Originally Posted by
njkayaker
400 miles is not a long time. Anyway, cheap bikes can stand-up to a lot of abuse but they also can be hard to fix. For people who ride more frequently, a moderately priced bicycle is going to be a better buy (and more pleasant to use).
Not all of them are hard to fix. And, more expensive does not equal more pleasant to use 100% of the time. This is my point.
No, doing that would mean they would have to compete with the likes of Walmart (who can always sell something at a lower price), who do not provide any support or service!
Not if they carry only low-end reliable bikes... They're not competing with Walmart, what I am suggesting they do is capture some more of the market, by offering lower priced, reliable bikes; instead of only catering to those who will thumb their nose at less than $350 for a new bike.
It costs more to make something of quality and it costs less to make junk. If LBS can sustain a business selling cheap bicycles at the same price as Walmart, then Walmart is ripping people off!
You don't have to compete with Walmart, and I think you are completely missing my point, which is that LBS's need to start offering more in the way of entry-level new bikes, if they want to remain competitive.
Every other niche market knows this. Tractor Supply doesn't offer $99 lawn mowers, but they don't limit themselves to $1000+ mowers. They do offer some $300 models.
And no one would by a new car that happened to have a "Toyota" sticker on it for $900. And comparing the costs of used stuff to new stuff is absurd (any buying used might be a smart thing to do).
People do often compare the price of a used car vs. the price of a new bicycle. That's reality, no matter how "absurd" you might call that comparison.
I know it was hard to start convincing my wife that a $1200 bicycle was worth the purchase price. Her first reply,"You can buy a used car for that price".
So, as absurd as you may think it it, that comparison happens often. Bicycles are often seen as a level below a used car.