Bad Bike Shop Manners??



>> I am sure some shops wouldn't mind building one out of the box, if it
>> makes the customer happy, and the customer is willing to wait a few days
>> for it....
>
> That's what I'd figured! So I'm asking here...is this really some
> industry-standard practice, then? As a kid I want to walk out of the
> shop with my brand-new toy, but now I can wait another day or two or
> more. I mean, even when I buy magazines in the bike shop I try to get
> the "freshest" looking copy.

But again, that just may not be practical. The dealer may already have his
entire stock built up, with none in reserve. And depending upon his order
cycle, it may be several weeks, perhaps even a month, before his/her next
shipment of bikes. With freight as expensive as it is now, you can't afford
to ship out just one or two bikes anymore. You need to build an order large
enough that the manufacturer gives you a substantial freight credit.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

"NYC XYZ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> The Wogster wrote:
>>
>>
>> I am sure some shops wouldn't mind building one out of the box, if it
>> makes the customer happy, and the customer is willing to wait a few days
>> for it....
>
> That's what I'd figured! So I'm asking here...is this really some
> industry-standard practice, then? As a kid I want to walk out of the
> shop with my brand-new toy, but now I can wait another day or two or
> more. I mean, even when I buy magazines in the bike shop I try to get
> the "freshest" looking copy.
>
>> They do keep water and dirt out of the valve, and dirt could lead to a
>> valve failure. Thst's rare though, my bike is missing one, and the car
>> is missing 3, no ill effects.
>
> Okay. Still don't know why Evan keeps them outside the shop on the
> sidewalk.... ;-)
>
>> W
>
 
Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

> But again, that just may not be practical. The dealer may already have his
> entire stock built up, with none in reserve. And depending upon his order
> cycle, it may be several weeks, perhaps even a month, before his/her next
> shipment of bikes. With freight as expensive as it is now, you can't afford
> to ship out just one or two bikes anymore. You need to build an order large
> enough that the manufacturer gives you a substantial freight credit.

Yet there are products with even lower margins than bicycles, sometimes
heavier than bikes, that are shipped individually across the country
or across the world.

If the alternative to eating a $50 shipping charge is to lose a sale
with $200 of margin, what's the choice? Car dealers often swap
inventory, even among competing dealers. Do bicycle shops do the same?
 
Cathy Kearns wrote:
> "The Wogster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Say you sell 2 road bikes a month, and can get additional stock in 2
>>days, you might keep one of each low to medium end model in stock, of a
>>size that sells often. Someone wants a larger or smaller size, you can
>>order it, you sell the one you have of a certain model, you order
>>another one. High end stuff, you carry as special order, nobody wants
>>to keep a $10,000 product in inventory, unless you KNOW that it's going
>>to move, very quickly.
>
>
> Last year I bought my first road bike, a womens dimension Trek OCLV 5000.
> (To match my husband's 5200...which is why I get to start with carbon
> fiber....) Now I wander into the shop and they have 3 or 4 models of carbon
> fiber women's bikes, and a few in my size. They had a Pilot in my size,
> took it for a test drive, I wasn't so big on the more upright ride. Took
> the Madronne for a test ride, very sweet, but a bit too much. Took a
> slightly bigger Trek 5000, and loved the ride, but the guy convinced me I
> really needed the stand over height of the next one down. Went ahead and
> ordered it, assuming it would ride like the bigger 5000, and fit like the
> Madronne. That was pretty much the case, but the Madronne in the size of my
> 5000 had the 700cc wheels. Mine has the overly precious 650s, but other
> than it looking a bit cute it's a great bike. (Anyone who talks to the bike
> designers, yes women would prefer to have the same wheels as everyone else
> in their riding group, so we can share tubes in case of emergencies...and
> the pink Pilots, you have got to be kidding...) Moral of the story is you
> do have to carry enough stock for everyone to test ride something close to
> what they order. If I couldn't test drive the Madronne in my size, and the
> slightly bigger 5000 I would have gone to another bike shop until I could
> find one. You don't have to carry every style in everysize, but you gotta be
> able to get an approximation.
>

You mean the Madone? Yeah does seem to be a little much, as for tubes,
the secret is to have a under seat bag, and carry your own spare, patch
kit, and tire levers. You can also stuff a pair of vinyl or latex
gloves in there as well, to keep things clean, if you need to do a tube
swap.... Add an on bike pump, and the knowledge on how to change a
tube, makes riding that much more fun, if your going solo.

