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End of the road for independent bike distributors?

bicycleretailer.com

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Re: End of the road for independent bike distributors?

#31

Post by Steltek »

sevensor wrote: post #9

I live in a college town with several bike shops, all of them still tied to the traditional retail model. The one I suspect has the worst prospects is the most upscale one. They have a big clean showroom full of expensive sporty bikes, but their mechanics are second-rate. You can tell because their shop is in the basement and you're not allowed to come down and watch them work on your bike. And the one time I made th…

Spot on.

Every bike shop has a "flavor". There was the "carbon fiber" shop where I'd get funny looks if I dragged my commuter bike in. They closed up shop and moved even farther into the suburbs. It'd take me an hour to bike there now.

Then there's the "commuter shop". Where they charged $0 for labor when I walked in one cold, messy winter night with a shredded tire and a crazy story. That does simple fixes on the spot quickly and painlessly so my commute time is bumped by less than 30 minutes. They'll get my business every time. I haven't tried to do an online order with them yet though; we've just bought bikes off the showroom floor.

Re: End of the road for independent bike distributors?

#32

Post by china »

adam wrote: post #29
criddell wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One model that wasn't mentioned explicitly in the article but I think might work is let customers have their bikes purchased online be shipped to the shop for assembly. I ordered my last bicycle from BikesDirect and it was tricky to get it set up just right. A bike shop could probably do it in an hour. It took me five or six hours. Even if assembly doesn't directly make a lot of profit, it's a great time to sell acce…

I just experienced this with a bike I bought my wife on Amazon. Amazon offered free assembly at a bike shop about 5 miles from my house. The bike was shipped to the shop, I was notified it arrived, and 3 days later I got a notice it was ready for pickup. The shop was friendly about the exchange and we ended up buying several accessories while we were there.

This works when Amazon picks a bike shop to do the assembly but often times they use independent contractors that have absolutely no clue how to assemble bikes. I've seen forks put on backwards, handlebars upside-down, real nightmares.

Re: End of the road for independent bike distributors?

#33

Post by china »

whistlerbrk wrote: post #10

I have spoken with many bike store owners and employees, they know they can't compete with the prices you can get for parts and accessories from online retailers. But very few have an alternate plan. The ones I see who are being smart about this reality are instead focusing on having absolutely excellent mechanics and experiences like shop rides to get groups out on amazing day trips / overnights. There is a huge val…

This is spot on - the shops that will survive will be the ones that provide knowledge, service, and experiences. Group rides, classes, free espressos while your bike is being serviced, etc.

Re: End of the road for independent bike distributors?

#34

Post by Finnucane »

fiftyacorn wrote: post #3

I dont think this is new - a lot of bike shops are repair only now, with a few loyal customers. I also think that bikes are getting more technical - electric shifters, the tolerance limits on gears means that its increasingly hard for people to repair their own bikes. So bike repair makes sense, and they can probably charge At the higher end - lets say $1000+ bikes bike shops can still do a good trade as people new t…

My current bike I did buy at a local shop partly because I wanted to be able to test-ride before I made the purchase. And I'm glad a did. I tried a few different models, and have been pretty pleased with the choice I made. But most of the subsequent maintenance has been done by shops that are primarily service shops, and not dealers. They sell bits and supplies, of course, but their bread & butter is repair work. My experience is that I get better service from them than from dealers that just want to get your bike out of the shop as quickly as possible.

Re: End of the road for independent bike distributors?

#35

Post by jandrese »

ams6110 wrote: post #23
criddell wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One model that wasn't mentioned explicitly in the article but I think might work is let customers have their bikes purchased online be shipped to the shop for assembly. I ordered my last bicycle from BikesDirect and it was tricky to get it set up just right. A bike shop could probably do it in an hour. It took me five or six hours. Even if assembly doesn't directly make a lot of profit, it's a great time to sell acce…

> A bike shop could probably do it in an hour. It took me five or six hours. Yes but then you miss out on an almost "bonding" experience with the machine and feeling of intimately understanding it. That's why I do most of my own car repair, even though it takes me longer than a shop would take. Read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about the "Romantic" vs. "Classical" approach to such things.

