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Is the LBS going the way of the of other repair shops?

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Is the LBS going the way of the of other repair shops?

Old 01-30-17, 03:47 PM
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Is the LBS going the way of the of other repair shops?

We've seen radio/tv, sewing machine, camera shops, and shoe repair shops disappear. Here's another article about the changes facing the Local Bike Shop

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/b...?emc=eta1&_r=0
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Old 01-30-17, 03:49 PM
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Originally Posted by oddjob2
We've seen radio/tv, sewing machine, camera shops, and shoe repair shops disappear. Here's another article about the changes facing the Local Bike Shop

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/b...?emc=eta1&_r=0
David...sorry to say...but it sure does seem so! My favorite shop here in Atlanta closed about a year ago...just could not compete...and I had guys there that appreciated C&V...none of that around here any more either!
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Old 01-30-17, 04:36 PM
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My little town of 100,000 people has currently four active bikes shops. Albeit one is combined with a water sport side and another one does snow ski stuff during the cold season. However, one is strictly used bikes and a good place to go when I'm looking for something specific for the old bikes. Maybe having one of the few Velodromes in town helps?
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Old 01-30-17, 04:41 PM
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I'm no expert, but it seems like bikes are getting more complex and require more expert adjustment, service, and repairs. I would think pro shops have a good future.
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Old 01-30-17, 04:46 PM
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Portland has close to 70 in a city of 400,000.

But...

Gentrification and higher rents may be a factor in the near future, IMO.
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Old 01-30-17, 04:51 PM
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Subject of the article and the focus of the article are only loosely related. Introduces us to the mobile repair service but talks mostly about dwindling bike shop sales. ( on a second reading it looks like the mobile service deals with sales too) The mobile repair service is clever but I don't think there would be a lot of profit in it unless customers would be willing to pay a serious premium for it. A bike shop could tune 5 bikes in the time it takes a truck to drive out to someones house and tune one. No comment on the guy who races triathlon but has to get a bike shop to tune his bike for him.

We have two shops in my town and the one I see regularly is doing well, expanded recently under a new owner and has latched onto a resurgence of our downtown. When I lived in Richmond about 15 years back, one of two bike shops in my neighborhood closed, but I see it has recently re-opened, so maybe all is not lost.
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Old 01-30-17, 04:55 PM
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There are creative ways to meet the challenges. Here's the place that is my LBS now. Repairs and orders aren't the quickest, but the ambience is incredible, and the proprietor takes genuine interest in all his customers - and he loves old bikes.
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Old 01-30-17, 04:55 PM
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Interesting observation , I would suppose that is the case in some areas . But I think it really has to do with the LBS and how customer friendly they are and work quality . In my area there are bike shops all over the place , some do good work some not so much . Some are friendly some are down right nasty , I don't go to those place any more . IMO the shops that really turn a profit and stay in business are ones with a consistently good repair service and sell a lot of new bikes . Here is my go to shop for when I get stuck and can't do it myself or need a wheelset build .
https://www.jonesbicycles.com/

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Old 01-30-17, 05:07 PM
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There's one in the area that is older than I am, but the place seems to be open purely at the owner's whim, which is why I have never managed to shop there... in my entire life. There's another one next city over, same kinda deal, and I just managed to catch it open only this past fall only to find out that while he has used refurbished bicycles for sale outside, he (the owner) has converted the inside into a moped shop and no longer sells any bicycle parts.

Key point on both of these shops is that, with a tiny bit of research based on a hunch, the owner's of these businesses own their locations. There had been two much larger bicycle shops in the area five and six day a week operating businesses that were privately run affairs, which I had been to over the years, and both went out of business within the last ten years partly due to the ever increasing costs of rent and utilities, and partly due to the declining interest in cycling in my area. A steadily increasing overhead plus steadily declining business base does not end with a good result.
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Old 01-30-17, 05:25 PM
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Interesting read in the OP.

Strikes me that the cust. online order thru Trek site and then delivered to the dealer for pick-up, that the servicing person stated of 15, five were the incorrect size or wrong bike.

How do these agents - service reps handle factory warranty? Are they authorized?

Other:
I might be wrong in my observation but personally know a few 'former' cycling enthusiast whom I've tried to encourage riding again. They seem turned off by industry / dealers and partially the expense.

