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Local Bike Shops – Are they really doing OK?

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  • March 7, 2014 at 11:17 am #20880
    Shades

    To my shock the other day, my LBS, which I have a great rapport with, just closed. It might reopen but I fear the worst. Standing forlornly outside wailing, “I’m sorry I bought that seatpost from Wiggle”, the daunting task of building a similar relationship with another shop seems like a daunting task; and there’s some bad LBSs out there. This isn’t an ‘agony aunt’ article (Therapist: What do you want to talk about?…..Me: My LBS closed down!) but got me thinking in these days of struggling high streets (council rates and internet), albeit with a booming cycling industry, just how well are LBSs doing? What drives profits? Are the chain stores taking the lions share with economy of scale? Most of the bikes you see parked up in town look like they’ve never seen a bike shop in years. Are the keen cyclists who spend lots of money actually a small minority? Does a LBS need a strong on-line presence, but it must be impossible to compete with the likes of Wiggle? LBS’s sometimes don’t help themselves when they haven’t got spares etc and I hate not being able to talk to a mechanic about what work is needed, so perhaps good business sense and knowing what the customer wants is key to success just like any shop?

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Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 59 total)
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  • March 13, 2014 at 9:19 am #778963
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    MarcMyWords

    I took my bike into my LBS
    I took my bike into my LBS for the first time recently. Evans was more convenient to be honest and their hours suited me better but I wanted to give something to my LBS. However, they then charged me just over £70 for a pretty standard service. Absolute rip-off. I understand they have to make a living but why would I pay about £20-£25 more for the same service? I would love to use my LBS but at their prices, I just can’t afford it.

    March 12, 2014 at 12:22 am #778961
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    Big Softy

    I’m gonna give an unashamed
    I’m gonna give an unashamed plug to my LBS of 45 years, Edwardes of Camberwell. Despite no longer living South of the river, they will always be my “local”.
    Friendly and experienced staff, good selection of stock, and always willing to haggle. And they’ll loan you a courtesy bike if you ask nicely.
    They’ve been in business for over 100 years so they must be doing something right.

    March 11, 2014 at 10:29 pm #778959
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    Flying Scot

    thebungle wrote:I can’t think

    thebungle wrote:
    I can’t think of any other retail environment where you are encouraged to ‘build a relationship’.

    It’s not really a retail environment though is it?

    It’s a full service provider, just like your local independent garage, tyre shop and the like.

    The best of these shops do reward if you put a bit of time in, I actually introduce people to my local place, as otherwise they wouldn’t know who was working and who was hanging.

    This is a place that people travel over an hour to use, but it ain’t Tesco!

    March 11, 2014 at 10:13 pm #778957
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    Markus

    I’m on my third LBS now… in
    I’m on my third LBS now… in two years since I took up cycling as hobby. First two were disappointing, the jury is out on the third one. I’d pay for good service, even adequate will do, but such seem surprisingly scarce.

    March 11, 2014 at 10:12 pm #778955
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    Markus

    I’m on my third LBS now… in
    I’m on my third LBS now… in two years since I took up cycling as hobby. First two were disappointing, the jury is out on the third one. I’d pay for good service, even adequate will do, but such seem surprisingly scarce.

    March 11, 2014 at 10:12 pm #778953
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    Markus

    I’m on my third LBS now… in
    I’m on my third LBS now… in two years since I took up cycling as hobby. First two were disappointing, the jury is out on the third one. I’d pay for good service, even adequate will do, but such seem surprisingly scarce.

    March 11, 2014 at 10:11 pm #778951
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    Markus

    I’m on my third LBS now… in
    I’m on my third LBS now… in two years since I took up cycling as hobby. First two were disappointing, the jury is out on the third one. I’d pay for good service, even adequate will do, but such seem surprisingly scarce.

    March 11, 2014 at 10:00 pm #778949
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    thebungle

    I can’t think of any other
    I can’t think of any other retail environment where you are encouraged to ‘build a relationship’. Good service and prices should be for everyone who walks through the door, not just those who are in the gang or who have proved their worth.

    I’m lucky in that I have a good LBS but their pricing on some items does drive me online, tyres and Shimano components a perfect example.

    If I have a £100 budget I can either buy one item from the LBS or if I order online it will often leave me with enough money to spend the remaining in the LBS.

    March 11, 2014 at 6:34 pm #778947
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    youngoldbloke

    In a local ‘bike shop’, not
    In a local ‘bike shop’, not many yards from one that ‘closed for a refit’ without warning early last week, Shimano 501s, front wheel £60, rear £70 = £130 for the pair. Online – £71.99 …….. that’s why I shop online, almost exclusively. The shop I refer to isn’t really a LBS either, more a ‘Specialized’ brand boutique, and everything is priced top whack. When will they be closing for a ‘refit’ I wonder?

    March 11, 2014 at 5:08 pm #778945
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    Gkam84

    Even at 6 bar is only 87 psi.
    Even at 6 bar is only 87 psi. I run my my trike tyres are 140 psi #o

    March 11, 2014 at 4:39 pm #778943
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    Kapelmuur

    In my lbs this morning and
    In my lbs this morning and someone came in asking for a puncture to be repaired. He said that he may have burst the tyre by over inflation as he had it ‘up to 6 psi’.

    As long as there are people like him around the lbs should be secure.

    March 11, 2014 at 10:53 am #778941
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    drfabulous0

    Nick T wrote:How can you

    Nick T wrote:
    How can you exclude R&D costs or anything else from a price? You might as well say my Spag Bol only costs 10p if you exclude the beef, tomatoes and pasta from the price but you still won’t be correct.

    You can’t include R&D costs in the manufacturing price per unit, it’s a fixed cost whether you produce 100 or 10,000 units. It’s more like including the cost of the recipe book for your spag bol than the ingredients. Moreover if you buy a Cervelo for example then there will have been genuine developement gone into the frame, but that’s not the case with all manufacturers, the majority are using off the peg frames.

    Anyway this is beside the point, all I was saying is that the vast majority of the profit has been taken out of the bike by box shifters before it gets anywhere near your lbs, making it harder for them to survive. You get behind the massive international companies if you buy into their hype, but I would rather see my smaller local businesses thrive.

    March 11, 2014 at 10:21 am #778939
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    PJ McNally

    When I wrote off my beloved
    When I wrote off my beloved Trek, my LBS looked it over, opened up the headset, priced up how much it would be to fix, looked up possible new forks I could go for, and showed me the damage around the head tube.

    Then they admitted that I’d probably be better off not repairing it, because even with new parts, the alloy frame could fail at any moment after that crash.

    If they’d just kept quiet and repaired it, they could have charged me over £200 for all the parts and labour.

    As it was, their honesty meant they weren’t going to charge me anything, after spending maybe a couple of hours on the bike (and consoling me for my loss).

    Needless to say, they won my business, and I happily bought the replacement, and my wife’s new bike, from them, spending nearly £1000. Good service wins customers!

    March 11, 2014 at 8:44 am #778937
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    Miles253

    I agree that a well
    I agree that a well maintained shop is a better immediate experience, but the friendliness of the staff is above all the biggest attractor make me feel at home. Get some money out of me!

    March 10, 2014 at 2:50 pm #778935
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    Shades

    Lots of interesting comments
    Lots of interesting comments and ideas for LBSs, but it very much sounds like if you’ve got some good old fashioned nous, and work hard, you can make a LBS work and beat the pressure from the internet and business rates. Maintenance (outside of my capabilities) is the big one for me and, secondly, good advice which often ends up with me buying something there and then.

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