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Things bike shop costumers hate/love !!

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Things bike shop costumers hate/love !!
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flag jeunefred
Posted: Dec 19, 2007 at 22:44 Quote
yeah I'm from Toronto and I've never had any problems with any bike shops, most of them are even beyond helpful! But when it comes to road bike specific bike shop it's a bit of a different story but i can understand why.
flag dotca
Posted: Dec 19, 2007 at 22:46 Quote
redridesrule wrote:
wow. maybe BC is different, but i dont have anything i hate about the shops ive been in! i wish i could name them, but the couple shops that i go in once a year or so (i live in isolation, away from the real world haha) the guys there are really nice! they totally talk to me and remember me even though i rarely go into their store. they dont care if i just hang out waiting for somebody or anything. and the store that i bought my TOP from, the owner/worker there was super nice! he talked to me about how he thought shops ripped people off unless you "knew the secret handshakes" and how he thought business should be run. all of his stuff was way cheaper then normal. generally the rule of thumb is add 100% to the manufacturer cost, but this guy only added 75% he was super nice, and swapped out parts for me on the new bike i was building and showed me some stuff. then i was out of there with a new bike just like that! and to fit the bike in the car, we needed to strap the trunk down, and he cut a brand new tube in half just so we could tie the trunk down, FOR FREE! he was so nice, he said if i couldnt get the bike on the plane for whatever reason he would drive to the airport (from north Van to richmond) and pick it up and mail it, on a weekend! he was amazing.. anyways, ive had good experiences with his shop and i call him all the time with questions. he's super cool! anyways.. that was a rather long winded speach haha.. sorry Razz

-braeden

BC isa bit more laid back as there is a HUGE amount of people buying bikes here.
flag mustardman525
Posted: Dec 19, 2007 at 22:49 Quote
ok so my tork bolts on my disc brake rotor got loose and when i brought my bike to my lbs they said that they didnt have the tools to tighten it up.....so i was lik "ok.. can i buy one?" and then the owner proceeded to show me his tool section..... he picked out a tool set which was $50.00 FRICKEN DOLLARS!!!! and it had all these random tools that i already had and i was "NO WAY MAN!" so i got in the car and went down to another lbs and asked if they could tighten my bolts and they said "sure"......they tightened them up and gave me the tool FOR FREE!!!!
i havent spent a nickel at the first shop since
flag kingfisher1
Posted: Dec 19, 2007 at 22:52 Quote
you guys can give props for good mtb stores!!!!!!!
flag mustardman525
Posted: Dec 19, 2007 at 22:53 Quote
kingfisher1 wrote:
you guys can give props for good mtb stores!!!!!!!
what do you mean?
flag DavidMakalaster
Posted: Dec 19, 2007 at 22:54 Quote
mustardman525 wrote:
kingfisher1 wrote:
you guys can give props for good mtb stores!!!!!!!
what do you mean?

He means this thread is full of whiny brats with unjustified entitlement and no respect.
flag mustardman525
Posted: Dec 19, 2007 at 22:57 Quote
DavidMakalaster wrote:
mustardman525 wrote:
kingfisher1 wrote:
you guys can give props for good mtb stores!!!!!!!
what do you mean?

He means this thread is full of whiny brats with unjustified entitlement and no respect.
clam down man
flag kingfisher1
Posted: Dec 20, 2007 at 14:31 Quote
mustardman525 wrote:
DavidMakalaster wrote:
mustardman525 wrote:

what do you mean?

