Local Bike Shop Questions

[bonefishjake]

revenue comes from the strangest places. look at fast food...just about the highest margins they have are on the biggin' size drinks.

my guess is, and this is just a guess, that ultimately the main reason for a bike shop to exist will be repairs, hence where the most of revenue will come from. unless all the particular shops within a certain area work together to leverage their collective buying power, the soft goods will pretty much go away b/c there will be no way to compete with the new breed of superstores that will ultimately emerge on the net.

at least that's what the magic eight ball told me.

 

[Frank]

Hey Frank,

I have been wanting to connect with you for a bit. I have been riding the stuff at Alaire a bit and I really dig the work you guys have done.

Your work has not gone unnoticed.




Thanks

J

Glad you enjoy it bud....the group and I thank you.

 

[anrothar]

there are three in jefferson. headley lumber, which has been family owned and operated since the 1800's, when it opened as a lumber mill. american hardware over by rt 15 bicycles, dunno the history of it, but it's been there owned by the same guy since i was a kid. jefferson lumber, which has been around since at least before the 1950's.

both headley and jefferson lumber are hardware stores as well.

now, pharmacies and video stores on the other hand....

 

[Norm]

We have a family owned pharmacy less than 3 miles from the house. The service sucks ass. Honestly the worst customer service you will ever have, yet they remain in business. They have never once had a prescription filled when they say they would. They fill it when you walk in and they realize it's not done and you're there.

There is a shitty little video store like 5 miles away. But the Blockbuster is about 3. We did Netflix for a while. If you watch any number of movies, it's a no brainer. I mean video and the Internet...come on, it's like going to a physical mp3 store or a podcast store.

 

[SpartaBard]

In Sparta we have two pharmacies in the same strip, the local shop "Sparta Pharmacy" and a CVS. I always tell my wife to go to the local shop instead of the pharamcy factory. It actually has much better service.

We also have a local hardware store "Sparta Hardware". Much more expensive than Home Depot or Lowes, but much closer...

They are not very thoughtful store names up here, Sparta Pharmacy, Sparta Hardware, we actually have a pizza place called "The Pizza Place" (its pretty bad, don't go there). I think there is also a florist called Sparta Florist next to the hardware store.

 

[Jason]

In Sparta we have two pharmacies in the same strip, the local shop "Sparta Pharmacy" and a CVS. I always tell my wife to go to the local shop instead of the pharamcy factory. It actually has much better service.

We also have a local hardware store "Sparta Hardware". Much more expensive than Home Depot or Lowes, but much closer...

They are not very thoughtful store names up here, Sparta Pharmacy, Sparta Hardware, we actually have a pizza place called "The Pizza Place" (its pretty bad, don't go there). I think there is also a florist called Sparta Florist next to the hardware store.

Is this why your name is Sparta Brad??

 

[jdog]

Sparta is a little weird for sure.. Good to see support for local shops.

The thing to think about is that if you have an issue with an independent retailer they might be able to make a change.

Big national chains can't make changes even if they want to.


For me, if I find that many people are looking for a new widget and it is a product that we can support than we will quickly stock it.


Btw you guys are lucky to have small hardware stores. That is a dying breed.

 

[heythorp]

Sorry to stay on the Hardware thing.

Denville has 2 of them as well as an independant Paint store, Boonton has one also.


As far as supporting local bike shops, I have pumped a lot of money through mine in the last 3 years. Plus a bunch online and at other shops. Now, I get a really good discount at my shop, but that comes from bringing my business and a lot of other peoples business there for 25 years. With that said, i am the last one helped and when i have a problem i feel like i am being a pita (self induced). Sometimes when you become friends with a store you actually can get worse service at the cost of having a discount. And that is fine most of the time unless you are having a bad day.

Also as far as the discount/ good guy price. there are some items they just cant touch...

I bought new a pair of 2006 ultegra pedals (7 months ago) for 89 shipped to my door. I told my shop this and they were like well I cant sell them to you at that price.

Same with a pair of 105 pedals(for the langster) i think it was like $57 to my door.

Also for that one part here or there I want and I know they dont have, its easier for both me and the store if i just grab it online. Special orders for 20 bucks here and there are a pita for everyone.

I should also add this....
I went on vaca 2 months ago and needed to buy a chain for the GF bike. Walked into the LBS and asked for an ultegra chain( i had just bought one at my lbs for like 22 bucks) the guy rang me up i handed him the card and when i looked down to sign it, $49 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is crazy, that was the price on the price tag but damn. they had helped us out the day before so I didnt mind too much, but after I walked out of that store it made me appreciate my relationship with my LBS and my relationship with ebay.

there are good and bad shops in all industries. There are chains that give good customer support and there are small business that give it. Then there are the bad ones, which we all seem to find over and over again. At least I seem to find them all the time.

 

[SpartaBard]

Is this why your name is Sparta Brad??

Good point.

 

[jdog]

Shimano's MSRP on that chain is $34.99 but the database builder I am using automaticaly set it at $39.

These guys cranked the price on that chain. You should have called them on it..



Speaking of chains.

