Stupid lbs.



gemship

New Member
Sep 19, 2006
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Hello everyone,

This may be the first post I've originated on this site, I'm not sure. I have added to plenty of other post but simply have never started my own due to most of questions being answered through others postings if that makes sense. So anyways....

I bought a Cervelo r3sl last Febuary when bike business was dead here in Massachuesetts and literally didn't ride it for roughly two months. I've taken six rides on it in the past two weeks and bike is great knock on wood. Actually the bike is another subject and not what this post is about. The post is about business etiquette. When I bought the bike in Feb. I basically needed everything that goes with a bike, it was a custom bike build. The salesman/builder of my bike said that he had carbon water cages but they were in boxes stuffed behind more boxes in a loft space and would require extensive searching and to come back later. To me that was fine so I come back about two more times in the span of a week, mind you it's still Febuary. In about three visits we had the bike all built up fitted to me, still no cages but no big deal because the weather was horrible being the winter season. I left them with my bike making a promise to come back and buy more accessories alos requesting that they find those cages so I can buy them happily. Well last saturday I make a spontaneous visit to the shop my first since taking the bike into my possession. I went in the shop expecting to see new accessories and of course the cages but to my astonishment all I saw was the same stuff and no cages :eek: At this point in time its April and they have taken on at least three more seasonal workers standing around doing nothing I may add. When I asked for the cages the same fella who works year round and sold me my bike said the same thing" I'll have to look for them and it will take a while" I wasn't hostile about this at all but mildly peeved due to a string of summer like weather. It just didn't make sense. I needed brake pads for another bike anyway and had to order them so I said fine I'll be back next week. A week goes by and I stop by the shop yesterday on my way home from work. There are no other customers besides myself. I know why I was there, he knew why I was there but being the nice guy that I am I entained his small talk. Then four rather annoying people , you know the type cut in front of me requesting their needs and I let them. My mistake. When I do finally get waited on I get the bums rush due to more customers behind me. Now if I had been a slight dink making requests the moment I showed up rather than entertaining a rather weak salon type atmosphere I think I could of sped up their 175.00 sale to a mere five minute visit rather than a forty minute wait. I'm annoyed and I'll take 50% of the blame as mentioned above but I feel on the salesmans end of things a simple first come first served how can I help you lesson needs to be addressed. He better hope I don't break this bike :mad:

Spent in excess of five grand, I should be getting a blow job :rolleyes:
 
Nice rant Gemship. Sounds like you need to find yourself a new LBS. For what it's worth I think you should cancel your order for the carbon cages (no doubt they cost you about 50 bucks a piece + tax......you are from TAXachusetts) and buy them on-line. There are thousands of on-line retailers that would love to have your business and they would not give you the attitude. Make sure you let the shop know what you did too. I bet they'll dig around their store room pretty quick when you let them know you're canceling your order. Don't get me wrong I support local business but when they treat you with such disregard they are not doing their job very well. As far as the blowjob goes.....I think you have to buy a set of Zipps to get one:) . Good luck.
 
Peter Verdesi said:
Nice rant Gemship. Sounds like you need to find yourself a new LBS. For what it's worth I think you should cancel your order for the carbon cages (no doubt they cost you about 50 bucks a piece + tax......you are from TAXachusetts) and buy them on-line. There are thousands of on-line retailers that would love to have your business and they would not give you the attitude. Make sure you let the shop know what you did too. I bet they'll dig around their store room pretty quick when you let them know you're canceling your order. Don't get me wrong I support local business but when they treat you with such disregard they are not doing their job very well. As far as the blowjob goes.....I think you have to buy a set of Zipps to get one:) . Good luck.

Ha,ha lol. thankyou for appreciating my rant boy did I wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Actually the order was for a set of brake pads for my commuter bike. I held out for them on good faith and yes I did buy a set of zipp cages for 60 bucks a each, ouch and no bj to go with it. Just got back from a 30 mile ride with hardley any traffic. The zipps are nice and do their job perfectly and that feels reassuring. I feel alot better now but I know better. You're right online shopping is the way to go and I plan on doing just that in the future.
 
Maybe they are politely trying to stop you wasting your money on composite bidon cages....;)

Sorry, I'd use them too if I couldn't think of several thousand better ways of spending the money.
 
$60.00 for a water bottle cage:eek: :confused: ? Why? Is it made of gold or oil?
 
artemidorus said:
Maybe they are politely trying to stop you wasting your money on composite bidon cages....;)

Sorry, I'd use them too if I couldn't think of several thousand better ways of spending the money.


