bicycle shops hate us !!!

[robin]

Why is it that every time I go to one of our 2 and only bicycle repair shops iam greeted with disdain and negativety. Like today i was getting a new front axel, new fenders,gel in tire tubes, wheel truing and guess what --very sarcastically - you should get rid of that thing its not safe (it is a brand new Santa Cruz Scooter Works Boxter bikes) and i spent $100-i spend far more on my motor bike --cant they see the business potential??
Then the guy shows me a picture of a Honda 125 street bike that you apparently dont need a motorcycle license for.
I was going to buy one and a half years ago a Kawasaki 650 all terrain bike and drive to Costa Rica in the winter with my friend--but my wife said no motorcycle--so this is the next best thing and i told the guy-he shrugged his shoulders and said i should spend the winter convicing her.
But they do push the electric bikes.
We REALLY NEED a professional motorized bike builder here!!

 

[BarelyAWake]

Well - they're just plain stupid then, a MB owner is likely to buy far more and higher quality parts than your average weekend pedaler. A weekend warrior buying his way into the scene will shell out gobs of cash to trick out his bike... once. A person using his bike like we do (or downhillers etc.) will be a constant source of income for a bike shop (even if just tires and rims), most know and respect this.

We don't have any bicycle shops close to where I live, but the two that are around are always very excited when I come vrooming up on my bike to look for widgets. I just bought a Dtube fender and a mirror from one of them yesterday and the shop owner talked my ear off about the potential for profit and what's entailed with building the kits.

The other place isn't quite as friendly - but they still all trooped out to check out my bike and comment on it the first time I showed up there. They're frendly and more than happy to sell me bits, they're just kinda indifferent. They're like that with ALL their customers though lol

The only "anti-MB" bias I've seen are full-gear spandex pedalers and they just tend to give me "the eye" and say nuthin'

I guess that's cause I'm kinda scary

BOO!!!

 

[bairdco]

all the bike shops around here cater to people who ride bikes. by "bikes," i mean, straight outta the chinese box, crap bikes. if you know what you want (which i do) they have no idea how to sell it to you.

my advice, is know what you need, what you want, before going to your local bike store. then they'll look like the idiot.

 

[deacon]

My bike shop sells me things like bearings and chain rings now and then. When the old man who owns the place is replaced by his kids, I'll have to carry the old part in so they know what it is.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

The answer is simple, don't give them your money.

Find a bike shop that is O.K. with motorized bikes or do your own work, save money and buy parts elsewhere.

 

[Kevlarr]

Biggest thing is they treat any bike not professionally fitted, assembled and sold by a bike shop as junk. Both shops that advertise on TV here pretty much come right out and say that you don't care about your kid's safety if you buy a $100 department store bike instead of a $500 bike from them.

My only saving grace is the owner of the bike shop that I deal with seems genuinely interested in my bike.

 

[FileStyle]

Iam in pretty good terms with my LBS, when I go there its not parts for the motor, it's parts for the bike! they all seem interested in it as other MBer's have brought in for service. (mostly truing up rims) or selling rims and HD parts for bicycles, to upgrade.

 

[robin]

Thanks Guys Iam starting to feel wanted already.

 

[the_edge150]

out of the 4 bike shops in my area, one being down a BMX shop, two road bike shops, and one vintage shop. the BMX shop even stocks the master links i use for the drive chain, the vintage shop guy wanted to have one of these bikes in his shop to sell, but from there on, the road bike guys hate these. the mechanic in the one in the same city as me tried to tell me that disc brakes wouldn't go onto my triple tree's, that the tabs were for a drum brake (wtf?) and every time i go in, they are very rude to me and my fellow riders. the other shop is decent to our bikes, and have even mounted a couple of sprockets for me for 20 bucks each. my 2 cents in this is that it all depends how deep into their customer base the store is will change how they treat someone on a motorized bike.

 

[BarelyAWake]

It all comes down to customer service (or lack thereof). TBH - anyplace that would sneer at any bike isn't a place I'd wanna give my business to anyway.

Think of it as a litmus test heh



ooh - I said "any" a LOT

 

[Blakenstein]

This spring,I went to my #1 regular bike shop.In the last 12 years I spent enough money there on tools,parts,and accessories to buy at least 2o cheap bikes.I am my own mechanic.Anyway,I walk In with a 32 spoke hub and a 32 spoke rim asking for a set of spokes as I phoned them earlier to make sure.One of their mechanics made a scene and said that its a36 spoke hub and laughed at me.I said no its a32.he said he counted it.I said lets count together .He quickly changed subject and said dont spoke rim because its old.HE DID NOT COUNT IT.HE LIED TO ME.HE DID NOT WANT PEOPLE TO SEE THAT IT REALLY WAS 32. boy was i mad.When I got home I phoned the owner whom I know and went to junior high with.I said I dont go there becuase I know you.I go there because it's a good store.This week I spent 200.00 on parts alone and have another 60.00 on order.I told him that if I were owner I would fire that so&so on the spot.Bill told me to bring in hub so he can show mech.,but a week later I cooled down.I don't shop there anymore anyway.That mech does not like people or his job and he really shows it to the customers.He thinks he really has it tough.I told owner Bill"its not u or the store,it's him".Where I live there is lot s of bike shops,and I mean lots of them. There is even a bike wrecking yard like Pic ur part.

