Originally Posted by bigvegan

bikesdirect is at an inherent advantage compared to most of the local LBSs.

BD business model = Taiwanese Factory - Bikes Direct - Customer

LBS business model = Taiwanese Factory - "Name Brand" Bike Company - Distributor - LBS - Costumer

When you take two sets of middlemen out of the supply chain, OF COURSE you're going to be able to offer a cheaper product.

The bikes aren't bad. I owned one of their fixies, and considering I weigh about twice as much as the average fixie kid, and it held up for me just fine, I can't complain. Sure, it took a couple of hours to assemble and true the wheels at the local co-op, but considering that it would have been at least $150+ more to get something comparable at the LBS (which is a lot when it's a $350 bike), I can't complain.

PlatyPius is right though, the liveries on BD bikes are APPALLING, which is why mine were covered up with reflective tape almost immediately. I sometimes wonder if this is their idea of throwing the other companies a bone, as they'd probably be blowing the other manufacturers out of the water even faster if their bikes didn't look like crap.

My next bike, however, is probably going to be a $1,000+ road bike, and at that point, I'll give the LBSs much more serious consideration, as I'll want a bike that's properly fitted, by people who know what they're doing, who'll let me swap out the stems and saddles and whatnot, until I get the bike dialled in properly.

The question is finding the right bike shop, one that actually knows what it's doing, can give me a reasonable price, offer some future service with the purchase, and make me feel good about the bike and the shop. I'd pay extra for that.

If they're going to be bitter about online companies, and just pull bikes out of the box and slap the wheels and handlebars on, and act like I should be grateful that they're there, well, I'm going to fire up the internet.

It's a tough business, especially because LBSs have to fight the online discounters as well as the bad reputation that some of the LBSs give the rest of them. (I walked in to my local LBS the other day, and when the guy quoted me a few bucks more than I'd been quoted over the phone, and I told him that, and that it was cheaper still on the internet (although I was fine paying his first quoted price, which is why I came to the shop), his response was "They're selling this on the internet? Well, I'm going to stop carrying this product." Needless to say, I'm done with that shop.)

The local shops that aren't run by cranks, that are run by decent people that care about bikes, are going to do well, as long as they can make their customers understand the value that they offer. Offer clinics, explain the value of a PROPERLY FITTED BIKE and how a bike can't be fitted online, explain how a cheaper online bike isn't necessarily cheaper once you pay for assembly and swapping out stems and adding pedals that aren't total garbage, offer prices that are reasonable, if not amazing, and treat your customers with gratitude and respect. Offer knowledge and service and respect (and publicize that knowledge with a decent website. Sheldon Brown's contributions to the Harris Cyclery website are the best example) and people will pay extra for it, but expecting people to pay extra because you're the only game in town is not a winning strategy.