You couldn't be more further from the mark but that's okay I understand. Been here for awhile and I get the impression most of the members who actually keep the forum alive scoff at carbon fiber anything and like to keep things simple. On that note no argurement here and you're right the cages are overpriced, in fact the whole dam bike is overpriced. But there isn't one part of the bike including the cages that doesn't perform better than my 500 dollar Raliegh Cadent 1 with Sora and aluminum cages. Having said that you pay dearly for lightwieght and modest performance enhancement. This bike shop that I do business with is run buy a bunch of tools. They're all sold on the latest and greatest. Here's an example I watched them upsell a Specialized aluminum roadbike in the 800 dollar range to a women that already had a fine bicycle. Her bike was a Lemond steel tubed roadbike that they quoted as saying it would need 500 bucks in repairs for worn brifters :eek: If that ain't BS then I don't know what is and personally I believe the Lemond to be the better bike despite the age and repairs needed but oh well.

Not to start a arguement but I believe the new bike business is overpriced bottomline, it just depends on how crazy you want to get with it or how deep your pockets are. ;)
 
gemship said:
You couldn't be more further from the mark but that's okay I understand. Been here for awhile and I get the impression most of the members who actually keep the forum alive scoff at carbon fiber anything and like to keep things simple. On that note no argurement here and you're right the cages are overpriced, in fact the whole dam bike is overpriced. But there isn't one part of the bike including the cages that doesn't perform better than my 500 dollar Raliegh Cadent 1 with Sora and aluminum cages. Having said that you pay dearly for lightwieght and modest performance enhancement. This bike shop that I do business with is run buy a bunch of tools. They're all sold on the latest and greatest. Here's an example I watched them upsell a Specialized aluminum roadbike in the 800 dollar range to a women that already had a fine bicycle. Her bike was a Lemond steel tubed roadbike that they quoted as saying it would need 500 bucks in repairs for worn brifters :eek: If that ain't BS then I don't know what is and personally I believe the Lemond to be the better bike despite the age and repairs needed but oh well.

Not to start a arguement but I believe the new bike business is overpriced bottomline, it just depends on how crazy you want to get with it or how deep your pockets are. ;)

Nope.
 
gemship said:
You couldn't be more further from the mark but that's okay I understand. Been here for awhile and I get the impression most of the members who actually keep the forum alive scoff at carbon fiber anything and like to keep things simple. On that note no argurement here and you're right the cages are overpriced, in fact the whole dam bike is overpriced. But there isn't one part of the bike including the cages that doesn't perform better than my 500 dollar Raliegh Cadent 1 with Sora and aluminum cages. Having said that you pay dearly for lightwieght and modest performance enhancement. This bike shop that I do business with is run buy a bunch of tools. They're all sold on the latest and greatest. Here's an example I watched them upsell a Specialized aluminum roadbike in the 800 dollar range to a women that already had a fine bicycle. Her bike was a Lemond steel tubed roadbike that they quoted as saying it would need 500 bucks in repairs for worn brifters :eek: If that ain't BS then I don't know what is and personally I believe the Lemond to be the better bike despite the age and repairs needed but oh well.

Not to start a arguement but I believe the new bike business is overpriced bottomline, it just depends on how crazy you want to get with it or how deep your pockets are. ;)
No seriously, I don't think bike shops get a very high profit margin through bike sales.
 
TheDarkLord said:
No seriously, I don't think bike shops get a very high profit margin through bike sales.

Maybe true as far as lbs profit margin goes, I don't know. All the bikes I see for sale are very expensive for what they are so I suppose the expense is brought on by the manufacturers.

My shimano brake pads for their bottom line disc brake caliper were 20.00 US dollars for a set. Now brake pads for my Toyota truck were 30.00 dollars and made of more substantial material and came in a set of four with a lifetime warranty.
 
One of my buddies goes to flea markets every weekend and finds bicycles that were once 500 dollars give of take a couple hundred for 50 to 100 dollars regularly and these are good bikes simply purchased by folks who didn't use them and sold by folks who deal them. Fair deals are out there on great stuff.

The nicest bike he found was a very good condition Fat Chance hardtail mountain bike, paid about 150 for that one and was told it was a 1500 dollar retail bike easy. The really awesome deals are out there but you won't find here or on Craigslist or at the lbs.

FWIW I bought my Cervelo because I wanted it and I bought Zipp cages because they're what my Cervelo deserves.They're pretty much the gold standard to a relitively great bike. I didn't mind paying the price but I also come from the land of the cheap and haven't forgotten that. I also have aluminum cages that I think look/work just fine on my aluminum bikes, funny thing about that.
 
gemship said:
Maybe true as far as lbs profit margin goes, I don't know. All the bikes I see for sale are very expensive for what they are so I suppose the expense is brought on by the manufacturers.

My shimano brake pads for their bottom line disc brake caliper were 20.00 US dollars for a set. Now brake pads for my Toyota truck were 30.00 dollars and made of more substantial material and came in a set of four with a lifetime warranty.

