Originally Posted by
Chuck M
A few years ago my town of about 35,000 people got a bike shop after being without one for many years. Unfortunately once their lease was up, they had to close. They have a couple of shops an hour or so away from me and I will go there from time to time, but it sure was nice when there was a shop in town. I imagine in the cyber shopping age, a bike shop is a difficult business to sustain in small markets.
Until recently, when a new shop opened in the next town, our "LBS" was about 30 miles away, which can be ~ an hour in Vermont. Even so, one of my bikes has a Pinion gearbox bottom bracket, new oil is an internet order item. The other bike is >30 years old, with a Suntour drive train, again, not stocked in local shops, not even easy to source on the web.
Of course, some might consider that a reason to buy a new bike: hey, I'm supporting local business, and I'm ensuring I will be able to buy spares and replacement parts for it.