jefnvk

Could, and want to bother with for the person that may be interested ever three months but who will probably just whine about the price, are two very different things.

It is like saying that a Sears tire shop should carry spoke rims and skinny WWII Jeep style off road tires, or that gas stations should stock lead additive for old cars whose engines still need leaded fuel. They simply aren't something that 99.9% of people through their doors have any need for, and the couple dollars a year you may make off of it is far more hassle than it is worth. Not to mention, most bike shops I frequent are pretty crammed with stuff that does sell.

Loose Chain

I try to support my local shops but when I often pay considerably more for items from them than online I expect a little consideration when I need a (willing to pay for) favor, like to press my cups in my headset (about a three minute job) and with items in my hand and after having talked to the shop owner numerous times about ordering a frame for me. I expect not to be dismissed as a non-custmer and told to come back some other time when there is only one other person in the store.

I try to support them but it is increasingly hard. I can do most things, in fact really everything, but I am short of the time commodity. What I cannot get online is service and a personal relationship and if I cannot get that from a brick and mortar store then why bother with them at all. Many of these stores have, well, a snoody attitude.

More and more they just do not have what I need in parts, bikes or service and I do not need attitude.

crank_addict

I'm not sympathetic to the LBS and yet do try supporting them. Most are missing the boat and only steering the customer in what they want to sell you. Too bad. I've dropped off parts for their bins but even that stuff for pickings later on have gone to the dumpster. Maybe if they had a little sign noting potential customers of some older parts for a few bucks and or donate for the store coffee, whatever. Rather it ends up in the garbage.

Though I find the majority are intrigued or enthusiastic to see some old lightweight, they simply don't have the tools to service them. The days are gone where they face or align frames. Sign of the times. Who straightens ally or cf frames? Funny yet, most don't even know what a tubular is, even though premier race bikes use them. The bike shops will stock and sell $4,000+ bike with clinchers. What the heck is that all about? Weird that I know quite a few in that area seriously into bikes, high end wheels / rubber incl. dropping coin for quality tubulars. All those customers are buying online because its either order and wait from the bike shop.

Continuing on. In a college town, upscale professional corporate centers, 130,000 population, outstanding dedicated cycling network with THREE bike shops, not one carry's tubular glue, let alone brake blocks? Nope. An assortment of bar tape... nope again. Only get one brand of boring cork. We know they can easily stock up for only $200 wholesale on consumables through Merry or at the least China direct - ebay. Doesn't take up much space either. One shelf worth? Is that too much to ask for?

The reason they won't is not wanting you to fix your old bike OR they say they simply don't get parts for them anymore.
Do I really care what happens to their business. Not really.

squirtdad

not that simple. you buy, your money is locked up in something that doesn't move, so you are missing out on potential sales of other items that the same money could have brought into the shop. If it is in inventory at tax deadlines it impacts your taxes as part of the cost of goods sold calculation, each and every year it is in inventory it hurts you at tax time as it reduces your cost of goods sold

The Golden Boy 

I'm lucky in that Ben's Cycle is sorta "local" to me. Sorta just down the street from where I work.

crank_addict

A wholesale order of $200 buys a nice assortment of replacement brake blocks, good cables WITH proper vintage fitting ferruls, Fizik lightweight bar wrap, Newbaums or other cloth tape. Wholesale training tubulars, glue. A few more dollars and stock a few his / hers retro leather saddles. Peanuts and about the price of a months electric bill.

But rather, they'll stock a bunch of 29er off road bikes for a city that doesn't have off-road trails. Bike models sitting in stock for three, four years. Paying juice on $4k plus road bikes that get old on the books. Thats not turning dollars.

72Paramount

I look at it like this: the customer you could have had by stocking a few inexpensive consumables in the corner is now gone for good. The Guy who rides vintage steel, but buys new bikes for his kids won't be buying one of your bikes. I'll buy from the shop that still sells tubular glue and keeps it in stock!! Instead of having a repeat customer, who loves bicycles and would promote your business free of charge to his riding buddies, you get nothing. If that is the best business model, I wish you the best of luck. Also I'm tired of hearing on here how cheap C&Vers are. The guys I ride with have Colnago's, De Rosas, Paramounts, full record groups,etc. 30-40 year old bikes that are still worth anywhere from $1000 to $3,000. These bikes weren't cheap when new and they aren't cheap today. They are vintage and highly sought after by many.

American Euchre

At this point I'll only head to the LBS's as a last resort. A quick summation of my most recent experiences:

Shop 1: bring in commuter bike in box for assembly and tune. At pick up, I realize bike is not assembled properly. Derailleurs don't shift properly. Brakes are out of adjustment. Wheels are out of true. Headset/stem are loose. Estimate $65, actual cost, $80.

