Working in a bike shop made me realise I know nothing

Bikeshopguy · 2018-01-26T13:39:34+00:00

I've recently got a job in a bike shop and its made me realise how little I know. I have been on and off cycling for the last 5 years, lower end mountain bikes and mid/low road bikes but I don't know things like different expensive wheels, helmets, or even which expensive bike is what. Obviously I can see the brand on the frame but knowing which specific bike it is I'd be totally lost. Should I just quit or should I see what I can learn and go with it?

This topic has 38 replies, 25 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 4 months ago by Tommytrucker.

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January 26, 2018 at 1:39 pm #28076

Bikeshopguy

I’ve recently got a job in a bike shop and its made me realise how little I know. I have been on and off cycling for the last 5 years, lower end mountain bikes and mid/low road bikes but I don’t know things like different expensive wheels, helmets, or even which expensive bike is what. Obviously I can see the brand on the frame but knowing which specific bike it is I’d be totally lost.

Should I just quit or should I see what I can learn and go with it?
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January 31, 2018 at 12:06 am #910971
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Boatsie

CygnusX1 wrote:
CygnusX1 wrote:

Boatsie wrote:
alansmurphy wrote:
Oh and stop convincing everyone to ride tiny bikes, boils my piss seeing 6ft plus on a 53″ frame with 2ft of seatpost! And finally, make sure they have disc brakes, hi viz clothes and a helmet!!
Don’t fail the Eskimos ice cube nor the 160psi portable with the new wide tyre MtB. 🙂 I need a 2 ft seat post, suspension post stuck and I figure my tiny bike so comfy without bounce that a straight stick will be lighter. My other bike slightly small too figuring save minimal on weight with smaller frame although that geometry failing. Win sum, lose sum, loose sometimes. I find LBS will always have lube, why use lube is…. A cheap bike that doesn’t lube air with a tapered edge . lol

Man, that LSD is good. More helium anyone?

Lol 😉
Because air on air is less resistance than air on solid, hence creating a wall of air to lead a path creates a lead of ball bearings made of air.
Displacement theory shows the need to replace what was taken hence the tapered edge now assists due to returning air and associated pressure to push the wall harder, faster, like no other aero has been pushed before.

Anyway, happy ‘ere with my round tubes.. Probably steel too aye. Lol.

My mate recons if I wash my chain with petrol it’ll wash the bearing juice/grease away. ??

January 30, 2018 at 12:52 pm #910969
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Natrix

DaSy wrote:

I have worked in bike shops for years, as a mech,

Front or rear mech???

January 30, 2018 at 12:35 pm #910967
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CygnusX1

KendalRed wrote:
I presume when you say the shop is owned by Halfords, it’s a Cycle Republic?

Or Tredz/Wheelies

January 30, 2018 at 11:29 am #910965
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Kendalred

mike the bike wrote:
Bikeshopguy wrote:
…… I don’t have any brand confidence selling anybody a Boardman because they’re simply disgusting. ……

I see what you mean. You really do have a lot to learn.

Exactly. I wouldn’t lead with that sales patter if I were you.

Boardman Team Carbon won road.cc ‘road bike of the year’ 17/18, and the Boardman Road Pro Carbon SLR won ‘Bike of the Year’ 16/17. Not bad for disgusting.

I presume when you say the shop is owned by Halfords, it’s a Cycle Republic?

January 30, 2018 at 9:56 am #910963
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CygnusX1

Boatsie wrote:

Boatsie wrote:
alansmurphy wrote:
Oh and stop convincing everyone to ride tiny bikes, boils my piss seeing 6ft plus on a 53″ frame with 2ft of seatpost! And finally, make sure they have disc brakes, hi viz clothes and a helmet!!
Don’t fail the Eskimos ice cube nor the 160psi portable with the new wide tyre MtB. 🙂 I need a 2 ft seat post, suspension post stuck and I figure my tiny bike so comfy without bounce that a straight stick will be lighter. My other bike slightly small too figuring save minimal on weight with smaller frame although that geometry failing. Win sum, lose sum, loose sometimes. I find LBS will always have lube, why use lube is…. A cheap bike that doesn’t lube air with a tapered edge . lol

Man, that LSD is good. More helium anyone?

January 30, 2018 at 9:14 am #910961
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Anonymous

I have worked in bike shops for years, as a mech, then a manager and finally running my own bike maintenance business, so I have a bit of insight.

Firstly I would say, don’t bullshit people. If you don’t know something, say so and go and find out. There are a lot of very knowledgeable customers, and nothing turns them off more than someone pretending to know more than they do.

If you don’t love bikes and everything about them, get out of the industry. It pays very poorly and expects quite a lot of time commitment, so if you don’t just love it, find something else. I was told once by a long time bike industry guy that the only way to come out with a million pounds in the bike industry is to start off with two!

Talk to your customers and be interested in what they say, don’t just try and sell. You can learn a lot from your customers.

Finally, don’t get swayed by the new shiny bits that come into the shop, be critical, see how long things last, how easily they can be repaired and what the back-up is like from the manufacturer etc, this helps to inform what you recommend to customers.

I loved my time in the bike industry, you meet lots of like minded people and can have a proper laugh too.

January 27, 2018 at 6:15 pm #910959
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mike the bike

Bikeshopguy wrote:

Bikeshopguy wrote:
…… I don’t have any brand confidence selling anybody a Boardman because they’re simply disgusting. ……

I see what you mean. You really do have a lot to learn.