In two unrelated individuals, both have (one had) higher end modern CF bikes. I gather they spent a good sum for them, especially one having a substantial investment in HED wheels.

One had something messed up on the rear deralleur and rear wheel hub. Anyways, he was turned off by the already obsolete derailleur and alternative offered by the dealer. The issue alone was in the hundreds of dollars, close to $300.... thats what he said yet did go ahead and had it done.

The other issue with the wheel was not covered under warranty. I don't have the reason why but he is the original owner of the wheelset. Ticked off enough he just lost all interest. Spent a tidy sum and expected more out of it and better customer service / warranty.

The other person is not mechanically inclined and pays for service work. When he purchased the bike new, it included free service for a year. I think he enjoyed and took advantage of it but thereafter said it was always a $150 tune-up even when everything was working just fine. But he wanted the secure feeling of everything being right. I guess he doesn't get basic vs. full cost of a service.

Though the big crux was something stripped out, claiming it was the dealer, furthermore tools are hands-off for himself. They told him he needed a new frame.

Its been a year since last talking to that individual, of the details and further sold it. However it seemed quite apparent he has zero interest in riding or spending on another bike.

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Old 01-30-17, 05:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs
No comment on the guy who races triathlon but has to get a bike shop to tune his bike for him.
From my LBS memories, a good percentage of triathletes couldn't fix a flat. When I was doing them in the 80's, I knew of several that DNF'ed due to this simple lack of basic skills. This comment proves my point.
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Old 01-30-17, 05:49 PM
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Originally Posted by markwesti
Here is my go to shop for when I get stuck and can't do it myself or need a wheelset build .
Long Beach Bike Shop | Jones Bikes | California
Ha! My 1975 Motobecane Grand Jubile has "Jones Bicycles" decal on the seat tube. I bought it as a bare frame in Seattle. Don
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Old 01-30-17, 06:03 PM
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Radio/tv, sewing machine, camera shops, and shoe repair shops aren't all the shops having trouble. Lock-smiths, Computer repair shops, lawn mower repair shops, even reliable appliance repair is getting harder to find. Try finding good carpenters other craftspeople.

All small businesses have suffered in recent years. The reason has nothing to do with bicycles and could get this thread thrown into the P&R forum.
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Old 01-30-17, 06:29 PM
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I'm in my late 50's and have been cycling since I could walk and running a bike shop has always been a dicey business even in the boom of the 1970's. It always seemed like it was feast or famine. I worked in a number of shops during the 1970's and 80's and had a number of frank talks with the various owners of those shops. You don't get rich owning a bike shop, period. You do it because you love it.

However, I worked in a shop called the Bike Gallery in Charlotte North Carolina a LONG time ago, 1982-ish maybe (that shop is still in business btw!). The head mechanic at The Bike Gallery was Richard, the brother of Gary who started Performance Bike. I recall Richard going to help his brother set up the business, which was strictly mail-order back then, and wrenched to pay the bills.

At some point he joined up with his brother and the rest is history, Performance Bike became a national chain. Hard to believe from such a humble beginning in a garage in Chapel Hill. Richard left to start Wabi and has since sold that. BTW, Richard was the best mechanic I have ever known and I've known some good ones. I learned a lot from that guy.

So, yes you can make it big but you gotta think big and do even bigger and be willing to risk everything to accomplish it. Not many are willing to do that or work that hard.


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Old 01-30-17, 06:51 PM
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I really wonder about this....in my area a bike fixit van coming to work is considered part of the perk of the work you to death lifestyle.

Also it seems that so many kids today have limited or no exposure to the basics I grew up with (fiddling with bikes and wood) etc that a lot of things that I do DIY (bikes, house repairs, etc) are something that will have to be done by someone else.

My area (San Jose/Silicon Valley) has a pretty thriving bunch of bikes shops, but I think some are going to be endangered, here are the basic types and examples that i see and my guess

The old school hard core bike shop. Super knowledge, combined with some funkiness/specialties. Probably not endangered, but dependent on the owners/techs


* Sloughs.... doesn't have a web site, wouldn't work on fixies, super skills and knowledge and amazing old stock inventory

*Silva cycles. Build frames, customizes bikes, works old, new and in between, builds professional unicycles. Stocks Rivendell, Salsa, Jones. Good vibe

New school hard core bike shop, newe, bigger but at soul, old school

* la dolce Velo. Larger selection of bikes, more room and staff....but good vibe.

