday.
A search on your all time favourite MBK brand
29 737 hits for "electric bike"
At the newer end of the scale - spoilt for choice. Some of the classics - still unicorns
There's a genuine issue with over-stocked inventories and this year will probably be the last of the pre-COVID "silly" orders of new bikes. Thereafter, orders for new bikes to the factories from brands, should be less....
mrwizard1982
Dirt Disciple
R2 bike is a privately owned company? 60% off on groupsets kinda sets the standard of where its going.
I don't personally buy from my local bike shops despite spending quite a bit of my spare cash on bikes.
This thread made me consider why that is for me personally :-
Convenience - the obvious point of not having to leave my armchair to get what I need, it only requires a tiny bit of forward planning to get the part in a few days time, I dont have to drive to my nearest town, likely sitting in traffic, pay for parking and drive back again.
Stocked items - Being a fan of retro bikes, my local LBS don't have much in that interests me, they seem to be much more sparsely filled with parts/bikes than I remember from the old days.
Cost - It's rare for my local LBS to be able to compete on cost so they'd need to offer something else.
Lack of added value - my LBS doesnt offer me personally any added value, I can build a wheel, i can bleed a brake, I can unseize a seatpost at home, and I get a nice sense of satisfaction from doing it. My bikes dont tend to have anything more complex than that on them, and there's so many videos out there that if I'm unsure over some manufacturer specific detail, I'll watch one.
Social - I dont gain much from the social interaction, in past LBS experiences, I havent encountered anyone for a long time who wasnt either miserable or massively pushy. I'd be happy with a basic 'hello' and 'give me a shout if you need any help', and a bit of general knowledge if asked, I'm not expecting or wanting much more. Some LBS that arent local to me seem to have a bit of community spirit, sell tea/coffee/cakes and organise local rides, mine don't, so I cant comment on that.
The last thing I bought from a bike shop was a rechargeable knog light for my daughter, I was looking for childs gloves and a stubby water bottle that would fit her small framed 20" wheel bike but they had none in stock. I very occasionally will look in a bike shop if I'm passing one, but it's usually a very quick look round and exit.
If my local LBS closed, I'm not sure what the negative effect on me would be, probably none. The effects on the wider industry if all bike shops closed are beyond my brain.
I'm also a self employed person who could be considered to be in a similar boat as a bike shop owner (but a different industry) but feel no sense of obligation to help someone just because they are a little guy. In my own work, I find that other small businesses create the most headaches for me, are slow to pay, and also dont always appreciate the value that they can get from me, I used to spend a lot of time quoting to not get any acknowledgement in return. Ironically many of them went to the 'bigger guys', who I do contract work for at a much better rate than my direct to client, so I tend to stick to the hassle free work, get paid more, and let an account manager act as a go-between and swallow the hassle, at the cost detriment to the small business. I've completed several pieces of work for people who turned down or ignored my quote, and unbeknown to them, I did the work anyway.
Not a reflection on jonnyboy666, I havent been to his shop, or met him, I'm sure he's very helpful with his customers.
I'm probably not the right kind of target customer for these shops anyway, but the bottom line is I DO spend money on cycling regularly, and I don't do it in any physical shop.
In the last 3 years I’ve bought 3 new bikes (frames actually- but all new parts which I built )
2 from a shop where I’ve never visited but it’s a physical LBS (just not mine). He posts them to me and both times have been totally hassle free.
And the other was a shop about 60 miles away that had stock but it was done via email but had to be collected in person.
I’d buy again from both with out issue but other than being a dealer for the brands they offer nothing else I need apart from being decent to deal with.
When I bought my Colnago earlier this year I went to the local (30 miles away) dealer to look and likely buy one. Maybe the fact I tend to wear cheap joggers / hoodie daily marked me as a non buyer but the experience wasn’t good. Came home and ordered a Frame/ wheels/ groupset from the guy I bought my enigma from and cursed myself for taking the time out of my day to drive / park to waste my time.
2 from a shop where I’ve never visited but it’s a physical LBS (just not mine). He posts them to me and both times have been totally hassle free.
And the other was a shop about 60 miles away that had stock but it was done via email but had to be collected in person.
I’d buy again from both with out issue but other than being a dealer for the brands they offer nothing else I need apart from being decent to deal with.
