twobadfish

Agreed. Mine don't though.

Machka 

They aren't that complicated and expensive anymore.

I've worked retail now and then for years, and all the places I've worked since about the mid-90s have had some sort of computer inventory database system, and the more recent places I've been have been connected to the internet.

Alfred E. Bike was one example I was thinking of ... and I've ordered parts from there.

jeebusaurousrex

That was the short lived Rapha shop in NYC on the Bowery downtown. I was meaning to stop by all summer last year and when I finally got around to it in Sept or Oct, they had closed.

There are 2 good established LBSs in that area and the fact that Rapha only stocked their own branded stuff (expensive, even for the wealthy yuppies living nearby)...well I don't think they had a chance to succeed with just selling coffee. There are about a million coffee shops and cafes in that area. Go figure.

***EDIT: I just looked it up, and they opened for exactly 3 months. Either they meant to be a temporary store or they really, really miscalculated.

Opened June 21 2010
https://hypebeast.com/2010/06/rapha-nyc-store-opening/

Closed Sept 30 2010
https://twitter.com/raphanyc

roadiejorge 

I suspect miscalculation on their part and I say that because Cadence suffered a similar fate though I think they lasted longer and still have a shop in Philly if I'm not mistaken. Cadence was a beautiful shop in a fancy showroom sense but they catered to the Wall Street crowd and when that money source ran out when the economy tanked they closed down.

Jed19

If the various LBS in your area are as incompetent or lazy as the one I have around me, then opening a new store is entirely feasible. I was a banker for a while, and you won't believe the number of incompetent business owners I saw.

But let us talk bicycle stores and a recent experience of mine. I needed to buy two 34.9mm Pro (Shimano) seatpost clamps. I called Shimano to ascertain that the clamps are in stock and to get item/stock numbers. I then went to my closest LBS, (who I have placed orders thru before) to place the order, as Shimano won't sell to me directly. The guy said he placed the order, but it is now three weeks, and still no clamps. I called Shimano this morning, and was told there is no record of this particular store placing the said order. Just imagine!

I then called three other different stores to ask for pricing and if they can order the clamps. That was four hours ago. None of them has called me back.

Oh, I live in the same city where Shimano America is located. And all these stores are within five miles or less of Shimano America headquarters.

So, yes, there is room for a bicycle store that is run by competent and customer-focused owners/operators.

twobadfish

But I thought all bike shops were run by highly skilled professionals and rake in millions in revenue every year, with a stock comparable to what you would find on the internet. This flies in the face of everything I've ever known!!

/sarcasm

Commodus

There is a very good bike shop very near me that does everything right. The owner is smart, very fast and reasonable with repairs and has a great stock. I buy all my consumables from him.

But...I don't make big purchases there. I know what I want and don't particularly need advice. I put my Smoothie with full Ultegra and Ksyrium Eqiupes together for less than $1200, just shopping for deals online. Didn't skimp on the cockpit or seat either. A comparable bike from his floor, even with the good customer discount, would have been twice that.

I feel bad for the guy, and I hope he stays in business because he really does provide a valuable service. I hope the money he makes on the ultra high-end stuff and ultra low-end stuff is enough to keep him going. I notice that the typical customers of these ends of the spectrum don't much care for shopping around and online.

Just one customer's opinion.

Machka 

Not everyone has a phone or wants a phone.

And besides, aren't phones invasive? They demand that the person being called drop everything and deal with the person calling. If I (and every other rural cyclist) were to regularly call up bicycle shop to ask, "Do you have this? How much is it? Do you have a less expensive one in stock? OK, do you have that? How much is it? What colours does it come in? ... " I would think that would be terribly time consuming for the employees of the bicycle shop. Whereas if a bicycle shop had a list of what they have in stock online, we could browse at our leisure any time of the day or night without disturbing the people working at the shop.

halfspeed

Maybe he ordered through QBP and not directly from Shimano. Have you checked QBP's stock?

tonski 

If there is little to no demand for high end bikes then you'd probably not want to have a bunch in the shop right away and build up to it. Up-selling is never shady, dishonest salespeople are shady and you shouldn't have them in your shop.

tonski 

While I'd like to browse parts on the internet, I call the bike shop anyway - and if a business is too busy to help a customer then it will have other problems. Even more so if this is reflected in the staff's attitude.

