Bikesdirect or local bike shop?



I guess if you believe $80 an hour shop rate is all profit it seems like a bike shop is doing really well. I plan to shop/buy at the local shop because I will be able to go back to them after the sale. I guess some people could buy online and take the carton to the local shop to assemble and fit but I have too much conscience to do that. Just keep buying online and eventually there will be no local shop anywhere and no service shop either. Now, if your local shop is charing 2-3 times as much as online perhaps that's a specific shop to avoid but I don't begrudge the local shop their reasonable profit.
 
I don't see anything ethically wrong with buying online and asking the LBS to assemble or tune a bike for you, as long as you are willing to pay a fair price. One of my buddies here recently did that with a Colnago frame she's found a couple of years ago online, and ended up spending $150 for labor plus bought a set of Easton EA90-SL wheels and a couple of other items. I'm sure most bike shops don't mind that kind of business.

What's ethically questionable is to go into an LBS to check out an item, or try on shoes or shorts, knowing you plan to buy online. That seems pretty sleazy to me, but I know people who justify doing that, using the excuse that "since they are ripping people off charging retail, it's OK".
 
dhk2 said:
I don't see anything ethically wrong with buying online and asking the LBS to assemble or tune a bike for you, as long as you are willing to pay a fair price. One of my buddies here recently did that with a Colnago frame she's found a couple of years ago online, and ended up spending $150 for labor plus bought a set of Easton EA90-SL wheels and a couple of other items. I'm sure most bike shops don't mind that kind of business.

What's ethically questionable is to go into an LBS to check out an item, or try on shoes or shorts, knowing you plan to buy online. That seems pretty sleazy to me, but I know people who justify doing that, using the excuse that "since they are ripping people off charging retail, it's OK".

Well said and no, I don't mind at all if somebody brings a frame and boxes of parts and has me assemble it. As a service oriented place, it's what we do BUT if the FD or cogset or whatever is wrong..don't ask me to 'swap it out' for a proper one. If something breaks, don't ask me to do the warranty process for you.