LBS - any good?

[lemmy]

I contacted a LBS about getting a 19 tooth rear sporcket fitted to my Kalkhoff Tasman. They said they'd order it and let me know when it came in. I never heard any more.

So when I wanted to fit a pair of Marathon Plus tyres and new inner tubes, I went to a different LBS. They'd order them (at £66 a pair) and let me know when they came in.....and I never heard any more.

I decided not to go ahead with the sprocket change rather than order from another dealer because with more experience of the bike, I find that I am usually traveling at speeds faster than the max power output of the Panasonic unit with little effort anyway.

The Schwalbes I fitted after buying them online from a place Flecc recommended at £41 the pair including carriage.

I'm trying to support my LBSs but they don't make it easy.

When I was a photo-journalist, all the Fleet Street guys bought their gear at either of 2 shops in London. These 2 were used for one overriding reason, customer service.

Many bike shops have a lot to learn, in my opinion.

 

[flecc]

Many bike shops have a lot to learn, in my opinion.

They have always been a backward lot on the whole, and I say that as someone who started in the trade.

My original boss used to drive me mad with his lack of business acumen, his unwillingness to accept progress or change anything, and I've met many like him since. Fortunately his grandson who eventually took over the business was the opposite, but turned it into a highly successful motor cycle business!

In defence of the cycle dealers though, it is a depressing business. There's small profits on sales and difficulty in charging what repairs are really worth in labour time when a new bike can be bought for less than the cost of a couple of hours labour charge.

Probably accounts for the short temper many of them have too.
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[z0mb13e]

This echos my experience of many of my LBSs. There are a couple of exceptions and I now go direct to them - despite them being further away.

There's small profits on sales and difficulty in charging what repairs are really worth in labour time when a new bike can be bought for less than the cost of a couple of hours labour charge.

Probably accounts for the short temper many of them have too.
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Sounds like the PC repair business!

 

[flecc]

Sounds like the PC repair business!

Yes, their trading conditions are a very close parallel.
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[Lloyd]

I contacted a LBS about getting a 19 tooth rear sporcket fitted to my Kalkhoff Tasman. They said they'd order it and let me know when it came in. I never heard any more.

So when I wanted to fit a pair of Marathon Plus tyres and new inner tubes, I went to a different LBS. They'd order them (at £66 a pair) and let me know when they came in.....and I never heard any more.

I decided not to go ahead with the sprocket change rather than order from another dealer because with more experience of the bike, I find that I am usually traveling at speeds faster than the max power output of the Panasonic unit with little effort anyway.

The Schwalbes I fitted after buying them online from a place Flecc recommended at £41 the pair including carriage.

I'm trying to support my LBSs but they don't make it easy.

When I was a photo-journalist, all the Fleet Street guys bought their gear at either of 2 shops in London. These 2 were used for one overriding reason, customer service.

Many bike shops have a lot to learn, in my opinion.

I have served many years in the LBS side of the cycle trade, and there does need to be a change. The more specialist shops are in fact very knowledgable and can provide an invaluable service. They are generally very sceptical of electric bikes, and profits have taken a battering from your Wiggle's and Chain Reactions of this world.

My tip is biscuits. When I was a spanner in the workshop a pack of Jammy Dodgers or Custard creams would be all it would take.

 

[eddieo]

I think they are getting better at least mine is. they even sell Giant E bikes and gave me a Trek brochure the other day as they are thinking of stocking the Trek + e bikes as well (BionX). The fact is they are a hard core racer shop and know bu$$er all about E bikes! lol bless em........

If I get a 906 with front motor I guess it will be a lot easier for a LBS to service etc......When I went in originally 18 months ago with my wisper they did not want to know, but are now prepared to rebuild hub motor wheels whatever, but I don't think they know enough, and would rather send a wheel to someone like SJS who know what they are doing

 

[Alex728]

I have served many years in the LBS side of the cycle trade, and there does need to be a change. The more specialist shops are in fact very knowledgable and can provide an invaluable service. They are generally very sceptical of electric bikes, and profits have taken a battering from your Wiggle's and Chain Reactions of this world.

indeed - and yet here are customers who have mostly invested a four figure sum in their bikes, who go thousands of miles on them (and obviously need repairs done), who are willing to accept the costs and these LBS owners are just walking away from this lucrative business

I personally think the e-bike market is starting to eat away at the hybrid, tourer and racing bike market for some sections of the community, particularly younger men who either don't drive at all or want to drive less (there are some), and who want a practical form of transport.

