Originally Posted by Treefox
If you're ever in the DC area, visit the Bicycle Pro Shop and Cycle Life...
Can't be as good as Pierik's in Hamilton, though! (I suddenly remembered that you used to live on the good side of the border!)
Originally Posted by Machka
For example, cycletourist often use "P-clamps" to attach racks to bicycles without eyelettes...
Why would you put a rack on a road bike?
Originally Posted by Bigmand
The one thing I like the most about my LBS is that when you go in there, it feels like you walked into your friends' house. All the employees are super friendly and very helpful/knowledgeable.
The guys at my LBS are super friendly and I get along great with them. Problem is, they do crap work and know bupkis about road bikes.
Originally Posted by gerald g
She's like, I don't understand were open 9-6 every week day. Doh ! Exactly when do most commuting workers work ? 8-5 weekdays, and 30 minutes away. Be open when your customers can come in.
If bike shops were smart they'd be open from noon until 8 or 9 pm. I don't understand why they don't do this, aside from personally not wanting to work those hours. Who (aside from me, who has a home office and all the freedom in the world) buys bike stuff at 9:30 am on a Tuesday?
Originally Posted by BikeWise1
Sound bitter? Believe it or not, I'm not. I just think that the equation is out of balance. Your only Ace-in-the-hole will be your service.
Thanks for the peek into the reality of the situation for bikeshop owners in your post (#68). You nailed it, though: good service trumps all.
Now for my complaint: I won't let my LBS work on my bikes (I do the work myself), but I buy certain consumables from them and throw them a bone every other month or so with a slightly larger purchase. Usually it has to be ordered, because they have virtually nothing in stock for road bikes (no big deal, they're mountain-bikers, and I understand that they can't stock everything). Problem is, every time I order something with them it takes at least three weeks for it to arrive. I once asked why it took so long, and they said they waited for the orders to pile up before placing them.
Gee, thanks for letting me know that. Ever since then, I've asked them how long an order will take, and they always say one week, but it always takes three weeks.
Why would what be? Do they get a limited number of deliveries per year from their suppliers, or something? But more crucially: they know that I buy online, they know that in this day and age everybody buys online, and online orders generally take one week to arrive at your front door. Even with shipping, online orders are generally 25% lower than buying at a brick-and-mortar shop. So they know I'm trying to be nice to them, because I value their presence in the community (even if they do crap work--it's a bit of a contradiction, but better to have two shops in my town than just one, or none--yeah, the other shop does crap work, too).
So why don't they make sure my orders get to me quicker?