Shop 2. bring in same commuter bike for "mini-tuneup" a month later at a different shop. I ask them to true the wheels, which they agree to do. $40 later, wheels are not true.

Shop 3: shop for a few knick knacks such as tubes and bottle cages. Plastic, i.e. "carbon" cages are $30, tubes are $10 apiece, on sale at $30 for 4. No thanks.

A few years ago, I stepped into a very well stocked shop in an affluent neighborhood. I had called on the phone to make sure the size and model were in stock at the store. Once I arrive, the employee is confused, and says it must have been sold. He goes to the "warehouse" to check. 20 minutes later, he comes back without the bike. It turns out the bike had been directly above his head on a rack when he said the bike must have been sold!

It neither pains me nor brings me joy to say what we all know: bike shop employees are on average, a fairly dim witted bunch.

I could just go on and on with the stories. As much as I love bikes, riding, and as much as I want be a part of a cycling community by supporting shops, the incompetence of shop employees make this an impossibility.

Andy_K 

The lack of selection of brake pads at my closest LBS is one of the things I don't like about them. Maybe I'm not the average customer, but when I want to buy brake pads I don't just want whatever they have that will fit my brakes. I want something particular. But a lot of local shops will just have one brand (as often as not something crappy) of the common sizes. Buying online I can get exactly what I want.

There's a shop in Portland that has a $14000 Bianchi Specialissima Super Record EPS on the floor right now. That's an awful lot of inventory that doesn't appeal to 99.9% of customers.

jefnvk

I don't pretend to know what bikes are bought at by the shops, but I'd venture a guess there is more profit in one sale on that single bike than an entire rack of C&V would make the shop in a year.

I'd also bet the person that buys that bike is going to drop far more on add-ons that ten C&V guys buying consumables every couple of months.

Andy_K 

I don't doubt that. This bike also has obvious value as a show piece. It establishes the identity the shop is trying to project. It just makes me question the cost of inventory argument.

big chainring 

"Buying on line I can get exactly what I want"
Nuff said.

jetboy 

but for every bad experience there is a good one. Heck, even the bad ones can be ok... or maybe its just that bay area shops are not as sucky as other places.

recent LBS experiences:

1. hit a pothole and ruptured a tire- bit blow out, tried and failed to repair. walked to closest LBS which was a "public bike" boutique store. First employee looks at my 25mm 700 tires and says: we don't stock tubes for that... Second employee overhears and says: Oh, yes we do, we have some in the back for just such situations. Let me grab you one. $6.50 later back on the road (and he admired my ironman). thank you LBS!

2. needed a generic long cage derailleur and some ok brakes. different LBS, got a new raceface RD for $19 and some used dual pivot brakes for 20 and walked away smiling. that RD works surprisingly well.

3. went to see bike off CL and was in a hurry, forgot to throw pedals in my backpack. ended up buying bike.. and walking in the rain. stopped in closest lbs, sorry no used pedals (very boutique store, guy was buying $300 shoes while I was asking for 5$ pedals just to get home on). but, also very friendly and did go in the back and check for me. Stopped in second LBS down the street: Sure, you can have these for free, here is a tool and some grease. thank you LBS. Fresh Air Bicycles in SF btw, please give them your business.

4. different shop: cinelli bar tape and cable stops? yes.

5. different shop: leather toe straps and 9 speed chain? Yes.


most the shops around here are actually pretty good.

and to the cost of inventory argument: the public bike retail store had tubes in stock for bicycles they do not sell or service, just in case someone blew a tube and came in looking. its just smart business as now I tell everyone what a great store that is. Hayes st. btw.

Loose Chain

How can shops not have brake pads? Is this for real?

I asked for axle adjusters and nobody knew what they were and I pointed them out on a new Surly CC that was in the store. Like what does this guy, who buys this bike do for a replacement when they get bent, which happens? No response.

J

SpiritCyclist

MY LBS experiences are hit and miss. I try to support them whenever I can, but it can be tough, for reasons others have noted already.

Second to last experience: I had the pleasure of being schooled on how, exactly, one should lube one's chain, when I went in for some chain oil. I really didn't ask... and the guy didn't assume I already knew. It was rather embarrassing. The shop also had nothing stocked in the way of useful parts-just a lot of expensive new bikes hanging around.

Last experience (different shop): The employee gladly popped the freewheel off an old junker MTB wheel for a single speed project I'm working on, and he didn't ask "what are you doing with this old piece of junk" or anything like that. Just smiled and removed the freewheel. Even though I only bought $5 worth of stuff (new ball bearings), he treated me like a human being and we had a nice chat about when/where the shop does group rides.

It's experiences like the last one that make me appreciate having the LBS to go to.

