Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
There's really no excuse for a bike shop not carrying a few of the most common derailleurs. I used to run an auto parts store for the Coast Guard on Kodiak Island. Before I was allowed to run it I guaranteed my supervisor that I could double sales and profits. It was a tiny store so I couldn't stock much, so I did my homework and stocked the top 50 oil filters, top 25 air filters, top 25 spark plugs and so on. I doubled sales an quadrupled profits in the first year. Bike stores can do the same thing. I'll bet if that store studied the market they could stock 4-5 front derailleurs that would satisfy 75% of their demand. There aren't so damn many bike parts that even the smallest of shops couldn't carry a reasonable stock. A store that doesn't have any front derailleurs isn't trying and isn't worthy of my business.
Given our limited capital, we focus first on stuff that turns. I don't have access to my point-of-sale system from home, but thinking back on the season, we haven't sold a lot of FDs. With the change in actuation ratios on Shimano's newest models, that adds yet another layer of complexity to this particular item, on top of clamp types, double/triple versions, various cage-height differentials to account for various chainring combos, color options, target chain width (8sp, 9sp, 10sp)... SRAM, for their part, has changed the program with the new Yaw versions.
So trying to stock a robust selection of an item that sells slowly, and undergoes breaking changes periodically (such as actuation ratios), is not a good use of limited capital in a seasonal business. I have shelf after shelf of FDs at the LBS I work for, demonstrating the pitfalls of trying to do it. They range from mildly obsolete (not compatible with the current-gen shifters) to "what the HECK do we have all THESE for?!" The smart money is on ordering exactly what you want and having it within a week, and if that's not fast enough, by all means call around to the other LBSes or order one yourself.