My wife would like the pink, she doesn't cycle though, although I wish
she did....

W
 
>> But again, that just may not be practical. The dealer may already have
>> his entire stock built up, with none in reserve. And depending upon his
>> order cycle, it may be several weeks, perhaps even a month, before
>> his/her next shipment of bikes. With freight as expensive as it is now,
>> you can't afford to ship out just one or two bikes anymore. You need to
>> build an order large enough that the manufacturer gives you a substantial
>> freight credit.
>
> Yet there are products with even lower margins than bicycles, sometimes
> heavier than bikes, that are shipped individually across the country or
> across the world.
>
> If the alternative to eating a $50 shipping charge is to lose a sale with
> $200 of margin, what's the choice? Car dealers often swap inventory, even
> among competing dealers. Do bicycle shops do the same?

$200 margin isn't $200 profit. Keep in mind bicycles require substantial
time in assembly; not many other items you'd buy require all that work
before they can go out the door. Car dealers tell me they can prep a car in
20 minutes, which is 2 hours, 40 minutes less time than it takes for many
bikes.

For what it's worth, we had at least two customers this past week looking
for bikes we didn't have in stock, and no bike orders to be released as soon
as they wanted the bikes. So we sent them to another shop that did have
them. So yes, we could have eaten the freight charges and sold them the
bikes, but we simply cannot afford to do business like that. Pre-tax profit
on a very well-run bike shop runs under 7%, more typically 5%. That's
pre-tax. I'm sure there are some shops that thrive on essentially
situational pricing (you charge customers differently depending upon your
mood, or that they won't buy something without bargaining, or the business
is in a cash flow crisis), but that's generally not a long-term road to
success. Everyone involved in the shop, from owner to salesperson to
mechanic, loses any real sense of value, in terms of what they're delivering
to the customer, because it's different to each one.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
 
"NYC XYZ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Whatever happened to the friendly neighborhood bike dealer?
>
By far the biggest market for bicycles is bicycles for children. This market
(which is probably very profitable) has been sewn up by the department
stores and the sporting goods stores. The next biggest market is probably
cheap (but again profitable) adult cycles. Once again the department stores
and sporting goods stores have grabbed that segment. That leaves the high
end and repair work for the shops that remain. I think all merchants should
be friendly.

Rob at RBR in State College is quite friendly. He helped me make a trade in
which he had no financial involvement. About all he got out of it was that I
spent $80 at his shop (although I do go out of my way to say good things
about him when I can).

Mt. Airy cycles in MD is the same distance away from us as Rob in State
College. They have a much larger selection of bent bikes and trike and they
will spend hours setting them up for you to test ride. The catch is that the
owner is independently wealthy (I've heard) and he is completely inflexible
on price. Sometimes he prices are completely unreasonable. For example, when
I visited him he had a Wizwheels TT 3.4 with some cosmetic problems which he
wanted $1,795 for. I pointed out to him that a new one (at that time the new
one was the TT 3.5) was $1,895. His response to me was "So go buy a new
one". But it his shop and he can set his prices any way he want to. He
really is a very decent fellow and he provides good service.

Jeff
 
Andrew Price wrote:
> NYC XYZ wrote -
>
> > Tell me, is there some bike shop etiquette I didn't observe? Is there
> > some kind of secret bike shop salute or handshake I should have
> > employed? Did I bother them somehow by smiling?
> >
> I think the all time difficult LBS guy is depicted in the Canadian movie
> "Two Seconds".

As far as I can tell from your description below this is the film I
unsuccessfully tried to get the English name of because it looked
interesting enough that I wanted to get more of the dialogue than was
really possible with the dubbed Chinese version. Problem was that
whoever did the version for China decided to do the title shot with
grass script which I can barely decipher with the aid of printed text
telling me what I'm trying to look at.

However, the IMDB doesn't have an exact name match for "Two Seconds."
Are you sure this is the correct name?

> The shop proprietlor, an ex road racer with considerable attitude, confronts
> Miss Downhill Racer with equal but opposite attitude. Breathtaking rudeness
> from him, but there is a reason ...
>
> Whilst demolishing a bottle of scotch after hours in the shop, each argues
> how their particular discpline gave true meaning to the concept of suffering
> on a bicycle.
>
> Friendship and mutual respect follow - liked that bit of the movie.

