No, it wont, its good to tell other people where to get their parts cheaper. I shopped around at actual stores and the cheapest I could find Intense Microknobbys was 60$ each, and online they're $35+ shipping. Boom. It pays to do research! (literally)
Shop at your local bike shop. Quit supporting online sales companies. It's going to suck when they take over and all your LBS's have to shut down because they can't afford to keep up with prices of online companies. It's really bad when 80% of you people that buy shit online are the same ones that roll into the bike shop wanting a mechanic to install your $125.99 set of saint cranks that you bought on pricepoint.com and then bitch when they charge you full labor prices.
Not all kids can afford to pay full MSRP, justa throw that out there. I understand your point 100% though. Please support your local bike shop guys!
Like a set of saint cranks at my LBS is easily over $400 im pretty sure, compared to online prices, its a no brainer to shop online for some parts here and then.
If you spend enough time shopping at your local shop they reward you for your business. Velocity cycles in Langley is great for helping out younger riders who cant always pay the bills. There always handing out discounts to kids who need a part to get there bike rolling but cant afford it. Heck they'll let you put a down payment on a bike and hold it for you for months till you come up with the rest of the money.
Having a good relationship with your local shop is 10x better then buying online, you can save money buying parts online but when you walk into your local shop with a part that you got for cheap do you really think the shop is going to install it for free or give you the help you need down the road?
Unfortunately nearly every shop I've been too doesn't want to give discounts and 3 months is the longest I've seen a shop keep something on layaway and they want regular payments. There is 6 major bike stores where I live. I went to every single one of them to get pricing on a set of Saint cranks, the cheapest I could get was $440, so I did what anyone who doesn't like wasting money does and buys them online for $230 from CRC. Should i spend $200 so i can feel good about supporting my bike shop? They still sell bikes, people do still buy stuff, and they do repairs. they don't solely rely on people coming in and buying new parts.
All you people are missing the point. I go to work to earn money for my parts, i'm not going to spend a lot more on the same thing just to support a shop. If they can offer me something unique or of higher quality then thats a different matter.
It's the same with everything anything else, I buy stuff from the cheapest source possible, be it tescos, crc, amazon, ebay or even my local bike shop if they have a deal on or something, because i'm not going to throw money away just because a shop is local.
If you're half serious about riding you should be able to fit your own parts and look after your own bike to a pretty decent standard. Bike shops are always are going to be able to do repairs and fits for people who can't fix their own bikes and also do services that require expensive tools or complicated stuff you couldn't do at home, this is something you can't do over the internet. Any bike shop can always expand online if they feel like it and if their shop is failing then business is business and if a bike shop isn't making money it's their fault not ours as customers.
I bet you're one of those guys that go to a bike shop to try out different bikes and get all your information then buy your bikes and parts online aren't you? lbs provide an important service for bikers from beginners to avid riders I've always noticed with my lbs' that loyalty is rewarded with discounts and freebies not to mention better service and advice than any web store sales pitch. Probably the only reason you could only get a 3 month lay away from any shop is because your a terrible customer and you should probably try to build a better relationship with your bike store.
Shops will almost always give out super biased information and try to get you to buy what they can get in or what they have. I would rather talk to people on here and get there opinions since they aren't going to give me a sales pitch, they will give you the truth about a product (unless you ask idiots). You guys act as though online stores are evil and trying to destroy the bike industry, well if you look they are all actual shops with actual storefronts.. CRC, JensonUSA, Calgary Cycle, Bicyclettes De Haul, etc. they have all taken the next step to grow there business. nearly every industry has seen the start of online sales, and if shops want to be old school and rely on the bikers near their store they are just hurting themselves. The smart shops are putting up online stores and selling to hundreds of thousands, even millions of people, instead of a few thousand.
I'm sorry but your lbs employees are far more knowledgeable than your average rider that gets his info by which pro rider rides what. It's the pro riders that give you all your biased info (cuz they are paid to) where any good bike shop makes money by creating happy customers. other than that what the hell would a 16 year old kid know about business? you've probably never been payed more than minimum wage if you've ever had a job to begin with.
"I bet you're one of those guys that go to a bike shop to try out different bikes and get all your information then buy your bikes and parts online aren't you?"
hahaha
You couldn't be more wrong! I would NEVER bother going to a bike shop for those reasons. I can get all the information i need online and having worked with bikes and ridden them for many years i don't need to go to a shop to listen to somebody who couldn't tell me something i don't know. I have a very good knowledge about bikes and wouldn't ever need to go to a bike shop which would only recommend what they sell anyway. PB forums is more useful to me than a bike shop for god sake. In fact regarding the type of riding i do i find nearly every bike shop hasn't got much of a clue. A lot of bike shops are staffed by roadies, xc and dh riders who have limited knowledge on street and riding trails. I'm not to concerned with what other people like to do but the fact of the matter is that i get my parts as cheap as possible and my bike is dialled and i can maintain it with no problems. At the end of the day it's the job of a bike shop to bring in customers, not the job of the customer to treat a bike shop with charity.
