Originally Posted by
BassNotBass
Fact#1: your local bike shop (a brick and mortar physical establishment with overhead) cannot compete with online price slashers who have the upper hand by dealing in volume.
Fact#2: your local bike shop usually makes more money on *servicing bikes than selling parts or bicycles. *
Service = mechanic (a person with the aptitude to fix a mechanism).
Fact#3: There are a lot of self proclaimed mechanics or 'certified' mechanics who really don't know crap. They work at a lot of LBS's and cost less than really knowledgeable mechanics.
Fact#4: The really knowledgeable mechanics or cycling artisans who know how to fix your bike and work the magick (oooh... aren't I new-age) are very few and far between because those mechanics either:
- have a S.O. who is a professional who can pay the bills so they can afford to be an idealistic bike mechanic
- live at poverty level in a commune
- work in IT or some other far more lucrative career and only work Saturdays at the LBS to feed the soul which has been compromised elsewhere in a Charlie Christian kinda way for their 'career'.
Basically
the internet=monetary savings on parts where as
the LBS=service (or a flesh and blood you can blame if your s*** doesn't work as expected).
All well and good but in many ways it doesn't matter why the LBS is more expensive. As cyclists we only have so much money to go around and if the premium the LBS charges isn't worth that extra service you get then we won't buy stuff there.
For work I can't do myself (which for now is a lot of stuff) I'll take the increased prices on the chin because if I buy the wrong thing online the cost of buying another one can rapidly wipe out any savings I might make and if I break something else the cost of having it fixed does likewise. If I know what I'm doing or have adequate confidence that I can do it then I'll consider the LBS price and other prices and go from there. If something is £14.99 from the LBS and £13.99 online then for the sake of the extra £1 I'd rather give the local guy the business. If it's £34.99 from the LBS and £16.99 online it becomes harder to justify.