When I bought my Colnago earlier this year I went to the local (30 miles away) dealer to look and likely buy one. Maybe the fact I tend to wear cheap joggers / hoodie daily marked me as a non buyer but the experience wasn’t good. Came home and ordered a Frame/ wheels/ groupset from the guy I bought my enigma from and cursed myself for taking the time out of my day to drive / park to waste my time.
Splatter Paint
Retrobike Rider
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Takingabreak
Dave Yates Fan
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that sounds like deliberate limited availability to keep prices high rather than stack 'em high and sell'em cheap. It will be interesting to see the outcome
pwebb
Retro Guru
Like a lot of people on this forum (I suspect) I don't have much interest in the majority of local (to me) bike shops. To illustrate this , those in Knutsford, Altrincham, Wilmslow and Macclesfield for instance all stock 'made in china/indonesia' overpriced junk with no individuality and at a ludicrous price ( especially e-bikes) given the obvious competition from internet outlets. I agree with sentiment above wrt 'no interest in retro' (actually scorn and disdain is the usual reaction) or stock of parts for same. HOWEVER, big qualification, there ARE still bright spots of hope out there - in my region we have the excellent Chorlton charity bike shop - where you can rummage through bins of old parts and where they renovate bikes to give to kids etc. I recently picked up a perfectly serviceable pair of 1" threaded forks, stem, handlebars and a few other odds and sods for a donation of £15 - this is recycling at its best. It is staffed by knowledgeable and friendly people and has zero pretentiousness. Equally there are places like Woodrups in Leeds who stock an enormous catalogue of Shimano spares and have staff that will hunt through the numerous drawers of spares to find odd sized headsets and retro bits. I bemoan the loss of the bespoke bike shop where once we had frame and wheelbuilders able to craft unique and hugely desirable creations to order and the arrival instead of brand specific outlets selling 'lifestyle choices' and trending clothing brands. I am a lifelong cyclist but feel hopelessly out of place in Rapha, Manchester or my local Pinarello dealer in Wilmslow - I dont even think these folks cater for 'cyclists' at all, the latter seems to be pandering to the same mid-age crisis that leads to portly blokes buying a harley davidson in some desperate bid to cheat the onset of age.
Years ago I could have chosen from legendary local builders like Hinde, Weigh, Harry Hall and found a wide range of bikes and spares in the bicycle doctor shop at the other end of the scale ( they always did excellent deals on Orbit, british eagle etc) now we just have a scattering of look a like shops selling the same ranges of 'big brand ' bikes and clothing and the vast majority of these are mass produced frames with cheap chinese made components with a huge markup at some point in the supply chain. I wouldn't class any of the latter as cycling enthusiasts and the vast majority are just sales people with scant knowledge of what they are selling or even less advice or expertise on what a potential buyer might actually need. Some of the dodgy advice and ridiculous statements you hear in these places are nothing short of scandalous. I hope I am explaining why I pretty much buy everything on line these days and shun the look a like shops as they really dont have anything I am interested in - the nearest analogy I can find in retail is the death of the bookshop , that has also been replaced with places like Waterstones who only stock what they want to sell and where the choice of stock is cynically controlled by the publishers and resellers and has nothing at all to do with giving the public a source of education/edification - far from it. Ho hum, enough ranting from an old man - this aint gonna be fixed anytime soon and I am definitely not in the demographic category that these retailers are trying to appeal to.
Years ago I could have chosen from legendary local builders like Hinde, Weigh, Harry Hall and found a wide range of bikes and spares in the bicycle doctor shop at the other end of the scale ( they always did excellent deals on Orbit, british eagle etc) now we just have a scattering of look a like shops selling the same ranges of 'big brand ' bikes and clothing and the vast majority of these are mass produced frames with cheap chinese made components with a huge markup at some point in the supply chain. I wouldn't class any of the latter as cycling enthusiasts and the vast majority are just sales people with scant knowledge of what they are selling or even less advice or expertise on what a potential buyer might actually need. Some of the dodgy advice and ridiculous statements you hear in these places are nothing short of scandalous. I hope I am explaining why I pretty much buy everything on line these days and shun the look a like shops as they really dont have anything I am interested in - the nearest analogy I can find in retail is the death of the bookshop , that has also been replaced with places like Waterstones who only stock what they want to sell and where the choice of stock is cynically controlled by the publishers and resellers and has nothing at all to do with giving the public a source of education/edification - far from it. Ho hum, enough ranting from an old man - this aint gonna be fixed anytime soon and I am definitely not in the demographic category that these retailers are trying to appeal to.
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