I actually agree with a lot of what you said, not everyone needs a bike shop at all, although it's funny that you must have worked in a bike shop yet you have such a low opinion of them. I only hope that with all the shit you talk you never actually bring your bike into a shop no matter what you need just to avoid being a hypocrit! Too bad tho, it sounds like the bike shops in the uk are total shit! I'm glad my bike shop sponsors an RnD team of about 16 riders and dh racers trying out products before they even hit their shelves. That's how I know that the products they have on hand are actually tried and tested as are they bikes they carry.
I work in a halfords!!! And if you know what that is then you'll know it sure doesn't count as a local bike shop lol. There's no hypocrisy there at all. I work there for the money not because I want too. Considering you have bike shop sponsors you clearly have an agenda in which you'd disagree to what i'm saying no matter how much it's true. The UK actually has some brilliant shops, it also has the odd bad one which will be the same anywhere, usually they struggle. In fact one of my local shops (sourcebmx) are massively successful and are very well known, they expanded online and are one of the biggest bmx shops in the UK. The guys who run that shop are all riders and decent ones at that who aren't just bike geeks, which lots of shops are staffed by. The reasons why i buy stuff from them, either online or in store is because they stock good products and at good prices. If they are as cheap as somewhere else then i would definitely buy from them over somewhere else, and thats to their credit rather than because they need my charity You might also over heard of such uk enterprises such as CRC who as much as you hate are bloody exellent. They are cheap, stock millions of products and have great service. At the end of the day giving them my money is still used to employ people as a bike shop would, so i fail to see how it would be ethically wrong to get my cheaper stuff from them. I'd rather put my money somewhere that is moving forwards (like source or even crc) than a place that needs my money just to keep alive a little longer. I'm happy that you buy your stuff from your shop buddies but that doesn't mean i'm a douche for not doing the same, I'm just saving my money. If i don't need any advice from an expensive bike shop then there's no reason for me to go to one. You keep putting your foot in your mouth man. I'm sure you can understand from a logical point of view what i'm saying makes complete sense.
WOW, let's start with NO I don't have an agenda I just disagree with you because you're stupid, you bash bike shops yet you work in one, every bike shop in your area is full of self serving idiots except the ones you go to and by the way crc is still buying locally for you, so good on you for that! I'm not putting my foot in my mouth here I'm just trying to stand up for my local business, it's guys like you that work in the industry not because they want to or because they give a shit about the industry but because it pays you to. I'd rather buy from guys that give a shit about the bikes they sell!
Haha, because I have a contrasting view point i'm stupid. Having never met you i'm actually smart enough not to judge your intelligence from a few lines of comments on the internet. I don't work in a bike shop, let's clear that up, i work in a Halfords. The typical bike I sell is a piece of shit (think supermarket style) that's what most people can afford and what they want. In all honesty i'm not all that enthusiastic about what bikes i sell in general. That doesn't mean i don't give a shit, it's quite contrary to what you're saying actually. However if people are enjoying them or if Johnny Scumbag can now commute to work that's not a bad thing at all. So what if my job doesn't support the industry, I need a job and it's pretty trivial really to consider it important in the scheme of things. When i clock out of work and i spend my time digging trails which ultimately lots of people are going to ride, i think that shows i care more importantly about the local scene and about riding rather than an industry. I'd rather raise money for charity on my bike than buy something with a big mark up. No, my local bike shops aren't filled with self serving idiots, they're just shops who employ people who do a good service to people who aren't that clued up about bikes. I'm sure loads of them are passionate guys about bikes and do a great job, i just don't need their help or to go in their shops. By all means enjoy supporting your local shop, you're entitled to do what you want.
Do you think pinkbike gives a shit what you think.. These companies pay pinkbikes bills, so deal with a couple of sale posts a month , if its even that.. Pinkbike is free for us and these guys do a good job otherwise we wouldn't be here... They need money to do that, and until you and I and everyone else on here is willing to donate/pay maybe you should give pinkbike credit once in a while.. Look at the state of bike magazines, you gotta pay for that crap... You people always need shit to bitch about... Oh ya and if you don't like these posts, don't click on them, if you don't like online sales, don't use them, if you want to support your lbs, support it, if you don't like pinkbike being involved with these companies, then go somewhere else, simple really... Just stop cryin about everything...