How big is the market for the Toyota vs. Shimano disc brake pads? Prices in the bicycle market are driven by:
  1. Generally a lack of economy of scale
  2. Its smaller market
  3. The fact that it's a niche market (Niche market means more pricey. Try pricing climbing gear, race slicks for superbikes, golf ****, skydiving equipment.....)
  4. The money market (which, in the USofDubya, means higher prices for imported goods, i.e. the majority of bike goods)
  5. Of course, perceived value

How long do you think it takes Michelin to pay off the investment in a new car or truck tire assembly line compared to how long it takes to pay off the investment in a bike tire assembly line?

You have to also consider how prices have changed since the old salad days that were allegedly so much cheaper and so much better, and what you get for your money these days compared to what you would have got in those glorious days of old, using adjusted money values for the comparison. You'll likely find that for whatever a decent bike cost in 1975 (for example), you could buy a bike at least as good and at least as good of a value today if you adjusted those 1975 dollars to 2008 dollars.

Using one inflation calculator, today's dollar is worth about 1/4 of 1975's dollar, so a $1500 bike today would have cost 'round $375 in '75. Those prices don't even take into account the improvements made in bikes since then.
 
Wouldn't call them stupid, just uninterested. Sorry, but the old adage applies - fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. I'd have given them one or two chances, then I'd be on my own. I try to support my LBS's as much as I can, but will go online at the drop of a hat, especially given your situation. Hey, after all, if they don't want the chance to sell you carbon cages, it's their fault.

Great bike, though. I'd be a shame to put shiny aluminum on it.
 
alienator said:
How big is the market for the Toyota vs. Shimano disc brake pads? Prices in the bicycle market are driven by:
  1. Generally a lack of economy of scale
  2. Its smaller market
  3. The fact that it's a niche market (Niche market means more pricey. Try pricing climbing gear, race slicks for superbikes, golf ****, skydiving equipment.....)
  4. The money market (which, in the USofDubya, means higher prices for imported goods, i.e. the majority of bike goods)
  5. Of course, perceived value

How long do you think it takes Michelin to pay off the investment in a new car or truck tire assembly line compared to how long it takes to pay off the investment in a bike tire assembly line?

You have to also consider how prices have changed since the old salad days that were allegedly so much cheaper and so much better, and what you get for your money these days compared to what you would have got in those glorious days of old, using adjusted money values for the comparison. You'll likely find that for whatever a decent bike cost in 1975 (for example), you could buy a bike at least as good and at least as good of a value today if you adjusted those 1975 dollars to 2008 dollars.

Using one inflation calculator, today's dollar is worth about 1/4 of 1975's dollar, so a $1500 bike today would have cost 'round $375 in '75. Those prices don't even take into account the improvements made in bikes since then.

I can't disagree with any of this but I must say it's about time things change. The bike industry boggles me, I think it's huge but when I walk into a lbs I feel a big aspect of what they sell is performance and fun in the specialty sense of the word. How about selling bikes for practicality. Not that they don't offer those kind of bikes but as you have noteably stated the bike industry is small compared to the automobile industry and I myself would have to assume that to be because people don't take bicycles in the commuting sense of the word seriously. Perhaps with rising fuel costs and the old issue of obesity at least here in the states a true bicycle revlution with begin. Something the will subsidize the heck out of decent quality bicycles for love of greener transportation.

On another note how the heck did my thread get so sidetracked? Oh yeah because I took the bait of a couple posters, (no not you by the way) that couldn't believe the price of a carbon cage. I plan on keeping those cages for a very long time until they break, hopefully long enough to forget about the idiot salesman that didn't appreciate all the money I spent at his shop.
 
gemship said:
...

My shimano brake pads for their bottom line disc brake caliper were 20.00 US dollars for a set. Now brake pads for my Toyota truck were 30.00 dollars and made of more substantial material and came in a set of four with a lifetime warranty.
Look at tires, comparing the sheer size, let alone the 10X mileage that a car tire gets compared to a bicycle. What does a low-end, 30,000 mile 13 or 14 inch car tire cost on sale, about $35 - about the same as a good bicycle tire that lasts maybe 1/10 that much and has 1/1,000 the material and technology.

Just sayin'....

By the way, concerning original post: after the second time, I'd have put in an order to PBK or some other decent mail order. I like supporting LBS's, but won't actually WAIT for something. If I wanted to do that, I'd order mail order.

I don't fault you for putting bling-ish carbon cages on that bike, like you said it deserves it. To put it in perspective, if the thing came with $100 worth of cages, and cost $100 more, you probably wouldn't even notice. You certainly wouldn't be shopping around to save $100 on a bike like that. I don't have them on my bike, because at 17-18 lbs, and an aluminum frame, the stainless steel wire bottle cages I have really fit it better. Plus they only weigh about 30 grams each and cost about $5 :)
 
I think you'll find that some bike shops are targeted toward the practicality, casual, or entry level bike crowd, while others are built to serve the more performance or high end crowd. Good shops can do all that at once, while bad shops try to push you one way or another.

My LBS does both.

As for Zipp cages, I see nuthin' wrong with 'em, especially as I've got a set that is 3 years old and still work just fine.