Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Road Cycling
Reload this Page >

Expectations from a paid riding club?

Notices
Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Expectations from a paid riding club?

Old 11-07-14, 04:44 PM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: SoCal
Posts: 6,517
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 276 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times in 3 Posts
Expectations from a paid riding club?

I decided to join my first club to start participating in some group rides with hopes of meeting other cyclists, improving my training etc. In 5 months since I paid to join the club, there have been 3 rides. I was not able to make it to 2 of them (scheduling conflicts on my side) and the 1 ride I have been on had a turn out of a whopping 8 people and they cut the ride at about 15 miles of slow, flat riding. I was expecting the 1 "group" ride per month that the advertised among other perks that have yet to be delivered. This is a club affiliated with a shop and they have excuses every month for canceling rides (mostly due to everyone being busy with their race team). I think if you are going to charge money for people to join your club then you should find some people to run the rides on a regular basis. Are their races every Sat and Sun every month? Am I expecting too much?
rms13 is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 04:50 PM
  #2  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 4,770
Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 630 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 369 Times in 206 Posts
Are you paying to go on the rides or are you paying for a shop membership where you get a jersey and discounts/etc?
Elvo is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 04:58 PM
  #3  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: SoCal
Posts: 6,517
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 276 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times in 3 Posts
Originally Posted by Elvo
Are you paying to go on the rides or are you paying for a shop membership where you get a jersey and discounts/etc?
I'm paying for rides. They do include nominal discount on "accessories" with the membership that I have never used. They do not include free jersey with the paid membership but you can buy their jersey and kit which I believe they charge about $200 for the club jersey and bib set.

So to me I'm paying for services not delivered.
rms13 is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:17 PM
  #4  
Senior Member
 
hokie cycler's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Posts: 392

Bikes: 2018 Giant Stance 1, 2011 Trek Madone 3.1, 2004 LeMond Nevada City, 1980 Peugeot Course single speed, 1978 Peugeot AO-8

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Find another club. Our club has 1100 members and at least one ride everyday of the year and it only costs $25 to join.
hokie cycler is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:25 PM
  #5  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 265
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
IMO, just by asking the question you already have your answer, they have not deliver the value to meet expectations.

Perhaps i am a little short sighted here, but paying to join a group ride?? Is there a support van/car? a mechanic? shop provides some spare wheels to ensure everyone finishes the ride without having to stop/delay others for flats?

Around here, there are a bunch of paid rides with some of the above mentioned perks in some form or another.
Acquaspin is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:28 PM
  #6  
GP
Senior Member
 
GP's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 7,630
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 28 Post(s)
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Try the San Fernando Valley Bicycle Club. https://www.sfvbc.org/
GP is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:30 PM
  #7  
Stand and Deliver
 
FLvector's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Tampa Bay
Posts: 3,340

Bikes: Cannondale R1000, Giant TCR Advanced, Giant TCR Advanced SL

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Would you mind listing the annual cost and the list of membership benefits of this club? It will help to put things into perspective.
FLvector is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:32 PM
  #8  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: SoCal
Posts: 6,517
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 276 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times in 3 Posts
I paid to join just because I don't know enough serious riders to find a large, faster group for free. I ride with about 10 people I know semi regularly. Sometimes it's 2 of use sometimes 6 or 8 at at time but I'm a much stronger rider then most of them. Not saying I'm anything special, I just ride a lot more consistently so when I ride with my friends I have to ride a lot slower than I ride solo and stop to wait at tops of hills etc. I would like a more serious group where people my level and stronger that can push me. If I have to pay a reasonable amount of dues for that, I'm fine as long as there are rides. I have looked into other local clubs that charge about the same in dues as the one I joined and advertise at least 1 ride per week not per month. The main reason I chose to join the club I did was location and convenience of getting to the rides for me.