All my other bikes, accessories and repairs came from LBS's - until the attitude shown to e-bikes made me increasingly start relying on mail order and doing my own repairs...

 

[ELECTRIC AVENUES]

I contacted a LBS about getting a 19 tooth rear sporcket fitted to my Kalkhoff Tasman. They said they'd order it and let me know when it came in. I never heard any more.

So when I wanted to fit a pair of Marathon Plus tyres and new inner tubes, I went to a different LBS. They'd order them (at £66 a pair) and let me know when they came in.....and I never heard any more.

I decided not to go ahead with the sprocket change rather than order from another dealer because with more experience of the bike, I find that I am usually traveling at speeds faster than the max power output of the Panasonic unit with little effort anyway.

The Schwalbes I fitted after buying them online from a place Flecc recommended at £41 the pair including carriage.

I'm trying to support my LBSs but they don't make it easy.

When I was a photo-journalist, all the Fleet Street guys bought their gear at either of 2 shops in London. These 2 were used for one overriding reason, customer service.

Many bike shops have a lot to learn, in my opinion.

100% TRUE.

 

[Old Timer]

Like most things. I remember years ago having my first pc made to my spec, it was early days for Windows and mine crashed a couple of times and so I took it back to where it was made. On the third visit they charged me £100 to put it right and I told the manager there and then that they wouldn`t see me again. They lost the business of my company when we went computerised and since then I promised myself that I`d do my own builds and servicing and with the help of a good friend would never buy a ready made pc again. Same with bikes, after spending years of generally enjoyable maintenance on cars and motorbikes I find working on push bikes a doddle and thoroughly enjoy it. I haven`t had to tackle hubs or controllers yet but no doubt I will and then will be independent.

On line dealers like Chain Reaction, wiggle, SJS and the smaller dealers like Spa cycles of Harrogate are superb and if you can be bothered to spend a bit of time on E bay you can find plenty of bargains of top quality.

You can`t beat teaching yourself about most things, the only thing I leave alone is our oil fired boiler(practising could cause a life to be lost.)Putting new bearings and fan motors etc in washing machines and cookers etc is easy now that you can source the parts on the net.

With my photo gear I just shop around for price to be honest. You don`t have to worry so much about backup because the likes of Canon look after me well as after sales. Why would I pay £600 locally for a camera or lens that I can buy for £450 on the internet. I`m afraid that the internet has ruined local trade to a certain extent. My wife lost her job in our local town when the craft shop she worked in closed down (they stocked everything and had vast amounts of knowledge) but that didn`t save them. Companies on the net were selling gear below what they could buy it at.

That`s life

 

[Memran]

Having worked in a cycle shop for a while, while I was an university, I am in a good position to maintain everything on a bike without ever needing to seek assistance from my LBS. (Including wheel building, which is a nice bonus! )

Customer service isn't the easiest thing to cater for given the general public's inevitable comparison to motorbikes and cars. How many times have you heard comments such as 'I could buy a car and run it for a year for that price', when a non-cyclist is browsing slightly higher-end bikes?

In addition a very large number of LBS customers are children/teens who cycle for fun (ie want better bikes, cheap repairs), but don't have the funds since they rely on their parents who might only consider bikes as transport. These customers will always be in and out of the shop, and require supervision and your time.



My advice is pretty simple! Get your hands dirty! Its really not all that complicated

 

[jerrysimon]

I must admit I have given SJS (St John Street Cycles) quite a bit of ebuisiness in the last few months e.g. tyres & rims and find them really helpful and prompt both on the phone and via email.

