well played, sir.
Sorry, but 80% of all the LBS that I’ve been in don’t have a fucking clue what they’re doing. They don’t have the parts that I want in stock and if they do, they attempt to charge a criminal markup on said items. Performance sucks, too for similar reasons and yeah, they’re the walmart of bike shops, but they arent’ walmart which has probably done more to put many LBS out of business.
In the end, capitalism is about acting in one’s own best interest (fiscally) which is why I buy things from Performance.
There’s been a rumor circulating for years that Wal-Mart was going to go into the bike shop business, as is add some repair stands and hire a few illegal immigrants to change tubes for $6 an hour. They may have even tested it out, at one point.
There is already a walmart exactly like that in a suburb near me. They have $3,000 corsa brand road bikes and carbon fiber schwinns. They do have a repair stand and a pegboard wall full of tools. Never seen a full time “bike section” employee though.
Sorry, but 80% of all the LBS that I’ve been in don’t have a fucking clue what they’re doing. They don’t have the parts that I want in stock and if they do, they attempt to charge a criminal markup on said items. Performance sucks, too for similar reasons and yeah, they’re the walmart of bike shops, but they arent’ walmart which has probably done more to put many LBS out of business.
In the end, capitalism is about acting in one’s own best interest (fiscally) which is why I buy things from Performance.[/quote]
this is true, however, the LBS that i frequent are involved in the local racing community. I’d just rather see my money stimulate the local economy making the place where I live stronger which is completely inline with acting for my own best interests.
when i worked at a lbs in 2002 they paid me $6/hour. (min wage in ma at the time)
but i was born in this country so citizen
Sorry, but 80% of all the LBS that I’ve been in don’t have a fucking clue what they’re doing. They don’t have the parts that I want in stock and if they do, they attempt to charge a criminal markup on said items. Performance sucks, too for similar reasons and yeah, they’re the walmart of bike shops, but they arent’ walmart which has probably done more to put many LBS out of business.
In the end, capitalism is about acting in one’s own best interest (fiscally) which is why I buy things from Performance.[/quote]
this is true, however, the LBS that i frequent are involved in the local racing community. I’d just rather see my money stimulate the local economy making the place where I live stronger which is completely inline with acting for my own best interests.[/quote]
Didn’t say that all the local shops sucked, just that most of 'em suck. The ones that don’t suck get some of my business. I’m also not an ideal LBS customer. I’d likely never buy a complete, I don’t rely on the LBS for services, and I’m pretty picky about parts that I use, so if they don’t have my specific thing in stock, I’m likely not going to make a purchase. For example, if I want a gatorskin, I’m not going to settle for an armadillo.
Sorry, but 80% of all the LBS that I’ve been in don’t have a fucking clue what they’re doing. They don’t have the parts that I want in stock and if they do, they attempt to charge a criminal markup on said items. Performance sucks, too for similar reasons and yeah, they’re the walmart of bike shops, but they arent’ walmart which has probably done more to put many LBS out of business.
In the end, capitalism is about acting in one’s own best interest (fiscally) which is why I buy things from Performance.[/quote]
this is true, however, the LBS that i frequent are involved in the local racing community. I’d just rather see my money stimulate the local economy making the place where I live stronger which is completely inline with acting for my own best interests.[/quote]
ITT: People overpay drastically to support the local economy
I order from wherever I can get it cheapest, be it the UK, China or the shop down the street. If I had money pouring out of my ass things would be different but given my finite resources I do the best with what I have.
when i worked at a lbs in 2002 they paid me $6/hour. (min wage in ma at the time)
but i was born in this country so citizen[/quote]
I used to make $10/hr under the table from 98-2001, was rad.
ITT: Guy with “finite resources” has twenty bikes.
I’m down to less than that, and 2 are for sale =P
Actually I’ve sold almost a grand of misc parts this week that I haven’t touched…ever.
would you guys say the same thing about QBP if they sold to the general public?
?
Yeah…I don’t know what you’re asking.
I think if qbp did sell to the general public, it wouldn’t be for the same price as the lbs that was buying it.
I would like to think that quality wouldn’t ever do that.
But I guess you never know.
I think that Quality is in business to keep bike shops in business.
?[/quote]
The place that bike shops order parts from.
i don’t get the buy from LBS mentality specifically because it’s an LBS. They aren’t producing the parts there, I only shop LBS because of good customer service, and even then it has to have the price point.
I’ve always been happy to pay a little more at the LBS or LGS (local guitar store). It has easily paid off in the long run due to the relationships that have developed with the staff and owners, the stuff I’ve learned, the hands on tutorials (including wheel building), being allowed to use their tools or stands (hell, they’ve even lent me tools in the past), the miscellaneous free shit I’ve been given, the random deals I’ve scored, the convenience of having them fix something when I can’t and have them show me what I’m doing wrong for free. These aren’t accounts of some rare, random events. These are the kinds of relationships that have just developed between myself and multiple shops around town. These relationships have also lead to a job at a shop and offers from other shops from time to time. It takes time to develop relationships of any kind.
Make no mistake, I’m not above scoring a good deal on the internet. It is obviously the cheaper route frequently. But I also recognize the pain in the ass that can arise when a part doesn’t work out or installation doesn’t go as planned.
rj, you’re posts are solid gold as of late.
this is on topic. i really want to buy some noodles from one of my favorite lbs’s, but fuck me if i’m going to pay the $85 for 42cm (don’t even want to know what the heat treated 46-48cm cost!!). i really hate how much the mark up at shops can be.
yeah…it sucks that a brick and mortar shop has to pay overhead for a real location instead of a having shit stored in a spare bedroom or closet or warehouse and pay their employees.
i hate how all these self-rghteous bike shop pricks are trying to stay in business.