Long term local bike shop. the place that parents and grand parents bought bikes from and then bring kids and grandkids. Tend to be family owned and run for generations. Good chance of owning the buildings they are in. Follow what is hot...ie cruisers, fixies, bmx etc but maintain solid practical inventory. Probably under pressure but follow model and will survive

* Hylands family bike shop

Big Chain shop, advantage is price, service varies. LIves on volume and price, will probably survive in one way or the other

* performance

regional chain shop. in between Big chain and new school hard core shop. depends on location, location location and better than chain shop service

*Mikes bikes

Bike shop as part of general outdoors store....increasing and probably stable...bike techs work on skis and vice versa, but good quality service

* Rei
* Sports Basement

The shops I think are endangered are the ones in shopping malls, that basically one brand, typically Trek or specialized. Have to have high rents.
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Old 01-30-17, 07:14 PM
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Originally Posted by gugie
Portland has close to 70 in a city of 400,000.

But...

Gentrification and higher rents may be a factor in the near future, IMO.
Is that counting Beaverton, Gresham, Troudale, Tigard, and all the other little suburbs? So... are you counting shops but not population?

Originally Posted by Dave Cutter
Radio/tv, sewing machine, camera shops, and shoe repair shops aren't all the shops having trouble. Lock-smiths, Computer repair shops, lawn mower repair shops, even reliable appliance repair is getting harder to find. Try finding good carpenters other craftspeople.

All small businesses have suffered in recent years. The reason has nothing to do with bicycles and could get this thread thrown into the P&R forum.
Yet, one small business that has blossomed is the quicky-lube shops.

It isn't that people can't crawl under their vehicle and pull an oil plug. It is just easier to get someone else to do it.

One of the things that has happened is that so much of our society has gone disposable.

I'd say that 90% of the shoes out there (at least for men) is wear them till they fall apart, then buy a new pair. Gone are the days to get the soles repaired (other than shoe goo). Blame it on Nike. But, I find the whole shoe more or less disintegrates at the same time. Hard to "repair" it when there is nothing left. And, how much does it really cost to repair a worn out $50 pair of shoes?

Same with TV shops. When the TV is old enough to break down, there undoubtedly are new features that encourage buying new. Plus with our upside-down economy, it may be cheaper to buy a new TV than getting the old one repaired.

Bikes?

They ride a fine line.

Like the oil change, many people would rather not get their fingers dirty.

Department store bikes? They've been around for a long time. Sears, Wards, Fred Meyers, whatever your favorite local department store, they've sold tons of bikes for decades. Walmart is BIG, but not a new concept.

The more active riders really are at a point where they demand a lot from their LBS. If the LBS is up for it, it will thrive. If not... it won't. I.E. Stock parts, and have a good staff.

I've gone on a couple of local club rides... one if their big "benefits" is a discount at the LBS which the riders just eat up. So... there are "customers".
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Old 01-30-17, 07:17 PM
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Here is a Detroit bike internship for a masters candidate in Urban Planning that pays better than an LBS job.

Job Opportunities : Go East Jefferson
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Old 01-30-17, 07:19 PM
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Squirtdad,

Same situation where I live. There's an eclectic mix of probably 15 shops in my town. They, too, run the gamut. I favor two of them because a) They have been around for over 20 years and b) They have the best mechanics and atmosphere. They aren't big shops but their business seems to be consistent and they tend to cater to the higher-end bike crowd and still do old-school repair work.
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Old 01-30-17, 07:21 PM
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
Is that counting Beaverton, Gresham, Troudale, Tigard, and all the other little suburbs? So... are you counting shops but not population?
That's Portland proper only and I just checked, the number of bike shops is actually 76. Several Californian's musta snuck in while I wasn't looking, Portland population is actually a bit over 600,000.
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Old 01-30-17, 07:37 PM
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Originally Posted by oddjob2
radio/tv, sewing machine, camera shops, and shoe repair shops disappear.
All those goods saw a significant decrease in overall price as a percentage of household income as well as an increase in build quality and durability over the last 60 years. I'm not sure bikes are in the same category. Functionality seems to be stable over time but price continues to increase.

I think bike shops moving to a more pure repair model will be the way of the future. The issues facing the LBS in the current day relate to trying to pivot their business model from a sales/service blend to a almost entirely service blend as customers buy their goods online and bring them to the LBS for install or repair.

