madbiker555

I really hate them...I really do.
Here's the story: so I went there today looking for their prices on certain tires. What do I get? The guy says he wants $80 (including tax) for kenda kinetics! My reaction was: "Holy s***! This place is sooooo overpriced!". As I said in one of my other threads, they want $90 for Sixsixone race lite shin/knee guards! And when I had my BB, cranks, etc., replaced on my commuter bike...............with tax it ended up at $220!!!!! I looked up the parts that they use and it should have come to a way cheaper price. (yes I know there was labour fees included but they wern't very big) Now I have to goto a bike shop 10km, or one 25km just to buy anything for my bike (because my current bike shop is so damn overpriced). This is more of a rant, but add what you want.


Edit: tried to do title all in caps....didn't work out too well.

kritter

I like my bike shop...Coates in Pomona...service is second to none.

Singlespeedster

By what measure are they overpriced?

Are you comparing their prices to mail order?

madbiker555

Im comparing their prices to mail order and other bike shops closeish to me. (the mail order is a lot cheaper, which I've already known).

spleck

My bike shops pissed me off this week too. I broke my derailleur hanger out of town on a Sunday, so I was already in a bad mood. I call the only Specialized dealer in my area on Monday and of course they don't have any in stock... but they can order one for "$15 to $20". They couldn't even narrow down the price. So I ordered two directly from Specialized for $12.95 each.

Saturday my friend had screwed up his wheel (we had bad luck this weekend), so we ended up at his bike store and they only wanted $8 to true a wheel (turned out to be too screwed up and got replaced though). Well, Sunday I notice my wheel is a tiny bit out and needs to be trued, so I drop by my shop and they want $20 to true the wheel! (This is the same place that wanted $100 for a $90 MSRP rooftop rack, that normally sells for $75-85). Interestingly enough, a full tuneup is only $45 to true both wheels and adjust cables, etc.

mx_599

support your local bike shop

Maelstrom 

It happens. I have 10 lbs's near me (I don't chop at any)...compared to the city they are ALL overpriced. Amongst themselve some are downright highway robbery. Others try, but due to the rent in torn fall short by a mile. Every industry has gaugers. They would rather sell expensive to 10 instead of reasonable to 100. It allows them to hold this mysterious level of service. High end hotels do the same thing.

Reason - "we can't drop out rate because it lower the value of the hotel and reduce the 'quality' level of the clientelle'...

Counter - "but if we drop rate we could make money by selling out blah blah"...

Reason - "we can't afford in the good season to be viewed ars 'reduced'..."

its a never ending debate. Some places give in and survive (sometimes)...and others keep their noses high and...well...survive (sometimes).

Buzzbomb

Have you ever just walked in and talk to them? I do it all the time with some of the shops in my area. I tell them I want such-and-such, and I can get it at www.whatever for x amount, what can you guys do, I'd rather get it from you if you could come close. Sometimes they can, sometimes not, but most of the time I give them the first shot.

C Law

Learn to do it yourself. employees cost the shop money. Plus it is a skill. Why shouldn't they get paid well to perform a service that you cannot (I am assuming that because you didn't do it). If you commute a lot I would strongly suggest learning how to fix and maintain your own bike. You will save a lot of money in the long run. Plus it is a bit fun and easy to do and learn. Then you can just shop for parts.

Of that $220, how much was parts, labor, tax, etc. ? Did you ask what parts they were using before hand? did you compare prices? labor rates? I would think that it would take a professional mechanic 10 minutes to replace cranks and a bottom bracket. How much time did they charge you for?

Maybe they are just plain ripping you off, and that is a different scenario. There are unscupulous people in all industries.

Jason222

My LBS has good prices, but they take FOREVER to get parts in!

pnj

I almost never buy from a local shop. mail order has worked for me for 20 plus years.

I don't own every tool, so sometimes I may take a part in and pay the mechanic to have them do whatever needs done. but for the most part, I am my own mechanic and mail order all my parts.