And yes, by asking the question I know my own answer but I've only been riding road for about 2 years and this is the first club I've joined so I wanted to make sure my expectations are appropriate.
rms13 is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:33 PM
  #9  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: SoCal
Posts: 6,517
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 276 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times in 3 Posts
Originally Posted by FLvector
Would you mind listing the annual cost and the list of membership benefits of this club? It will help to put things into perspective.
$25/year:

15% off all accesories*Skills clinicsGuest speakersAccess to top notch service


rms13 is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:36 PM
  #10  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: SoCal
Posts: 6,517
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 276 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times in 3 Posts
Originally Posted by GP
Try the San Fernando Valley Bicycle Club. https://www.sfvbc.org/
Thanks. I am aware of the club and looks great. My limitation is that I share a car with my wife and she usually works weekends so most of the time I need to be able to ride to the ride and most of their ride starting points would be a little far for me to motivate to ride to and then do the ride and ride home. And I'm not quite ready to buy a second car just to get to rides....but that may be in the future
rms13 is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:37 PM
  #11  
Should Be More Popular
 
datlas's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Malvern, PA (20 miles West of Philly)
Posts: 42,957

Bikes: 1986 Alpine (steel road bike), 2009 Ti Habenero, 2013 Specialized Roubaix

Mentioned: 560 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 22513 Post(s)
Liked 8,843 Times in 4,113 Posts
Agree find another club. Our club is basically free, you just are supposed to buy the jersey (from Voler) and we have 5-10 different rides on Saturday, plus several other rides on other days.
__________________
Originally Posted by rjones28
Addiction is all about class.
datlas is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:38 PM
  #12  
Senior Member
 
68venable's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Richmond, TX
Posts: 604

Bikes: 1988 Cannondale Criterium SR500

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 23 Post(s)
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Try www.meetup.com and search for cycling groups. You may have one there.
68venable is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:44 PM
  #13  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Northern California
Posts: 10,879
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 104 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times in 5 Posts
How much are they charging? $1/month? $10/month? $100/month? If I was paying $100/month, I would be upset, not so much for $1.

Surely there are other clubs in southern California with a more robust ride schedule. Here in northern California, the major recreational riding clubs have group rides almost every day of the year for around $2/month.
johnny99 is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:50 PM
  #14  
Senior Member
 
bikemig's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Middle Earth (aka IA)
Posts: 20,505

Bikes: A bunch of old bikes and a few new ones

Mentioned: 178 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5877 Post(s)
Liked 3,445 Times in 2,066 Posts
I belong to a club that pretty much doesn't have any rides either. I paid for a family membership this year but I'm done after this year. I can't figure out what the "club" does. Heck I've offered to help out and haven't heard anything back.
bikemig is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 05:55 PM
  #15  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: SoCal
Posts: 6,517
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 276 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times in 3 Posts
Originally Posted by johnny99
How much are they charging? $1/month? $10/month? $100/month? If I was paying $100/month, I would be upset, not so much for $1.

Surely there are other clubs in southern California with a more robust ride schedule. Here in northern California, the major recreational riding clubs have group rides almost every day of the year for around $2/month.
$25/year. It's certainly the principal of the matter more then the money at this point because I just feel like they took my money 5 months ago and I've gotten nothing in return.
rms13 is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 06:07 PM
  #16  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Bay Area, Calif.
Posts: 7,239
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 659 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times in 6 Posts
Most bike clubs with which I'm familiar are happy to have new potential members come out for a few rides before they join to see if it's something they want to do. The club I'm in currently had over 600 rides last year (i.e. just about every day and quite a few days with multiple rides), and that's not counting planned rides that were canceled due to weather or other issues. Check around for other clubs and also Meetup or similar groups in your area and see if there's a group that's a better match for you.
prathmann is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 06:24 PM
  #17  
Fahrradfahrer
 
jwarner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 367

Bikes: n+1

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Look man, they got your money, what's the problem?

Seriously, I'd drop 'em like a blind roofer, after going in to politely let the LBS owner know why...

I recommend a "Dear John" sort of conversation about your needs not being met.
jwarner is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 06:27 PM
  #18  
Has a magic bike
 
Heathpack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,590

Bikes: 2018 Scott Spark, 2015 Fuji Norcom Straight, 2014 BMC GF01, 2013 Trek Madone

Mentioned: 699 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4456 Post(s)
Liked 425 Times in 157 Posts
I am a member of three cycling clubs. Only one charges dues.