Similar to how the modern american automobile service industry works. You buy your parts at autozone and can do the work yourself. Or you go to a repair shop to get your car fixed, sometimes you give them the parts you bought and sometimes you buy from them. Or you can go to the dealer and get your car fixed.
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Old 01-30-17, 07:51 PM
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If there is a trend away from local bike shops, it seems to me that local passion for cycling is capable of keeping them in business even while other traditional repair businesses go into decline. I submit my region for an example: right now in my region of 650k people we have 10 traditional LBS, 5 LBS that are largely specialized by type of bikes (BMX, FS MTB, Fixies), 3 chain stores, 2 coops, and then we have six other businesses related to the cycling industry but not retail. A couple of those 15 local shops seem to be struggling for various reasons, but the business model seems to be mostly working same as it has for decades.
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Old 01-30-17, 08:18 PM
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The mobile repair biz has a intro price to hitch up with one of the "brands" of about 90k, including a 50k van.
No rent but insurance, vehicle repair and fuel. (leaving out depreciation)
Time is the problem. One reason at-home repair, think plumbing , electrical, heating, etc is expensive is the transit time the consumer ends up paying for. What if you need to order a part? the diversity of components is greater than ever.
At a fixed base shop, time between customers can be used (hopefully) doing repairs, earning money.
It does not happen while you are driving between gigs.

I expect in a year or two there will be "business" opportunities...be your own boss, buy my mobile bike repair biz...

That written, the local bike shop might be best to become the local bike repair shop, ditch the inventory of bikes for sale on the showroom floor and the square footage that is required. Bicycles have a terrible mark up as it is, why take the risk? Especially with Canyon coming to the USA market, the other big brands are concerned, trying to figure out how to implement some form of this model that still provides their dealership base a cut, most likely through assembly.
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Old 01-30-17, 08:55 PM
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I dearly hope not, LBS have a place, but I fear that losing them could happen easily. Our area has two shops that are doing fairly well, at least they are moving bikes and doing a decent amount of service. The others are not getting it done, very few sales and little service happening. One of these is a Tri oriented place, I figured that they would be full up in service needs, but its slow when I have been in this shop. Not that I really like going there, but I stopped by just to see what they had.

We now have a mobile bicycle repair guy in the area, but I have not heard from anyone using him yet. I think he also assembles BSO for the local Wally-Marties too. If those are any indication of his work, he won't last. I can't see this taking off on our MSA, too underpopulated, and too backwards. Scary times.

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Old 01-30-17, 09:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Spoonrobot
All those goods saw a significant decrease in overall price as a percentage of household income as well as an increase in build quality and durability over the last 60 years. I'm not sure bikes are in the same category. Functionality seems to be stable over time but price continues to increase.
I think the Dept store bike prices have remained relatively stable, especially if one adds in inflation.

However, 2nd tier bikes (and better) have been steadily increasing. So, quite a few $1K bikes at the bargain sporting goods stores, and while they might not impact the LBS sales, they will impact their maintenance.

How fast do those $2K+ bikes move at LBS stores? I suppose the bread and butter are still the small bikes, lots of bike trinkets, and maintenance.
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Old 01-30-17, 09:51 PM
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Originally Posted by drlogik
I'm in my late 50's and have been cycling since I could walk and running a bike shop has always been a dicey business even in the boom of the 1970's. It always seemed like it was feast or famine. I worked in a number of shops during the 1970's and 80's and had a number of frank talks with the various owners of those shops. You don't get rich owning a bike shop, period. You do it because you love it.

However, I worked in a shop called the Bike Gallery in Charlotte North Carolina a LONG time ago, 1982-ish maybe (that shop is still in business btw!). The head mechanic at The Bike Gallery was Richard, the brother of Gary who started Performance Bike. I recall Richard going to help his brother set up the business, which was strictly mail-order back then, and wrenched to pay the bills.

At some point he joined up with his brother and the rest is history, Performance Bike became a national chain. Hard to believe from such a humble beginning in a garage in Chapel Hill. Richard left to start Wabi and has since sold that. BTW, Richard was the best mechanic I have ever known and I've known some good ones. I learned a lot from that guy.

So, yes you can make it big but you gotta think big and do even bigger and be willing to risk everything to accomplish it. Not many are willing to do that or work that hard.


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That's a neat story.
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