BErad

I've done what Buzzbomb suggested and sometimes it works.
I also agree with unsuspended...whatever you can learn to do on your own will save you $. Bike mechanics are just like auto mechanics...you pay out the rear for their services.
There will always be some degree of markup when purchasing through LBS's. You either have to eat it and support them (which pays dividends when you really need their help) or you can buy online and do-it-yourself.

Jaye

My LBS is great, sure they are higher priced than mail order, but I have never been able to walk in and have a beer with a mail order phone jockey either.

I don't mind paying a little more for the service that gets provided by the shop...now if it was hundreds of dollars more we might have an issue.

madbiker555

The funny thing is that I could have done it myself... I was in no mood that day to buy a BB and replace it so I decided I would let them do it. Those idiots just decided that they would replace my crank arms for no reason! They didn't even ask me! They never told me what parts they were using before hand, extra labour was involved but that made up about 3% of the bill overall. They are ripping me off; I called pieriks cycle to see what they would charge for the parts...it ended up a lot cheaper. They're hosing me, I wish that they could get their act together.

Mail order is cheapest...I think that it's my best option now.

madbiker555

I also forgot to add that the main guy who is almost always there is a f***ing jerk! My friends crank arm fell off yesterday and the guy was just like: "I don't like your attitude, maybe if you asked nicely.". My friend never even said it in a harsh way...other times I've seen him get mad at a customer or one of my friends.


Edit: compared prices again with Brant cycle and this is what I cam up with: Brant Cycle: $133.53 (with tax)

Ancaster cycle (the ones who ripped me off): $218!!! (with tax)

Difference: $84.47

VERY MAD NOW!

webist

Are you going there the next time something happens, or have you taken your business elsewhere?

zx108

i have one that is really really bad by my i no someone who got a backtrail x2 then anotehr kid got it at this shop i am talkin about for close to 100 more!!!that is nuts, he said it was a stronger frame. the guy who owns it is also a con. his shop burnt down, and he was in a couple law suits involving the money he got from insurence becuase the bikes were destroyed, most of the bikes were a-ok.

now that i am more into mountain biking there is this road/mountain biking shop right down the street from the other one. they are really nice and helpfull in there and they have fair prices.

so i see were you are coming from. i would say go to the far one instead of giving the rip-off any more business.

madbiker555

Business elsewhere for sure.

Primal

First thing I would have done is demanded that the new crank arms be taken off, your originals put back on, and the bill corrected. I don't stand for people taking it upon themselves to replace extra parts, etc.

zx108

yea primal hit that one on the head. if you dont want that on he needs to take it off and i dont even know if you need to pay labor for something you didnt ask to be put on the bike.

Primal

Oh, I'd be raising hell if they tried to charge labor to take it off. Haha.

gwhunt23

I've done mail order before. Sure, I'm pleased with it and learned much about how to work on bikes and everything. But, just doing mail order only made me just someone with a bunch of bike knowledge in my hat that wasn't actually out there in the bike scene.

Recently, I've been going to my LBS much more. Reason is, the service is great. I don't mind shelling out the extra money to come in and talk with the guys that work there about the new trails, the races around us, the interesting parts of my last ride, and whatever else. Oh, and to top it off, there's two "shop dogs" that loved to be played with and petted.

My advice- Use the bike shop whenever you can, if you have a good shop. If not, hunt around, ask people you see on the trail about it. Use the mail order shops if you gotta have that part that you can install yourself. Just don't get caught up too much in it though... just keep riding hard!

joelsp

My LBS will install, adjust, or fix anything on my bike free of charge. But if I have to buy parts, I pay a bit more, there are trade-offs. But a lot of times it isn't all that much more, and they carry a lot of stufff in stock, which is nice. Recently had my de-railers and brakes adjusted for free, took em 20 minutes. Apparently not all LBS's are this good to their customers.

edit: they will install any part I buy from them for free.

roadfix

If you're set on web prices, chuck your LBS's and start wrenching yourself. You never have to face them again.....

paintballdude

Alright figure this out...I went to one of my 2 local bike stores and picked out a helmet...it costs 42 bucks on the price tag......the total price comes out to over 65 bucks**********?!?!?!
We only have 8% sales tax.....I was like....eehhhh...I don't have the money..thx any ways....and left for the last time