CALGARY CYCLE SPRING BLOWOUT SALE NOW ON!

38 Comments

pushiron (Apr 18, 2008 at 16:18)

Anyone who thinks that bike shops are making a stack of extra money should return to the 4th grade and resume their studies...........and actually pay attention this time. The worst part about all this talk is that it makes you realize how many people actually don't put any value on service in our world today. Just because a shop does a job quickly does not mean it should be cheap or free. Half the reason you go to a good bike shop is to get your bike back on the trail in a hurry so you can go ride. If you don't like the rates then bike the expensive tools and then learn to use them.

blubullit (Apr 17, 2008 at 20:06)

My mountain bike cost more than my brand new 600 cc streetbike. A set of tires for a dirtbike are cheaper than a set of Maxxis. Explain that. My LBS has taken 10's of thousands of my hard earned dollars so Im not impressed by a "spring fling sale" or whatever their calling it this time around. 100 dollars for a seat these days? Things have gotten out of control. Seriously, You think thousands of dollars just to get into the sport is not a huge commitment for most people still young enough to turn the cranks? I wont appoligize because I feel like Im getting milked at my LBS even when I beg 20% off out of them. Its just my opinion, take it for what its worth...
I do simpithize with those brave enough to start up a LBS, but common,a solid buisness plan, a good location and some sacrifice, like anything else, its how bad you want it.
As for thinking before I type, sorry comes with the territory...
Opinions are like a*sholes... everyone has one.

ragus3 (Apr 17, 2008 at 20:30)

Do you really think Bike shops have control over the cost of product from vendors? Do you know how many 600 cc Street bikes are produced each year as opposed to a production run of Mountain bikes? As for spending thousands of dollars on your MTB equipment, Do you like your shit or what? Do you like the sport? If you truly understood how things worked in this industry you would have thought twice about popping off! Production #'s play a HUGE part in the cost of each seat, bike, tire, helmet, tube....whatever...the list goes on and on. Each year the cost of shipping, the cost of bicycles, the cost of doing business goes up. So there's your explanation of cost! Your local shop is not the cause of your spending. If you did not enjoy the sport you would have not shelled out all that dough for the bike. Your shop is not MILKING you. They are supplying a service to you. Or at least they should be. The more of a product that is produced the cheaper it is. And Mountain bike production runs are small in comparisons to ANY Motorsport! Due your research....Maybe you should take up snipe hunting instead of mountain biking. It might be cheaper! LOL! Just kidding. But thats the way the ball bounces! Take it or leave it...

blubullit (Apr 17, 2008 at 21:02)

How about we just agree to disagree and be friends? Ride on...

ragdoll (Apr 17, 2008 at 21:52)

hey ragus3. i totally agree with you. i manage a bike store which is one of 12 owned by one family and we are quite lucky in the sense that we can bring our prices down abit for our good customers for the fact that there is another 11 stores. we are also quite lucky becuase we import alot of our own product so even though we have quit a big mark up on alot of our product we also have room to move aswell. becuase we are buying direct from the manufacturer we have to buy alot of product so some times we have to discount just to move it on. but yes we also have to cover costs of getting into our country, container tarrifs, packaging, labeling, all those things so yeah the mark up is justifiable. we arent trying to milk the general public we are merely trying to cover costs so that we can provide the product to our customers. also if you give awesome customer service then alot of the time people dont mind if they only get 5% off rrp. but yeah i hate those customers who just EXPECT discout because they know about mark up. unfortunatly it doesnt work like that people.

mikeybike (Apr 17, 2008 at 20:47)

Ithink anyone who spouts off about a Shop should take a flying leap. Try earning you buck when some jerk doesn't think about the thousands of dollars we spend for tools so he can have his damn headset race taken of maybe we should just sell the tools and save the cost of labour and the shop tools so some tool off the street thinks he can do as good a job! Get real, we spend a lot of cash so you assholes can ride your damn bike on crown land for free.

blubullit (Apr 17, 2008 at 21:05)

Hi Mikeybike, could you expand on your thoughts in your last sentence, Im intrigued... I think I want to argue with you next.

kael (Apr 17, 2008 at 21:14)

Bike shops should be buying direct from the manufactures and skipping the distributors for most things. I'm still shocked that distributors have print catalogs, why waste a shop employees time and a customers when they may or may not have it in stock. Nothing makes me more mad then leaving my bike at a shop for a few days and getting a "sorry the parts never arrived." Try that at your local car parts store and you'll get a mouthful of chicklets

ragus3 (Apr 17, 2008 at 23:06)