Hmmm ... admittedly I was only watching bits and snippets of the movie
(there were other more interesting barbecue type things going on at the
same time including roast suckling pig and hot sugar cane) but I don't
specifically remember that part.

Did Miss Downhill Racer become a bicycle courier for at least part of
the film?

-M
 
Jeff Grippe wrote:
>
> By far the biggest market for bicycles is bicycles for children. This market
> (which is probably very profitable) has been sewn up by the department
> stores and the sporting goods stores. The next biggest market is probably
> cheap (but again profitable) adult cycles. Once again the department stores
> and sporting goods stores have grabbed that segment. That leaves the high
> end and repair work for the shops that remain.

I find it odd that even high-end shops seem to carry some common kiddie
bikes. I mean, if you're a high-end shop and you feel compelled to
carry kiddie bikes, why not high-end kiddie bikes? IOW, I'm surprised
folks actually go into an obviously high-end bike shop and purchase
kiddie bikes of the sort they can get at The Sports Authority or
Walmart.

> I think all merchants should
> be friendly.

Again, except for Evan -- who can be friendly, too -- none of the folks
I've been complaining about have been down-right rude, as in, "pay up
or shut up." But it borders on it when they don't return e-mail,
despite my very clearly telling them I'm already sold on a $3K or $4K
SMGTe and I don't haggle prices. I mean, it's all there in writing!
And I'm writing to set up an appointment! I don't know what else I
should have done...maybe throw in my girlfriend, too!

> Rob at RBR in State College is quite friendly. He helped me make a trade in
> which he had no financial involvement. About all he got out of it was that I
> spent $80 at his shop (although I do go out of my way to say good things
> about him when I can).

Thanks for the tip! I will certainly keep him in mind, as State
College should be a more interesting visit than Alfred Station, New
York.

> Mt. Airy cycles in MD is the same distance away from us as Rob in State
> College. They have a much larger selection of bent bikes and trike and they
> will spend hours setting them up for you to test ride. The catch is that the
> owner is independently wealthy (I've heard) and he is completely inflexible
> on price. Sometimes he prices are completely unreasonable. For example, when
> I visited him he had a Wizwheels TT 3.4 with some cosmetic problems which he
> wanted $1,795 for. I pointed out to him that a new one (at that time the new
> one was the TT 3.5) was $1,895. His response to me was "So go buy a new
> one". But it his shop and he can set his prices any way he want to. He
> really is a very decent fellow and he provides good service.

You know, that reminds me: maybe I'm just too gosh-darn nice. Maybe
these people expect an attitude and would respect one. I never haggle
price! I know it sounds crazy, especially since I work as a buyer and
I haggle prices nine-to-five (!!), but I myself never (99%) haggle
price.

But I catch the same "you can't spend enough on me" attitude, it seems,
wherever I go. Even this guy Johannes of NorthEast Recumbents is hard
to get a hold of. I'm spending $4K and it's like I've giving HIM the
sales pitch!

> Jeff
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"[email protected]" <[email protected]> writes:

> However, the IMDB doesn't have an exact name match for "Two Seconds."
> Are you sure this is the correct name?

You might have better luck searching on "2 Secondes" or
"Deux Secondes" (or even "Deux Seconds".)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158446/


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca
 
GRRRREAT Q&A, folks. Many, many thanks for the education.

I'd long suspected these businesses just treading water. I think the
only successful (which doesn't mean mere survival) shops are those
which own the land. Rent's probably the single biggest deduction on
gross income -- at least it was for my dad's restaurant. It was a
swank Manhattan joint that had lines out the door, but the landlord
simply decided he could get more from a bank, and pop was paying
$35,000.00 a month in 1987.



Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
>
>
> $200 margin isn't $200 profit. Keep in mind bicycles require substantial
> time in assembly; not many other items you'd buy require all that work
> before they can go out the door. Car dealers tell me they can prep a car in
> 20 minutes, which is 2 hours, 40 minutes less time than it takes for many
> bikes.
>
> For what it's worth, we had at least two customers this past week looking
> for bikes we didn't have in stock, and no bike orders to be released as soon
> as they wanted the bikes. So we sent them to another shop that did have
> them. So yes, we could have eaten the freight charges and sold them the
> bikes, but we simply cannot afford to do business like that. Pre-tax profit
> on a very well-run bike shop runs under 7%, more typically 5%. That's
> pre-tax. I'm sure there are some shops that thrive on essentially
> situational pricing (you charge customers differently depending upon your
> mood, or that they won't buy something without bargaining, or the business
> is in a cash flow crisis), but that's generally not a long-term road to
> success. Everyone involved in the shop, from owner to salesperson to
> mechanic, loses any real sense of value, in terms of what they're delivering
> to the customer, because it's different to each one.
>
> --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
> www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
 
Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

> $200 margin isn't $200 profit. Keep in mind bicycles require substantial
> time in assembly; not many other items you'd buy require all that work
> before they can go out the door. Car dealers tell me they can prep a car in
> 20 minutes, which is 2 hours, 40 minutes less time than it takes for many
> bikes.

