elcraft, selling tools does not cut into repair business. In fact, it can increase it. Some customers try their own repairs, realize they're in over their heads, then bring the bike in for repair.

If someone competent buys a tool, the shop couldn't have made the repair for him in the first place. Tools are one of the few things I buy at my LBS. Yet they're always extremely cheerful with me and indicate they're glad to see me.

Nightshift, I don't know what shops here charge, but I'd be OK if it were up to $50/hour. I live in NJ, near NYC. Firstly, understand that for any business to sell labor, it MUST triple the hourly wage. So if they're paying the mechanic $17/hour, a $50 labor rate is right. There are SO many costs to providing labor. This tripling is a standard in many service industries.

Secondly, basing anything on minimum wage isn't a good place to start. Minimum wage hasn't kept up with the cost of living. I was a bike mechanic until 1984. In that year, minimum wage was something like $3.50 per hour. Now it's a little over $7. The cost of living has more than doubled, though. In this area, few jobs pay minimum wage. If they did, there would be no applicants.