Specialized forced themselves out of my LBS

[Fujichants]

Jiffer, I had this EXACT SAME PROBLEM. See the gloves in my avatar? I went to 4 different shops to get them. And I called around. Everywhere they had a size S, I needed a size L. I found them online, but the item could not be shipped. What is up with Specialized? I don't like their 2009 version of those gloves, because the pink is barely visible.

Then, I went to San Diego for the weekend. And guess what...they had those gloves EVERYWHERE in all sizes. If the gloves you want are the same as mine, I can give you the number to the shop that has them, and you can order them from there. I am thinking of getting a back-up pair, just in case something happens to the ones I have right now.

[celerystalksme]

That's odd. My Specialized dealer sells EVERYTHING. Specialized, Cervelo, Guru, Gary Fisher, Orbea, Trek, and several others. And they are able to get other bikes in by special order...like Colnago, Watford, and a few others...even though they're not official dealers and don't have any models on display (actually, I think they have one Waterford and one Colnago at the store).

What I think happens is that bike manufacturers try to bully smaller volume shops into selling only their stuff. But they can't bully large volume stores...this store is a pretty large volume store...

[Flur]

Pretty much all the shops here sell more than one brand, but most of them only sell one of the "big" American brands - Specialized, Trek, Cannondale. My LBS sells Specialized, Bianchi and Serotta, and also carry Time and a probably a few others. There's also quite a few stores that carry Surly in addition to their main big brand (Surly is local, after all).

When I was in high school the shop I worked at sold Cannondale, Trek and Schwinn, with about equal floor space for each, plus a plethora of other brands via special order. I guess those days are gone.

[Jiffer]

Jiffer, I had this EXACT SAME PROBLEM. See the gloves in my avatar? I went to 4 different shops to get them. And I called around. Everywhere they had a size S, I needed a size L. I found them online, but the item could not be shipped. What is up with Specialized? I don't like their 2009 version of those gloves, because the pink is barely visible.

Then, I went to San Diego for the weekend. And guess what...they had those gloves EVERYWHERE in all sizes. If the gloves you want are the same as mine, I can give you the number to the shop that has them, and you can order them from there. I am thinking of getting a back-up pair, just in case something happens to the ones I have right now.

Very interesting, Fujichants. Yes, I agree there is not enough pink on those gloves. My guy at the LBS said he's going to a convention soon where he says he'll scope out anything pink ... in gloves and anything else. I think I started a new trend in my shop. They know I'm all into pink, so they've been getting more pink stuff, but I'm not the only one buying it.

If I were to order the Specialized gloves, I wouldn't know if I need medium or large since I haven't been able to try them on. I just realized, I probably could have tried some on in a different color, but didn't think of that! I was basically done with why I was there and the gloves were a side thought. I don't even like to wear gloves, but everyone keeps telling me I should.

By the way, the one pair of gloves I do have, that have red on them and come undone all the time ... I got in San Diego! Somewhere around Carlsbad I think. It was during a ride out there.

[Jiffer]

My LBS is located in an interesting area. We buy high end bikes from them and the owner used to be a pro racer, so he has a lot of connections with pro people and sells to a lot of them. Yet, his shop is located in a lower income area where most of the locals buy the cheapest bike they can get so they can get to work without paying a fortune in gas. This is a big part of his business and the reason he doesn't move his business to our area, which is where he lives.

We have an LBS that is much closer to us and in our "nicer" area, but they are kind of snobby. Dh never liked going there and, instead spends his money and gets treated really well at the farther away LBS. It's definitely inconvenient for us to drive there, and a little scary feeling to be honest! But it's worth it. We have gotten some insane deals there, they know us by name and always take good care of us. The owner delivered Dh's bike to our house once after doing some work on it because Dh didn't have time to pick it up before a big event. Now that's service!