He means this thread is full of whiny brats with unjustified entitlement and no respect.
clam down man


ya guys from now not only bad reviews !


bring some good and ya if its a good review store name will help
flag chasefreeride37
Posted: Dec 20, 2007 at 14:35 Quote
I like when:
- bike shops reason with you and work out a price

I dont like when:
- you order stuff from a bike shop and you find out a week later they havent placed the order in
flag frolosophy
Posted: Dec 20, 2007 at 14:42 Quote
the shop that i go to is pretty awesome. its a little local shop and they are really friendly(have been since i first when in).. i know the owner and most of the mechanics and sometimes my buddy and i can get in when they are closing and look around, talk to the guys ect. however, the shop that i bought my bike from is more of a bigger store with lots more workers and is more expensive (wish i knew about my new shop at that point). i really like when the employees treat you like a friend in need of a bike rather than a chump with a wallet.
flag devonvig
O+
Posted: Dec 20, 2007 at 14:45 Quote
I'll be the first to say that a lot of shops have a stupid elitist attitude when it comes to non-regular customers which is a really bad way to run a business if you think about it. Most of your income probably isn't going to come from a bunch of dirtbags that spend all of their time in your shop. If I had to guess, I'd say the shops with the highest margins are probably those that cater to triathletes and hardcore roadies. Their clientele is usually wealthier and has less time to piss away hanging around so they'll pay what it takes.

As for all of you young gaffers, you've got to understand how many kids loiter around the shop and never buy ANYTHING. I can say from experience that the majority of people under 16 never spend a penny unless their parents are present. From a business standpoint, they can be a waste of time. That's no reason to disrespect them upon first sight but I'm sure you can understand.
flag devonvig
O+
Posted: Dec 20, 2007 at 14:50 Quote
Suppose I should add what I like in a shop:

- friendly, professional staff that care about the sport.
- a clean, organized store with minimal hang-around dirtbags that make it awkward to shop.
- fair prices (remember that there is no way they can ever match the internet)
- a reputation of supporting the sport (trail maintenance, race sponsorship etc).
flag unclemofo
Posted: Dec 20, 2007 at 14:51 Quote
When the charge you 110 euro for a derailer hanger and remove a snapped bolt, and take 5 weeks to do it when they said it would be a 3 day job.
flag
Posted: Dec 20, 2007 at 15:09 Quote
devonvig wrote:
I'll be the first to say that a lot of shops have a stupid elitist attitude when it comes to non-regular customers which is a really bad way to run a business if you think about it. Most of your income probably isn't going to come from a bunch of dirtbags that spend all of their time in your shop. If I had to guess, I'd say the shops with the highest margins are probably those that cater to triathletes and hardcore roadies. Their clientele is usually wealthier and has less time to piss away hanging around so they'll pay what it takes.

As for all of you young gaffers, you've got to understand how many kids loiter around the shop and never buy ANYTHING. I can say from experience that the majority of people under 16 never spend a penny unless their parents are present. From a business standpoint, they can be a waste of time. That's no reason to disrespect them upon first sight but I'm sure you can understand.

Well i'm 14 years old, and so are most of my biking friends. We all buy bike parts with our own money, that's probably why we do spend a lot of time browsing parts. We don't want to waste our money. Beer
flag emubritish
Posted: Dec 20, 2007 at 15:16 Quote
i work at a shop now, but until then i never stepped into the store that i work at now, it just had a rep for being expensive and snobby... i didnt realize that it had changed ownership the year before, so went to a variety of other stores and never liked any of them...

the first was a big store that happened to carry giant, which i needed because i had to get a new der. hanger for my ac... they were huge, and the employees were paid on commission, so they would hassle you to buy stuff, and glare at you when you touched anything expensive.

the one across the street was smaller, and would work on my fork, they were expensive, and had a very limited selection of stuff other than low-end bikes and clothes.

the closest shop to me (right across from the one i work at now) was the big-box, walmart version of a bike shop. they sold mainly cheap crap, and their employees had no clue what they were doing, and their repairs were worse and more expensive than any of the other places.

unfortunately before i went into the shop i work at now, i had 5 bike shops pretty close to home, but all of them sucked.

i do like when someone who works at a shop asks if they can help, i have been wandering around looking for some obscure part only to find it in a corner, or to ask someone to find its in the back somewhere. since i feel this is a very useful thing for someone to do, i try and do it myself when i'm working, as instead of people searching for 20 mins, they can be in and out with exactly what they need in 5.

 


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