I think Pinkbike should give a sh*t what we think. Those companies only pay the bills if Pinkbike can attract potential customers to be advertised too. If the content becomes weak to encourage constant viewership, those companies will find somewhere else to spend their advertising dollars. I like to think I have a voice in this world.
The only thing I worry about is the credibility of their news articles. If they're advertising for companies in this news article are they remaining unbiased in their reviews, or are they going to give a little better review and ignore the downsides of the product to keep advertisers happy? After all they pay the bills and we don't according to you guys.
There is a disclaimer saying that the stores are paying for the article. Reviewing product is a manufacturer to PB thing NOT a retailer to PB thing. I seriously doubt the reviews will have credibility issues, I would expect the same as ever from PB.
On a side note, all the updates, photo section, video section and such over the years have been paid for by advertisers, without them PB would not be what it is, nor would it be free.
Keep up the good work guys, some of us understand how business works. The disclaimer is great for those of us who can read.
Ah, you're right about the disclaimer, my mind skimmed right past that part. It would've been nice if they started with that, but still my fault for missing it.
Wasn't so much this article just seen a few in the past that seemed to be a copy paste from the bikes website. Luckily those seem to be in the minority. I just don't want Pinkbike to take the path of some magazines that pander to advertisers and even put down companies who don't. Not saying Pinkbike does this I just don't want them to as I read it quite often.
My main issue was more with the argument that if you don't like it leave. Valid argument, but companies do generally like people to voice their opinions, good or bad. They do want to know what the readers like and don't like so they can maintain readers while getting new ones.
Reading what I said I didn't really get to that. I was rushing out for a ride, so my apologies.
Anyone who bothers to develop a relationship with their LBS will get deals this good from them, period. I've never worked in a shop that doesn't give good deals to their best customers. If your shop isn't giving you love, maybe it's time to find a new one.
This again? I want to vote again for advertising in the proper advertising formats. I do understand why those shops would want to capitalize on the free advertising, but I will not buy from those shops in the adverticle.
perth city cycles in perth scotland is my local bike shop , they try their hardest to get cheaper stuff as well as the mainstream but to be honest nearly everything in there i can take 10% off the price when shopping online . if manufacturers and suppliers gave lb shops a break and cut prices to something reasonable then i would shop there more , the wealth of knowledge and tips i get there are great and i have had test rides , test parts from them which no online company will do .
I got those raceface bars slightly cheaper than that in the 10% off everything Xmas sale thing, and a Spank Timer stem for £25 with lock on grips at bikeradar live (;
This is CRAP!!!!!! I dont come to Pinkbike for online deals.... I am here for insight on products, riders, bikes and for news in the industry... Not for groceries...
This is twice now that they have done this....
Hey Pinkbike, Can this crap-vertising for all of us eh !!! We don't want it....
I agree...this is CRAP! As for revenue, there are plenty of ads already on Pinkbike, this is advertising disguised as a news article. If they want to help us find deals then great - find some of the best deals in the buysell section, then find the really good deals out there, which we all know are many, and not represented in the list above. I am less and less inclined to go to PINKBIKE these days.
I disagree with Konafarker and dwdw. What's the harm in having an ad for some online deals? Biking is freaking expensive. Why not help people find some good deals on the parts they need (or want)? And if pinkbike can make a penny or two in the process, then it WIN WIN. So, like Beevies suggested, maybe you should quite your bitching.
Pinkbike offers SOOOO much to it's audience, FREE OF CHARGE, and it's able to do so because of it's sponsors. The BuySell section would even EXIST witout advertising revenues. What do you think pays for the servers/web design/etc., that lets us put our crap up for sale FOR FREE? If we didn't have pinkbike, now where would we find deals on second-hand goods? eBay sucks.
Your views are just so narrow-minded and ignorant. Guess what? Communism failed. Move on with your life.
Stever,
Sorry if wanting bike news to be news and not advertising makes me narrow minded and ignorant. I am all for advertising. They already have it. It's the advertising disguised as news I take exception too.
As far as Communism... last I check Capitalism isn't exactly shining right now, just saying.
See, I disagree, because the article, in my eyes, doesn't appear to be news disguised as advertising. It makes no pretences about what it is, it's simply a listing of current deals on the net.
Sorry if I was "trolling", but I just don't think it's fair to take such a hard-line against articles like this.
