Good Online Shops

[Tek]

So I wanted to get some of those wee lights that you put in the dropbars.

I go to Performance and they are $5 more than in the catalog.

I look at supergo and they are $10 less than the Performance catalog price.

I'm kinda new to this, where are the places to shop that are pretty reasonable? I used to think Performance was but now I thinkt hey might be expensive.

Thanks!

[Hill Slug]

I haven't really purchased much on-line. I'm more of a instant gratification type :D I want it now! But whenever I've gone into Performance, they will check their online store as well, and if it's cheaper they'll use the web price. I got my helmet for like $20 instead of their in-store sale price of $35...So be sure to ask them for their web prices.....

[spazzdog]

I use Performance (aka Nashbar).

I use Tri-Zone. http://www.tri-zone.com

I use Road ID. http://www.roadid.com

I use Title 9. http://www.title9.com

I am an online shopping maniac. Anybody need a dot com for linens, silk longjohns, pet products, books, CD's, IRS forms...

[wawaski]

also compare bike nashbar to performance...and if you want fun (but expensive) stuff...colorado cyclist.....

[Deanna]

Tek,

I haven't seen these lights, but they sound like a great addition to my commute bike now that we are losing daylight. Who makes them?

Thanks,
Deanna

[caligurl]

i've seen several different brands... i got mine at performance for 9.96 at one point (performance will price match)

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=17651&subcategory_ID=4322

[echidna]

The key to effective bike shopping experience is : NEVER PAY RETAIL unless you're so desperate for an item that you can't wait for a sale.
That being said - Performance bike shops will PRICE-MATCH anything that you can prove is a legitimate price. For instance - the barend lights that were cheaper in their catalog or on their website - the retail store will match that price IF you bring the catalog, or a printout for their web advertisement in to the store. They'll also match SuperGo and Nashbar prices, but it has to be the exact same item. For instance if the Performance website has a special on yellow Eggbeater Candy MTB pedals, and the store has yellow and gray ones in stock - you'd better like yellow 'cause they won't give you the same price on the gray ones.
I've got bike friends who carry all of the current catalogs from all of the major retailers around with them when they go shopping, just to make sure that they're getting the best price.

[jobob]

The key to effective bike shopping experience is : NEVER PAY RETAIL unless you're so desperate for an item that you can't wait for a sale. soapbox on ....

ummm .... I have to beg to differ with your "never pay retail" sentiment.

How can you expect halfway decent local bike shops (LBSs) to stay in existence if all of your purchases are made at SuperGo and Performance and Nashbar?

Sure, you can save a few bucks here and there, but what do you do when your bike needs adjusting ? Ship it off to Nashbar??? :rolleyes:

Don't get me wrong, I do buy things on sale at these "superstores" (I really like the cheap Performance jerseys!), but I also purchase a lot of things from the LBS. I generally end up paying a few dollars more buying from the LBS than from the mail-order houses, but I really think it worth it in the long run to help keep these stores in business, and to develop a good relationship with the shop.

Our LBS provides us with a lot of good advice, and on several occasions we've brought our bikes in for on-the-spot repairs. There is no way in creation I'd let anyone at the Supergo a couple of miles away lay a finger on my bike!

Local bike shops also tend to sponsor bike clubs and organized rides and are generally good for the cycling community.

If you belong to a club you might even get a discount at the LBS.

LBS's deserve our commerce!

soapbox off....

- Jo.

[Adventure Girl]

http://www.officedepot.com/pictures/sk/md/685833_sk_md.jpg :D

Originally posted by jobob
soapbox on ....
LBS's deserve our commerce!
soapbox off....
I couldn't agree more! My LBS has sponsored me on a few races and rides, the ALWAYS take care of my bikes, they let me demo new goodies and there is NEVER a question returning or exchanging anything ever! They deserve my business and have earned my loyalty.

[wawaski]

Couldn't agree more. If I had one. Closest is 120 miles away.

[jobob]

Sorry to hear that, wawaski!

That's what happens when independent bike shops have to compete against the likes of Performance and SuperGo and Nashbar - the high volume mail-order places can cut their prices more than the LBSs can, people buy and buy and buy from the cut rate shops, and the LBSs go out of business.

Unless you live in an area that has a lot of cyclists (as AG and I do, lucky us!) LBSs, which cannot match the prices offered by the high volume superstores, have little or no chance of survival. :p :p :p

- Jo

[smurfalicious]

Exactly, the bike shops here are pretty much useless, and to find one that isn't, I have to drive 150 miles. Oh sure, they're willing to order that part for me, but uh yeah, if I'm gonna wait for something I want right this minute, I'm gonna get it cheaper.

There's a tack store in town the sells Billy Cook barrel racing saddles for $800. There are places that sell them for a lot more, but the owner of the store has realized that not only can he make a profit off the item at the price, but they literally fly out of the store. Is he an enormous establishment? Nope, just a little local one man show, trying to raise two teenage daughters. Unfortunately not all people in business have seen that light. It's not a contest to see how long that shiny object can sit there, it's not worth anything, if it's not making you money. Not only that, but that tack shop now has a loyal customer who will come back for any little thing they need. He can sell lower ticket items at regular mark up and still have, what I've learned is called a "lifetime profitable customer."

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather sell an item at a $50 profit, than have it sit for months, hoping to sell it at a $100 profit. I mean, in that time I could have sold it with less profit, and have that person tell his buddy, and sold two at that $50 profit, and made just as much as I would sitting, and waiting.