But what's the incremental cost of selling that bicycle versus not
selling it. It would seem like you'd want to keep these customers from
going elsewhere even at the cost of an occasional extra shipping charge.
They're likely to be buying all the high-margin accessories and clothing
from the shop that they buy the bike from, as well as returning there
for service after the warranty. Sure you can't afford to be special
ordering every single bike, but once in a while it would seem to be a
worthwhile expense, if it's a high end model.

> situational pricing (you charge customers differently depending upon your
> mood, or that they won't buy something without bargaining, or the business
> is in a cash flow crisis), but that's generally not a long-term road to
> success. Everyone involved in the shop, from owner to salesperson to
> mechanic, loses any real sense of value, in terms of what they're delivering
> to the customer, because it's different to each one.

Welcome to the world of retail. It's pretty rare to find a store of any
kind that charges the same price to every customer, with all the sales,
rebates, discount clubs, % off coupons, cash discounts, etc., not to
mention plain haggling. I'm not sure that this is necessarily bad, as it
enables the business to sell both to price-sensitive and non-price
sensitive customers, increasing volume.

My favorite discount was one that the Bicycle Outfitter once had, where
they had 15 or 20% off everything in the store, during the hours that
the Super Bowl was on. It was the one time to buy stuff that rarely goes
on sale, such as Rivendell bicycles.
 
> You know, that reminds me: maybe I'm just too gosh-darn nice. Maybe
> these people expect an attitude and would respect one. I never haggle
> price! I know it sounds crazy, especially since I work as a buyer and
> I haggle prices nine-to-five (!!), but I myself never (99%) haggle
> price.
>

I didn't think of it as haggling on the price. It was simply that I knew the
price of the new bike and the one he had was "well used". There were a few
dings, missing paint (small chips), etc. Also it was my first trike and if I
could spend a bit less that would appealed to me. Since I knew the price of
the new TT 3.5 (at that time), I couldn't see paying $100 less for a very
well used older model.

But on the other hand, this guy setup almost a dozen different trikes and
let me take them on a mile long test ride that he had mapped out. You really
can't beat that kind of service.

Jeff
 
Jeff Grippe wrote:
>
>
> I didn't think of it as haggling on the price. It was simply that I knew the
> price of the new bike and the one he had was "well used". There were a few
> dings, missing paint (small chips), etc. Also it was my first trike and if I
> could spend a bit less that would appealed to me. Since I knew the price of
> the new TT 3.5 (at that time), I couldn't see paying $100 less for a very
> well used older model.
>
> But on the other hand, this guy setup almost a dozen different trikes and
> let me take them on a mile long test ride that he had mapped out. You really
> can't beat that kind of service.
>
> Jeff



Okay, "haggling" probably has too many negative connotations, but I
recognize that one has to pay for great service, for the shop being
there in the first place to provide the service, etc., etc., etc. Of
course that's all up to the proprietor to work out, and I'm not saying
it's my concern as such; no, I'm just saying that I "recognize" that
and so I guess it just doesn't "occur" to me to even try to get a
"better" price. I don't believe I'd get more than, what, 3% off, and
what's 3% when all things are considered?

I know that sounds "defeatist" of me as a consumer, but I just like
rewarding intangibles as tangibly as I can. Perhaps even "rewarding"
is the wrong word, as if they were just prostitutes of some sort. But
much as these guys **** me off, I think that LBSes in general should be
supported, and this is my way of putting my money where my mouth is.
 
>> $200 margin isn't $200 profit. Keep in mind bicycles require substantial
>> time in assembly; not many other items you'd buy require all that work
>> before they can go out the door. Car dealers tell me they can prep a car
>> in 20 minutes, which is 2 hours, 40 minutes less time than it takes for
>> many bikes.
>
> But what's the incremental cost of selling that bicycle versus not selling
> it. It would seem like you'd want to keep these customers from going
> elsewhere even at the cost of an occasional extra shipping charge. They're
> likely to be buying all the high-margin accessories and clothing from the
> shop that they buy the bike from, as well as returning there for service
> after the warranty. Sure you can't afford to be special ordering every
> single bike, but once in a while it would seem to be a worthwhile expense,
> if it's a high end model.