Primitive Don

The nearest LBS is an hour drive, and although they have little I really want or need, they did have replacement spokes for $2 a pop. They were open on a Monday in early March and met my need, so I did grab some presta 700cx35 tubes and a few accessories to show a bit of appreciation.

Since I have been getting back into bikes, I have been checking out dealers in the area. The one where I ended up buying my wife's Trek FX WSD seems like a good place. They sell Trek, Giant and Specialized and work hard to follow up your purchase with quick service while you wait. The only thing that irritated me, is after I forked over $450-some odd bucks, the guy asks me what else I need. 'I think that will do it for 2015. Thanks, though.' I realize that's a very cheap bike by today's standards, but I'm just not nearly as wealthy as their usual customer.

I really don't expect an LBS in my area to cater to the C&V crowd, honestly. Riding my bikes in this area, I seldom see anyone on an older bike, except an older guy with his drop bars rotated upward, who may or may not dealing with a recent DUI. There is only one person I can think of in this area who is as interested as I am in vintage bikes, and I'm pretty sure he has moved away by now.

I tend to get most everything I need, bike-wise and otherwise, online. Since I live in a small town/rural setting, I'm not likely to find much other than normal groceries/hardware/Walmart offerings around here.

Bikerider007

Just sayin', how hard is it to stock some consumables like the cello bar tape that looks old school but is make in England, some brake pads, leather clip straps in black and original and some 700c gumwalls?

I get there are different levels of shops and some of the big ones are very corporate and only high dollar. But I like to have a reason to go into shops and that is their opportunity to sell, especially for small and mid size shops. Embrace vintage. Jeep and 4wd shops carry parts to fit my old CJ7, yes they want JK 4door business but the respect the heritage and will still have some stuff or will bs and order, not look down their nose.

The OP mentioned he went into an old established shop with Colnago and what not hanging from the roof yet they know nothing about the history and roots of cycling or just don't care? Sounds like the passion is not there or they can't figure out the business. Again, vintage is in and will grow.

eschlwc

you mean frame adjustment screws, like this one?

Loose Chain

Yes, basically. I found some on eBait. New in bag, two full sets, Campy. The kind with the little spring and then I found in my junk drawer several old, but still NIB, Campy. So I am set for a while. I guess I had forgotten about the butterfly style, nice!

jefnvk

Same here, I wonder if it is simply a market by market thing. I've done a few charity rides over the past year in my area that draw a wide variety of people. At least three rides that bring in a few thousand a ride, and a couple more that bring a few hundred, and I can generally can count the old bikes that are ridden because the owner is actually interested in C&V on one hand. It is cool when I do, I ended up riding a few miles with a guy on an old Motobecane who immediately picked me out in a crowd on my old Peugeot one time, but the simple fact is a few hundred people from around the country who chat on a website does not make a burgeoning market for an LBS.

Truth be told, most friends I know that ride bikes still think I must be incredibly cheap to not have a fancy new bike.

jetboy 

its got to be market. i commute by cycle and just looking at the bikes parked at transit area, on the train, and out and about- most are at least 20 years old. people around here are not using a bike for sport- it is their primary, if not only, transportation. They just need something that works and won't get messed with- and 80s and 90s bikes are the best value for that. so the lbs also cater to the needs.

Primitive Don

haha, that sound about right. The groups of riders I see in this area roll through town on higher end aluminum and CF rides, some of which are Cervelos. We do live in a lake town, with a fairly upper middle class to wealthy element that lives large, with brand new fishing boats, ski boats and lake homes. I happen to know of one gentleman with a new Colnago who thinks C02 cartridges are meant to inflate tires routinely, rather than just during a roadside flat situation.

jefnvk

Fair enough. The people who commute on bikes around me are overwhelmingly not doing it for sport, rather out of necessity, and are mostly doing it on old Huffys and Pacifics and such. I'd venture the ones on C&V would more likely ditch the bike and buy something else cheap to replace it over spending $100 on a tune up if it ever went out.

jefnvk

Oh, when I was looking for a road bike last spring, everyone I knew that rode bikes told me I would regret not buying something with brifters.

Still don't own a bike with brifters, I just don't see the overwhelming problem not having them!

Dave Cutter

I love the LBS(s)! Of course none of the shops around... well anywhere I've ever shopped... carry vintage parts and such. There was an older somewhat stuffed-full and dusty bike shop I was in once. But I wasn't into classic & vintage then and the shop has since closed.

I had seen a flyer (posted on-line via Craigslist) of some bicycle swap meets this summer. I hope to attend at lease one meet... although I can't think of anything I currently need.

I think we're lucky as hell to have Amazon, eBay, Bang Good, and all the other on-line sources for our vintage bikes.