Broken Bike Shop Model?

[Crankin]

I would not buy a bike on line, but everything else, yes.

None of the bike stores around here seem to be doing badly; the one I bought my bikes at is making a nice profit (they do cater to people who can afford boutique label bikes, but also sell Giants and a lot of kid's bikes). The other LBS near me expanded last year, has much more clothing, and now sells home fitness equipment. They also have expanded their x country ski selection, which they have always had.
You know, last year, DH and I went to Harris Cyclery, of legendary fame. We were just beginning our search for custom or semi custom relaxed geometry road bikes that we could put couplers on. I was stunned by the horrible condition of the shop, and even worse, the way the person who helped us was bragging about their new fit system. He didn't know what he was talking about. When I said I was not interested in bar end shifters, it was like a case of reverse discrimination. We ran... maybe they have a lot of parts, but, they do most of that business on line. And maybe it's a good thing, because the shop itself was not nice.
One of the reasons I will buy full price clothing from TE or Terry is because of the focus on meeting women's needs and the community that has grown around both businesses. I've had personal service from both. Still, I look for the sales in both places. DH, on the other hand, never, ever buys bike clothing full price. He doesn't have to; everyone makes and sells men's size medium and puts the items on sale. Half of the clothing companies don't even make their products in women's extra small (PI, for example), so I can't afford to be choosy.

[OakLeaf]

I wouldn't buy a bike online because of fit and service ... and I try not to buy parts online because that's where the LBS makes their profit. (I have my limits ... as when I got my saddle for something like half of MSRP... bad me ) As I understand it, complete bike sales are a LBS's "loss leader" to bring customers in for the parts, service and accessories.

Clothing is another thing. I really prefer to buy local, but I don't live anywhere near a shop that has a decent selection of women's gear, and returning something bought online (TE! TE! TE!) is SO much easier - often if I special order something through a LBS it's entirely nonreturnable.

[Reesha]

And the people who often open stores- well quite a few are former professional or elite level athletes. That doesn't mean they make a good bike shop owner. Basically they are satisfying their ego by being able to surround themselves with people and bikes (that's OK) but only so they can keep on riding the latest and greatest model, participate in the cycling industry and not so much for being a guiding hand for newbies. Their shop rides are for their buddies or to create a "club" around them. And worse if they have no business sense or no person skills.

THIS. In St. Louis where there are TONS of bike shops, but I find a lot of them are clubbish like Kiwi says above. Now, I would never think of buying a bike on the internet-- the profit margins on bikes aren't that much anyway, and a lot of times there are good deals to be had at an LBS. I shop ebay for bike clothes-- the selection for women are always pink and flowers, or kind of low end (weirdly-- which I suppose is fine). There's cooler stuff online. I am fortunate to be able to shop around for the best bike shop for my needs. There are a few that are awesome for beginners and I have brought friends to some of those because I know how nice they are, and I know they will spend a lot of time giving these novice riders a friendly introduction into bicycles. They are smart businessmen. They are trying to create a repeat customer. I've been to other shops where they are dismissive if it looks like you aren't shopping for something high end/custom.

My shop is the area juggernaut-- it has three locations and a special Tri/running store, but the people are friendly and accessible from the bottom all the way to the top. They are supportive of all kinds of bike related efforts in the community. They are sponsoring our groundbreaking (at least in this city) high school cycling team. I haven't had to buy a bike in years, so I've only been buying accessories and nicknacks from them for the last four years, but the minute I said I was doing a cross country ride for the American Lung Association they offered to fit and tune my bike up before the trip for free as a donation and then offered to sell raffle tickets for the quilt my mom is donating. To me, this is them building a solid customer relationship, even though they don't really need me. I will certainly be buying my next bike from them.

[Sky King]

A subject close to my heart and pocketbook. We closed our 100% LBS in 2010 and converted to a small showroom, minor walk in traffic and primary online sales model. With that said, We do not sell complete Bikes online, a complete bike purchase requires meeting, fitting, riding, adjusting, etc prior to the bike leaving our showroom. However because we are touring,commuting oriented in a town that isn't, we depend on our online sales to survive. We have found our buyers to pretty awesome and we do quite a bit of customer service and educating with our blog and over the phone. We aren't a wholesale store, we still need to pay our own bills and have no desire to be the cheapest, we only sell product we believe in. We just celebrated our one year anniversary and I love our new biz model, we finally have time to get on our own bikes and have fun.

[Seajay]

Thank you all so much for your insight and knowledge. I'm so happy I posed the question. Very valuable to hear from you all. If you keep posting, I'm sure to keep listening.

[kcmpls]

Pretty much the only thing I buy online is clothes. I'd prefer not to, but there are no plus sized bike clothes in any bike shop that I know of. Now, someone needs to start catering to me and my many plus sized female friends who bike, they could make good money.

But in Minneapolis, there is a bike shop to fit however you bike or whoever you are. I went to one bike co-op yesterday and was helped by two women. Both were awesome and both gave great advice. One worked on the floor and the other in the shop. I really appreciate that particular shop because of the women there and it caters more to how I bike.

[Bethany1]

I only had two bikes growing up that I remember. Both were awful, probably because my mom couldn't afford anything fancy. Or they were given to me by a neighbor that didn't ride. My brothers had bikes and they just passed them down as one got to big for it. Sizing? Helmets? Never even came up. My DH said he and his gang of friends spent all day riding around town swapping out bikes and doing tricks.

With the days of getting anything you want online, people are doing that. It's easy, fast, and you don't have to deal with the hassles of sales people following you all over the store like vultures or completely ignoring you. You have the entire shopping mall of your dreams that never closes online at the touch of a key stroke. It's a buyer's dream and a brick store's nightmare.

People also are very visual when it comes to bike. They aren't looking at components. I didn't even know they were that important depending on your bike needs. If you want a red mountain bike, you go online and find the coolest looking red bike you can find and buy it. I've found lots of cool bikes online, like the (homer drool) 6000 dollar 29er tandem mountain bike. Or the 12,000 carbon fiber racing one. Won't be buying either of them any time soon but they are out there if I did.

I buy from my LBS because if something goes wrong, he can fix it or send it back. He will order anything I want if he doesn't have it in stock at a reasonable price. He'll go online to the manufacturer's website and find me several options to choose from. With my LBS, the online bike shopping mall is right at his fingertips and I don't have to guess if something will work.

My LBS had found a way to work with the internet so he makes money and I get the help/guarantees that come with a brick store. It's a perfect match. More brick stores need to see the internet as a huge advantage to their sales to help the consumer instead of fighting it. If you can order it for me, we both win and the states don't have to whine about losing sales tax.

I've found that bike parts are far easier to get from my store as most of the time he isn't stuck on having to order in bulk or having to wait for a large specific amount before purchasing. I get my product in 2-3 days, he puts it on, and I have a warranty that's easy to use if something goes wrong.

Now my local quilt stores...that's a disaster. If I have to wait for her to purchase 500+ dollars in goods before I get my order, I'll buy it online especially if I need to get a project done ASAP. That gets frustrating when you want to buy locally but can't. Then the stores are upset that you went somewhere else and even worse (gasp) went out of state or online. It's not always about sales taxes, it's also about availability.

Should you buy a bike online by yourself? Only if you feel like taking the risks of it not fitting right, knowing how to put it together, and if it's not what you wanted, the pains of shipping it back and working with the store to fix it via the phone or email.

There are some things better bought in a brick store than online. Bikes are one of them.