January 27, 2018 at 4:27 pm #910957
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nortonpdj

alansmurphy wrote:

alansmurphy wrote:
There’s plenty of labels that tell you plenty, start with frame materials and learn the pros and cons of Ti, Steel, Alu, Carbon. Then onto the group sets, a downward quality from Di2, Ultegra, 105, Tiagra and Claris on Shimano’s. Factor price in, as an example you can’t get Ultegra and Carbon for a grand (probably £1500) so what’s important. One approach is buy the best frame as you can upgrade kit later, on the other hand if the customer is 3 stone overweight why do they want carbon, the drive train is where they’ll feel the benefit. The most important thing you can do is ask questions, exactly what do they want the bike for. A low fronted super aero frame makes sense if they are racers expecting to sit in a pack at 25mph. Most of the customers through your doors are likely to be newbies (or relatively so), look for something comfy, ability to fit wider tyres etc. Oh and stop convincing everyone to ride tiny bikes, boils my piss seeing 6ft plus on a 53″ frame with 2ft of seatpost! And finally, make sure they have disc brakes, hi viz clothes and a helmet!!

A 53″ frame – that must be a Giant 😉

January 27, 2018 at 3:50 pm #910955
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SingleSpeed

wellsprop wrote:
If you are working in retail, you only need to know more than your customers – that won’t take long.

Maybe I’m being cynical

Sort of what this chap said…you really don’t need to know much in ‘the trade’ other than what needs to be sold…this is retail. In the trade I’ve been giving tellings off for teaching customers common sense.

Shifting under load and you’re snapping chains? you don’t need to learn not to be a muppet what you need is an upgrade to Ultegra.

Sir you’re overweight and need to lay off the pies and take up golf…No sir what you need are a pair of 50mm ENVE clinchers.

Getting dropped by your mates? here take a big box og High 5 because that will help.

The list goes on and on, enjoy the free cakes, don’t ever be afraid to tell someone to clean their bike before you book it in, enjoy the trade discount abuse it, abuse the reps, steal all the cable stops and cable crimps you will ever need for the rest of your life and get out while you can 🙂

January 27, 2018 at 3:45 pm #910953
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fenix

Bikeshopguy wrote:
Bikeshopguy wrote:

kil0ran wrote:
Stick with it, those sort of skills would get you to manager level in Halfords 🙂 Seriously though, watch and learn, it’s a rewarding career if you like bikes. You’ll get to ride all the latest gear and have access to the best tools to fix your own bike. Learn spannering, I’ve really enjoyed starting from scratch and learning how to build up a bare frame.

hahaha, I work for a bike shop owned by halfords. This is part of the problem, I don’t have any brand confidence selling anybody a Boardman because they’re simply disgusting.

Thank you to all who have commented, I suppose you’re right, I should stick at it

Boardman bikes are disgusting ? In what way ?

January 27, 2018 at 2:53 pm #910951
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Simontuck

I worked in an Evans part

I worked in an Evans part-time (I’m a stay-at-home-Dad) for a few months before I realised that I was being used as a Supervisor/Assistant Manager because I was the only member of staff who both knew plenty about actual bikes, and had worked in retail before!!

You should have some sort of induction procedure? Evans have one, which seemed quite comprehensive.

Read magazines and websites, join a club, speak to people. Find someone who knows what they’re doing and talk to them, ask questions. If you like your job, you could really make a difference at somewhere like Halfords. I tend to sneak in and out if I go there and try and avoid the long queue of people asking about lights and mudguards and getting punctures fixed!!

January 27, 2018 at 2:49 pm #910949
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Boatsie

alansmurphy wrote:
alansmurphy wrote:

Oh and stop convincing everyone to ride tiny bikes, boils my piss seeing 6ft plus on a 53″ frame with 2ft of seatpost!

And finally, make sure they have disc brakes, hi viz clothes and a helmet!!

Don’t fail the Eskimos ice cube nor the 160psi portable with the new wide tyre MtB.

🙂 I need a 2 ft seat post, suspension post stuck and I figure my tiny bike so comfy without bounce that a straight stick will be lighter. My other bike slightly small too figuring save minimal on weight with smaller frame although that geometry failing. Win sum, lose sum, loose sometimes.

I find LBS will always have lube, why use lube is…. A cheap bike that doesn’t lube air with a tapered edge . lol

January 27, 2018 at 10:12 am #910947
0

alansmurphy

There’s plenty of labels that
There’s plenty of labels that tell you plenty, start with frame materials and learn the pros and cons of Ti, Steel, Alu, Carbon. Then onto the group sets, a downward quality from Di2, Ultegra, 105, Tiagra and Claris on Shimano’s.

Factor price in, as an example you can’t get Ultegra and Carbon for a grand (probably £1500) so what’s important. One approach is buy the best frame as you can upgrade kit later, on the other hand if the customer is 3 stone overweight why do they want carbon, the drive train is where they’ll feel the benefit.

The most important thing you can do is ask questions, exactly what do they want the bike for. A low fronted super aero frame makes sense if they are racers expecting to sit in a pack at 25mph. Most of the customers through your doors are likely to be newbies (or relatively so), look for something comfy, ability to fit wider tyres etc.

Oh and stop convincing everyone to ride tiny bikes, boils my piss seeing 6ft plus on a 53″ frame with 2ft of seatpost!

And finally, make sure they have disc brakes, hi viz clothes and a helmet!!

January 26, 2018 at 10:23 pm #910945
0

don simon fbpe

Don’t be put of by muppets

Don’t be put of by muppets who will want to tell you how to do your job, they’ve probably just read a brochure or been a member here for a couple of weeks.

Go for it, learn from it, enjoy it. If it’s not for you, don’t sweat it.

January 26, 2018 at 10:03 pm #910943
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FluffyKittenofTindalos

Don’t those things you

Don’t those things you mention, being specific consumer goods, constantly change in any case, so even if you did know all of that you’d soon have to learn it all again anyway?
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