I was speaking with my giant sales rep yesterday.

They are offeing a wear and tear extended warrranty.

Figure for 10% of the price of the bike you could have all wear item replaced for free for 5 years.

This would cover cables, chains, cass, etc.. Not rubber.


Do you think paying 10% extra would be worth it??

 

[heythorp]

Shimano's MSRP on that chain is $34.99 but the database builder I am using automaticaly set it at $39.

These guys cranked the price on that chain. You should have called them on it..



Speaking of chains.

I was speaking with my giant sales rep yesterday.

They are offeing a wear and tear extended warrranty.

Figure for 10% of the price of the bike you could have all wear item replaced for free for 5 years.

This would cover cables, chains, cass, etc.. Not rubber.


Do you think paying 10% extra would be worth it??

brake pads and rotors? what about rims on rim brake set up?

I would probably pay it if i was one to keep the bike for a long time. But I would only do it on a higher end (full xt x9 or higher) bike. The reason being if I bought the lower model I know I would be replacing the part when it fails with something higher. And I would assume(yeah i know) that the replacement part would be of equal value.

 

[Jason]

Shimano's MSRP on that chain is $34.99 but the database builder I am using automaticaly set it at $39.

These guys cranked the price on that chain. You should have called them on it..



Speaking of chains.

I was speaking with my giant sales rep yesterday.

They are offeing a wear and tear extended warrranty.

Figure for 10% of the price of the bike you could have all wear item replaced for free for 5 years.

This would cover cables, chains, cass, etc.. Not rubber.


Do you think paying 10% extra would be worth it??

I usually replace my cables (not a problem anymore) and this year, I went through three chains so based off that it would be worth it for me.

 

[jdog]

It almost seems too good to be true.

I am going to look into a little more. I am not sure how they will make any money off it.


I guess that they are betting that some people will pay into the plan and never ride the bike.


It looks legit and i might offer it this season.

j

 

[Shaggz]

Sparta is a little weird for sure..

i take exception to that comment :getsome: :wedgie: :

Good to see support for local shop... Btw you guys are lucky to have small hardware stores. That is a dying breed.

we moved to sparta about 2 1/2 years ago, and have been VERY supportive of local businesses. The hardware store is fantastic. their smaller items (switches, plumbing supplies, etc.) are pretty competetive with home depot. the shop owner used to own a company that supported radiologic medical equipment, and decided to do this after retirement (or so the story goes).

 

[bonefishjake]

I am going to look into a little more. I am not sure how they will make any money off it.


I guess that they are betting that some people will pay into the plan and never ride the bike.

you answered your own question.

that's exactly how they'll make money on it. the 'warranty' and 'extended warranty' are huge cash cows. they either set the warranty to just fall short of the life expectancy of the product or make it so difficult to obtain coverage it simply isn't worth it.

 

[bonefishjake]

i take exception to that comment :getsome: :wedgie: :

eh, no you don't.

 

[heythorp]

Well i would like to know how in the world they are going to decide if a part needs to be replaced. Lets face it a cassette can last a very long time, and many people ride on them for thousands of miles, then you have the other end of the spectrum and you have a group of people that replace the cassette and chain every 500 miles.

What are the "guide lines" going to be for these types of things. I replaced my road chain after 2500 miles this year. Why I have no idea other then they say to. Bike was fine and shifting was good. I keep it pretty clean.

 

[Shaggz]

Speaking of chains.

I was speaking with my giant sales rep yesterday.

They are offeing a wear and tear extended warrranty.

Figure for 10% of the price of the bike you could have all wear item replaced for free for 5 years.

This would cover cables, chains, cass, etc.. Not rubber.


Do you think paying 10% extra would be worth it??

My LBS thew that in for me - i think it's called the keep it rolling program

earlier in the season, i damaged my rear cassette on a botched trail side chain repair. i brought it back to the shop with the intention of paying for the repair. even though it pushed the limits of the wear and tear policy, they warrantied it without me even asking for it, and repaired it while i waited on busy saturday - what a nice surprise. and guess what, almost all the money i saved on the repair was spent in the shop that same day. - yet another reason to maintain a healthy relationship with a LBS

 

[heythorp]

My LBS thew that in for me - i think it's called the keep it rolling program

earlier in the season, i damaged my rear cassette on a botched trail side chain repair. i brought it back to the shop with the intention of paying for the repair. even though it pushed the limits of the wear and tear policy, they warrantied it without me even asking for it, and repaired it while i waited on busy saturday - what a nice surprise. and guess what, almost all the money i saved on the repair was spent in the shop that same day. - yet another reason to maintain a healthy relationship with a LBS

Man, there you go again breaking bike parts in your garage. Amazing purely amazing what happens to your bike under a roof.

 

[Shaggz]

the guidelines are there should be no signs of abuse of the part & you are entitled to one replacement claim per month. even better - if you take a trip with your bike, and a part fails, you can go to a participating dealer, and they will honor the warranty. i believe the shop gets a pre-determined $ amount per claim for parts and labor, and they fill out a form to be submitted for reimbursement. my guess, is that this money is credited to future orders from giant.