Fair enough...I still don't like it, but you are perhaps right about taking such a hard line. I wish the news articles were more informative pieces. Really, most of it is a plug for something material anyways. It's just the inner Commie in me coming out!
konafarker! pinkbike is about biking all types! i like to see the deals but doesnt mean i want to see them every day! do u come on pinkbike jus like half of the people on here to scam us bikers, or to talk shit like everyone else..i have to be honest here, pinkbike is going to hell so who cares if they post some adds about cool deals! i really dont care anymore about this site because of how they treat scammers..i know its off topic but who gives a shit..neg prop me for speakin my mind an truth..when it happens to u an they dont help,then dont cry SHITWOLF..TPB's
(this is gonna get so many neg props)
i like chainlove.com evry thing is at least 1/2 off
Like a set of saint cranks at my LBS is easily over $400 im pretty sure, compared to online prices, its a no brainer to shop online for some parts here and then.
Having a good relationship with your local shop is 10x better then buying online, you can save money buying parts online but when you walk into your local shop with a part that you got for cheap do you really think the shop is going to install it for free or give you the help you need down the road?
hahaha
You couldn't be more wrong! I would NEVER bother going to a bike shop for those reasons. I can get all the information i need online and having worked with bikes and ridden them for many years i don't need to go to a shop to listen to somebody who couldn't tell me something i don't know. I have a very good knowledge about bikes and wouldn't ever need to go to a bike shop which would only recommend what they sell anyway. PB forums is more useful to me than a bike shop for god sake. In fact regarding the type of riding i do i find nearly every bike shop hasn't got much of a clue. A lot of bike shops are staffed by roadies, xc and dh riders who have limited knowledge on street and riding trails. I'm not to concerned with what other people like to do but the fact of the matter is that i get my parts as cheap as possible and my bike is dialled and i can maintain it with no problems.
At the end of the day it's the job of a bike shop to bring in customers, not the job of the customer to treat a bike shop with charity.
I work in a halfords!!! And if you know what that is then you'll know it sure doesn't count as a local bike shop lol. There's no hypocrisy there at all. I work there for the money not because I want too. Considering you have bike shop sponsors you clearly have an agenda in which you'd disagree to what i'm saying no matter how much it's true.
The UK actually has some brilliant shops, it also has the odd bad one which will be the same anywhere, usually they struggle.
In fact one of my local shops (sourcebmx) are massively successful and are very well known, they expanded online and are one of the biggest bmx shops in the UK. The guys who run that shop are all riders and decent ones at that who aren't just bike geeks, which lots of shops are staffed by. The reasons why i buy stuff from them, either online or in store is because they stock good products and at good prices. If they are as cheap as somewhere else then i would definitely buy from them over somewhere else, and thats to their credit rather than because they need my charity
You might also over heard of such uk enterprises such as CRC who as much as you hate are bloody exellent. They are cheap, stock millions of products and have great service. At the end of the day giving them my money is still used to employ people as a bike shop would, so i fail to see how it would be ethically wrong to get my cheaper stuff from them. I'd rather put my money somewhere that is moving forwards (like source or even crc) than a place that needs my money just to keep alive a little longer.
I'm happy that you buy your stuff from your shop buddies but that doesn't mean i'm a douche for not doing the same, I'm just saving my money. If i don't need any advice from an expensive bike shop then there's no reason for me to go to one.
You keep putting your foot in your mouth man. I'm sure you can understand from a logical point of view what i'm saying makes complete sense.
I don't work in a bike shop, let's clear that up, i work in a Halfords. The typical bike I sell is a piece of shit (think supermarket style) that's what most people can afford and what they want. In all honesty i'm not all that enthusiastic about what bikes i sell in general. That doesn't mean i don't give a shit, it's quite contrary to what you're saying actually. However if people are enjoying them or if Johnny Scumbag can now commute to work that's not a bad thing at all.
So what if my job doesn't support the industry, I need a job and it's pretty trivial really to consider it important in the scheme of things.
When i clock out of work and i spend my time digging trails which ultimately lots of people are going to ride, i think that shows i care more importantly about the local scene and about riding rather than an industry. I'd rather raise money for charity on my bike than buy something with a big mark up.
No, my local bike shops aren't filled with self serving idiots, they're just shops who employ people who do a good service to people who aren't that clued up about bikes. I'm sure loads of them are passionate guys about bikes and do a great job, i just don't need their help or to go in their shops.
By all means enjoy supporting your local shop, you're entitled to do what you want.
I do understand why those shops would want to capitalize on the free advertising, but I will not buy from those shops in the adverticle.
Pinkbike offers SOOOO much to it's audience, FREE OF CHARGE, and it's able to do so because of it's sponsors. The BuySell section would even EXIST witout advertising revenues. What do you think pays for the servers/web design/etc., that lets us put our crap up for sale FOR FREE? If we didn't have pinkbike, now where would we find deals on second-hand goods? eBay sucks.
Your views are just so narrow-minded and ignorant. Guess what? Communism failed. Move on with your life.
Sorry if I was "trolling", but I just don't think it's fair to take such a hard-line against articles like this.