Do you guy's know how many Manufactures there are? To have an account with every one would be suicide for a small shop. Many of them have huge buy in's. So distributors are neccesary. Im not here to argue with any one or make any enemies. Just trying to shed some light on this whole theroy of the LBS trying to MILK their customers. If people think that bike shop owners are getting rich off their customers, they are sadly mistaken. Any money that comes in goes right back out to bring in new products and service for you the customer. I don't know about any other shops, but I leave the MILKING to the dairy farmers! Ride on!....Have a great weekend guy's...

blubullit (Apr 18, 2008 at 5:51)

Glad to see you have some passion to contribute. Sorry if I got under your skin. Ride it...

ragus3 (Apr 18, 2008 at 16:15)

Your alright...And I am passionate about what I do. You have to be. It feeds my family. If I do not take care of my customers, some one else is. But you have to be very carefull of the deals you give out. There is less margin in bicycle components than people think. Sure if some one buy's a new bike, We'll hook them up with 20% off of their accessories. But thats the limit. And we give them free tune ups for a year. And for all you guys that "work" at the shops, its a different story when you own it and are responsible for the bills that need to be paid. I am sure your shop owner or manager is not going to let you hook every one up with free labor. My point to this whole thread is this. Remember where it all started? It started with small bicycle shops. There were no Internet super stores back in the day. I am young, and in the New School mindset. But I am not going to forget the roots of the Local Bike Shop. Remember who takes care of you. Does Jenson, Price Point, Super Go, or any online shop take care of you when you break down? Can you take your bike to them for a tune? Or a quick adjustment? NO. (unless you live near the actual store, if they have one) Hopefully you all can see my point?

kael (Apr 18, 2008 at 8:01)

If manufactures want huge minimum orders they are increasing warehouse costs, which get passed on to the consumer. With these days of credit cards and the internet having accounts with multiple suppliers is almost effortless. Either LBS get more efficient or the consumer will bypass them. Years ago Mavic decided to sell direct in the US and not in Canada. Mavic's products are 30% more expensive in Canada as a result. With brokerage costs at 5-7$ they could use the same distributions system here.

"Starting in July, Mavic will run its own distribution
Mavic has announced that it will launch a direct to retail service for the UK beginning in July 2008 for the 2009 season of product sales."

I'm off to ride on my $110 front rim!

westicles (Apr 19, 2008 at 7:05)

omfg your an idiot GnarlyX yah of coarse a bike shop owner is going to cry about how poor he is....so will a car salesman....bikes and bike parts have huge mark up...the only reason they dont do well is because there so high priced they dont sell alot...haow many ppl can afford to go spend at leased 2500 dollars on a freakin PEDAL bike.....its retarded...bike prices are retarted...hugly overpriced for what youre getting.

ragus3 (Apr 19, 2008 at 8:22)

And you do what? For a living? 35% to 40% is Huge? LOL! Who's Crying? There is more to the story than you think...You guy's have a LOT to learn about the bike industry. And what happens behind the scenes at a Bicycle shop. Its ok, and I'm not going to loose any sleep. People pay more for golf clubs for Gods sake! Like I said before.......Snipe Hunting!!!!LOL!!!Last Comment, I Promise! LOL!

Here is a HUGE Props for all the Bicycle shops out there still in action putting up with this kind of mindset! Keep moving forward! No hard feelings guy's...Every one is entitled to their own opinion. And this is mine, Just with more fact and actuall expeiriance backing it up! RIDE ON, STAY SAFE AND KILL IT!

morewhitenoise (Apr 17, 2008 at 8:37)

i hope they paid for this advertisment! id rather have real stories to read about rather than adverts for shops im never going to visit!

gnarkore (Apr 18, 2008 at 8:36)

the reason there on her is because what that shop does for biking in alberta, they sponsor every race, there the main sponsor for every afa, they make sure that we can have these races, they provide the prizes and have a rad race team who do alot for the biking community, and these kids on their team arent just some local, these guys are great at what they do, for example they go to sea otter and crankworx and many other MAJOR events.

westicles (Apr 19, 2008 at 7:08)

im not saying that bike shops are making tons off there bikes either though but there business ppl...of course there going to make you feel as bad as possible about the financial situation there in.

