Originally Posted by
Shuffleman
If we strip out some of the personal attacks in this thread and any other one about BD it may actually get interesting. I prefer Italian or German road bikes equipped with Campy so BD will never be on my radar. With that being said, I do recognize their place in the market and have no problem with it. They have a niche and they serve it well. My question is, why do so many people take such a personal afront to BD or Performance? These people act like the companies are crooks. I just do not get it. Do you have the same issue with all on-line retailers? or just bike companies?
I totally understand the need for LBS. I support mine. I have purchased 2 mtbs and many other things from them this year alone. They provide a great service to me and I love them for that. I also buy most of my bike related food and accessories at Performance, which is a few short miles from my office. I purchase many things on line as well. It is convenient, less expensive and I can get what I want. My LBS has very limited choices in clothes and brands. They are a Trek and Giant dealer. I wanted Colnago. Again, I love my LBS but they can't be everything to everybody. Neither can BD. I just do not understand the hate for BD. They are upfront about the bike, what it comes with and what to do when it arrives. I ordered a GT hybrid from them years ago. It actually arrived the very next day. I was floored but I am aware that they are based out of my town and have a distribution center about 25 miles from my house. That bike was put together in about 10 minutes. Put the wheel on, attach the brake cable and put on the handlebars. Simple. I did have to true a wheel but what a great experience. I was looking for a descent and inexpensive hybrid and that is what I paid for and what I got. We have plenty of riders in our "A" group that ride on Trek, Giant and etc. There are also ones that ride on Motobecane. They are all good bikes.
Aside from the obvious LBS owner or employee that responded before me...well, just read that post again and you'll get the drift, this is the sort of person who hates on line retailers because it takes away from LBS business that they're part of and they can't stand losing business to someone that doesn't practice gouging as LBS's do. However these people are too stupid to see the facts, the facts are that mass merchants stores have the lions share of the bike sales of about 75%, whereas LBS's have 2nd place share of the market at about 14%, Chain sporting stores account for 7%, outdoor specialty stores at 2.5%, and online sellers are in the small minority is in last place of about 1.5%, so in reality LBS's aren't even remotely threatened by online sellers, they just want make a bunch of noise like their being ***** and only have short time to live, if they want to beat their chests so loudly then they need to do that against mass merchants and Chain stores.
Please, don't read into this that I hate LBS's, I don't like what they charge but they have to pay for employees, space, insurance, advertising, etc so it's expensive to run a business, I get this because I use to run a business, but in any business there is bound to be competition it's part of the war plan and you either have to adjust to fight back or surrender and run.