Machka 

I've been through customer service training, and there I've been taught that you deal with the in-person customer first. Then, when there are no more in-person customers to attend to, you deal with your phone-in customers.

I've walked out of stores where the sales person has answered the phone in the middle of dealing with me ... and, instead of immediately putting the phone-in customer on hold, has told me to wait a moment while they deal with the phone-in customer. That's just rude!

So therefore, if I were a phone-in customer, I would expect to be put on hold and treated like a bit of an inconvenience.

I'd much rather be able to send an email, and a few hours later, when the shop has some time to deal with emails, they can give me a thorough answer.

chasmm

I've found this discussion very interesting, especially as a consumer.

A shop local to me also has an internet presence. Evidently they do a great deal of sales over the 'net. I noticed this one day at the shop when they were unloading a ton of tubes, saddles, and gloves...all of which seemed be a brand I wasn't familiar with. When I got home I googled the brand name and gloves and got a link to an online bike store. Digging a little further I noticed that this online store had the same address as my local shop!

What made it even more interesting is that the prices on their online store are much cheaper than in-shop. I guess this would have to be the case in order to be competitive online.

When I asked one of the shop guys about it, he brought me outside the shop, swore me to secrecy, and then also told me that the non-familiar brand name was their private label that they sold stuff under. Now when I shop local, they give me the internet price...which is good for me, but sort of defeats the purpose for the shop.

A big advantage of this, for me, is that I can now check their website to see if they have something before I drive down there.

And this story, I think, shows what a conundrum it is for the LBS that wants to also have an internet presence. Clearly it's more expensive to sell stuff in the store...but if your customers find out they can order it online FROM THE SAME PLACE and get it cheaper, what do you think they'll want to do? I'll also admit to being a little ticked that I had been buying stuff from them for a few months at bust-out retail (to support my LBS) when all along I could have gotten it cheaper from the same place just by maybe doing a little haggling (which I abhor).

RT

Shops that carry everything you need are rare exceptions these days. In a world of drop-ship and online warehouses, it would not pay to keep an inventory in all things bicycle. Phones are not new technology, and 'disturbing' a shop employee is part of the experience. I agree it is uncouth to shop like that, but in a world of thin inventory and high gas prices (o' the irony), driving around to every bike shop looking for the right rear derialleur is not cheap.

My local shop also has an online presence, and when I order something, it is always here the very next day. This avoids the phone call and gets me what I need, not what I have to settle for. Sort of a cool compromise.

tonski 

I completely agree but there is always someone not dealing with customers long enough to put a phone customer on hold. For our help desk it's the supervisor. Had that ass hole that you were dealing with had any common sense/courtesy/customer service training he would have not minded the phone. A rude experience with someone at a bike shop doesn't mean phones are a bad idea.

If the shop is too busy to answer the phone then leave a message and they can call you back. I'd venture a guess that folks in rural areas would rather call or be there in person over sending an email. On the phone you get a real acknowledgement of the problem, part of customer service, over email you don't.

tonski 

This would be the way to go. If you want to keep an accurate online inventory you're going to be spending some good money up front to do it correctly. The web site being run separately (or mostly separately) is a better idea.

icebiker76

I don't own a car and my bike is my transportation. I'd pay double or even triple labor to get my repaired bike back from the shop in a 24 hour period. A shop wanting to keep my bike for three or four days to do an hour's worth of maintenance, grates on me. Perhaps two tiered labor pricing could bring in more profit for a new shop owner?

Jed19

No, he specifically told me he ordered from Shimano.

My suspicion is that there is not big money to be made from ordering two seatpost clamps, thus the run-around. I wish they'll tell me that. I only need one clamp, but being a business-minded person, I decided to order two so that they can make some money off the order. But still? The lousy customer service.

Go figure!

And by the way, I am rapidly ramping up my effort to be a complete self-sufficient cyclist re maintenance of my bikes. And the reason is the shatty behaviour of these bicycle stores in my area.

tonski 

Good idea, there are occasions I'd pay extra to not wait 2 or 3 days