 

["the prussian" Shop Dogs]

in and around chicago we seem to generaly be outcasts , the store we frequent, we have to deal with the husband as the wife dosen't want us in the store?
I no longer ride my mb to the local shops anyway (always down when i need something),but the spandex click around here is unreal. the weekend is there time ,you don't belong in there lane and they have told me so....
can't wait till jan of 2010 so the law will be (slightly)on our side. but in the long run your money is still green ,so if they don't want it deal with someone who does!

 

[Blakenstein]

Now fiirst of all, what is a spandex click?? secondly, when they say something,ask them if its their city or with that in mind, just say,"yea, okay,see yea" What I like to say is,:"yup yup sure okay alllllright" Who made them the head comies anyway?Are their any signs saying no bicycles??You dont be a tellin me anything unless your a cop .Where I live there are lots and lots of shops and they cannot afford to be ruuude to customers.If I had a shop with a mechanic that acted as if he had something stuck up his rear,I would fire him on the spot.Ive seen alot of people get fired, and boy do they ever get fired quick .I shop at REVOLUTION bike shop now and boy are they ever great-bought my mech stand there-thats 230.00 alone.They know that when I come walking in, I mean buisness and I"m there to drop cash.They know that I'm not there to screw them around.You should have at least two bikes so u can always use one to get parts with.and now its time for..........

 

[bigben77]

There are a few bike shops around here where I live, but only one is actualy local (2 blocks from my new apartment). I recently picked up a vintage Schwinn Varsity 10 spd, it has the funky Schwinn size S5-S6 wheels/tires. It needs new tires/tubes to be complete, I went in to the nearest bike shop intent on getting some info on the funky sizes and see how much money I would need to spend to replace them. I got the RUDEST response from one of the mechanics that I will NEVER spend ANY of my money there. He told me that he had no idea what I was talking about when refering to the Schwinn S5-S6 tires, he offered no help and didn't even ask anybody else employed there for there input.

I was not there to do anything MB related, simply sourcing info. Now, it is my belief that if you work at a bike shop you should know the product you are dealing with. What a waste of time that place is!

Ben, Bothell, WA

 

[Blakenstein]

Do the old original tires say on them that they are MADE by Schwin??? Schiwn makes bikes but they may not Make tires.

 

[butchatron]

Dude, when I lived in Florida, I had 4 local shops, and they all acted the same way- like they are bicycling gods and we should grovel at their feet! I've worked on my own bikes all my life, since I was old enough to hold a wrench- yet every single time I went into one of those shops for parts, I had to spend 5 minutes convincing them that I knew this was the part I needed. First it was 'well what kind of bike is it?' then came 'oh thats the wrong bike for you' then 'are you shure this will fit? I should probably see the bike first' I mean heck- you don't go to McDonalds and get treated like that! You tell the person what ou want, they take your money and you walk away a happy customer. That's how retail is supposed to work, right?

 

[TheOtherStyle]

You guys are lucky to have choices at all. Here there is one single shop. Last year I took one of my bikes to them to get the deraillers adjusted before I moved out of state. A week later I went back and they still hadn't touched it. I should mention it is the Spandex center of the county....

Now that I'm back in state, unemployed and broke...I REALLY can't afford to go there.... I wish the other place hadn't closed down.. That guy was cheap and friendly.

 

[D.J.]

I used to live in a town with only one bicycle shop . The next closest shop was over 100 miles away . I do all of my own repairs to my vehicles . That was the problem . After the third time being treated like dirt when buying bicycle parts I said WTF is your problem . I was told that I was taking food out of his family's mouth by doing my own repairs . I never went back to that shop and had all of my parts mailed to me from the shop over 100 miles away . His shop is now a video rental place and there is no bicycle shop in town . Who was right is a matter of perspective . ..... D.J.

 

[TheOtherStyle]

I used to live in a town with only one bicycle shop . The next closest shop was over 100 miles away . I do all of my own repairs to my vehicles . That was the problem . After the third time being treated like dirt when buying bicycle parts I said WTF is your problem . I was told that I was taking food out of his family's mouth by doing my own repairs . I never went back to that shop and had all of my parts mailed to me from the shop over 100 miles away . His shop is now a video rental place and there is no bicycle shop in town . Who was right is a matter of perspective . ..... D.J.

What the **** was he complaining about? You paid him for parts right? Giving him money at all was putting food IN his family's mouth. What a jackarse.

 

[butchatron]

to be perfectly honest- why would you pay somebody to work on your bike anyway? They are by far the simplest machines on the planet. If you can turn a wrench, you can fix anything on it.