I had a puncture in the middle of Cambridge a while back and this was before I learnt how to easily get my Brompton tyres off and back on again. I wheeled it to the LBS and they had a Marathon tyre hanging up there which is what I wanted anyway. I aksed if he could fit it for me. He turned and asked the tech guys who mumbled something about having 20 other jobs that day and then he said he doubted it could not be done before 6:00pm that day. Fair enough I guess and they obviously had plenty of work but not much help to me as I wanted to ride onto work. I declined and then took my bike outside, flipped it over and changed my puncture outside their shop. I did buy some rim tape and an inner tube off them and they lent me their track pump.

In many ways I am glad that they could not do it, as I am now a dab hand at whipping off my Brompton back wheel and can get the tyres on and off with relative ease having developed the correct technique.

As you know I even built my first ever wheel with a Tongxin motor in it. The whole process was a bit of a steep learning curve for me. I really wanted to buy a ready made wheel but had a concern about what happened if my hub motor failed after the guarantee ended or even in guarantee if purchased from overseas!

Spurred on by this forum and a couple of emails from a member here who told me to go for it, this pushed me on to build one into a wheel myself. Ready built ones for the Brompton were also quite expensive and I now have both a spare motor and have built the wheel myself for about 2/3rds the cost of a built one. There really is no substitute for that feeling you get when you know that every part of you bike/ebike can be serviced/mended by youself, with a little help from this forum often

I will still use my LBS for urgent stuff or browsing shinny new bikes.

Regards

Jerry

 

[Lloyd]

It is always good to get your hands dirty! You learn new things and ultimately it does save you money! I used to be a right grease monkey, I had a private workshop with an engine hoist for cars and would think nothing of whipping out an engine/box and replacing it myself with nothing but a Haynes manual for company on a cold Sunday afternoon. As time has gone on, I still have that interest but time prevents me from tinkering. I just send my car in to garages now, although it still hurts when I read the bill and see the labour charge, knowing I could probablty do it myself.

I do still have the skills though, as I found myself fitting a new hydraulic clutch cyclinder in a pub car park on xmas eve racing against the sunset. Happy days.....I always wanted to be on Scrapheap Challenge.

 

[lemmy]

My advice is pretty simple! Get your hands dirty! Its really not all that complicated

I started cycling when I was 6 years old in 1950 and for the next few years used to build my own bikes (as did most of the kids on my estate) from scrap yards and discarded parts. In general, I do my own maintenance, therefore.

Nonetheless, I still need the parts and try (or used to) support my LBS, being willing to pay the extra money in order that they might still be there when I do need them. But I think that's my lot now with 2 shops never getting back to me, one telling me that they didn't deal with Shimano hubs because they weren't 'proper' gears and a third one in New Malden positively insulting me for buying such a 'pointless' machine. In future I'll just look for the best price and be done with it.

When I ordered the Marathons and tubes the shop needed a week to get them and I was going to be paying about £76. Via SJS on the net I paid £22 less and they were delivered the next day.

I'm in no way against local shops - I cycle 14 miles return to buy sausages from an independant butcher because the sausages are so damn good and the service friendly.

I am surprised that so many people share my experience - it's a shame more LBS folk don't note our comments.

 

[Mussels]

Markets change continually and cycling is no different, companies either keep up with the times (like SJS seem to) or go under. If shop sales can't pay for the premises then change is needed, personally I'd rather labour charges weren't subsidised by parts sales.
Apart from shops going online other shops have gone to mobile servicing, if running a van and visiting clients is more cost effective than having a high street presence then go for it. They can still have a parts list for the terminally lazy, just order from Wiggle and add 20%.

 

[jerrysimon]

Yes we have a mobile unit that comes to work. It does very well!

Regards

Jerry

 

[flecc]

One of our members, SteveW, runs an e-bike based mobile service out of the Bromley area, serving South East London and the North Kent/Surrey area.

This sort of service can be a good way of avoiding the very high costs of retail premises, though losing the income from showroom sales.
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[eddieo]

I have used Steve W and would def use him again