Once you've done that work once it will be much easier the next time. Affordable bikes don't have any sort of self adjustment, everything has to be done manually, so if you don't know how to make the adjustments you will be in the shop every few months getting it tuned back up. In my experience shifters are the worst for getting slightly out of whack as the chain wears out, and are the most fiddly when tuning. Brakes are the second worst as you're trying to balance the spring tension on the two sides exactly so it doesn't rub.

Re: End of the road for independent bike distributors?

#36

Post by davidw »

Steltek wrote: post #31
sevensor wrote: post #9

I live in a college town with several bike shops, all of them still tied to the traditional retail model. The one I suspect has the worst prospects is the most upscale one. They have a big clean showroom full of expensive sporty bikes, but their mechanics are second-rate. You can tell because their shop is in the basement and you're not allowed to come down and watch them work on your bike. And the one time I made th…

Spot on. Every bike shop has a "flavor". There was the "carbon fiber" shop where I'd get funny looks if I dragged my commuter bike in. They closed up shop and moved even farther into the suburbs. It'd take me an hour to bike there now. Then there's the "commuter shop". Where they charged $0 for labor when I walked in one cold, messy winter night with a shredded tire and a crazy story. That does simple fixes on the sp…

The best ones handle a range. I don't want a mechanic who's too good to touch my commuter bike, but I don't want a dude wrenching on the expensive Campagnolo bits on my road bike whose experience primarily consists of bashing stuff together on fixies, either.

I really miss my shop in Italy - that guy occasionally worked on pro's bikes. Like the guy who won a gold medal in the olympics. But he always had time for me, and whatever bike I brought in - whether it was the rusty commuter or the nice bike I'd bought from him.

I would never consider buying a bike on line. They're always going to need maintenance and having someone who knows what they're doing is worthwhile.

Re: End of the road for independent bike distributors?

#37

Post by jandrese »

There's a bike shop that opened near me but I've had the impression that most of their income comes from the coffee shop in the front and the bikes are more of a passion of the owners. They're nice folks, but their bikes start at $800 and go up very quickly from there.

I actually did give them a chance and tried out a couple of the bikes when I was looking to replace my tired out commuter bike but I just couldn't feel the $600 premium. The biggest surprise is that the shifters didn't even feel any better, it was the one area where I expected the better bike could really make a difference but they were no better at shifting quickly or under load than my old shifters.

Re: End of the road for independent bike distributors?

#38

Post by lardo »

UncleEntity wrote: post #19
workthrowaway27 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by this?

From what I've seen the E-bikes have their own 'dealer network' independent of regular pedal bike shops. There used to be one next door but they moved a while ago, think the rent was getting too high since they've been steadily improving the neighborhood.

Most of the large traditional manufacturers are into ebikes now and although a LBS might only have 0-2 in stock, they can all get you one within a week or so.

Re: End of the road for independent bike distributors?

#39

Post by cdelb »

This has been an ongoing debate in the mountain bike world for a number of years now. Direct to consumer brands have clearly been making a dent in the traditional retail model. Intense just announced a hybrid model, where shops stock demos and consumers receive their new bike directly from Intense. Seems like a win-win - shops don't have to stock slow moving inventory and consumers get lower prices year round.

This artcle explains the pros/cons in detail: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/intense-announces-lower-retail...

Re: End of the road for independent bike distributors?

#40

Post by sizzzzlerz »

rhombocombus wrote: post #25

As a 17 year veteran of Independent bicycle dealers, this hits it right on the head. The most successful shop I ever worked at focused their inventory on parts and offered 24 hour turnaround provided the bike didn't require special ordered parts. Service is the only thing that can't be replaced by the internet.

And service is what distinguishes bike shops from each other. In reality, bikes are commodity items, things you can buy anywhere and are sensitive to price. The same for computers, appliances, and most electronics. Service, however, is unique to that store and people remember good service (and bad). When I get good service at any type of store, I feel good about the experience and am more than likely to spend my money with them again. And a key point, I am willing to pay more to get it.
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