aireeek (Apr 17, 2008 at 14:39)

I have to give props for Cal Cycle for stocking DH stuff, when you are in a pinch for a part, they almost always have it.

ragus3 (Apr 17, 2008 at 19:19)

Have any of you ever owned a shop? And do you know what it takes to make it succeed? Do you realize how much Money and Time it takes for LBS'S to bring in Fresh product, and keep it Fresh? I'm thinking that you don't have a clue. Keep the LBS bashing to your self! Or I have a better idea, Invest 100K plus for your start up, And let us all know how your doing in a year or six months (if your lucky). Ohh and remember not to mark your product up, While your at it forget about charging labor. Then at the end of the first month explain to your landlord that you can't pay for the lease, and tell your vendors that you can't pay them as well. Better not hire any employees either.

Think before you type!!!!????? Sorry, But this pisses a LBS owner off seeing this kind of crap. Sorry for the venting!

blubullit (Apr 17, 2008 at 20:05)

numb (Apr 18, 2008 at 0:09)

ragus3 i work at a bike shop and frankly yea you have to charge labor or u wont succeed but frankly 10 dollars to put a race on which i can do in about 15 seconds thats charging 2400 dollars an hour i think to put a race on a kids fork for free isnt a big deal. we charge 80 dollars for a complete overhaul they are charging well over 120 they better be doing sumthing magical for that extra 40 dollars.

gnarkore (Apr 18, 2008 at 8:39)

buddie, its ust what things cost now, i bet you if you ran a shop and you didnt charge labour cost or you didnt makr up the cost a bit you wouldnt be eating that night

numb (Apr 18, 2008 at 9:39)

we sell at msrp or a bit below and yah we charge labour but not ridiculous amounts liek cc.

woottotti (Apr 17, 2008 at 1:49)

woohoo

drdust (Apr 17, 2008 at 8:24)

50% on a fork is not bad, but i'm not in calgary then.

robbo989 (Apr 17, 2008 at 10:26)

hahaha their Chris King sale prices are the same as my lbs's regular price

ronny (Apr 17, 2008 at 11:03)

I have never seen a King 20mm front hub that cheap at any lbs for regular price.

gnarkore (Apr 18, 2008 at 8:37)

and you wont, ill bet the kid is bull shitting

pushiron (Apr 18, 2008 at 16:19)

you should actually buy the tools not bike them..........i will hit up the 4th grade myself I think!!

freerider-666 (Apr 20, 2008 at 17:14)

sounds like some ppl should just quit riding if its to expensive 4 u lol

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blubullit (Apr 17, 2008 at 6:23)

Whoop dee frickin doo. Can you say, overstock from last year? Bike shops are for the most part huge price gougers. If you dont get 20% off just for walking in the door your shop sucks.

gnarbar (Apr 17, 2008 at 7:10)

Bike shops tend not to make big net operating margins. Ask a bike shop owner.

AqueousBeef (Apr 17, 2008 at 7:10)

that's false, they only gouge prices for people they hate. everything else is MSRP or lower. if you want to complain, go buy your stuff elsewhere. if you're willing to pay for it, then it's a fair price

ibisrox (Apr 17, 2008 at 9:09)

CC is one of the best small shops in town! Maybe you should find out the facts before you spout off! And if you look, there are some smokin deals to be found. And they were the only shop in Western Canada to bring Ibis on board, which was a good idea, because they've sold more Mojos than anyone! Ask Brian Lopes what he thinks of the Mojo...

numb (Apr 17, 2008 at 9:23)

how is calgary cycle one of the best shops they overcharge for labour majorly if u look on there website 20 dollers to remove a fork race my shop does it out of teh goodness of tehre hearts.

numb (Apr 17, 2008 at 9:26)

sorry 10 dollers to put one on u know how long it takes to do that about 15 seconds

ronny (Apr 17, 2008 at 10:51)

Ibisrox, you know your stuff and I also think CC is a decent shop. About Lopes, I think it makes more sense to ask Lopes how much Ibis is paying him instead of how much he likes the Mojo. Yeah, it gets great reviews, but Lopes needed a job. Bottom line. Cedric Gracia said Cannondale was the greatest thing and now Commencal is the best company in the world? Geez, wonder why. Money. It's all relative.

yellowpurple (Apr 17, 2008 at 15:27)

you can get ibis bikes from the bicycle cafe in kamloops, so your wrong