The guy I've been buying all my bike goodies from works on that principal, and admittedly sometimes he doesn't have a lot of room to wiggle on price. However, in order to get that breathing room from your wholesalers, you have to get product. Can't become a level 1 Mavic dealer if you don't move Mavic product.

love and cookies
-smurf

[echidna]

Hopefully the irony isn't lost on anyone here that this forum is sponsored by a really great e-commerce site that is, by our logic, killing your local bike shop.
If you find a LBS with a good mechanic, spend $$$ there by all means - but in my experience (often, but not always) the better the "stuff" in the shop, the less reliable the mechanics are. Probably because the store management is chasing sales at the expense of substance.
Distributing cycling goods through a LBS is woefully inefficient. The LBS's cost for many components and products is above the price that the major online retailers can SELL them for. LBS's can't compete on price. It would be insane for them to try. And I'm sticking by my story that it just doesn't make sense to pay more for something than you need to. If you've got extra money, make charitable donations...(of course you may decide that your charity of choice is the local bike shop, and that's entirely your business).
Every time you spend money on something you are encouraging the seller to offer more of it. If you want $6.00 tubes - buy 'em. If you want $120.00 jerseys - buy 'em. But if what you want is great mechanical and race support - buy those same tubes and jerseys online at half that price or less, spend the money you're saving to in shop fees at a LBS with a trustworthy mechanic, and encourage your friends to patronize "your" LBS. That rewards the LBS for its strengths and I'd contend that it does just as much to keep the shop in business as it would if you deliberately overspent on cycling goods. It also means that you've got a real relationship with the shop, and you're getting a better-maintained bike, which will last longer and be more fun to ride. And if those Oakleys catch your eye one time that you're in and you simply can't resist - well, you can still feel pretty good about that.

[wawaski]

The one we do have is geared towards Mt bikes, so if you want a roadie, you get the glassy eyed stare followed by "well, we can order one...."no test ride, no choices, etc. Thus the 150 mi drive.....
S.

[pedalfaster]

Originally posted by echidna
Hopefully the irony isn't lost on anyone here that this forum is sponsored by a really great e-commerce site that is, by our logic, killing your local bike shop.

~and~


...But if what you want is great mechanical and race support - buy those same tubes and jerseys online at half that price or less, spend the money you're saving to in shop fees at a LBS with a trustworthy mechanic...

I usually stay out of these discussions since I work in a shop :cool:

I just wanted to say that I , personally, don't feel our shop is threatened by TE. TE doesn't sell bikes or components. They don't drastically undercut their prices (in fact their prices are pretty similar to most LBS'). What TE does offer, in my mind, is a great service to women who ride. There is just no way our tiny little shop, in our tiny little town, has the floor space, the capital, nor the customers to justify carrying that many brands/styles and sizes in women's cycling clothing.

And now for our PSA: It's ok to save money on stuff mail-order. Just don't buy components and accessories on-line and then expect your LBS to install/help you with them for free.

(I probably don't need to post that here, after all these years of working in shops, I've never had a woman come in and try that little trick, but you'd be surprised what men will try....) :rolleyes:

[echidna]

My LBS could special order anything that TE carries. It's just that - once again - distribution costs are astronomical, especially for a niche market (and sadly in many areas road cycling is consicered to be a "niche market", not to mention female-oriented road cycling). My LBS carries a few women-specific items and they tend to be at - or above - MSRP. Ever walk into a LBS and see $89.99 on a Terry commuter skort? I have. That's above retail, but it accurately reflects the cost of getting that product to the market via that distribution channel, plus a reasonable profit for the LBS. It's not the LBS's fault. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't expect them to sell product at a loss just to be competitive. It's just that a distributed network is an inefficient way to allocate limited resources (specialty apparel, components...), but a very good way to allocate abundant resources (labor, tubes, lights, chains, lube...).

Many bike shop customers allocate their personal resources backwards in an effort to "support their LBS" - i.e. they spend a large proportion of their cycling budget on specialty items ordered through a local bike shop. That means that they don't have enough of a cycling budget left to spend money at the LBS for labor, small parts, etc. But in doing so they are really contributing to the downfall of the LBS because it can't make enough profit selling specialty items. Often the LBS's cost for a special-order item is the same or higher than what you can purchase that item for through an e-commerce site, because the major online retailers have negotiated lower prices and have less shipping cost.

Example: it seems like if you let your LBS special order a crankset for you at $450, when you've seen it on sale for $350 online, that they have got to be making big bucks on it, so you feel like you're supporting the shop. And since your budget for upgrades this month was $450, you let your buddy who's handy with bikes install it, because you can't afford the shop fees. The reality is that the shop probably would've made at least as much money if you'd have bought the same crank online for $350, and then paid the shop $50 to install it. Then, while you were there, you could have also purchased a patch kit, a new chain, some CO2 cartridges (online shops can't compete on CO2 because of air shipping issues), and had a small downpayment left over toward surfing over to TE for a commuter skort.

Look for this trend to continue over time. Shipping costs are rising quickly with higher fuel prices. Those prices aren't going to go down. The more branches in the distribution channel before items get to a consumer, the more the shipping cost is a factor in the final price. Buying locally-manufactured cycling products may be an option for some lucky few, but for most of us, it's just not going to be an option. (Anyone out there have a village derailleur-maker?)

I keep looking over it and I don't see how anyone loses under this scenario. The only differences are that you get the crankset professionally installed, you get more stuff, and two companies make profit rather than one.

Of course this analyis only works in a world where you have a fixed number of dollars allocated for cycling, which is my current situation. The ultimate solution is for all of us to have unlimited budgets to spend at our favorite bike shop. I'm expecting that to happen in my household any day...about the time my pony arrives (I've been asking for one since I was 4).