Club one has 2 official rides per week, plus several other informal rides per week put together by members. We communicate by Facebook. This club is free, sponsored by a local shop.

Club two has three rides per week. Also free. Communication also via FB. Sponsored by another shop.

Club three has multiple chapters, most throughout SoCal, but also Vegas & a few international chapters. This one is $50/year. There are 7 rides per week in various SoCal locations. Plus one picnic ride per month- a group ride sponsored by one chapter with full SAG support, a lunch & a raffle with so many prizes that 60% of people win a piece of bike schwag. They also put on four climbing century rides per year, also with full SAG support and a lunch. All of these things are included for your annual dues. If you pay next years dues by Dec 31 of this year, it's only $40.

So yes, it sounds like you need another club.
Heathpack is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 06:49 PM
  #19  
Senior Member
 
Ben I.'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Illinois
Posts: 261

Bikes: 2015 Ridley Fenix Ultegra, 2016 Ridley X-Trail

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 29 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Please keep in mind, I haven't joined a cycling club myself yet BUT definitely should expect more than what you're getting. While $25/year isn't a huge amount of money, you're still paying to be a part of it.

A cycling club that I'll probably join next year (also $25/year) has a list on their website of all their rides, past and future with contact info, route info, etc. all with varying distances and paces. If possible I'd try looking for something like that to make sure they go on plenty of rides.

As someone else mentioned though, I'd imagine many clubs would be okay with you tagging along on a couple rides before deciding to pay the membership. Good luck, hope you find one that works for you.
Ben I. is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 06:59 PM
  #20  
Senior Member
 
kbarch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 4,286
Mentioned: 21 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1096 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Sounds like your club doesn't have the requisite critical mass. That's unfortunate. If the organizers have made an honest effort to schedule rides and offer some other benefits, they can't be criticized for the fact that their members didn't take advantage of what they offered. But who knows whether they might have done (or yet do) something different to make the group stronger, more active, etc.
kbarch is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 07:01 PM
  #21  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 4,514
Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1028 Post(s)
Liked 447 Times in 263 Posts
Originally Posted by rms13
I think if you are going to charge money for people to join your club then you should find some people to run the rides on a regular basis.
Yes, and you know who those people are? The members. Like you. You're a member of the club, what have you done to organize rides?

They sold you membership with all associated rights and privileges, and that's what you got. They weren't charging you for a service. Learn the difference, find a club more to your liking, move on.
asgelle is online now  
Old 11-07-14, 07:08 PM
  #22  
Redefining Lazy
 
Slackerprince's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: North Metro, MN
Posts: 1,923

Bikes: 2013 Cannondale Synapse 5 105, 2013 Giant Escape 3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 13 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
This is just 25 miles from Glendale:

https://www.meetup.com/find/#?allMeet...41010556448961

You can expand the search by a few miles if you want.

S
Slackerprince is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 07:11 PM
  #23  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: SoCal
Posts: 6,517
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 276 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times in 3 Posts
Originally Posted by kbarch
If the organizers have made an honest effort to schedule rides and offer some other benefits, they can't be criticized for the fact that their members didn't take advantage of what they offered.
The key words are "honest" and "effort". The most aggravating part is that they sent out a six month schedule of monthly rides and they make no communication that the rides are not happening. I showed up for one at 8 am on a Saturday to find no people there and now I make the effort to email a day before to see if it's actually happening to find out that they don't have people to run it again. Apparently most of the communication happens on Facebook and sorry I'm not on Facebook and not going to be just to find out if the rides are canceled.

Oh well, I actually just signed up for a new club that charges a little more in dues but have many many more rides. And I actually see their groups on the road every weekend so I know they are actually having rides.
rms13 is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 07:21 PM
  #24  
bt
Banned
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,664
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
what you could do for revenge is join a bunch of clubs then don't show up at any rides.
bt is offline  
Old 11-07-14, 07:29 PM
  #25  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Bay Area, Calif.
Posts: 7,239
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 659 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times in 6 Posts
Originally Posted by bt
what you could do for revenge is join a bunch of clubs then don't show up at any rides.
Hmm... That's what most of our members do.
prathmann is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.