Originally Posted by peterw_diy

I haven't worked in an LBS for 20 years, but at that time it was pretty well established that the wholesale price for most bikes was 65% of the suggested retail price, and that's not counting freight charges. Shops that ordered more bikes got discounts, shops that ordered single bikes got socked with higher freight charges (per unit, anyway). Shops that took the time to build bikes carefully (improving the machine-built wheels, adjusting bearings, pre-stretching cables, etc.) would spend a good portion of the theoretical 35% margin assembling the bike (more than shops that had their installers race to see who could slap bikes together the fastest), and then the sales staff would eat up more of that in hourly wages helping the customer. So, yeah, alan s is right, shops make very little money on typical bike sales.

Selling an item at double the wholesale cost is called "keystoning." Bike shops dream of being able to keystone bikes. In reality, the more expensive (or common) the item, the lower the percentage margin. Shops are likely working on better than a 50%/keystone margin for stuff like bare brake cables, but bikes? No way.

My 2c for the OP's questions: the most important aspect of a bike shop is their mechanical aptitude and dedication. If you're not technically inclined, you need a shop that will make sure the bike is good before it leaves their shop. Advice is nice, good attitude is appreciated, but the baseline here is the quality of what they give you, and the IMO the biggest variable in bike quality rests with the LBS, not the bike manufacturer. You need local opinions about specific local shops, preferably by people like you. (I.E., it doesn't matter what the local Cat 2 racers think if you're looking for something more retrogrouch like the hipster steel that Rivendell sells. You don't want an LBS that sees you as the freak that buys bikes they'd never, ever put in the window -- whether you end up buying a retrogrouch CrMo pig like I ride or a sleek, comfy carbon fiber sprinting dream machine. You want the LBS that's very familiar with the bike you choose -- not a roadie shop that doesn't know how to set up your canti brakes well, nor some steel-is-real enclave where the mechanics have no clue how to treat your ultralight racing bike's carbon fiber bars & seatposts.)