On an inexpensive bike, it's not incremental profit, it's incremental loss.
That holds true up to about the $400-$500 area for the better shops; there
are some that can probably make a profit on a $300 bike, because they put so
little time into them.

On a higher-end bike yes, we will special-order one in-between larger
shipments if need be, because it's less-expensive to do that than to carry
so many in stock that there's no possibility of running out in-between major
shipments.

>> situational pricing (you charge customers differently depending upon your
>> mood, or that they won't buy something without bargaining, or the
>> business is in a cash flow crisis), but that's generally not a long-term
>> road to success. Everyone involved in the shop, from owner to salesperson
>> to mechanic, loses any real sense of value, in terms of what they're
>> delivering to the customer, because it's different to each one.
>
> Welcome to the world of retail. It's pretty rare to find a store of any
> kind that charges the same price to every customer, with all the sales,
> rebates, discount clubs, % off coupons, cash discounts, etc., not to
> mention plain haggling. I'm not sure that this is necessarily bad, as it
> enables the business to sell both to price-sensitive and non-price
> sensitive customers, increasing volume.

It may be rare, but that's us. We have no club discounts, no team-in
training discounts, no %-off coupons, no cash discounts. The product is the
same price to everyone, no exceptions. If we cannot establish that we're
worth "x" price, the customer will go elsewhere. That's fine; not everybody
wants to do business the same way. But it encourages us to be competitive
and deliver the best-possible service we can, because we're establishing
that *we* believe the product has a certain value, so we have to support
that.

We do however want to support various events, so besides direct
contributions we also offer 5% of a customer's prior-year purchases in the
form of a check to whatever charitable ride they're doing. We also do a 10%
discount on parts purchased with the bike.

> My favorite discount was one that the Bicycle Outfitter once had, where
> they had 15 or 20% off everything in the store, during the hours that the
> Super Bowl was on. It was the one time to buy stuff that rarely goes on
> sale, such as Rivendell bicycles.

You're probably aware that they changed hands; one of the problems they had
was that they trained customers to wait until they had their sales. They had
prices that were pretty high the rest of the time, but fewer buyers. That
can lead to the need for even more sale events to generate cash, which
further discourages people from shopping otherwise... a vicious circle that
makes it difficult to stay in business.

There are many successful business models out there; I'm not suggesting that
what we choose is better than someone else's. It just happens to work for
us, probably mostly because we're absolutely consistent. It also works great
because the customer who comes in saying his friend bought a bike from us
and got X$ off on it and he wants the same deal... well, we know that isn't
the case. We end up not wasting nearly as much time chasing customers who
are more interested in bargaining than in actually riding a bike. Yes, there
are people for whom the thrill of the negotiation is more important than
anything else. Me? I lose several years off my life everytime I have to buy
a car.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA
 
If you're ever in the Roc Hill, SC area, check out College Cycles.
Robert will fit your requirements quite nicely, I believe.

- -
Comments and opinions compliments of,
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

My web Site:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

To E-mail me:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net
 
Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
>
> Presta valve caps serve no reasonable purpose that I can see. They
> certainly aren't air-tight. The best they might do is keep the area
> clean so you don't blow grit into your tube, but I've never seen that
> cause any trouble.

I thought they were there to stop the end of the valve chaffing the tube
when it was rolled up.

--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK

Love this:
Put an end to Outlook Express's messy quotes
http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/
 
Johnny Sunset wrote:
> Since I was the only
> rider on a bicycle with a front fairing and fenders, I only got wet
> above the shoulders. The rest of the riders were soaked everywhere.

And... what next? They all melted?

RFM
 
Fritz M wrote:
> Johnny Sunset wrote:
> > Since I was the only
> > rider on a bicycle with a front fairing and fenders, I only got wet
> > above the shoulders. The rest of the riders were soaked everywhere.
>
> And... what next? They all melted?

Someone implied that recumbents would be worse than uprights to ride in
the rain regarding the rider getting wet and dirty. I posted a real
world example that indicated the opposite was the case.

If there had been lightning, the upright riders would have worked as
lightning rods for me. ;)

--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom Back