And the low-volume LBSs are getting screwed by mfrs and distributors. That's why they should think about going to an Ace/True-Value model of local owners buying in big-volume co-op mode.
Khatful learned to do his own stuff. Me too. My LBS's Park Tools were exorbitantly priced, so I went online. Also for the components. If my LBS ever decides to go with co-op purchasing and drops their prices to online-competitive, I'll go to them. My objective is NOT to put them out of business or encourage others to do so, nor to undermine local dollar-recirculation, but to reward businesses, including LBSs elsewhere who are savvy and offering customers good deals. If mfrs are going to Asia and former Soviet-bloc countries to save money, and distributors have eliminated in-state wholsalers to make profits on volume, retailers should get a clue on how to save money on their purchase costs, and then passing the savings on to their retail customers. This isn't rocket science. If they don't then a lot of their customers will find suppliers who get this concept, and with declining sales volumes the clueless LBSs will charge above-MSRP prices to make cashflow, and eventually go belly up because they didn't understand what they needed to do to make a sustainable living selling mass-produced commodities.